Under the Radar

Once Upon a Gang

"Good morning, class! Hope you all had a great weekend! Please turn to page 274 in your textbooks and continue to read on the trials of 1683." The teacher announced.

I pulled out my textbook and flipped to the page. "Hey bitch, I know something you don't." James whispered from behind me.

I was sure that I sat at least three desks away from him, so he must of moved. I ignored him. "You're new friends, they're not who you think they are. You thought I was bad, but I'm not the one that killed a man. They're in a gang, Mia. They will rape you and beat you over and over and toss you to the side like nothing ever happened."

Anger rose inside me and I growled, "You mean like you did?"

I felt him grip the back of my neck, "Yes. Exactly like I did. But when I did it, I had a little bitch go running to the police. But them? Do you know what they'd do if you were to rat them out?" He got closer to my ear, "They'd kill you. They'd make sure it was slow and painful, just like they did to their other victims."

"Get off me." I muttered.

"What? Don't believe me? Babe, it's so obvious, I mean c'mon! They stay in a group, they get in fights all the time, they stay quiet, and they disappear all the time. I sit at their lunch table for gods sake! I hear what they talk about. Why else do you think they'd talk to you? They just want you for what I've done to you. They know that you're quiet and easily intimidated. I they can get into your mind and make you think it's what you want. But we all know, that you're a little whore. We all know that you f*ck them because you want to. Just like when I-"

I don't really remember what happened; only that I blacked out and when I snapped out of it, James was on the floor with a bloody nose. The pain in my fist made it kind of obvious that I punched him though. Everyone was in shocked as James laid on the floor groaning in pain.

Not knowing what to do with myself, I grabbed my belongings and ran out the classroom. I decided to go to the principals office seeing how I'd probably be called down anyways. As I walked in, I noticed a familiar head of black hair in the far corner of the office. I walked over and sat beside him.

"Whoever you are, f*ck off."

"Jeez, Jax. I thought we were friends." I laughed.

His head snapped up and he smiled. Although, he lost the smile when he realized that I was in the principals office. "Why are you here? What happened?"

I gave a sad smile and lifted my hand to show him. "I think I punched James."

"You...think?" He laughed as he took my hand and looked at it.

"Yeah, he was saying bad things and I guess I got really mad."

"That's my girl!" We laughed. "What kind of things anyways?"

I looked down at my lap and pulled my hand away from him. "He was talking about you guys. He said that you guys... that you guys were in a gang. He said that you've killed a man and that you guys only talked to me because you guys wanted to ra-"

"Do you believe him?"

"W-what?" I stuttered.

"Do. You. Believe. Him?" He growled.

I frowned. "I don't know. He said that he heard you guys talking about it at lunch and that you go missing a lot and nobody knows where you go. And then you told me the other day that you had connections or something. But I don't want to believe that you're in a gang. I don't think you are, you're all to good for that. And if you are, I promise I won't tell. I swear!"

I looked up at him thinking he'd be angry. Instead, he looked genuinely upset. "You want to know why we go missing sometimes? My little sister has been in a coma for two years. The guys were close with her too I guess, so we visit her in the hospital. My connections? Yeah, they're my older brother. He's in the FBI. I don't see him often, but he's there when I need him. We don't even sit at the same table as James anymore, we sit with you guys. But even when we did, we never talked. We were on our phones. That's it. We aren't in a gang and it honestly upsets me that you would think such a thing. But I get it. We get in fights, we get arrested, we ride motorcycles and shit. We are known as bad boys, so why wouldn't we be in a gang, right?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say." He nodded at my apology. We sat in silence as the clock ticked. "What was her name? Your sister, I mean."

"Jasmine. She turned sixteen two months ago. Poor kid couldn't even celebrate her sixteenth birthday." I reached over and grabbed his hand to comfort him. "My brother, Jenson, blames himself. He was on a case and arrested this guy who was wanted in twelve states for murder. Turned out the guy had a partner. Well, the partner tracked my family down. Originally, he aimed to shoot me. But Jasmine...she pushed me out of the way. A fourteen year old girl saved a sixteen year old boy. It should have been the other way around," He cried.

I rubbed circles in his hand with my thumb as he cried into my shoulder. "She was such a little firecracker. Full of spirit and joy. When we found out that the bullet missed her heart, we were relieved. But her being in a coma... our lives changed. It's so dull without her around. But I made her a promise that I wouldn't let her go. So I visit her a lot. I go when I'm upset, or when I'm really happy. I like to tell her about my day and about my friends. I heard somewhere that even though they're comatose, they can hear you. So I want her to know that I'll always be around."

"You're a great brother, Jax. She's lucky to have you. May I meet her one day?"

He looked at my with hopeful eyes. "You want to meet her?" I nodded with a smile. "Yeah. You can meets her.... Thanks for wanting to."