USA. Queens. TMP (Too Much Posse) Carlos clowning for the boys at Hart and Irving, 1992. I was riding the L train through Queens, the elevated that runs above Jamaica Avenue,
when a group of seven boys with a boom box came into the car. I had been planning to visit my old public school in Jamaica, but when the train reached my stop, I stayed on to watch the boys. Moving closer, I squatted next to one of them and tapped him on the shoulder. His name was Isaac. Although I was of a different race and more than twice his age, Isaac turned and spoke to me as if weÕd known each other for years. The group called themselves ÒTMPÑToo Much Posse.Ó Where were they going? I asked. They were going to Jamaica. ÒWhat for, to buy stuff?Ó ÒRight,Ó said Isaac. ÒWhere did they come from?Ó I took out my subway map, and Isaac showed me where they had gotten onÑDeKalb Avenue in Bushwick. ÒIs that where I can find you?Ó I asked. ÒEvery day,Ó said Isaac. When they got off at Jamaica Center, I followed them out, chasing after them as they moved quickly up the stairs and out into the street. Finally Isaac yelled out, ÒHey, this guy wants to take our picture.Ó A few days later I took the L train to DeKalb Avenue in Brooklyn, walked two blocks to the corner, and gave out copies of the picture I had made the week before. A boy named Wreck sat on the curb with me and told me the names of the boys in the picture. He then announced he had never been shot, meaning most of the others had. Of the seven in the picture, five had been shot. A few of them seemed to be spending their time standing on the street corner selling heroin. Knave of Hearts, page 105.