West Enders: Full Chapter 1 •As I walked through the dark streets, the wind chimes blew in the sharp breeze, playing their eerie, taunting song into the dark night. I heard a scream of fear and distress. It was Charlie. We ran for the empty lot...• Chapter 1: I had never put much thought to what it would be like to live a normal #life. Doesn't everyone in my group? We were the no good delinquint bums of the city. We always ran into trouble. Especially with the cops. I had been in the back of a cop car before. It's not as exciting and crazy as you would think. You know, like how they make it seem in the movies. Stupid movie makers or whatever you want to call those people. They really need to start making their movies more realistic but I still dig them. Anyways, I am fourteen my name is Scott Jackson. I have dark brown hair and eyes with a decent build and average tan-white skin. am the youngest of four brothers with no parents. The oldest of us all is Ed or Eddie, the second oldest is Teddy and the one just above me is Tony. Tony is the the most boring of us all. He's sixteen years old and got expelled from shcool because he often came to class smoking or drunk. He also got in a fight with another student who was in one of the enemy gangs, the Shady Boys. They were called that because they always wore big dark shades around everywhere. Nobody has ever seen their faces without them. Anyways, Tony pulled a switchblade on him and the kid was just lucky enough to be alive because Old Man Mr. Duncan found and reported him to the Principal. Tony was pretty skinny but not too much with the basic regular brown hair with green eyes. Not too light and not too dark- for both hair and eyes. You could give him credit for his height and toughness although he is only just stronger than me. Now Teddy. Teddy, Teddy, Teddy. He was so handsome. All girls cooed over him when he walked by. The only turn- off he has is a long scar across the top of his forehead at the hairline but it was covered by his long, silky dark brown bangs. On his bangs, (which he had naturally cropped to the right side,) he had a blonde streak he got for free by a hairdresser he sweet- talked. His eyes were even darker than mine. His skin was a little darker too. We sort of looked alike. More than I did to Eddie and Tony. Those two were the alike pair like Teddy and I. Teddy was fun, lively, witty and never took anything seriuosly. Even when Tony got stabbed in the shoulder from the kid he jumped in the lot at school as revenge. There was just something about Teddy that everybody loved. Eddie was the strongest, most chiseled guy in in the group. Nobody but a couple of the Shady Boys tried to rile him up. That didn't end as well as they thought. He was stern and very mean. He never has been nice and I doubt he ever will be. He had almost the same hair and eyes as Tony, just a little lighter. Teddy looked most like our Dad and the rest of us had all developed our own looks. One night, a long time ago, three Shady Boys and two East End Kids came and raided the house for Ed, Tony, Teddy and I and Dad tried to protect us, so, he threw a broken bottle at one of their faces and it got the kid real good. But little did we know, one of the East End Kids was behind him and came around and stabbed him in the stomach with an over-sharpened little pocket knife sending him down. Mom came down and tried to save him, a Shady Boy came and shot her. Teddy was crying his eyes out on the floor with our dying parents. Tony called 911 and I was really young and I cried too. That's the only time I've ever cried since. I was only ten years old. Eighteen at the time, Eddie just stood there with a blank expression, at those who invaded. I could see the anger and sadness building up in him. He grabbed another bottle, ran over to one of them and clocked him hard on the back of his head and kicked him in the ribs when he fell on the now red carpet. The killers ran out dragging their buddy's unconcious body as Ed fired more bottles and rocks at them, swearing as loud as he could. Then the cops arrived the kids took off and Eddie realized that he should of kept them in. "Hey Scottie!" Teddy shouted cheerfully as he burst through the door of our low class little house. "How're ya doin' Bud?" "Good. Whatcha' got in the bag?" I asked curiously trying to open the bag slung around his shoulder. "Hey, don't be so snoopy, Scottie