Grillos 13

[Portz]

East L.S.'s Crickets of the Night

 

New members of Varrio Grillos' Lokos subclique. Photo courtesy of Pedro Lopez,  freelance photographer.

 

The barrios of East Los Santos have always been ripe with gang activity. El Burro Heights is no stranger to that fact. Home to one of the oldest gangs in Los Santos; the Barrio Grillos. The Grillos is a gang deeply rooted in East Los Santos, and although efforts by law enforcement have been made to stop them the gang continues to operate to this very day. The reason being can mostly be attributed to the fact that the next generation, sees the gang as a rite of passage. Too common is the story of the father that is proud that his son has been initiated into the gang. For them, joining the gang is like joining the Marines. Except instead of serving your country, you're serving your neighborhood. The Grillos is a generational gang, with veteran grandpas proudly telling of their "war stories" to their grandsons who listen in awe. Even the pop up makeshift memorial sites, rest in peace t-shirts, and weathered pictures of fallen Grillos gang members does not deter the next generation. 

 

The gang's name comes from the crickets that chirp throughout the night in El Burro Heights. At one point, it was considered one of the largest gangs in Los Santos but this was long before Mirror Park became the wealthy suburb it now is. When the price to live in Mirror Park shot up, gang members could no longer afford to live there. Low income earning Mexican-American families were displaced because of lack of affordable housing in the Mirror Park area, and with them went the Grillos gang. Although the gang no longer lives in the area, it still has somewhat of a presence in Mirror Park. But not to the extent it had two-decades ago.

 

Fast forward to now, the gang is still around. However, gang violence in the area is at an all time low and this is credited to a gang truce in the area. Grillos and one of its main rivals, La Mesa, have an ongoing peace treaty in place. For how long? No one knows. Gang expert and former Los Santos Sheriff Mitchell Herrera claims that "the peace treaty is the result of prison interactions in Bolingbroke State Penitentiary". Herrera says that "the two gangs found peace through the need for both gangs' operations to go on without interruptions. War is obviously bad for business and people in the upper echelons of both gangs see this".

 

Gang Member Finds God

 

Josue Ramos is a testament to his homeboys that you can live a better life. From carrying a revolver at the age of 11, to finding the Lord at 23, to owning his own business at 28. If Vinewood need inspiration for their next major blockbuster, they need not look any further. Josue used to go by the gang moniker "Risky". Growing up, Josue was athletically gifted but, did not want to pursue a career in sports. Instead, he became a "runner" for the Varrio Grillos' Locos clique. "My [Grandmother] thought I was going to school, but really I was up to no good", Ramos says with a chuckle. A runner was usually a young kid who would hold whatever the older homeboys needed; usually drugs and guns. It was also a way of proving to the gang that you were worthy of being initiated into the gang. "I was fast, so soon as the cops were sighted I'd race off. The other homeboys would pretend that they were just hanging out, and upon being searched the police would tell them to loiter elsewhere". 

 

For Ramos, being a runner didn't last long. After a couple of months, he was jumped into the gang and for the next 10-plus years he lived and breathed Varrio Grillos. Parties and fights became a reoccurring event in Ramos' life. "After 11 or 12 years I just got tired of it" Ramos says, while he looks through a book with many photos of his time as a member of the Varrio Grillos gang. Ramos saw the consequences of the life. The majority of the people he hung out with 10 years ago were either in prison facing life, or dead. The ones who died more than not were killed by one of their own homeboys, because of prison politics. "You weren't just worried about your rivals anymore, you were worried about your homeboys, too". This is what led Ramos to request to be jumped out of the gang. "It could have gone either way, but I'm glad it went the way it did" he says. "The barrio still has a place in my heart, but God comes first, followed by my wife and children".

 

East L.S. Barrio Warfare

 

During the 1970s and 1980s I witnessed the war between Burro Sietes and Barrio Grillos. Two of El Burro Heights largest gangs at the time, and mortal enemies, even to this day. Sietes was originally a sub-clique of the Varrio Grillos, but broke off due to a drug dispute. This was seen as a sign of absolute disrespect by the members of Grillos and the first casualties of this never ending war emerged.

