American Gangster Book 1

This wasn’t over and I ran downstairs but he was nowhere to be seen. While I was looking around I ran into a girl in the parking lot who was also trying to find him. I asked her why she was looking for him and her only reply was a loud scream. Her gaze was locked onto something behind me. I turned and instinctively brought my hand up to protect my face. My left forearm and left side of my neck took the blow.
Joe just stood there with a crazy look on his face. A few seconds passed before I understood what had happened. I pulled what I thought was a knife out of my neck. Blood squirted from the cut - a lot of blood. Joe had chopped me in the neck with a meat cleaver.
I’m not even sure I consciously thought about what to do next. My mind went into survival mode and it was kill or be killed. Luckily for Joe I dropped the cleaver as I chased him into a fast-food establishment known as Tasty Freeze, where the fight continued. I lost a lot he of blood.
It was spurting everywhere. I was near passing out but I wasn’t giving up.
Two of Joe’s brothers came out of nowhere and I tore the cash register from the counter and threw it at them. I ran to the gas station on the corner in search of a weapon. They were coming in fast. I grabbed a large screwdriver and wrench, but don’t remember anything after that. I passed out from loss of blood.
The cops came to the emergency room for a statement. They had some people in custody and just wanted me to identify them. I told them to kiss my ass, but they weren’t going away. I told them to give me some paper. They handed me a form and I wrote that I had been walking along the road and that I slipped and fell into some bushes. The cop took the form, read it and looked pretty pissed off, but walked out without saying another word. He probably figured he’d see me again and deal with me then.