Book 4; Guns, Love, Roses

Chapter 5 - Loyalty

It wasn't long until I got sent to Parkville Youth Detention Centre after the Springvale machete incident. Wayne pressed charges, and I got charged for recklessly causing serious injury. Thanks to my lawyer, I was not charged for attempted murder, which would have sent me in for a long time. I was inside Parkville for about two weeks, with one month of community service after I got out. I made friends with a group of Asian boys inside who derived from Thomastown, Boxhill and a couple of guys from St. Albans and Sunshine. All who were my age, seventeen. I never met these group of boys before, but what sparked my interest was the fact that even if they all came from different suburbs, they all unified inside. They all taught me a very big lesson, and one, in particular, who taught me how to be a better leader and person.

"So what's your name, bro?" One of the Asian kids had said. There were four of them, and they all looked like they had been here for a while by the look on their faces. We all sat inside the cafeteria, eating lasagne. It was my first day here, and I could tell they were fixated on me.

"Jordan," I replied.

"My name's Johnson Li. But you can call me John if you want." He offered to shake my hand and I did without any hesitation.

"I'm the group leader. We heard what you did, and we all thought it was funny." He laughed, and so did the others.

"Why do you think I did was funny?" I asked.

"Because you didn't kill him that's why." One of the other boys spat out. I raised an eyebrow. Are these guys for real right now? I tried not to be intimidated and continued to lay eye contact with all four of them.

"What was his name, Wayne?" John asked.

"Yeah."

"And what group did you say he was from?"

"Springvale Boys." The boys looked at each other, then began laughing again.

"Nah bro, can't be right. I'm from Springvale and I've never heard of Springvale Boys before." Said one of the boys who sat to the right of John.

"Names Liam Nguyen." He offered to shake his hand, and I did, again.

"Cedric Huynh. Sunshine." The other guy had said to the left of John.

"Trinh Nguyen. I'm from St. Albans." The last guy spoke who remained standing behind John. All four of them, I can tell, were examining me from head to toe, taking their time. Trinh, who claimed he was from St. Albans, I would have assumed I knew who he was considering he derived near my area, but I had never met him or even heard of him. I shook everyone's hand without saying a word, and it wasn't until I began talking again.

"I'm guessing you're all in different gangs?" I asked.

"Gangs? Never heard of that term before." John stated.

"We don't believe in such a thing in here, bro. Because once you're in here all you have is your name and your fists." He said, clenched both his hands in front of me.

"People come in here, claiming their untouchable. 'Oh look at me I'm a bikie associate', or 'my dads 5T don't mess with me', or the funniest used line yet, 'I'll get my cousins on you bro.'" He began mocking and pulling up a Lebanese accent. The boys started laughing.

"What happened to that kid who said he was a Hells Angels associate, again?" Liam asked.

"I stabbed him in the eye with a fork, remember? He was crying." Cedric explained, the boys laughed again. I sat here for only 5 minutes and realised that these Asian kids did not care and by the look in their eyes they weren't kidding. My dad once told me, that by the look in someone's eyes, you can tell what they've been through, and I have to say, these four Asian kids have been through a lot. Not a single one of them showed any signs of weakness. It was aggressive and very intimidating. My heart couldn't stop beating as hard as my knee was shaking.