“I told you to stay the fuck off our turf, Gareth.”
“And who’s gonna make me, Tomlinson?”
“We are.” The rest of my gang walks up behind me and cross their arms over their chests.
Jason Gareth is the leader of my biggest rival gang, the Surenos, here in San Francisco. His gang, if you could even call it that, has 6 people in it. It’s pretty hilarious how Jason thinks his group of pussies can take down my gang of 12, the San Francisco Kings. And we’re called the kings for a reason.
It’s getting dark and my gang and I were hanging out in the park on our side of the city. The Surenos know they don’t belong here, especially after dark when we’re most likely to be here.
“That’s really funny,” Jason scoffs. The rest of his group are standing behind him, looking a lot let sure than Jason.
“Let’s show him, Louis,” Max Garza, my right hand man and best friend since 3rd grade says.
I crack my knuckles in front of me the way my uncle taught me before he was shot in a drive by.
“Oh, I’m so scared, big boy knows how to crack his knuckles,” Jason taunts. I have to hold the laughter in.
“You have no idea how badly these knuckles could hurt you,” I warn him.
If he gets any more attitude with me I won’t hesitate to knock all of his teeth out.
“I’ve seen little girls dressed as fairies more menacing than you,” he tells me with a sneer. That’s the final straw.
I snap my fingers over my shoulder and my gang members and I attack.
I have my eyes set on Jason, two of my buddies helping me. He’s on the ground almost immediately, kicking his legs and flailing his arms. I smile to myself as I bust his lip.
“I told you to stay away!” I shout.
Tears mix with blood on Jason’s face and I stand up to move onto the next person. My two helpers, Max and a junior named Justin, continue to beat the shit out of Jason.
I step back to look for my next victim. There aren’t very many to choose from since the Surenos are just a baby gang but I’m looking for the toughest guy. If I can take him down, and I know I can, the rest of them will be too scared to come back here.
I watch as one of my other kings shoves one of the Surenos and his head hits a tree. His eyes roll back into his head and his body slumps to the ground. 2 down, 4 to go.
I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn around to find Max.
“Yeah?”
“Do you think they’ve had enough yet?”
“Absolutely not,” I tell him.
He shrugs and heads back into the mess of people and starts hitting one of the guys from the Surenos.
I watch as he punches him straight in the nose and kicks him in the stomach. I’m so interested in Max’s fight that I don’t notice one of the other guys walking up next to me. There’s an instant pain in my cheek and it only takes me a second to realize I’ve been punched.
“What the fuck?” I say. I ball my fist up and turn to swing.
Right before my fist comes into contact with the guy’s nose, I stop myself. I’m not really sure why, I’ve never had a problem with hitting anyone before.
I’ve never seen this guy before, he must be new to the gang. The only explanation I can think of for him coming up and hitting me like that is he hasn’t heard about me yet. Anyone who’s heard about me knows not to mess with me, let alone punch me in the face.
“Go on, hit me,” he taunts. There’s a happiness in his eyes I’ve never seen in a fight before and I’m not sure what it means.
I can’t bring myself to hit him, no matter how much I want to. He deserves it, he doesn’t belong here. His dumbass gang leader knows damn well that this is our territory and they don’t belong here so why can’t I teach him a lesson?
My fist drops to my side and I look at him. He has a smirk on his face and I want so badly to slap it away but I can’t.
“Get the fuck out of here,” I spit. He laughs to himself and turns on his heel. I watch as he walks off and the big group of gang members breaks up.
The Surenos walk away bloody and broken and my kings walk back over to me with smiles on their faces. Only a couple of them have cuts but nothing as bad as the Surenos’ injuries.
I decide I won’t tell them about the boy I let walk away without a scratch. They would never let me hear the end of it and Max would be pissed.
“I’m gonna head home,” I tell them. “Meet me back here tomorrow afternoon.” I grab my skateboard from behind a tree and head towards my house.
I live alone in a small house 10 minutes away from the park so it doesn’t take long to get home. I drop my skateboard into the bushes and unlock my front door.
I head to my room and strip down into my underwear. I’ve had a long day and I’m ready to hit the hay. I throw back the covers and climb into bed.
I was pretty tired by the time I walked through the front door but now that I’m in bed I’m wide awake. My mind wanders and I find myself thinking of my girlfriend. Well, Brittany.
She thinks I love her but she’s the most annoying girl I’ve ever met. The truth is, I’m only dating her because she’s easy. I’d never tell her that, though. If I did, what would I do for sex?
I’m supposed to take her out tomorrow night but I’m probably going to cancel. I really don’t feel like hearing her talk about herself for the millionth time.
Then, something weird happens. I find myself thinking about the boy from the park. I’ve never met him before, never even seen him around.
I wonder why I didn’t hit him. That is definitely not like me. I’ve never had any problem with violence even with my own father when I was younger. What was I thinking?
Then again, maybe he didn’t deserve it.
Of course he did, my subconscious tells me.
I’m confusing myself thinking about it and I’m not sure what to do. Maybe he’s not like the other gang members.
I fall asleep thinking about the boy with the curly hair I met at the park.