Spark of Flint

Chapter 3

1202 word count

Kaiden's P.O.V.

I just sent a reply to my sister that I won't be home tonight and sorry, that I can't help with the new foster. That I will be spending the night with a friend. I got done with my second job at 8. Now, I start my 3rd secret job. I am dead tired from working hard today but I need more money to support them during the winter for those rainy days. Those part times work you to the bone for barely any money.

"Bro, I can't believe you almost died this morning by a stray bullet. You better treat that dog to something special." says Josh. 

"No, kidding. I think I will take him out and spoil him rotten on my next day off. Any news on Marco?" I said.

He shakes his head no. Josh and his brother could be identical twins If it were not for the fact that they are 3 years apart. Josh has ink black hair with soft brown eyes. Josh's stature looks like a white farmer boy. He even has the farmer tan. His facial features are on the sharper side that the girls go crazy for.

His brother helped us get into the Sun Vipers biker gang. Our families struggle badly, living from paycheck to paycheck and needing to go to churches that give out food. Both Of our mothers are single. So, we had no choice, as the only men in our families, we had to get extra work for the summer. We got lucky getting initiated by the boss that looks over the drug supply. Zesty is the supplier of suppliers. The place where suppliers get their shit. All we got was a punch in the face and the gut and on top of working directly under him. Normally we would have gotten beaten senseless by a group of gang members. Zesty is ranked Fruity Orange and that is pretty high. That means you are part of the boss's inner circle. His word is law, unless someone of the same rank talks it out with him or a higher ranking member says so. 

We work in pairs. One being muscle and the other handles the drugs and money. It is done this way for security and safety.  We are called treads or grunts. Bottom of the hierarchy. Josh and I choose to stay at the bottom. Josh's brother Marco has been in the gang for a few years. 6 months ago Marco went to see if he could be part of the inner circle of the boss. That is one rank below Zesty. The start of the inner circle. Josh has not heard or seen him since he left that note. Almost anyone who read that note thought he lost his marbles. But we knew.

"I am going to become a Yellow Pepper. I will come back."

That is all he wrote. You have to be one of the higher ranks to even be invited to be an inner circle member. That is what happened to Marco. Those that accept the invention don't always survive the trials. They don't invite just anyone either. 

We are not far from a crack house. We were told not to sell in the house or too close to it. In case of an ambush from so many. There are the crazy ones that will try and get it by any means necessary if they don't have the money. 

It's hot out and the sun has not set yet. I am wearing a yellow hoodie with snake scales around the sleeves, hood, and the bottom, I keep it at Josh's. My mom and sister would rip me a new one if they ever found out. This hoodie would be a dead give away. Mom would figure out that grandma Mari has been helping me keep it a secret. Grandma Mari found out last summer. A week after I started she caught me on a corner dealing. Waited that next morning to call me over to interrogate me. Then helped me cover it up but not without a price. A Saturday or Sunday once a month I was hers. I was a slave for the day. That continued into the winter, so, that my mom did not catch on. 

When the sun was down enough I took off the hoodie and wrapped it around my waist. That was unbearable, I looked at my phone and it's 10. I have 4 more hours of this shit. Down the road you can see a few girls working the street. Skimpy ass clothing that doesn't let you imagine. I can't lie, I am enjoying the show. That is the only thing that makes this bearable. Not that I would ever go for one of them. I don't want my first time with a cum dumpster. I want my first time to be with a virgin or a girl that has not been with many guys. Now a days that is rare.

Finally, the last of the batch is gone at 12. Earlier than I anticipated. Josh and I start to head to Zesty's house a half mile away. We don't own any vehicles but we have bikes. We have to give him the money we made from tonight's batch. As we bike straight across a street I see a mural that has been popping up on buildings the last 3 years. It's the scene where the woman is kneading the souls from my dream. I stopped, seeing as it's not finished and there is someone still painting it. 

The first time I saw it I was shocked. I told Janet as soon as I got home one day with mom in the beginning of them showing up. There are some details that are wrong but it is the exact same scene in our dream. Janet thought I was lying and I had our mom take us up to the place where I saw it. We wanted to speak to the person who painted it. We had a lot of questions. We asked around. No one knew who was painting them. Like they appear over night. I am in a bit of disbelief. After all this time looking and I stumble upon them in the middle of painting it. Turns out, it was happening during the night. 

"Josh!" I whisper yell.

He slows down and hops off his bike. He gives me a look that says 'what?'. I waved him over to see what I found. 

"No way dude!", He said in a low voice,"After all this time and you find them like this."

We made a plan to hopefully not to scare the person. But that plan turns to scrap as we see a group of guys 4 or 5 big going down the road. You can tell by the way they are acting that their goal is to cause trouble. Me and Josh rush over staying in the shadows so the group doesn't notice us and to have the dude's back when they get this way. By the looks of it, the dude dressed in all black hoodie and sweat pants has no idea what is coming his way. He is too focused on his supplies.