Stay { a Joe Mazzello Story }

XIX

*Joe's POV *

I could feel my hands shake as I tried to find where to start on my past . Jenny put her soft , warm hand over mine and placed her other under my jaw . She gently moved me so I could face her . Her bright , green eyes were filled with worry and concern, her cheeks flushed.

"I...I was in a..a um ....a gang ." I confessed, taking a deep breath . Her raised eyebrows dropped and her lips parted a little as she stared at me , expecting me to laugh and say it was a prank .

"You're joking ?" She said , her head tilted down . I shook my head . She leaned back and looked up at the ceiling for a few moments . She sighed and looked at me . I couldn't read her face . There was notes of anger , confusion, and frightful .

"Go on , and I want every detail ." She said seriously, crossing her legs . I looked down and began to tell her .

"When I was 16 , I was pretty popular with everyone , yeah ? I already had that , but I wanted more . I met this guy named George. He was so persuasive and clever I immediately began hanging out with him . He then told me something that totally excited me . He told me that he was part of the "Scarlet Gang" ," I started, watching her jaw drop and her eyes expand .

"It intrigued me , really . He invited me and I soon became part of the group. It started off pretty innocent at first , just being even more respected at school than I already was , and somehow I had even more girls attract to me , don't ask me how that happened. Anyway, I absolutely was soaking up all the attention , and I loved it even more than I had before ."

I grabbed a pillow and squeezed its edges to give me something to do instead of looking at her while telling her this dreaded story .

"Skip Forward to College .
I remember doing something with George one day , leaning against our motorcycles and smoking cigarettes, watching the cars shoot past down the road . We were outside of the building where all the members met , but for some reason we weren't allowed in this particular meeting . We had to stay outside until they were finished . Suddenly , one of them came out . They told George to wait and pulled me in . With my stupid leather jacket on and a cigarette hanging from my mouth , I stood in front of all them , waiting for what they wanted me to do ."

I looked up at her , she was intensely staring at me , her eyes burning into my soul . I quickly looked down and continued with the story .

"They told me they had to take care of special "business" . I thought, "it couldn't be that bad , I've seen people get killed and I've gotten drunk and have done some things , what's the worry?" God , if only I knew. They told me the college I was going to , there was a girl . A girl named Jennifer Ford. They told me all about her and such . They said I needed to get to know her . Flirt with her . Charm her. I thought too easy , right? They didnt tell me why , they just told me what I needed to do ."

"I met her at a college party . She was drunk, and it made it easier . Turned out we had friends that were friends , so it made it easier . But we didn't even actually talk . I had a week to at least get a date , I needed to do it fast . My pal ,Rami took me to a fashion show, where I saw her by coincidence. I ended up getting her number, and we went on a date. The same place they told me to go to . The park .I was thinking how easy all of this would be , to seduce her into whatever the gang had to do . It was a few weeks before I found myself actually liking her , and I kept wanting to see her and keep learning more about her , wanting to know why she laughed , what her dreams were , what made her smile at 3 in the morning. Since we went to the same college, I got the opportunity to walk her to her classes , continuously digging myself deeper in love. By then I couldn't stop thinking about her. I remember that I would get high with the rest of the boys I would just daydream about her , all day long. "