A prayer breaches 'Hell Zone'

It was just after midnight when the two police cruisers roared up and screeched to a halt, cornering the small crowd near Lyndhurst Street.

Four officers jumped out, shining their flashlights into the eyes of the people who had been holding hands in an impromptu prayer session moments earlier: Antoine Green, 29, Telly Bleek, 26, and several other young men and women.

The officers did not notice the Rev. Bruce H. Wall, who as part of his weeklong occupation of Lyndhurst Street had confronted the young people as they stood on a sidewalk near the area that residents call the ''Hell Zone," the most troubled part of the street.

''What's going on, guys?" one officer shouted in a singsong challenge, as he looked directly at one of the youths. ''Hey, I haven't seen you in a while."

After a few minutes, the squad cars drove away. But the tension remained. And the brief connection Wall had made with the young people shattered.

Wall is trying to reach out to people he meets around Lyndhurst Street, against a backdrop of mistrust between those who hang out here and police. The intrusion on the prayer meeting, which had ensued during Wall's first nighttime patrol of the week, underscored that tension.

Yesterday evening, Captain Frank Armstrong, commander of Division C-11, walked around Lyndhurst Street with Wall in a show of support for the reverend's initiative. Armstrong chatted easily with residents and beat officers, discreetly standing off to the side whenever Wall attempted to pray with people he met.

Armstrong, who was wearing his dress uniform, expressed regret that the midnight prayer meeting had been interrupted. But he also said that the officers had behaved properly.

''Was it because of the reputation of the neighborhood? [The police officers] probably didn't know what was going on," Armstrong said, a serious expression clouding his usual smile. ''I'm not saying that I'm glad it happened."

''I'd rather have the people who live here trust police than the people who are hanging on the corner, trying to raise hell," Armstrong said.

It was just after 11:30 p.m. Sunday when Wall, along with City Councilor Felix Arroyo and a half-dozen followers, set out from the corner of Lyndhurst Street -- the center of the Hell Zone -- and headed down Washington Street. A block away, they had spotted the group of young people lingering on a sidewalk. Some were wearing doo-rags, oversized T-shirts, and sweat pants. They were eating Chinese take-out and smoking cigarettes; a rap song by the group Boyz N' Da Hood pumped from a car stereo.

One of the young men appeared to point across the street at Wall. He seemed to bend his fingers in the shape of a pistol. No one in Wall's group, which was being escorted by a Boston police cruiser, was sure. ''Let's go over and find out," said Wall.

At first, the four men and three women did not want to talk. Hands on hips, arms folded across chests, they answered Wall's questions with short answers and smirks.

Wall explained his mission. He talked about his church. He talked about his family and finding God. And then he talked about Lyndhurst Street. Residents, he said, are scared to walk down their street because dope dealers are always hanging out at the corner. And then he reminded them of the July 4 shootings on Lyndhurst Street, which left one man dead.

''Things happen everywhere," said one of the young men, Bleek. ''There's violence and stuff in almost every community. But they act like we're out here killing people."

Wall asked the men what they wanted from life.

''All I want is a job, man," Green said, lowering his head and shrugging his shoulders. ''Every time I look for a job, they look at my record, and they say forget it."

''I got a mad long record, too," said Bleek.

''All you got to do is come to my church, and we'll help you find something," Wall said.

That broke the ice. The music from the car was turned down. The young people on the corner started talking about their dreams. Green said he wanted to be one of the city's street workers, who monitor neighborhoods and steer children from trouble.

Their voices echoed in the night. They started talking about God.

''Why were you created?" Wall asked.

''I know God put us here for a reason," replied Green. ''But some of us are so stuck up on this 'gangsta-ism,' we don't want to complete our goals."

Bleek asked Wall to pray with them. And then the squad cars showed up.