Gangs Aren't My Style (A Black Death Novel)

Chapter 30 - Unleash the Antics

Gangs Aren't My Style

Book I of the Black Death Trilogy

PART TWO: Memories That Don't Seem To Fade

Chapter 30 - Unleash the Antics

"You wanna know what your sister and Damon did to me?"

James nodded his head cautiously, guarding himself against the answer. However, inside, he hid a smile. Since Damon had offered Ally his friendship, they had been playing pranks on the members of Black Death and James could visibly see the change taking place in her. She no longer walked through the halls with tense shoulders but instead as if she belonged.

"They decided it would be funny to..." The man was cut off as a scream came from down the hallway. James' back went rigid, his eyes filled with fury. He stormed towards the shower rooms of the gym, ready to avenge his sister to the death, but paused when he heard the distinct sound of her laughter. He could hear Ally shout, "Run!" and then she and Damon and rounded the corner, running all out towards him. James barely had time to move before they barreled through, his sister dragging Damon after her.

The reason for their sprint became painfully obvious when a moment later when one of his gang members came storming out of the shower, a towel the only thing wrapped around his waist.

"You need to control your sister, James!" he yelled down the hall, eyes flashing and respect for his superior forgotten. However, James could not be moved to find offense when he took in the remainder of the man's appearance. Glitter stuck to every inch of him, catching the light. The man sparkled so brilliantly that it was almost blinding to look at him.

James erupted into laughter and, seeing his reaction, the other men who had gathered to watch the spectacle allowed matching smiles to creep across their faces. The man stopped in front of him with a scowl.

"I don't know, Justin," James finally choked out as he stared at the sparkling guy in front of him, "it looks kind of good on you."

Ally burst into a new fit of laughter from further down the hall as Justin stomped away to his room, presumably to get himself cleaned up. The man would be finding glitter in his hair for weeks to come and James almost pitied him. Almost.

Still smiling, he turned to his sister. "How did you do it?"

"I unscrewed the showerhead and put in lifesavers and glitter. The lifesavers melted with the water and made him sticky so that the glitter would be able to cling to him. It actually worked out much better than I thought it would."

"Did you come up with that," James asked, seemingly innocently. "or is that credit owed to Damon?"

Ally scowled at him and crossed her arms across her chest in denial. "Of course it was my idea."

He smiled broadly and she narrowed her eyes when she realized he had been pulling her leg on purpose.

She pouted. "You're a jerk, you know that?"

"Yes, you've been meticulous to tell me as such many times before."

Ally arched an eyebrow. "Invested in a thesaurus since I left?"

"No," he replied cautiously. "Why?"

"Meticulous is a pretty big word for you."

Now it was his turn to scowl. "I'm not illiterate."

She shrugged her shoulders and turned with a flourish, muttering, "Could've fooled me," beneath her breath.

James wisely chose not to reply. Without his further instigation, Ally let the subject rest and instead turned her attentions to something that, in her mind anyway, was of much greater importance. Food.

She turned and began to walk away, shooting him a dirty look over her shoulder as she grabbed onto Damon's arm. "Come on Damon, let's go to the kitchen and see what groceries my dear brother has stocked the refrigerator with."

James crossed his arms with only mild annoyance when Damon grinned broadly and hastened to follow her without any further guidance. Still, he did not trust the two together and so followed them reluctantly, dragging his feet across the tiled floor.

Damon slowed to fall into step beside his leader, allowing Ally to take the lead (which she did with only one glance backwards to make sure that he was still following her and had not stopped).

When there was a few feet of desperation between them and her, Damon quietly observed, "She's really improving isn't she?"

"Definitely. I can't believe how much she's changed since she met you," James replied in an equally low voice so as to not be overheard.

Damon nodded, surprised by his own impact as well. "She just needed someone to be there for her, someone she could trust enough to tell her problems to. I know she trusts you, but it almost seems as if she doesn't like talking to you about some things. It's as if she doesn't think you'll understand."

"It's probably because I cannot be there one hundred percent of the time. I love her more than life but I have to run this gang. They need a leader, especially now that Daniil is missing. They need someone to take charge and assure them that everything will work out."

Damon only muttered a sound of half-agreeance, his eyes focused on the kitchen visible ahead. His steps hastened and soon he was walking beside Ally once more, leaving James alone to his thoughts.

These thoughts were many. There was only a few days left until the annual winter party and, despite the feeling of rightness that had slowly settled over him since his sister had begun to adjust to her new life, James could not shake the feeling that something was about to go very wrong.