The Gang Life

It was the first day of my sophomore year and I was not looking forward to it. I just wanted school to be over already even though it just started. I dreaded this day ever since the end of school last year. The only thing that was going to be good today was ditching school to hang out with my gang. I had fun ditching school last year and was the only thing I was looking forward to this year. We had done a lot of stuff that wasn’t boring while everyone else was in school.

“Taco,” Mom yelled.

“Yes,” I said.

“You should head to school so you won’t be late,” she said.

“Ok,” I said as I ran out the door to get my bike.

I rode toward the school and then went down the alleyway before the school to our hang out. It was near the other side of town so it was a far ride. As I got close I could see Tyler my best friend and the leader of our gang and Dwayne our seller talking about something. Once they saw me they stopped talking. It was suspicious because they always tell me if we’re doing a job.

“What were you guys talking about?” I asked.

“Business,” Tyler said.

“What kind of business?” I asked.

“Nothing you need to worry about right now,” Dwayne said loudly.

“I’ll tell you about it later” Tyler said.

It made me more suspicious not knowing what it was about and why Dwayne seemed angry I asked about it. I just hoped whatever it was it wouldn’t end up landing me I jail. I walked into the hang out and sat down and tried to think what the job might be about. I thought about the possibilities and I knew the job had to be really important if he is that worried about it. Tyler walked in and sat down beside me and said, “Don’t worry about Dwayne he’s just worried the job won’t work out for us.”

“What is the job anyways?” I asked.

“We are planning to rob the bank downtown later this month,” Tyler said.

“Why later this month?” I said.

Tyler said, “Because they’re getting in a big shipment of money.” Which made me think? “Why do we need the money?” I thought about why we might need it but nothing added up to why which made me suspicious. It made me think that Dwayne might owe someone money and if he doesn’t get it he could be in trouble. “Why are we robbing the bank?” I asked.

“Dwayne borrowed money from another gang,” Tyler said.

“What if he doesn’t pay them back?” I asked.

“They will kill us all if he doesn’t,” Tyler said.

Once I heard him say that my heart sank. I’m too young to die; I kept telling myself I just hoped that we would get the money. If we didn’t I didn’t want my mom to know I was in a gang and that I died do to something like that she would be so disappointed in me. I walked outside and thought about all the stuff that could go wrong. I even thought that what if we do give them the money but they still try to kill us. I just wished I was never told about it. It would have been better off not knowing that I might die. I started to walk home but Tyler stopped me he said, “Don’t worry about it the job I’ll make sure nothing happens and if anything does I’ll take a bullet for you.” It was great knowing that he cared and would rather save my life than his own life. I just hoped that nothing bad happened so everyone would be safe and that everyone would live through that day once it comes. As I was walking home I realized my mom was still home but I didn’t care if she was I just wanted to sleep and try to forget all about everything that I found out. I walked in my front door and my mom asked what I was doing home but I didn’t say anything and just kept walking to room. I pushed my door open and walked into my room. I hadn’t realized I slammed my door shut until my mom came upstairs and asked what was wrong but I just ignored her and kept trying to fall asleep. I woke up and looked at my clock it was 2:00 in the morning. I got up and grabbed my jacket and walked out my door and down the street. I didn’t realize where I was going until I ended up at the school so I just sat down on the steps and thought about everything. Out of nowhere I fell to the ground, I looked behind me and I say a man with a baseball bat. As soon as I looked at him he asked me where Dwayne is hiding at. I told him “I haven’t seen him all day.” The man gave me a questioning look and walked away.

“What do you want from him?” I asked the man.

“We want our money.” The man said.

He walked away into the darkness. I touched my head where he had hit me and realized I was bleeding. So I ran to Tyler’s house, he was about to leave then he say me running toward him.

“What’s wrong.” He said.

Then I got closer to him and he saw what that I was bleeding. He jumped in his mom’s car and drove me to the hospital as fast as he could. We ran into the hospital, Tyler started yelling for someone to help me. When they final got to me I was pasted out. They hurried and rushed me into the E.R. When I woke up a few hours later my mom was sitting in the chair next to me. She saw me move a little and started crying with happiness that I was going to be fine. The doctors came in and did some test to make sure I was going to be completely fine and even said I could go home tomorrow morning. Tyler came running in once he was able to and was happy to know I was going to be fine. It was really nice knowing he stayed at the hospital the whole time just to make sure I was fine. It made me realize that Tyler was a great friend.

