Grade 8 was finally over, my days at Naire Middle School South were done and I could now enjoy two months of peace away from schoolwork.
"I wonder how Grade 9 will be..." pondered Aneesa.
"Why are you already thinking about next year ? Think about vacations, school is over." argues Quannell as he puts his arm around my neck.
"Look at you two..." teases Aneesa. I smile at her.
"Let's go take the bus." I say, changing the subject.
"Nah." I turn around and see Tyrell. Nate and Izzy were walking behind him.
"My dad is picking us up today." explains Nate, smiling brightly.
"Ace has summoned us for an assembly." adds Tyrell.
"Cash's car is big enough for all of us ?" I ask.
"Um no... That's why he's taking the Gang's van." responds Nate with sass as he shoves his hands into his cargo pants' pockets.
"I told you guys ! Quann and Titi are dating !" marveled Isabel.
"What ?" shouted Nate. We all laugh. Asad walks towards him and pats him on the back.
Later, Cash arrived and drove us to the crib. Nate sat in the front next to him, Izzy, Neesa and I sat in the middle row and the boys sat at the back.
"What's the announcement about ?" asked Nate.
"There's a new member." Shigeru peeked at the rear-view mirror and smirked.
"Is it a girl or guy ?" asks Isabel.
"Is it a man or a woman ?" asks Aneesa.
"It's...a new member of the Silvers gang. Just wait."
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"Stand tall !" Shouts Cash cheerfully. We arrived at the crib 10 minutes before. As it was an assembly, all Silvers were out in the back of the house making a half circle in front of the little podium where Ace stood alongside Cash, Sky, Blu and Wave. "Respect." continues Shigeru with a loud throaty voice.
One, two, three, four, five
"I can't believe you're still counting." comments Quann. I look at him in surprise.
"How...did you..?"
He grins. "You blink five times every time we bow." He puts his hand against the back of my head and brings it closer to him. He gives my forehead five kisses.
"Today marks the 18th anniversary of the foundation of the Silvers Gang." Ace begins to talk on the podium. " The Silvers Gang was founded June 26th 22'38, by Sky, Lala and I. We started off as 3 and we quickly rose up to 97 faithful members. We have lost a bunch but we haven't forgotten them. Today I would like to welcome a new addition to the crew." A boy walks up to Ace. He's a caucasian boy with dirty blond hair and bright blue eyes. "Kyle Michaels is his name. Kyle, you will now be going by the name Link. I hereby declare you, member of the Silvers Gang. The people you now see around you are now your crew, your people, your family, your friends. Welcome." adds Ace.
We immediately applauded the arrival of Kyle and he bowed in front of us. Getting off the little podium, Nate and Tyrell marched to him and the rest of us kids followed.
"What's poppin' Link ?" chatted Nate.
"Call me Kyle."
"How old are ya, Link ?" commented Tyrell, slightly invading his personal space.
"I'm born on April 9th 22'43." replied Kyle.
"We asked for your age, not biography, Link." added Aneesa, crossing her arms. I rolled my eyes at their attempt to intimidate the newbie. I expected Izzy to butt in but she stayed quiet, silently investigating the boy with narrowing eyes. She didn't seem to be fond of him.
"I'm 13."
*It's the June 26th year 22'56.
Nate and Tyrell are 8 turning 9.
Izzy is 11 turning 12.
The Daoudi twins and Quann are 14. Tamika is 13 turning 14.
Tanisha and Jordan are 14 turning 15.
Denzel will turn 23 while JJ and Kelvin are 23.
Rayan and Wave are 24.
Diego is 27.
Ace and Cash are 36.
Skylar is 38.
"How'd you wind up here ?" asks Quannell.
"I'd rather not say."
"Well nice to meet ya. I'm Asad, 14."
"Na-te, 9 years old."
"Ty-rell, also 9 years ol-d."
"Quannell. 14."
"Tamika, 13."
"Like me !" said Kyle.
"No, I'm older." I corrected him.
"I'm Aneesa. I'm 14."
"Are you two dating, you guys look so much alike ?" Kyle asked Asad.
I wouldn't think of dating but he was right. They looked alike, even while being un-identical twins. Their faces barely looked the same, all they had in common was their long, wavy dark brown hair and brown eyes. They dressed very differently too. Asad was always in oversized sweats with multiple silver chains and silver rings on basically each one of his fingers. Aneesa on the other hand, is mostly wearing fits that are tight to the skin. With her body, I would too. She wears one necklace that her grandmother bought for her and sometimes rings on her middle fingers.
"I'm getting curtain bangs and I'm dying my hair a lighter color." sighed Aneesa.
Kyle looks at Quann and I. "You two look a bit alike. Are you two siblings ?"
This child for real ?
"Dating." I sigh. The only thing Quann and I have in common are our dreads and skin tone. The newbie's eyes shift to Isabel.
"What about her ?" he asks.
"Izzy." states Isabel strictly.
"Yo guys, we're getting tattoos today." Interrupts Jordan. His eyes were bright and sparkling. The sparkles were so contagious that gradually all of our eyes were filled by them.
"Ace wants us all to have it." adds Tanisha.
"Even us ?" asked Tyrell and Nate at the same time. "Jinx ! Double Jinx ! Triple Jinx !" they paused.
"Jinx !" shouted Nate. "I won."
"Yeah, even you two...strangely." replied Tanisha.
"I want one on my ankle !" says Aneesa
"I want one on each of my right fingers." says Asad.
"I thought kids weren't allowed to get tattoos..." wondered Isabel. That realization made the sparks in our eyes fade away.
"Yeah, since when can kids under 17 get tattoos ?" I add.
"If we can't go to a tattoo shop, we'll bring the tattoo shop to us. Ace isn't dumb." says Jordan with a smirk. Tyrell and Nate glanced at each other, faces lighting up.
"Also all of us are getting the same one on our right arm." clarifies Tanisha.
"As a symbol for our gang, most of us already have it. For those who want more than just one, just ask Ace. Let's go inside, the tattoo guy is here." says Rayan, popping out of nowhere. We follow her inside and each one gets a tattoo on our right arm. Aneesa gets one on her ankle. Asad on his right hand's fingers. Isabel gets one behind her ear. Tanisha gets one on both arms.
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