"Would you slow down!?" I tried finishing the stitches as we hit just about every bump on the road. Moo gave me a comforting smile and Terroriser sped up the van. Vanoss slapped Terroriser upside the head and I thanked him while Terroriser slowed down. We'd outrun the cops 20 miles ago, at this point all he was doing was putting us at risk of more attention because of his speeding. 

"They're probably at the park already and we still need to bring Moo home." "Yeah, speaking of, what the fuck am I supposed to tell my dad?" "Just tell him we were dicking around and accidentally shot you. It runs in your family, he'll understand." "Stop moving." I tied off the last stitch and we came to a stop.  Moo thanked me and Vanoss and Terroriser helped him to his house while I cleaned up my medical supplies. They came back a few minutes later and we were off again.

"Mini, I want you to teach Moo everything you know." I looked at Vanoss and noticed he wasn't even looking at me. "Why? We get shot at all the time, we don't get shot enough to need another medic." Vanoss glared at me and I shut my mouth. Terroriser looked back at me from the rear view mirror.

"The police don't want us alive, now it's on sight. Everyone else wears a mask so they're safe when they aren't with us but-"

"You and Delirious aren't." Vanoss hummed and shrugged.

"Didn't think about that part. I was going to say nobody's safe with us, so if you get hurt we'd need someone else to help you." I smiled knowingly and the van stopped. Vanoss got out and Terroriser looked back at me.

"He knows how screwed he is, don't say anything about that in front of the others." I nodded and Terroriser and I got out of the van. We followed close behind Vanoss as we walked into the park. By then it was almost dawn so it wasn't too dark, but I couldn't see the bridge from the entrance. We got to the bridge and sat under it, waiting silently for the others to come. It was pretty peaceful, and I had fun counting the small fish that dared to swim in the shallow stream under the bridge.  

Wildcat and Delirious showed up a few minutes later. I was expecting at least one of the others to join us but it made sense that it would just be those two. Wildcat came and sat next to me and Delirious sat next to Vanoss. We sat in silence for a bit and I used the time to take in my surroundings and think about the future of the gang. Vanoss spoke up after a few minutes.

"So Delirious, got any questions?" "Not really, everything was demonstrated to me already. Is Moo alright?" Vanoss nodded and Wildcat sighed.

"Told you he would be." Delirious rolled his eyes and I looked at Vanoss, expecting him to talk about how law enforcement wants us dead. He was obviously avoiding the conversation, looking out towards the park with a contemplative look on his face.

"So, we're wanted dead now." Vanoss snapped his head over to look at Terroriser and Delirious and Wildcat looked at him slowly. "No real soft way to put it, figured Delirious should know before he gave a definite answer."

"They're trying to kill a bunch of minors?" "In all fairness, we are pretty unstoppable." "Terroriser that's not an excuse." "We've been at this for years Wildcat you really didn't expect this?" "Did you?" "I expected it since the day they started shooting first and asking questions after."

"Did you really have to tell them?" Terroriser nodded and Vanoss sighed.

"What do you mean? Of course I had to. The whole gang deserves to know and to choose if this shit is worth dying for." I didn't really see it that way at the time. We didn't do anything good and we knew we were wrong for everything we did, so there was nothing about the group worth fighting for other than the people. 

"I think the only thing that makes being in this gang worth it is the people. Sure the missions are fun, until I'm patching up a fatal bullet wound in the back of a minivan." The air was a bit tense after I said that, and I just hoped I wouldn't set Vanoss off. I didn't want to upset him, but there truly was nothing better than the people. The money was helpful, sure, but most of us couldn't even share it with our parents, so it only took care of us, not even our families.

"I for one think the people alone are worth fighting for." We all looked at Delirious, who hadn't even been there more than a day. I knew he was being cocky by the way his eyes shifted between us judging our reactions to see if he made the right call. "I've never really been part of something like this. It's exciting. Of course I wish we were doing more legal things but I'm in no position to complain." Delirious chuckled, probably more from nerves than anything else.

"So you're saying, you want to be part of this?" Delirious looked at Vanoss and nodded certainly. Vanoss smiled and reached his hand out for Delirious to shake. "Welcome to the Vanoss Crew."

We got back in the van after we exchanged phone numbers with Delirious and Delirious chose a different mask to wear while with us. Vanoss also got one, since on the field nobody ever took a photo of him and none of his arrests could be linked to gang activity, he was pretty safe out of the gang if he lawyered up. Of course his name in school was Vanoss but he said he technically didn't even go to the school anymore. He just stopped going after a while but he aces every test he takes so they can't expel him or anything because his grades were helping keep the school afloat.

Terroriser dropped off Delirious and Vanoss first, since they were the closest ones to the park. Delirious probably could've walked but Terroriser didn't want to make him.

