Ok I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry it took me so long to update. When I get a story idea I am on fire for the first several chapters I write, but then I lose my inspiration and stop writing until something prompts me to do so again. Anyway, I promise I'll try to finish this story within the next few weeks. Here is the long-awaited 15th chapter: Warning: This chapter is graphic, it contains substance abuse and violence.

Junior looked down at Kris, who looked more afraid than he had ever seen. "You need to tell me what is going on." She looked back at him, then looked at the dirt beneath her feet, dreading the fact that this was true. "I know." She took him by the arm and led him inside. As they sat on the couch, Dani's car pulled up.

Matt popped the trunk of the SUV and grabbed the first bag of feed. Dani jumped down from her seat and onto the dirt and dusted herself off. Matt looked at her and smirked. "That won't help much."

"Why do you say that?"

"We still need to carry these feed bags into the barn." Dani finished fixing her hair in her pocket mirror and looked back at Matt. "Or, YOU need to carry them in." He looked confused and she laughed at him. "Come on, I SUPPOSE I can help you." Dani struggled to carry in one bag and then watched Matt toss one over each shoulder effortlessly. After Matt put his bags down with hers, Dani motioned him to follow her inside. "I'm going to go get Kris and Junior, there is a lot of feed left." Matt nodded in agreement.

When they reached the house Dani opened the door to find the two of them sitting there in silence. Kris seemed to be having a hard time holding herself together. Dani sat next to Kris and looked at her, concerned. Matt shut the door quietly and sat on a chair opposite the other three of them. "What happened?" Dani began. Matt looked at Junior for some type of clue who in return stared at the ground. Matt took this as a "get outta here we are trying to have a private conversation". He had been very familiar with that certain type of body language because when his mom and dad had their problems they would give him a certain look. Matt got up and hinted at Dani to do the same. Kris caught onto this and said, "No, sit. You guys need to hear this too."

She began by explaining the situation with the two acquaintances and police earlier. Matt and Dani listened intently for the next part of the story. Kris kissed Junior. He looked at her, a little confused. "What was that for?"

"Because when I'm done telling you this I may not be able to do that for awhile."

She tried as best she could to tell them what happened without remembering the horrifying circumstances that had led up to it.

She began.

"You guys all already know that I grew up in Oakland. Well it's not exactly what you would call a utopia. My dad left me and my brother when I was really little, I don't even remember too much about him. It didn't really bother me back then, or even now for that matter, but after he left, my mom went downhill, and the effect that she had on me and Jace changed both of our lives forever. I don't remember much, but Jace used to tell me how my mom was before all this happened, He told me the memories he had as a kid, the Christmases my family shared, my mom and dad going to his baseball games, his parent nights at school, and other things. Those were all the nice things Jace told me about my mother when I was too young to remember her that way. All I remember about her is how she was after that, while I was growing up. He said that after my dad left, my mom was forced to sell our house in a good neighborhood and she rented out a trailer in a park in a bad part of the city. She was never home. She lost her job, and met a guy who introduced her into the drug trade. She sold drugs on the street in order to make money to pay the rent and buy food. Before long she was addicted to all these different kinds of drugs and she was never the same again. I remember Jace used to try to protect me when my mom came home high or drunk, and he would end up getting hurt himself, if not by her, then by one of her boyfriends that came there every so often.

