The high made Kazimir feel invincible, like he could conquer the entire world then enjoy some donuts afterward. It tricked his mind into making him strong, when in reality, the drug weakened him.

What happened to his goal of moving someplace new to start over? Kazimir couldn't remember when he gave up on himself again.

The buzz still lingered, but the intensity of the high had faded. Emmett pushed himself off the bed, moving over to the window to close it after he'd finished his smoke. Kazimir's gaze lingered on the popcorn ceiling as realization settled in.

He'd agreed to join a dangerous gang. Probably not the wisest choice on his end, but he'd made worse mistakes while high.

A noteworthy one being the time he tried to steal some drawing pens and a pack of honey buns at a little shop back home. He was lucky the security guard didn't have him arrested by the police when he hid behind the register counter, as if nobody witnessed him crawl across the floor to evade them. Kazimir was too embarrassed to ever show his face at that store again.

"You wanna meet some of the other gang members?" Emmett asked.

The room spun around as Kazimir sat up. He blinked a few times, letting everything settle back into place. "Right now?"

Emmett nodded. "Yeah. I think Charlie and Alfie are still downstairs. They were eating breakfast in the lounging area."

Those names weren't familiar to Kazimir. What kind of people were they? Jordy had told him how vicious gang members could be. He'd always warned him to stay away from the gangs. Perhaps Kazimir needed to learn how to listen better. What if they tried to beat him up or force him out of their place?

Kazimir rubbed at his bare arms, covered in old track marks. The rainbow heart tattoo on his wrist stuck out amid the scarring. "Should I be worried? What are they like? I don't want to make a bad first impression."

"Don't worry. You'll be fine," Emmett replied. "Just ignore the fat one."

Kazimir frowned at that. "Fat one? That's mean."

"You'll see what I mean," Emmett replied, making his way around the bed to stand in front of Kazimir. "Come on. I promise they won't hurt you."

After considering it, Kazimir succumbed. He stuck close to Emmett like a new stray puppy as he led him down their turf's hallway. Marijuana drifted through the room as they stepped inside. A plasma screen television adorned the wall, playing a football game on mute. The coffee table wedged between two old couches was covered with magazines of naked ladies and drink coasters with beers.

Kazimir felt so small compared to the two rough-looking dudes on the couches. He cowered behind Emmett, gripping the tail of the gangster's black shirt like a safety blanket. He wanted to curl up and hide in bed. Would those guys try to jump him if they didn't want him there? There was no way Kazimir could fend either of them off in a fight.

"You should've saw it. I ain't never saw a guy lose conscious so fast. I had him in a headlock, begging me to let him go. Motherfucker even pissed his pants. Can you believe it?" Obnoxious laughter filled the room.

Kazimir trembled behind Emmett as he peeked out to see the white, beefy man with a neck beard talking, taking small breaks to stuff his BBQ pork sandwich in his mouth. He had tattoos everywhere, but the one that stuck out most to Kazimir was the one on his forehead that read: Thug Life. He dropped bits of pork on his white shirt, then picked it off to eat it.

"Yo, Emmett! You should've saw me beating the shit outta that bitch – who the fuck is that?" He waved a chubby finger in Kazimir's direction. "How many times do we gotta tell you to keep your boyfriends to yourself?  This ain't a brothel, you know?"

Emmett groaned. "Shut up, Charlie."

An irritated black guy popped his head up from where he lay sprawled out on the couch across from Charlie. Running his hand through his short, curly hair with the side shaved, he looked around for a second like he was lost before meeting Kazimir's gaze. He kept his hand on his bulged hoodie pocket, where Kazimir suspected he stashed a weapon. A gun, maybe?

Despite being frightened of the buff men, Kazimir whispered in a not so soft voice to Emmett, "Is that the fat one I'm supposed to ignore?" He pointed to Charlie.

"The fuck did you just say, chimp?"

"He called you fat, Fatlard."

