Becoming One of the Gang

[Maddison]

Fifteen year old Maddison Monroe, was packing as many of the few clothes she owned into a duffel bag and her backpack. Her father had left almost immediately after she was born, and Maddison had never known him. Her mother had tried to raise her and her older sister, Lane, the best she could when Maddison was younger but now she was barely around. Her mother was gone for days at a time on drinking binges, and they were about to be evicted from their small ramshackle apartment. Even when her mother was around she either ignored Maddison completely while she drank, or tried to bum money off of her to buy more alcohol and screamed at Maddison when she hid her money from her and wouldn't give her any. Not that Maddison had hardly any money herself but she could see the writing on the wall as her mother continued to spiral downward on her way to rock bottom.


Maddison, or Maddie, as she liked to be called, decided she only had one option. She was going to go live with her sister Lane. The two had never been very close, and Maddison hadn't spoken to her very often in the years since she had moved out. She knew that Lane was part of some gang now, maybe even a leader or the leader of it, but Maddison had decided that anything was better than her current situation. Maddison zipped up her bags and headed for the door. It took her about an hour to walk and find her sister's apartment and it was after dark when she arrived. Maddison wasn't very comfortable being out alone after dark in her sister's neighborhood especially and she prayed that Lane was home as she approached the door. Maddison took a deep breath and knocked loudly on the door. "Lane are you home? It's me, Maddie let me in! Please!," Maddison pleaded as she waited at the door for her sister.

[Karuna]

the door opened to reveal a young woman with dark hair that was cut boyishly short, who looked half asleep until she saw Maddison standing there. "Holy shit kid, what the hell are you doing here this late?" She demanded, opening the door wide to invite the girl inside.
"I thought you were staying with Mom? what the hell are you doing out here?" She asked, concern painting her voice as she tried to figure out why a young girl would just show up after dark on anyone's doorstep. her tone was unfriendly in any way, just concerned an shocked by the sudden appearance.

"Make yourself at home...Do you want anything to drink?"


Lane could hardly imagine why the younger girl had just suddenly appeared, with luggage like that and was curious about what could have possibly prompted such a decision.

[Maddison]

Maddison winced a little at the greeting she received when Lane opened the door and saw her, but she quickly slipped inside. Unlike her sister, Maddie's hair came down a little past her shoulders, though it was a dark brown color and similar to her sister in that regard. She was a smaller girl with more of a petite but athletic figure and only about 5 foot 2 inches tall. "Nice to see you too, sis," Maddison replied, rolling her emerald green eyes at her sister, once she was inside.


"Well I was staying at Mom's apartment but I usually only see her if she is passed out. They are evicting us tomorrow, and I didn't want anyone trying to take my stuff in the process, so I thought I'd get out tonight. Besides I haven't seen Mom in a few days, so I just decided kinda last minute to come stay with you," Maddison answered with a shrug. Maddison could hear there was some concern in her sister's voice, and that was a relief as she wasn't sure how Lane was going to react to her arrival. When Lane told her to make herself at home she quickly dropped her bags in the floor. "Sure how about a beer?," Maddison replied when Lane asked her if she wanted something to drink, mostly just to see how her sister would react. She then took a deep breath and prepared herself to ask a question of her own. "Is it ok that I'm here Lane? I mean I'm sure I can find somewhere else to go if its not, I can leave in the morning you know. I've kind of heard some of things about you lately and ummmm.... I don't know is it going to be any better for me here than with Mom? People say you have some.....questionable friends."

[Karuna]

"you're too young to drink kid...Nice try." Lane answered with a smirk as she moved to the small kitchen and grabbed a soda from the fridge, handing it to her before she took a seat on the sofa.

"How do I put this? Are my friends questionable? Yes, I'm sure that many people would think so but. But as for you being safe here, yes you will be and as for it being okay. Of course. I mean I wasn't expecting to see my baby sister on my doorstep with luggage but I'm not about to kick you out." Lane answered. One part of her couldn't believe that their mother had become so close to rock bottom but then again, if she thought about it there wasn't really any surprise there.

