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| Another ten minutes - Leader of the gang |
| Posted on 10/06/05 at 09:28 by NGONGE |
Top shop, M & S, Boots and even Matalan always play music in the background as you go about doing your shopping. Im not sure if any of the millions of shoppers that frequent these shops appreciate this. Im sure that most of them value the music though. After all, most of the songs being played are current chart topping hits. Its even possible that such background music plays a part in making up shoppers minds about visiting the next-door music store!
Last week, while strolling along the high street, I decided to walk into one of these shops (not the music store). To my surprise, the background music was not current chart toppers; it was the Greece Mega mix! That film, and its soundtrack, always irritated me. In the movie, Danny was a member of some sort of a gang! He was supposed to be the cool guy in the gang. The hardest, wittiest, wisest and cleverest of the whole group! Anyone who watched that film will agree that he looked like nothing of the above. That movie was an insult to gangs the world over. Even the YMCA singing group looked more of a gang than John Travolta and his T-Birds!
When I was a kid, I never belonged to any gangs. My school had an infinite number of gangs that I got on well with. Each area in my city had its very own gang. The leaders of these gangs were well known amongst the kids all over the city. The meanest one of the lot was a guy called The Wolf! He was a few years older than me. I was about seven years old when I first heard about him though it was another ten years before I got to meet him! Everyone feared the Wolf. Adults, when talking about wayward children and trying to dissuade one from being naughty, would shout, do you want to end up like the Wolf? They were warning us, but most kids noted how even the grownups had so much respect for this guy that they called him by his nickname! Back then; there was a popular urban myth about this name of his. Rumour has it that this guy fought and killed a wolf with his own bare hands. These were the stories we told each other as seven year olds.
The Wolf got arrested and was sentenced to ten years in prison. The meanest, strongest and most vicious gang in the city was no more. Suddenly, all the other gangs started fighting each other and trying to take up the title of the main gang in town. These gangs consisted of children and young men. One of them even had a 21-year-old man as a member!
None of these gangs had any official rules but everyone still followed the rules! When fighting, there was to be no biting, pulling of hair, punching in the face, stabbing or shooting. The use of weapons was limited to baseball bats and sticks. Members were forbidden from hitting anyone on the head or anywhere near the face. If the police interfered, members of both gangs were required to stop fighting amongst themselves and channel all their energy into fighting the police. This is why the police rarely got involved in gang fights between seven year olds!
When I was seventeen years old, I went to visit a friend who was a member of a gang. His gang consisted of fifteen current members and over a hundred absent ones that can be summoned within hours. We were playing a game of football against a team from another area (belonging to another gang). The other team were better players and they taught us a lesson on how to play football. My friends gang felt insulted and thought it rude that this team would dare to beat their hosts so convincingly. They convinced themselves that the other team was out to purposely humiliate them! I could see fists being clenched and unclenched. I could see faces starting to scowl. I could see them all looking at my friend and awaiting a signal! I was a bespectacled seventeen year old and therefore, the unwritten rules stated that my type should never be attacked first. I had no desire to take part in this unnecessary fight. However, as soon as my friend kicked the captain of the other team in the belly, I too was already being kicked and slapped around. I fought back heroically and, though the memory is slightly vague, I think I won the fight for the gang (a gang I didnt even belong to).
The next day, I received a phone call from this friend of mine. The team that we beat (literally beat) came from the area that the Wolf used to control. The news all over town was that the Wolf was coming out of prison in the next day! It was time to emigrate.
My friend and his gang, like myself, grow up in awe of this Wolf person. Nobody even considered fighting back. They were all thinking of a way to get out of this problem. We were all a bunch of unemployed kids, so money was out of the question. The gang finally agreed that the Wolf should decide the kind of compensation that will satisfy him and his gang! They also decided to send an emissary to the Wolf offering him this compromise! Of course, no member of that gang wanted to be the one facing the Wolf. They argued for a while and talked about the merits of each candidate; X is a good speaker, Y has presence, Z is the leader of the gang! Somebody mentioned that I was not technically a member of their gang and that I should, as a neutral, be the one conveying the news to the Wolf! I tried to refuse but each and every member of the gang, at the same time, and using the same method of persuasion, convinced me that there was really no other choice but to face the Wolf.
The following day, the entire gang accompanied me to the border of the Wolfs neighbourhood and gently prodded me forward. I didnt know what the Wolf looked like. Didnt know what to expect and didnt know if I ever was going to leave this neighbourhood in one piece.
A little boy on a bike kept circling round me and asking me if I just moved into the neighbourhood. I told him that I didnt live in that neighbourhood and that I only came to meet the Wolf. The boy was startled. He offered to show me where I can find the Wolf if I promise to mention his help when I met the great man! I agreed.
On the way there, the kid would shout to other kids Hes going to meet the Wolf and Im showing him the way ! Like a pied piper, I came over the horizon with rats on bikes following me and being excited about meeting the newly released Wolf! The location was not much different from the headquarters of any gang in the city. All gangs were based in the local football field and all had built a wooden shed as their headquarters. Most really wanted to have a tree house as their base but football pitches have no trees!
There were a group of about six guys sitting outside the shed as we approached. One got up and came running over to us. Seeing me followed by all these kids on bikes (there were at least twenty of the little rascals by now), he assumed we were here for a fight! He asked what the problem was and if it could be resolved peacefully! He said that if we insist on fighting we should at least postpone the whole thing for a month. This meek attitude of his gave me courage. I told him that I wanted to speak to the Wolf, alone. He ran back and started talking to one of the guys. A few seconds later, he came back and said that the Wolf will talk to me but first, Ill have to tell my gang on bikes not to cross the line hes going to draw on the sand! The whole thing was very business like and I felt out of my depth.
The Wolf got up and beckoned me to the side of the hut. He was carrying two chairs in his hands. I told my group of kids to wait for me and walked forward to meet THE WOLF! He was in his early twenties. Had a handsome face, softly spoken voice and very serious eyes. I had both my hands on the side of my chair as I spoke to him. I was very excited about finally meeting THE WOLF and feared floating out of my chair with such excitement. He was very friendly and interesting. He spoke about prison, gangs, fights, education, life and even the weather! Its a well-known fact that when another person speaks to you about the weather this person values your opinions and wants to be your friend. After advising me about my life and how serious it is to decide what needs to be done in the future, now, he finally asked me what was it that I wanted from him. I diplomatically told him what the problem was and volunteered no opinions of my own. He thought about the whole thing for a few seconds and then asked, are they still waiting for you at the border of the neighbourhood? I nodded. He got up and said that well go to meet them now and sort out this minor problem.
I was walking, side-by-side, with THE WOLF! We were followed by his five friends and all the kids on the bikes too. Other people joined us as we got nearer and nearer to the edge of the neighbourhood. When my friend and his gang, who were loitering on the edge and waiting for news from me, saw us, they started scrambling over each other and ran off! Later, the Wolf told me that he was not going to fight them. He planned to lecture them on life and tell them to stop these meaningless fights! I was in awe of this guy who spent ten years in prison. I still am. When I hear John Travolta singing about his Greece lighting I feel insulted. I didnt buy anything from the shop.
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