Boy. It's for dinner. But I ain't cookin' it." "I thought you liked cooking, Ted." I pondered. " No, I do. But not meals. I prefer the delacacies." He replied in a usual witty, cheerful way he used to bug Eddie. "I was being sarcastic. I'm like a mother!! I'm one of the only ones in this house who can cook! Ed can barely make toast without burning it and setting the toaster on fire. And don't even make me tell you about Tony!" " Yeah I dont know how he can make crap coloured pancakes without even burning them!! I just can't cook either. We'd be homeless if I tried!" I laughed. "Dude, we'd be better off homeless instead of livin' in this dump!! But that's not my sayin' 'okay' to firen' up that stove!!!" He exclaimed rustling up my hair. I laughed at that. It was like the good ol' days again. I miss not getting caught up in all of the drama of the other gangs. But then again, if I wasn't a part of it all, my #life would be really boring. Like a brick. Just sitting there in the middle of the road waiting to get thrown into a window. Mom and Dad would still be alive if we weren't a part of the gang, but I love the boys as if they were my brothers. Just then, Eddie and Tony walk in the door, covered in egg yolks. They stank horribly. "Rotton eggs? Again? Those West End Kids need new tricks. This is the second time this month!! Now come, children, wash up and I'll start dinner." Teddy sassed in a sly, sarcastic voice smiling. He shoved them through the bathroom door and threw a bar of soap in. "This is soap. You use it to wash yourself. And washing requires water, okay?" He slammed the door shut in hopes that Ed wouldn't bust through. "Shut up!! I think we understand what washing is. Great aim, Teddy, you got Tony in the head with the soap!" Eddie angirly exclaimed. Teddy winked at me and began to take the contents out of the bag and set them out accordingly on the kitchen table. "Good news by the way. I got a promotion! Oh, Scottie Boy! We're eatin' good tonight!" Teddy quit school because he was not only getting into trouble, the teachers told him he was a horrible influence for the newcomers. He didn't do the best either and he hated school. And he thought it would give him more 'character' and 'colour.' One time, a teacher asked to speak with his parents, and boy, was he upset with that. He came home all proud saying about how he slapped him silly. Teddy was a pretty special guy. "COME AND GET IT!!!" Teddy hollered whacking two large metal spoons together. We were having Chinese food for dinner. Tony and Eddie rushed into the kitchen. They fixed their own plates and sat down at the table. "Oh, Teddy!!! This is one of the biggest and best meals we'be had in months!!" I exclaim woth joy. We don't usually have good meals because we don't have a lot of money to go around for good quality meals. But now with Teddy's new promotion and raise, we'll have more money. Just then, Obi, Marty, Deuce and Charlie bursted through the door. Charlie actually walked in about ten seconds after with his hands in the pockets of his black leather jacket and his head facing downward. He looked up and he had a look on his face that was more sad than usual. He had another long, bloody gash on his face to add to his collection. "Hey T-Man!! What's cookin'?" Marty asked in his usual loud tone. You know what the whispering is of a regular human- being but Marty's is the average talking rate. He was an odd duck. "The real question is, what happened to Charlie?" Teddy asked sounding furious with Marty not caring about poor little Charlie. "Calm down, Man! It's not a big deal. He only has one little cut!" He replied. He walked over to the table and pulled a large handfull of noodles and stuffed it all in his mouth with his filthy black-tipped fingers. He then rummaged through the fridge and pulled out some of Teddy's home-made fudge. He walked over to the couch, sat down, turned on the TV and began to shove the fudge down his throat. Teddy ran over to him and slapped him in the back of thehead the way an angry Mother would do to her son getting in her way in the kitchen. "Don't touch my fudge!!" He shouted angirly, pullig the plate out of his hands. Marty got up looking angry. He then calmly smiled and took one last piece and then waved Teddy away. Teddy slapped him in the head again. "What was that for? I already learned my lesson the first time?" Marty shouted. "Just for