Chapter 11
"Max, you have a slip" My math teacher announced placing a yellow slip on my desk.
Damn, it was that grief group thing. I pack my notebook and pencil into my bag. I'm walking out of the class when Fang shoots me a worried look. It's so cute the way he worries about me. Imagine when he finds out I was tough gang leader, unbeatable street fighter, fast street racer Maximum Ride. He's gonna flip.
I shot him the tell-you-later look, and make my way out of class. I find my way to classroom B5. The window is tinted so you can't see inside. I open the door. Inside sat a dirty blond with green eyes guy, a dark girl younger than me with bright brown eyes, and a tan girl who look between me and the other girl's age with brown hair and a thin scare across her chest.
"Welcome, you must be Maxine our new member" an older women says now standing in front of me.
"It's Max." I say taking a seat.
"Before we start check in's how about we introduce our selves and who we lost." The lady said.
"Norris why don't you go first" The lady adds.
"Call me Paco. I lost my brother to his own gang during a drug deal." Paco says.
"Your Alexandra's Bro" I comment.
He looks at me this time as if he didn't really pay much attention to me before.
"How do you know him?" He whispers.
"He was a bud of mine back when I was working for The Eagles" I say admitting to my work with the east LA gang.
"I always liked Al. He always wanted to do better than O.G., original gangster. He always held hope, always said he was gonna get outta here save his bros' from the evils of the gang. You see Al only joined us to make sure you'd never have to choose between your future or your family's protection. He was strong, brave, and smart. One hell of a guy, but when Fuentes, the gang leader of that time, found out he was planning to leave the gang he blew a fuse. He ordered his own fellow gang members to kill him" I explain.
I see I have the whole room's attention so I keep going. "Everyone loved Al so no one really tried. Al didn't know about Fuentes intentions yet so Al didn't think twice when Fuentes ordered him to do a drug deal. He was shot during the deal. Alex was there when it happened. Alex shot Fuentes making me gang leader, but that's the past and this is the present." I finish.
Everyone in the room stares at me. I slouch in my chair as if to say 'I could care less'. I look into Paco to find him with understanding yet every sad eye. I turn to look at the dark girl next to him to find her eyes shadowing sympathy if not pity. The girl next to her wears horribly sad eyes like she felt the very pain he did.
"Okay, how about you go next Jennifer" The lady says.
"You know I prefer ma street name, Fly" The dark girl says.
Is it me or has everyone in this room somehow gotten involved with 'the streets'. I guess when you lose someone you do what everyone on the TV does because you don't know what else to do. I know that's how I felt.
But I wasn't like every other person in this room where they were either a druggie, a partier, an alcoholic, a illegal racer, a tough street fighter, or a gangster because I had done all of it.
I guess in trying it all I hoped there would be something that made me feel better, but they all did the same thing. They numbed you. They gave you a couple of blissful hours but they never cured you. No matter how fast you went, how much you drank, how high you were in a gang or how much you fights you won because at the end of the day your heart still ached even if could forget about it for a tiny bit.
The lady ignores her so Fly goes on "I lost my mother to suicide"
She looks at me as if to say 'You know her too?' in a snide attitude. I ignore her face and let her continue.
"My mom had bipolar disorder. She always goes from being happy to sad to whatever. One summer my sister and I went away to volleyball camp. She somehow decide that we didn't love her, and that she was alone in the world or at least that's what her suicide note said. She went to this beach she use to take us to before she was diagnosed, and hung herself" Fly says.
I relate to Fly in a lot of ways. Like the way she has her tough girl exterior. The way every mean thing someone says she takes a pang to the heart but pushes it back with her badass 'I don't give a shit' admitted.
"Thank you Jenifer how about you Miranda" The lady says.
"The names Lupita. I lost my two brothers and father in a car accident in 2010 . We were vacationing in Mexico during summer. I don't know how, but on our way to my grandparents' house the car somehow flipped. My mother went incautious so she doesn't remember anything and I was asleep." Lupita says holding in tears making her eyes red.
I give Lupita a sad smile. I see the whole room try to make her feel better. She gains her strength back, and whips off the tear on her cheek. The group acts like they felt her pain as if they were there for her for everything. Like a family.
"I almost forgot to introduce myself, I'm Penny" The lady says.
I nod and open my mouth to speak "I lost my sister to a house fire last year on Christmas eve." I finish keeping it brief because I still don't know if I can open myself up to these people.
"And how do you feel about that Max?" Penny asks carefully.
"I don't know. I guess like I'm alone, like she left me alone to fight the whole world without her" I say.
"Why don't we go around and say what we do to deal with our grief" Penny announces.
"I write music" Paco says but his eyes give him away.
He's done drugs to cover up how he feels about his brothers lost.
"Art" says Lupe.
Her arms give her away and I can tell she's done vandalism from the spray paint marks on my hands. Her pants also have a burn as if she had recently taken up smoking.
"Boxing" Fly says nonchalant.
I can tell this girl hits the gym every night punching the bag for everything wrong in her life.
"What about you Max?" Penny asks.
"Um... I use to drinking/party, gang, racing, street fighting. I think that's all." I say deciding to be straight up unlike everyone but Fly.
I look at everyone's stunned faces they see I'm not going to be like everyone else and lie.
"All I do now though is write. Helps me let go of everything." I tell them hopping they wouldn't have to go down the same road I did with figuring out what will really help you.
"You may have heard of me. My party name is China, my racing name is Dreamer, my friends nick name for me is Max M, and my gang leader name is Tyler" I say.
"Wow, thanks for sharing..Um..." Penny says struggling on what to call me.
"You can call me Max" I say.
Group ends at the same time as school. I walk over to my car. I find Fang leaning against my car waiting for me. He really is cute and unbelievable. I thought as soon as I opened up he would treat me differently, give me the very pity I hate, but he didn't. He treated me the same way he did when he first meet me.
"Hey" I say getting his attention from his hands.
He looks up at me with a crooked smile and replied "Hey you"
I smile at him.
"So you want to do something? We could go get ice cream" Fang nervously asks.
"Okay" I say laughing.
"But we have to go in your car because mines not as great" He says embarrassed.
I laugh at him, but hand him my keys, and get into the passenger's seat.