 

On his way home from work, Grillos member Armando "Porky" Rivera, 23, noticed three Sietes members hanging outside of a gas station. He rushed home and found his brother and cousin, Cesar "Droopy" Rivera and Ramiro "Miro" Chavez. They returned to the gas station to find the Sietes still there and proceeded to rush them. 

 

Grillos version of the story is, their homeboys got the upper hand and one of the Sietes drew a firearm. The Sietes however say one of the Grillos pulled a weapon. Regardless of which story is true or not, Porky and Miro were killed on the spot. Droopy managed to flee and was later arrested along with the Sietes. This event would be followed by countless killings. 

 

Grillos however had the major advantage, their territory was above the Sietes. Sietes and other rivals had to venture up the hills through the twisted maze of tiny streets up to Grillos. The approach to Grillos headquarters was perilous with perfect ambush sites all along the way. Car loads of enemy gang members were often victims of these ambush locations, finding themselves trapped in Grillos' barrio. They would often lose their direction in attempting to escape the Grillos' "hill people". And if they got out on foot, their chances of survival dropped almost to nothing.

 

Any gang foolish enough to attack the Grillos' headquarters would have the disadvantage of running up the hill while taking fire from Grillos' members firing from the low block and concrete walls. Chunks of concrete and bottles would also rain down on them. Like mountain goats, Grillos were expert at disappearing from the hillsides through the numerous hidden trails and paths, only to appear again from another ambush position.

 

Even on the flat land, Grillos was tactically aggressive. They were among the first gangs to use assault rifles. In one infamous incident, two Grillos gang pickup trucks arrived at rival La Mesa gang's hang out. Several Grillos gang members chased the La Mesa gang into a backyard that dead ended in a cliff face. The hit team acted like a firing squad with the La Mesa gang members up against a wall. The Grillos gang members each were armed with .30 caliber M-1 Carbines. Each had a paper bag taped over the ejection part to catch the spent shell casings (and this was before CSI). They shot several La Mesa members and jumped back into the pickup beds and sped away.

 

The leader of this military-like raid was Grillos gang member Angel "Kilroy" Galaz. A short time after the shooting Kilroy was stopped driving a pickup truck, but all the witnesses refused to identify him or the pickup, and the carbines were nowhere to be found. However in a bit of luck, one of the carbines had torn the bag covering the chamber and dropped an expended casing at the crime scene and one in the bed of Kilroy's truck. Confronted with this physical evidence, Kilroy boldly admitted he was one of the shooters, but he refused to identify others.

 

Over the following years the constant gang wars and attrition took out many of Grillos' best warriors. Many were locked up, facing 10 or more years. Others where gang banging in wheelchairs, many more dead. Surrounded by so many enemies, with no allies to come to their aid, the Grillos gang's prominence faded.

Edited April 22, 2018 by Portz

[Portz]

The gang and its activities are at an all time low. This can be attributed to deaths, incarceration and peace treaties being brokered.

 

Grillos Trece

 

OOC Bullshit:

 

We will not accept you into the fold unless you're willing to be Character Killed. Whether this be through a green light, backed by the powers at be or us deeming your character dead after being killed by players not a part of this faction. This is to encourage prospective members to think before they act and not be stale, super thugs. Death is a part of gang life.

 

Becoming a member will not be a long and tedious process. Instead, membership will be granted to those who show familiarity with East L.A. gang culture and an eagerness to learn.

Edited April 4, 2018 by Portz

[Gangstafary]

EB Heights is definitely a zone that needed some RP. Good luck, take this far.

[verall]

Good luck!

[Fresh]

Still alive?

[Chef]

Go get em man.

[Jauss]

Great initiative bringing some RP to EB heights! Hope this' goes far gents. Good luck.

[OG blood]

Good luck.

[Portz]

On 4/7/2018 at 7:57 PM, Fresh said:

Still alive?

Yep. Just became a dad in real life.

[Sergi]

I see you boss