When I was eight, Jace's mom came looking for him at our old house, and the public records stated where we currently lived. Of course the court granted her custody, since she was Jace's birth mother. He didn't want to leave me here alone with my mom, but in the end I'm glad he did because he didn't have to deal with her on account of me anymore. I still saw Jace occasionally, but I was all alone after that. As I got older, things with my mom got progressively worse. She went from partying and drugs on weekends to different guys in our trailer 24/7, along with partying, drinking, and drugs almost constantly. 95% of the time she was either not home, high, drunk, or passed out. I felt completely isolated and alone and hopeless. When I started high school at 14, I met my then-best friend Joanna. We ended up talking and hanging out together at lunch and during breaks and we found out we had a lot in common, she had been through a lot of the same things that I had. But she seemed to be so much happier. I spent as much time as possible away from home, Joanna introduced me to her boyfriend and some of her other friends. I started talking to them as well and found out even they had been through the stuff that I had. They all took care of eachother and defended eachother, no matter what. I so desperately wanted that, people to just be there for me, so I wouldn't always feel so alone. I remember they called themselves a "family". I hadn't heard that word in a long time. They said that they called themselves family because they stuck together no matter what, like a family would, because none of them knew what it was like to have a real family. They said there were hundreds of them, spread out across the state, but in our group there were only about ten. I asked Joanna's boyfriend, Richard, who seemed to be calling the shots most times, how I could become a part of this family that they always referred to. A voice in the back of my head kept telling me these people were in a gang, and that I would be too if I asked to be a part of their so called family, but I so desperately wanted to believe in the fact that maybe teens could take care of eachother when no one else could, that I ignored my instincts.

Kris paused and took a drink of the water that was sitting on the coffee table in front of her. "So, you were in a gang? Is that who those people were?" Junior asked. She nodded her head in shame. "It was stupid, I know." Dani motioned for her to go on.

Joanna saw my reaction when I was around them all, and told me she was afraid at first too, but that they would be there for me. I believed them. I was initiated a week later, and they had me tag a few houses, nothing too extreme because I was a female member, but I had never really done anything like that before. Of course I didn't do this alone, Winn helped me. That's when I met Winn, and that's why when I introduced him to you guys all I said was "an old friend." He went along with me that night to be sure I wouldn't "back out". I felt so guilty at first, but Joanna was right, that feeling eventually went away and was replaced by a feeling of invigoration, freedom, and I finally felt that maybe I had control over at least one part of my life. They had me do different things to promote the gang and in return I was offered the closest thing I knew to family, although now that I know what a real family is, none of it even comes close. The night of the car jack was the first night that I did something that I told myself I would never do. I almost backed out of it, but I was with five other people with me so I couldn't. When we got to the old parking garage where the car was parked, I saw a guy in a leather jacket leaning up against an old car. As I got closer I realized it was my brother. I hadn't known before, but he had been in the gang since I was eight and he was twelve. He gave me a hug and told me not to worry, that he did it all the time. I took in a deep breath and joined the rest of them, getting ready to hotwire the car to take it to the chop shop, when the cops pulled up with their sirens blaring. All five jumped into the car as quick as possible and sped off. Jace could have easily sped off in his car too, but I was so afraid and shocked that I couldn't budge, so he stood by my side. We both got arrested and that's how I ended up at Camp LaGrange.

Junior looked at her, "That doesn't explain why Joanna and her boyfriend came here."

They don't need a reason, that's how they are. When I was being initiated they clearly explained the rules, which is why Joanna repeated them when the two of them got here today. I thought maybe I was out since I went to jail, but apparently not, I guess I didn't listen to them well enough.

She didn't know why, but Kris seemed to get stronger and less upset as she told the story. Still, when she was done Dani moved over and put her arm around Kris as if to say "I'm here for you". The four of them talked for a little while longer, and Junior, Matt, and Dani took up most of the time asking her questions, because they had never been around or heard anything like this previously.

It got later, and Matt fell asleep on the couch and Dani went into her room to sleep, they all had to get up at eight. Junior and Kris moved into her room and sat on her bed in silence for a little while, not knowing what to say next in this awkward situation. However, Junior was worried so he was the first to speak. "So, the cops took them away, but are there others? Are you safe now?" Kris looked shocked and frightened. She was just so thankful that Joanna and her boyfriend were taken away that she completely forgot about the rest of them, surely to come looking for her as well. Junior saw the tears well up in her eyes and he put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. She did the best she could to stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks so she could speak. "There are others, I'm sure they will be looking for me too."

"Isn't there something you can do, like change your name?" She looked up at him and realized it might work. "I could try it. What else can I do?" He shrugged. She started debating about whether or not this could work and if it did, if it would be worth it. She shut her eyes and laid back with her hand on her forehead. When she removed her hand from her face, Junior wasn't there.