Overlooked

Chapter One: The Echo

   Switch, Cadillac, Warren, Reg, Lloyd, Jesse, and I were just walking back to our hood from the movies when I heard an echo. It came from under the bridge we were walking over.

     "Jess, you hear that?" I asked my half-brother.

     "Hear what Nett?"

     "That echo, it sounds like a boy's voice." I looked at how far a drop from the bridge would be. About 10 feet.

     "What? From where?," Cadillac asks.

     "Under the bridge," I said while taking off my jacket and throwing it on the ground. Then I jumped off the bridge.

      "Annette!," Reg yelled. I landed on my feet and hurt one of my ankles.

     "Hijo de puta!"

     "Annette, are you okay?" Jesse asked.

     "Yeah, just a twisted ankle, y'all comin' or what?" I say, my voice thick with my southern accent.

     "Just a twisted ankle?" Jesse questioned, concern evident in his voice.

     "I'm fine," I insisted. 

     "Switch, don't be dumb, you're gonna get hurt," I heard Jesse tell him. Switch then landed next to me. Switch has pale grey-green eyes and dark black hair slicked back in a ducktail. He's easily the most daring of our gang. Switch's real name is Thomas, everyone calls him Switch or Switchblade though because he has a scar running down the right side of his face that he got from a switchblade (in a rumble). Switchblade was closely followed by his best friend, Cadillac. Cad had dark brown curly hair and eyes a slightly lighter brown. He's the only member of the gang that keeps their hair short. Cadillac's also the funny one of the group, I've never met anyone he can't make laugh. He's also good with cars, hence the nickname. Both of 'em have Italian parents. Lloyd, the best fighter of us came next, blonde-haired and green-eyed, he's also the best looking of us. He's the heartthrob of the group. Warren came last. Jesse must've talked Reg out of it. Warren has brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles. He usually keeps his hair in the pompadour style like Reg. Warren's Warren. You can't explain him. Average, maybe? I don't know. He's kind of like our glue though. He resolves our issues. Especially the problems between Lloyd and Switch, those two would've ripped each other's throats out if it weren't for Warren. Our gang would've split up by now if it weren't for him.

     I heard a male voice groan, coming from under the bridge. I ran towards the voice, thankful that I was wearing jeans when most girls would've been wearing skirts, searching through the darkness with the four boys on my heels. Cadillac began to hum "Can't Help Falling In Love" by Elvis Presley.

     "Will you shut up, Cadillac? I'm listening for the echo," I snapped at him. Cadillac stopped humming.

      "Woah now, Annette, we're all friends here," Warren said to me. Then I heard a weak, quiet voice.

     "Please...please don't hurt me." Then coughing. We all began to search for him. We may be hoods, but we don't hurt people outside of rumbles. Lloyd found the boy. He looked about thirteen, one year younger than me, and had brown hair, brown skin, and brown eyes. He was Hispanic, just like me. Well, I'm half, but still.

     "Please, please...please," he begged. Tears fell from his eyes. One of his eyes was shut, there was a cut that was bleeding on his head, blood was coming out of his mouth, and his knuckles were bruised. He put up a fight, a good one probably. So what broke this fighter? I thought. Then I answered my question. The people that beat him up left him for dead. And would have succeeded in it if it weren't for us.

      Lloyd started talking to the boy, "Hey we're gonna help you, okay?" The boy nodded his head but winced afterwards.

      "I'll scout up ahead for a way to get back on the bridge. You four, gently pick him up and follow me." Lloyd slid his hands under the boy's shoulders and the boy winced.

     "Gently, Lloyd, gently."

      "I'm trying, Thomas."

     "Are you trying to use my real name against me?"

     "Maybe I am, Thomas."

     "Calling me Thomas is not an insult, Lloyd," he said, emphasizing the other boy's name.

     "Stop fighting! Can y'all not fight for just a day?" Warren asked the bickering boys. The boys stopped fighting, realizing that Warren was right. They did fight practically every tree day. Warren's usually right when it comes to fighting.

     "Thank you, Warren," I say looking at him, then I turn to the rest of them, "Switch, put your hands under his legs, Warren and Lloyd, under his back, on opposite sides, and Cadillac, under his neck and shoulders." The boys (gently this time) picked him up and followed me back onto the bridge where Jesse and Reg were waiting. Jesse started yelling at me and then he saw the boy, the echo. That's when Jesse took control and took the boy to Mrs. Anderson, Lloyd's mom. Mrs. Anderson's a nurse and she helped Switch with his switchblade cut. That boy became one of us. His name is Jackie Escarra; we call him Echo.