HOW TO CODDLE A CRIP

The reasons Darryl Givens gave his mother for wanting to leave the Crips were much the same as those voiced by Orlando years earlier. When Orlando first began attending Chief Michaud's gang meetings, Will says, he said he was worried about his own children.

"At the time," Will says, "he had two kids, and he was concerned that he couldn't go anywhere with them in the car because he was afraid they'd get shot. And there was genuine despair in his voice."

Whether or not Orlando ever was really sincere about leaving the gangster life is a popular topic of conversation among those who have known him for years. Kelly is one who believes Orlando wanted out.

"He got it in his head that he wanted to have a life, raise his family and do the right thing," Kelly says. "But the pull of the gang always caused him to backslide. It's almost like a drug. You say, `I'm gonna quit, gonna quit, gonna quit.' But it sucks you right back in."

But Orlando was always known for telling people what they wanted to hear. According to his old neighborhood friend James Wooten, even when Little O was running with the Crips, "It was always, `Yes, ma'am, no ma'am' to my mother. He didn't sag at Red Shield. He adapted to whatever crowd he was with."

Orlando's chief defender in the police department, Judy Will, says she's still not sure whether Orlando was simply manipulating her and others who tried to help him. "I don't know if he was shooting us through the grease or not," she says.

Will adds that she's sorry things have turned out the way they have. "I'm not trying to point to him as an angel or a victim," she says in a sad voice. "But I'm just sick over this. His life is done. I believe he will sit in prison for the rest of his life."

end of part 2