"What do people say about me Maddie?" She questioned

[Maddison]

Maddie merely shrugged her shoulders and smirked back at her sister when she told her that she was too young to drink. "Worth a shot," she replied nonchalantly as she plopped down on end of the sofa. She took the soda Lane brought her, and resisted the urge to tell her sister that she doubted that she waited until she was of a legal age to drink.


Maddison couldn't help but feel a little nervous though as she waited for Lane to answer her questions. She nodded when Lane said that some people found her friends questionable but that she would be safe her. She smiled and gave a small sigh of relief as Lane added that she wasn't about to kick her out and was just surprised to find her here. Maddison sank a little lower into her end of the sofa and shifted uncomfortably when she heard Lane's next question.


"Well...um lots of things...Lane. I mean a lot of its stupid and I'm sure most of it isn't true, but uhhh....it seems like......well.....everyone thinks your in a gang," Maddie answered quietly. "Some people say you've done some bad things though and that some of your friends definitely have. I ummm.... dont know Lane.....is uh.....any of it.....you know true?"

[Karuna]

"by definition, yes I am in a gang...Though outside of a few of them getting caught for petty thief because of the odd energy drink or whatever from a convenience store I doubt any of us have done anything so bad. A few of my friends have made bad choices in the past but they're not bad people Maddie. We are a motorcycle crew but as for the shootouts and shit you see on TV, that doesn't happen with us. the only felony we commit is graffiti." Lane answered honestly, smirking a bit before adding "the only time I ever hurt anyone was one fight in high school when I broke a guys nose."


she hoped that this would at least put the girl a bit at ease, though even she had to admit that she didn't know her sister well enough to know what would put her at ease and what wouldn't

[Maddison]

"Well that doesn't sound so bad," Maddie answered with relief in her voice. She didn't really mind that her sister was in gang, she was just glad to know it wasn't the truly violent type. She was even more impressed to hear that they all had motorcycles as that sounded like a whole lot of fun to her. "I didn't know you rode a bike Lane! That's pretty cool, will you teach me?," Maddie asked eagerly as she started to rise up in her seat. "So how does it work do you guys have like meetings and stuff or a place you all hang out with your bikes?" The more Maddie thought about it the more she thought the whole motorcycle gang idea sounded pretty exciting and like a lot more fun than the kinds of things she normally did.

[Karuna]

"Yes, yes and yes I'll teach you how to ride if you agree to actually follow my instructions!" Lane answered with a smile as she took notice of the change in the tone of her younger sister's voice.

"I was just about to go out and pick up something for dinner...How about we just go out and eat? Any place you want to go?" she asked in the same calm, collected tone that she had became known for. though Unlike when dealing with people in public, this tone was a lot warmer and didn't lack emotion.

[Maddison]

"Really you'll teach me how to ride? No more of this you aren't old enough bullshit?," Maddie asked eagerly though she quickly tried to hide her eagerness by trying to sound a little tougher. She tried not to watch her sister out of the corner of her eye to see how she would react to her new found attitude, but it was hard for her not to be a little anxious to see.


"Yeah sure Lane, I'm pretty hungry. Does that mean we get to go on your bike? Oh uh, I don't care where we go maybe some pizza would be cool, is there a good place around here?." Maddie was honestly getting kind of exctied now about this new opportunity to live with her sister. It was like a chance for her to start a new wild, exciting side to herself instead of just trying to quietly survive in the background. After all her sister was doing it and she seemed to be doing pretty well right? Definitely better than her mother anyhow for sure. And it also seemed like Lane actually wanted to spend some time with her, at least now that she was here and that was also more than she could say for her alcoholic mother.

[Karuna]

"Of course I'll teach you to ride, though I still say No to you smoking or drinking." Lane retorted, trying to hide her amusement at the girl's attempt at being tough. "Yes we'll go on my bike, but I'm driving. Once you get skilled enough I'll get you one of your own, alright? Now I think that Pizza would be a good idea, haven't had that in a while."

Lane answered, ruffling her hair a bit as she walked past "come on."