the hell of it." Teddy replied with a cocky smirk. "Oh, yeah, real mature!" Marty said knocking Teddy to the floor. Marty tried his best to tackle Teddy but he just wasn't strong enough. "Nice try, Little Dude." Teddy laughed. Marty was an average sized guy with grey eyes and dark blonde hair. You could see that he was beginning to grow side-burns. When he got angry, his hands formed into quivering fists and he had 'The Glare' in which his eyes then turned into the grey colour of cat vomit. Obi was Jamaican and he moved to the country a few years back. His real name is Oblio but he just likes Obi better and it's easier to say.He is what you might call an extreme chicken ball fanatic. He was hooked on them for seven months. He was originally an East End Kid but he didn't like the way things rolled with them so he came to us. We really had to whip him back into shape because all he was eating for seven months was chicken balls. He looks like the average Jamaican guy, tall, broad-shouldered with dark brown eyes and thick black dread-locks that he beaded for special occasions. Charlie. Sad little charlie. He was fifteen going on sixteen in two months. His parents beat and cut him. He had two other brothers but one of them was brutally murdered. His Dad once left them for two years and then came back... And the. Left for another six months. Charlie had skin a little tanner than Teddy and dark eyes with black hair that he whipped around in the wind for fun. But you could always see that look in his eye. That "don't hit me" look. He had a lovely collection of scars- not all from his parents. Deuce was just there always caught in the middle. He was nineteen. He had pale skin with blond wavy hair and dark ocean-blue eyes. He wasn't that exciting. Teddy immediatly went to cleaning Charlie's gash. "This is alcohol I'm going to rub on it. Warning, this will hurt." I took a facecloth and shoved it in his mouth to bite down on. "Ready?" Teddy asked. Charlie nodded his head with a small look of fear in his eyes. Teddy slowly began to rub the alcohol on the cut. Charlie screamed and bit down hard on the cloth. Tony winced. "I'm sorry... I just can't..." He ran out the front door. "Hey! Tony, wait!" Eddie shouted running after him. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "So we're gonna steal some cigs, okay?" Marty confirmed. Charlie and I nodded. "Wait, do you think they're gonna catch us?" Charlie asked. "I mean, I don't want another cut." "It's 1965! We're fine. You're biggest threat is Billy." Marty re-assured. Billy was a Shady Boy. He was tall and chiseled with dirty blonde hair and angry green eyes. He was an extreme jock and was the only other guy in any of the gangs who had the strength to take on Ed. "Yeah, but what about George?" I asked. "I have learned their schedule with George. Right about now, he just ate and is goin' down for a nap." He replied. "Okay, are you ready? Go!!" Charlie and I put on sunglasses and flipped up the collars of our jackets and entered the store. Billy was organizing the shelves. George was nowhere in sight. Billy was watching us. Charlie waved him away. "I don't like no West Enders in my store." He sneered. "Your parents' store, actually." I corrected cockily. "Don't cross me, Westie. Don't cross a Shady." Billy said, almost shouting. "Shady or not, that's a good talent of mine. I don't want it to go to waste." I replied. "Now, be a good boy and let us finish our shopping." We continued on through the store until we arrived to the cigarette rack. Charlie looked around. Billy wasn't paying attention. "Clear!" He whispered and I began to stuff the little packages into my coat and jean pockets. Charlie began to take some too. "You think this is enough?" Charlie asked quietly and cautiously. "Yeah." I replied, "Lets go." As we were walking out the door, Charlie was struggling to zip up his coat pocket. Just then, one of the packages fell out and hit the floor with a surprisingly loud smack. Mrs. Harris looked up from the cash register and saw us running out the door with Marty. "Billy! Get George!!!" Before we knew it, the vicious crap-brown dog came bolting after us. We literally dove behind two dumpsters in an alley. George had his teeth caught on Charlie's jeans. He had to smack the dog in the head several times to get him off. "Okay, Marty, just so we're clear, we're never doing this again." Charlie huffed.