CHAPTER TWO

The rest of the school day went by relatively peaceful, thank fuck, with no one starting any fights with him or anything. He just did the classes, ate his lunch and made sure he didn't stand out. He cleaned himself up in bathroom after the fight so except for a few new rips in his clothing no one would be able to tell he was in that brawl earlier. Since the only witnesses were skinheads and ABB the others in his classes didn't try to talk to him about it as rumours had not seemed to have spread yet about who had been involved, only that a fight had occurred. When school finally finished he was just bloody glad that bastard of a day was over and he could head home.

The first thing he did as he walked through the front door, was to take a quick, hot shower, get changed into jeans and a hoodie and went down to the kitchen to fix himself and his mother a small meal. Putting her meal in the fridge he brought his out and started eating as he sat on the couch. Now as he relaxed on the couch next to his mother who was in her usual zombielike state, he found himself anxious, siting on the edge of the cushion. He didn't like the calm before the storm, would rather in fact get this whole thing over and done with.

It seemed fate agreed with him as he only had the time to replace his mother's drink and just get comfortable again before he heard a knock on the door, someone calling out his name as they did so. Sucking in a deep breath and releasing it slowly, he got up to see who was out front. On the way out as an afterthought he grabbed the billy club he had "found" recently, tucking it into the back of his jeans. Shouting out a goodbye to his mum, she grunted in response and reached for her beer, not seeming to care what was happening outside of the tv screen.

He made sure the club was fully secure just as he was opening the door as while he was pretty sure this was the Empire it never hurt to be a little bit paranoid in case another gang was out there or in case the Empire actually did attack him. Closing the door and making sure it was locked behind himm, he turned to see standing in the front yard four guys from school that were vaguely familiar and one older guy he didn't know but was being deferred to by the others. He looked to be in his mid-twenties and was attired in nazi symbols on his clothing along with the tattoos associated with the Empire as were the rest of them just in lesser amounts.

The leader grunted and gestured with his head towards John to follow along, so he did, making sure to stay a few steps behind them. He pulled the hoodie up to hide his face in case anyone would recognize him and think him part of the E88. Walking in silence as the group laughed and joked together up ahead, he did notice that while some of the jokes were funny most were downright crude and of course racist.

One of the younger guys he sorta knew from class broke off from the group and walked back to where John was following a short distance back.

"Hello John, I'm Mac"

He said as he extended his hand for John to shake

John grudgingly accepted his handshake while wondering if "Mac" was his real name but decided he didn't care enough to ask and if he did would the answer be the truth anyway.

"I saw the fight with that spic in school earlier"

Mac said with a grin

"You were a bit rough but nicely done. we were going to ignore it as you seemed to have it under control but when we saw him go for that knife, fukin' yellow coward, we decided to step in, big Steev just got there first out of us all"

"Thanks for that, but I could have handled it"

John says as he lied, against a knife he would have been in a lot a trouble but he didn't want to admit it.

"No need to thank us, after tonight it will all be squared" Mac replied

"So uh just tonight is it and then we are even?"

John asked nervously.

"Of course, fairs fair, unless you decide to keep hanging out and join us" he said

John didn't reply, he didn't know how to diplomatically decline so chose silence as his answer.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes until they came to an entrance to an alley with the leader gesturing for John and Mac to re-join them.

"Ok same deal as every night but since we got a newbie here I'll go over the plan for what usually happens. Right, Mac, you're the dealer, Pete's going to stand over there and handle the cash, Joe and Troy with be muscle, you two go and hang out a lil bit down the alley and keep an eye out."

Turning to John he adds as an afterthought

"Ah, the new guy, you head down with Joe and Troy, you can help them with backup in case any trouble starts but since we are so far in our territory it's unlikely. I'll just be watching from that car over there in case anything goes wrong"

He says as he starts walking to the car.

"Oh, and the names Darryl, don't fuck up and we'll have a nice quiet night, you hear?"

With that said the group split up, John didn't see where the "product" came from but suddenly Mac had enough to sell to dozens of druggies tonight or so his inexperience thought. He did not like being involved in selling drugs in any way shape or form but he rationalized that the drugs will be sold without him there anyway. To be frank he was just happy that they didn't want him to prove his worth with a violent hate crime of some sort.

So he did what he was told, he stood in the shadows and kept an eye out for anything, passing capes, shifty customers who might attack, the cops etc. It was turning out to be pretty uneventful actually, someone hands the cash to Pete, Mac gives them the drugs at the end of the alleyway with the two keeping separate, can't have the drugs and money together they said, more prison time if they got caught.

John stayed at his post until about twelve thirty am according to his watch and was starting to nod off, wondering if he could slip away unnoticed as he still had school tomorrow when a pickup truck arrived dropping off some more Empire members. They were taking over their roles so he guessed he'd be able to sleep soon he thought with relief, the money went to Darryl who drove off to deliver it to wherever it was supposed to go and the rest of the his group started to disband to go home. The second group took up the same spots and system quickly. As John was leaving he was tossed something by Mac, which turned out was a small wad of bills, looking to be over a hundred dollars easy there at a glance.

"That's your cut for tonight, you did a good job, consider the favour returned but if you want that much again tomorrow night talk to me at school and I'll see what I can do"

John wanted to say no straight away, he hated the empire and what it has done to the city but what they were doing tonight didn't seem too bad, it was just drugs and they would have been sold anyway without him. It wasn't like he bashing anyone for the being wrong colour or anything like that and also he really needed the money for the bills and maybe get a carer for his mother.

As he walked home in silence, fingering the money in his pocket as he trudged along tired, he debated with himself if he should tell them thanks but no thanks or tell them he will see them again tomorrow night. Once home it was all he could think about, even when he was undressing and in bed watching one of his favourite Earth Aleph shows. It was still on his mind until sleep finally overtook him at about two am