Love

Chapter 71:

Charlie's P.O.V

As I walk down the dark alleyway, my phone buzzes.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hey, Charlie, I'm at the Warehouse, so swing by. I've got spray-paint and a good place to graffiti, you good?" I hear James' voice. A small smile tugs at my lips.

"Yeah, sure. I'll be there in about 5 minutes." I tell him.

"Great, see ya soon, man." I hang up and shove my phone in my pocket. I turn the corner into another dark damp alleyway. Ever since Millie had moved to Canada, I'd wandered over to the wrong crowd and stuck with them. We graffiti, sell drugs, shop-lift, hijack cars, hold up shop owners and make them give us all their money. And every single time we manage to escape the cops. I don't know how, but we do. Me, Matt, Jason, Oliver, Tom, Stephan, Mitch, Dylan, Jimmy, Ben, and James. James is our boss. We do whatever job he tells us to do. If it's just a hangout, we don't have to come, but if it's a hold up, or hijack, we have to go. I turn another corner and walk into a busy street. I shove my hands in the pockets of my sweater and keep my head. I keep walking, then someone bumps me. My head snaps up and I glare at them, but then immediately recoil, as I realise the person I was going to start yelling at was a police officer.

"Sorry, officer." I say, and then keep walking. I keep walking until I get to a quiet street that is packed with industrial buildings. I look at the building numbers, and keep walking until I come to number 207. The Warehouse is where our little gang meets. It's huge and we've vandalised the whole interior of the building with spray-paint. I look around to see if anyone's near. A car passes and I pretend to on the phone. The car disappears around the corner and I out my phone back in my pocket and climb to the top of the fence. I jump down, landing on my feet, and jog to the small metal door. I bang with my fist once, then trice, then six times. There are a couple of yells and laughs, before the door creaks open and a grinning Oliver appears in the doorway.

"Took your time!" He laughs. I laugh as well, and give him a shove as I walk in. He runs off and leaves me to shut the door. I look the street up and down once more, suspiciously, before shutting the door.

"Where's the spray-paint?!" I yell. Everyone jumps down from beams and out of doorways and surround me. They all have backpacks on. I spin around in a circle, and high-five each of them. James hands me a lightweight backpack. I yank it open and my eyes widen at the insides. 10 cans of spray-paint and a Sig Sauer P250 Compact gun. James claps me on the back.

"The whole teams got one each, so that's yours. It's the best gun I could find." He tells me. I wrap my fingers around the cold handle of the gun and pull it out. Underneath it, are two packs of ammunition. I take a deep brea hand examine the gun closely.

"Is it loaded?" I ask. James shakes his head.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he says, "this," he pushes a dark skin boy toward me, "is Dayo. He is extremely powerful and is a good newbie to have on our team.

"Does he get a gun?"

"No, not yet. But he does get a backpack full of spray-paint."

"Oh, okay. Nice to meet you, Dayo, I'm Charlie." I hold my hand out. He shakes it and smiles.

"Alright, guys! Let's move out! We breakup! Do not stay in a pack! We will look very suspicious if we do! Charlie take Dayo! Teach him the ropes!" I nod. All of a sudden the windows are smashed and every exit except two are broken through. Police march in.

I grab the gun and load it with a pack of ammo. I sling the backpack over my back and run to an exit that hasn't been breached. I burst through the door and break into a fast sprint. A good thing about being the schools fastest runner, is that I can escape from the cops pretty easily. I keep running, until I come to the fence that surrounds the Warehouse. I run faster and then jump onto the fence. I climb up and jump from the top of it to the ground. I hear someone do the same behind me. I break into a sprint again.