In the middle of it all

June 26th '56

"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 15 turning 16.

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, 8 years old."

"Ty-rell, also 8 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."

"Shit." grumbled Tyrell under his breath.

"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.