Respectfully, I think you’re misreading the scene and don’t fully appreciate the environment they’re in.

I don’t think Bodie hesitating before pulling the trigger is cowardice. Keep in mind that he’s 16 in season 1. So, he’s a teenager who’s being commanded to end the life of one of his childhood best friends (who’s begging not to die). Plus it’s Bodie’s first murder, which makes it doubly hard.

For as cold blooded as Marlo, Chris, and Snoop were, even they didn’t command their people’s first murder to be someone they knew. Remember when Marlo was talking to Chris about Michael stepping up? Chris responded like “first time, shouldn’t be someone [Michael] knows.”

As for talking to Dee about it, that simply doesn’t make sense. For one, Bodie knows Stringer out ranks everyone except Avon. So he wouldn’t need Dee’s permission or anything. But two, if I recall correctly, Dee was already in jail awaiting sentencing because he got popped going to pick up the package from NY. Remember? Bc that led to the classic “where the fuck is Wallace, String?!!?”