The day finally came which meant it was time for the job to take place. Tyler was getting everything ready; he checked everything 4 times so he knew we would all be safe. Dwayne was sitting in the chair outside our club house. I could tell he was really worried about the job and about giving the money back to our rivals. Tyler gave us the signal that he was ready to go. We rode down town to the bank. The employees were locking up the bank. One of the employees walked outside to take the garbage out and go home so we caught the door before it closed and made our way in the bank. We walked to the vault and got the plasma cutter out that we were using to get into the vault. Dwayne started to cut the locking mechanism on the door. Once he was done Tyler grabbed the handle and pulled and it came right open. I walked into the vault with the bags and started to grab the money. Their had to have been millions of dollars in the vault. As I filled the bags full I threw them to Tyler and Dwayne. After I filled all the bags we started to head out of the bank. I heard a noise and stopped dead in my tracks and looked to see what it was. As I look around the corner I saw the man who attacked me a few weeks before.

“What was the noise,” Tyler asked.

“It’s the man who attacked me before,” I said frightened.

When I looked again I say more people standing there looking around the bank. Dwayne looked around the corner and told us “it’s the people who I owe the money to.” Once he said that my heart sank.

“Why would they be here,” I asked

“I’m not sure,” Tyler said but let’s get out of here before they see us. So we headed to the back door quietly and made our way outside. We ran to our club house to count the money. Once we got there I handed the bags to Tyler and sat outside. Once they counted the money Tyler walked outside and sat down next to me.

“We got enough money to pay them back,” Tyler said to me.

“Good now let’s give them their money so I can stop worrying about it,” I told him.

We headed downtown to the club that they told us to meet them at. We walked in and a man told us to follow him, he led us to the back room of the club. When we walked in we were greeted by the man who attacked me before. He told us to sit down and relax.

“So you have my money,” he asked.

“Yes,” Dwayne said as he set the bags on the desk in front of us.

The man looked through all the bags counting the money, and then he said “you can go now.” As we started to walk out I heard a gunshot, and then I blacked out. I heard Dwayne and Tyler yelling at me but when I tried to talk to them I couldn’t. I woke up later in the hospital and looked around wondering how I got there. I pressed the button that called the nurse in and asked her how I got there but she didn’t answer and left the room. Moments later my mom, Tyler, and Dwayne all ran into the room. My mom was in tears and Dwayne and Tyler looked like they had been crying too but I know they wouldn’t admit to it. My mom was saying something but I couldn’t understand her over her crying. Tyler walked over and asked how I was doing, “Good since I’m still alive. What happened anyways?”

“We were leaving the club when the guy who attacked you before pulled out a gun and shot you,” Tyler said.

I couldn’t believe I got put in the hospital again I was glad I was still alive and going to be fine. The doctor walked in and told me it was good to see me talking again.

“Where did the bullet hit me?” I asked the doctor.

“The bullet grazed your lung, luckily it wasn’t over inches more or you wouldn’t be here right now,” the doctor said.

I was amazed that I was that lucky it barely missed my heart. My mom, Tyler, and Dwayne were amazed but really thankful that it wasn’t over a couple inches more. I was happy I didn’t have to worry about Dwayne owing that man money anymore because if he did we would be in a lot of trouble. The doctor told me I could go home tomorrow so I went to sleep and tried to forget about this terrible day. I woke and called the nurse in so she could get my mom. I got up changed and once I got home I fell asleep again. My mom woke me up and told me Tyler was here, he walked in and sat down.

“You’re a great friend,” I told him.

“Thanks man,” Tyler said.

“You’re the great friend I’ve ever had,” I told him and patted him on the shoulder. He winced in pain, “what’s wrong man?”

“After you got shot that guy was going to finish you off but I saved you, I took a bullet for you,” he said.

“Why did you do that,” I asked.

“Because you’re my best friend man and I promised that I would take a bullet for you if I had to,” he said to me.

I couldn’t put words together to say anything so instead I got up and hugged him. It was truly the greatest thing ever I never thought someone cared enough to take a bullet for me but Tyler proved that, he did and I truly thanked him for that.