CHAPTER 2
The bell rang for dismissal. I couldn't be any more happy just to get out of this room. In the middle of class the principal had came in for some kid who was "disrespecting the teacher". Of course I didn't necessarily care, I wasn't doing anything anyway. Just scrolling through social media on my phone every now and then and acting like I was actually doing something. I just had things on my mind, like what we were having for dinner that night, what I was doing that weekend, which was nothing of course because I'm a nerd and spend all my time in my room online or on netflix, and then finally what was happening after school at Jake's.
There was a part of me in the back of my mind that said maybe this is a bad idea, that I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. That I'm gonna regret even going to his house. But there was a big part of me that didn't care. A part of me that said "you're a teenager, it's okay to do dumb things. Live while you're young, right?" And as you can guess, I listened to that dumb, outgoing part of me, skipped the bus ride home, and walked to the neighborhood that this guy lived in.
I recognized the neighborhood, Oryx court. This was the part of town that you wouldn't dare to go in if you were in your right mind. The kind of neighborhood where all the druggies and the delinquents of the town lived. Maybe it was because the rent was cheap, maybe it was the only place they were welcome. Who knows. Either way, this neighborhood is the worst. And my dumbass decides to go in it.
The minute I had got past the sign that said "Oryx Court" with "Saints" spray painted on it I got this eerie feeling in my chest. Like my mind was telling me, "turn back, you stupid girl. You know you shouldn't be here!" My conscience needed to shut up.
The Saints were a gang in this town, the gang had been around for over 50 years. My parents often talked about the memories they shared about living in the gang filled city. Their was multiple small gangs through out town, the Saints being the most famous. Then came their rivals the Costellos. The Saints and the Costello's have had problems with each other ever since these gangs started.
Oryx court was an area the Saints had taken over, meanwhile the Costello's held another side of town.
I looked at the worn houses and the faded and rusted numbers on them until I found the right one, 116. The house would have been nice, if it was actually taken care of. The house was brick, your average different shades of reds and oranges with a traces of black writing. Spray paint. The shutters were a nice red, the kind of deep red most girls wear on their lips in the fall. They were basically hanging on one hinge. Some had holes and cracks in them. Basically this house was ready to fall apart. The yard was unkempt, the grass hadn't been cut in at least a month, weeds were wrapping around the fence as if it was a little child clinging to their parents leg begging them not to leave. The gate leading into the yard had a "KEEP OUT" sign hanging. Not only did it have a few bullet holes in the damn thing, it was hanging on to the fence just barely. Like a person holding on for dear life onto the edge of a cliff. Sometimes I feel like that, like I'm just barely hanging on. If life was to remove every little bit of strength I had, I would fall to my death.
