In a confused state of mind, I woke up and looked at my surroundings only to see Terry by my side with tears in his eyes which would be understandable given the current state I was in.
"Marquis...are you okay".I slowly attempted to sit up but winced when applying force upon my arms and I had dropped back into the bed." I guess not" he said.
I tried to sit up again and said "It's okay, I'm doing fine".With a doubtful and worried look on his face, he sighed "Okay then, I'll head off to school then".
"Alright, I'll speak to you later," Marquis said in a despondent voice. Soon he had fallen asleep and by the time he woke up he had noticed that a stranger that appeared to be a few years older than him had sat down at his side waiting for him to wake up.
"Hello, remember me?"The mysterious figure said
Marquis sat there for around 30 seconds while he tried to figure out who it was, he suddenly remembered the dark, monotone voice he had heard from the suspicious figure the night before.
"Are you the guy from the alley?" he said. A long, silent pause happened and he responded with "Yes, my name is Jamal. What you were caught up in was painful to watch and I could tell that you were giving up on life, so I'm here to offer an alternative. Join my gang and you'd be protected for your time with us, however, certain risks could come with it"
Marquis reflected on all the past situations where he'd been bullied and made his stern mind up to join Jamal to defend his life and those of the ones he loves and responded with "Yes."
He slowly got up and told me to meet 36 Chessington street tonight and left without any other words, I sat upwards thinking about what could come in the future and began preparing myself for what would happen.
I had just gotten started and made my way to the nearby location Jamal had asked me to meet him at. When I had gotten within a 5-minute walking distance, I had noticed that the buildings were derelict and decrepit with missing bricks and sometimes even sheets of plastic to cover broken windows.
When I had arrived at the designated meeting place, I had knocked on the door and stood there waiting for someone to open the door and when it did, I entered the dimly lit room only for the lights to brighten and to see hundreds of men sitting in rows with the seemingly kind Jamal in front of all of them as if he was their commander.
"ATTENTION, WE HAVE A NEW MEMBER" He yelled in a commanding voice at the top of his lungs. Everyone looked towards me with discontent and disapproval." I WANT EVERYONE TO LOOK AFTER HIM AS IF HE WERE ME".The group of thugs howled "YES SIR" and disassembled and left the building.
He walked toward me and said told me that everything I needed would be provided for, even protection in school. I gave a grateful nod and walked out of the hideout with a burning sense of excitement for the adventure that I would face in the future.
As I got home and prepared to sleep, I had reflected on all the misfortunes and all the great things that have yet to happen and prepared myself for another day of school
A new day had come and when I walked into school, I had seen my bully come towards me and I felt an overwhelming sense of fear despite my newfound status. However, a student had stood up for me and I had recognised him from yesterdays meeting and smiled as I realised that I was no longer the weak, lonely person I once was, I had now become a man with a degree of power and that I was certain to become an important figure within my group.