A pretty blonde woman emerged from the kitchen with a wine cooler in one hand and a romance novel in the other. At least, the image of the shirtless police officer gave Kazimir carnal vibes about the storyline. She smirked at Charlie, who scowled back at her as she plopped down on the sofa across from him and took a sip of her drink.

"You still reading those trashy books, Everly?" Charlie sneered.

Everly rolled her eyes at him and kicked her pink converse up on the coffee table, folding her arms across her chest. She fascinated Kazimir because she wasn't intimidating like the others, and she was the only woman in the room. What role did she play in their gang? Could she actually be their leader and Emmett her right-hand?

"Who is this guy, though?" Everly asked, making eye-contact with Kazimir.

Emmett began to speak, but the guy who'd been napping interrupted him.

"He that artist you told me about? You know what, I take back what I said before. We don't want him here."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kazimir spoke up, struggling not to tremble. He didn't want to show them fear. He didn't want them to beat him up either if they decided they really didn't want him in the gang.

"Look, you assholes, Kaz is one of us now so you better get used to him hanging around," Emmett said. "I didn't bring him here for no good reason. He has skills we can use to our benefit."

"I could paint graffiti for us," Charlie muttered. "We don't need some chimp for that."

"How the fuck are you gonna get your ass on the top of a building?" Emmett asked. "We'd have to steal an aerial lift for you. It would take you almost an entire day to get one piece done."

Everly snickered. "Okay, maybe the painter isn't that bad. At least he hasn't shit himself yet like Fatlard did."

"I did not fucking do that!" Charlie reached across the table for his beer, chugging it down. "Don't be telling people bullshit about me."

Everly grinned, irking the man more. "Don't listen to him, Kaz. He's lying. He totally crapped himself after his initiation."

Emmett massaged his forehead, like he'd developed a migraine. Everly ignored Charlie after that and opened her book to wherever she'd left off. It was bizarre to Kazimir how she could read something like that in front of them without any shame. Alfie plugged some earbuds in to tune them all out. His music softly drifted throughout the room, barely audible.

Clasping his hands behind his back, Kazimir rocked on his feet. He stayed behind Emmett, using the tall man as a shield in case a sudden fight broke out. Nerves swarmed his stomach like bees. He tried not to let it get to him. Puking his guts out wouldn't make a good first impression.

"Yo, boss man, are we still gonna order pizza and wings for supper tonight?" Charlie asked. "Like, I need to know so I can order ahead."

"Boss man?" Kazimir repeated.

There had always been a sneaking suspicion in the back of his mind that Emmett might be their leader. It explained a lot, especially on why Emmett kept wanting to recruit him for his gang. Lately, he'd assumed Emmett was just a loyal right-hand man.

"Oh shit." Charlie clamped his hand over his mouth, looking at Kazimir. "Did he not know? Nobody told me he didn't know!"

Emmett sighed. "This isn't going how I wanted this to go. I need a damn drink."

When Emmett turned toward the kitchen, Kazimir followed close behind him. The tiny kitchen connected to the lounging area, with no door. He wasn't about to stay with those gang members all alone. A pumpkin-shaped bowl filled with pills laid near the toaster and it smelled like pulled-pork in there, probably from Charlie's sandwich.

"It's true then?" Kazimir asked. "You're their leader?"

Emmett propped open the fridge and retrieved two cold ones. "Yeah, it's true. No use lying to you now. Want a beer?"

Kazimir accepted the cold Bud Lite Emmett handed to him, holding it tight in his shaky hands. "You don't look like a menacing gang leader."

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult." Emmett popped the tab of his beer can and took a sip. "What did you expect? Someone like Fatlard?"

"I could be a great leader," Charlie called out to them from the adjoined room. "I can be very intimidating and know how to get people to do what I want."

"Yeah, they're scared you'll eat them." Emmett snickered as the both of them stepped back into the lounging area.

Kazimir let the revelation sink in about Emmett. He popped the tab of his own beer and took a voracious sip. It burned his throat as it went down, but it sure felt good. He took another sip right away.

"So, when were you planning to tell me?" Kazimir asked.