"Hey Wildcat, you think I can spend the night at your place?" Wildcat looked over at me deadpanned and nodded. "Yup. What's the case this time? Broken AC, internet's out, or need a change of scenery?" I rolled my eyes and punched Wildcat playfully for being a dick. I'd been kicked out of my house a few weeks ago. For the most part I was on the streets, but I crashed at Wildcat's a few times a week. Nobody knew about it because I didn't want them to worry about me and go overkill on helping. 

"I just like spending time with you, dickhead." Wildcat hummed and the van stopped. "Well at least that's less gas. Now out." I chuckled and thanked Terroriser. Wildcat and I got out of the van and Terroriser sped off. We went into the dark house and closed the door quietly behind us.

"My folks are home so just, be quiet." The light turned on and I covered my eyes. 

"Be quiet, huh? What are you doing being out so late boy?" I moved my arm and looked at Wildcat's father. He and Wildcat looked pretty similar, except he had a rounder face and a beard. He also had a subtle southern accent, which is probably where Wildcat got it from. "Who's your friend? You know I don't allow fags in this house." Wildcat stepped forward and a woman came out of a room on the left. Wildcat didn't take after his mother much at all. She was beautiful, fiery red hair and a pear figure. I'd say the thing Wildcat did get from his mother was her temper. She slapped Wildcat's father upside the head and glared at him.

"This is that Mini boy from that little gang he's in, be nice to him. And stop with that language, your nephew is queer and it's insensitive of you." Wildcat's father glared at her as she turned to me and smiled sweetly. She walked over and grabbed my hands, holding them in her own. "It's so nice to meet you dear, mind my husband he always gets cranky when he's woken up." I shrugged and smiled back at Wildcat's mom. I hadn't met them until then because we got there so late they were normally asleep and I left before anyone woke up. Being up close to his mom, I noticed she also had the same eyes as him. 

"It's nice to meet you too ma'am. I hope it's no issue but, I was offered to spend the night here because of some troubles at home." Wildcat's mom pouted and looked back at her husband.

"Can we keep him? I haven't felt respected like that in ages." Wildcat's father didn't change his expression, and his mom put her hands on her hips and glared right back at him. "You heard the boy, he ain't being treated right. Do you want a taste of that or do you want to let this boy stay in our home?" I looked at Wildcat, who was looking at me like I had two heads.

"Fine. I'm going back to bed now." Wildcat's father wandered off and his mother turned back to me. "I'm Sharon by the way. Again, it really is lovely to meet you. You know, Tyler talks the world of you and-"

"Mom- piss off." Sharon gave me an amused look and walked away.

"Fine. Give him your bed, he's the guest." Wildcat, or Tyler I guess, grabbed my hand and led me to his room. He closed the door behind us and I sat on the bed.

"So.. Tyler?" Wildcat covered his face in his hands and ran his fingers through his hair as he walked to his bed and laid down on his back. 

"Yeah. What'd you mean trouble at home?" I laid down on my back next to Tyler and sighed. I didn't want to talk about it. I looked at the ceiling and tried not to think about everything that happened at home.

"Can I just not say?" Tyler sat up enough to come into my vision and stared at me.

"You know my name because of it, no you can not just not say." I sighed and sat up on my elbows, looking over at Tyler.

"Fine but you can't say anything to the others." Tyler rolled his eyes and nodded. "I got kicked out." Tyler looked at me in shock and I laid back down.

"How long?" "Four weeks." "Fuck, man." I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, feeling the gravity of my situation sit on my shoulders all over again. It felt weirdly nice to have it out there. "What even happened? You've never said a damn thing about your home life until now." I sat up and looked at Tyler. He was the kind of person that would never repeat a word out of my mouth unless I told him to, but he also believes that two wrongs can make a right, so I didn't exactly want to tell him the truth.

"Do I have to talk about it?" Tyler stared at me straight faced. He sat up and crawled towards me until he was sat right in front of me.

"You don't have to talk about it, but I'm gonna ask one question and you're gonna answer honestly." I decided that was fair enough and nodded. "Do you have a place to stay?" I did not want to answer that, because no, I didn't. I had a tree out back of my old house that was sturdy enough for me and a few pairs of clothes, and I snuck inside while my father was at the bar every night to charge my burner phone and shower. I shook my head at Tyler.

"You can't tell Vanoss, I don't want it becoming this big thing." Tyler sighed and smiled at me.

"Fine, it'll be between us. But you are more than welcome to live here, ok?" I nodded and smiled slightly. Tyler got up and started getting ready for bed. I grinned widely and moved back in the bed, covering myself with the blanket and watching Tyler get ready. 

Tyler looked over at me and raised his eyebrows. "Come on, I have a spare toothbrush you can use." I got up quickly and walked over to Tyler, who chuckled and walked with me to the bathroom. We brushed our teeth and went to bed, feeling awkward but comfortable at the same time.

Word Count: 2137

It's here I've decided how to get rid of Mini