"After your initiation," Emmett replied, resting a hand on Kazimir's back as he guided him to the sofa beside Everly. "You know I can't just go telling everyone my business. I needed to be sure I could trust you. Fatlard just happened to spill everything before I could tell you myself."

"My bad," Charlie mumbled through a mouthful. "But who'd you think our leader was? I hope it was me."

Kazimir rubbed his chin. "It wouldn't be obvious, so I'd have probably guessed Everly. The way she sits around you guys reading a romance novel like that is bold. She doesn't seem like someone I'd wanna mess with."

"Thank you, Kaz."

"You can't be fucking serious," Charlie spat. "As if a weak woman could lead a gang."

"Don't call my little sister weak." Emmett's glare sent chills along Kazimir's spine.

"Sorry, boss man. But you know what I mean. Women can't be gang leaders."

That was news to Kazimir. "Everly's your sister?" he asked, peeking over at Everly, reading her romance book.

Emmett nodded as he sat down. "Yep."

Kazimir nestled down on the couch too, sandwiched in between Emmett and Everly. Her cherry blossom perfume drifted over to him. Being closer to her, he saw the resemblance to her brother. He still couldn't fathom why she'd get involved with the gang. Kazimir had heard nasty rumors about what the gangs did to their female members. It made him sick to his stomach to even think about it, but Emmett would never allow them to hurt her, right?

Everly stuck a bookmark in her novel. "I couldn't handle these idiots by myself. I mainly help my brother with his drug clientele."

"Who are you calling an idiot?" Charlie asked.

When Charlie stood up, Kazimir winced. His pudgy gut jiggled as he maneuvered around the cluttered coffee table. Kazimir almost expected him to punch Everly, but he just wandered off into the kitchen. He came back with a bag of potato chips. He reached around and scratched his ass, exposing his crack to all of them before he sat back down and stuffed some chips in his mouth.

"Want some, Kaz?" He held the bag out to Kazimir.

Kazimir grimaced and shook his head. "No thanks."

"Nobody's gonna want any after you just picked at your ass then ate some, you nasty." Everly scolded him.

Charlie shrugged. "More for me then."

Alfie pulled an earbud out. "You still plan on having him make that graffiti on the water tower as his initiation?"

"Yep, sure do. Once he's feeling better. I don't want him to climb up there and kill himself," Emmett replied. "In the meantime, we'll work on getting revenge on the Black Vipers. They hurt one of our people, after all."

"They did? Who did those fuckers hurt this time?" Charlie growled, baring his yellow stained teeth.

Everly facepalmed. "He means Kaz."

"Oh, right. Forgot about that. How the hell did you let a dainty little bitch like Samantha almost kill you?"

"You don't understand how crazy she is," Kazimir told him.

"What made her stab you though?" Everly asked. "You had to do something to piss her off."

"You women get angry over anything," Charlie muttered.

Everly glared at him. "Shut up, Fatlard."

"See what I mean?" Charlie asked, stuffing a handful of chips in his mouth.

"She thought I'd betrayed her to the Voiceless Rebels," Kazimir explained. "Apparently, she saw Emmett at my apartment and got the wrong idea."

"Jeez. You couldn't even wait until he was a member of the gang before fucking him?" Charlie asked, looking at Emmett.

Heat seared across Kazimir's cheeks. "That-That didn't happen either."

Emmett downed the rest of his beer and tossed the can in the trash. "All I did was bring him some cocaine."

"I think this is a bad idea," Alfie said. "I won't try to stop you, but don't come crying to me later when I'm right."

"I know you're all doubtful now, but I promise you I'm not making a mistake. Kaz will be a lucrative member to the gang."

Getting stabbed by Samantha had been a rude awakening for Kazimir, perhaps the most terrifying one of his life, but he couldn't back down like a coward. He didn't want to end up dead like Hank. Just remembering how they discovered him that night invoked chills.

Kazimir looked at the group of peculiar gangsters gathered on the two sofas. Could he really rely on the Voiceless Rebels to keep him safe?