"Job hunting...is hard...."
Killer sat on the sidewalk in front of a Walmart, the sixth one he had visited that day.
Apparently having a criminal record made it harder for one to work in well... anywhere. It wasn't just Walmarts...he had been to practically every McDonalds, convenience store, Mall and gas station he could find and so far all he managed to get was a restraining order filed against him.
"Fuck all these job qualifications man...how's a guy supposed to get a job in these conditions....?" Killer lay back on the sidewalk and closed his eyes.
He only had 100 bucks from the 300 that Wooly Hat Girl gave him three days ago.
There was only one place he hadn't checked yet; Leon County High, the local school where most-if not all-the gang members from Deixis and others attended.
If he was lucky he could get a job as a janitor.
****************
"So you're here to apply to be the school janitor?"
Killer sat in a simple but well kept office with the principal of the school.
It wasn't that Killer booked an appointment with him, oh no, Killer simply walked into the school, grabbed the nearest student by the collar and asked him for directions.
"Yes. A job as a janitor will be just fine sir" Killer nodded slightly and gave the principal a small smile.
"Aren't you a little too... young to be looking for a job? Aren't you supposed to be in school? You're that boy they call 'Killer' right?" The principal stroked his greying beard with a look of concern on his face.
"Yes that's me. Not the best name to carry around with ya" he scratched the back of his head and chuckled lightly. "I'm willing to take on any job you give me mister. I'll work really hard" Killer begged...or at least his version of begging which was cracking his knuckles and staring into the principal's brown eyes with fearsome intensity.
"I'm afraid there's no job openings young Killer. And I'm not sure the school board is going to sit well with me letting a...let me say...killer..roam freely around the other students and staff, though I understand you got out of juvie almost a week ago" The principal, whose name was Mr Duke Knotts, Killer noted from a name tag on his shirt, spoke with a thoughtful look on his face.
"And I doubt you'll be able to pay tuition anyway. And there aren't any scholarships available. The only way you can get into this school is...." Duke closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, much to the chagrin of Killer who hated suspense more than anything.
"If you were able to join this school's representative gang"
"School... representative...gang?" Killer tilted his head in confusion. He had never heard of this from anyone before. Not even his cell mate who had contacts with more than 100 people outside the detention walls had told him about this.
"Yes. Recently gang fighting has become a legal sport and most school districts have a representative gang. The Leon County High district had only one gang, Deixis. Up until now... yesterday another group of my school's students filled the form for an official gang formation and they're looking for members. If you're able to pass the initiation and get into the gang.... I and the school board are obligated to let you join the school. Though you'll only be in the Extra Mural classes" Duke explained to Killer in a cool and clear voice, his eyes trained on Killer to see if he had any visible reaction.
And boy was Killer excited.
"Thanks for this Mr Principal sir. I won't let you down! Where do I sign up for this?!" Killer shook Duke's hand with an ecstatic grin on his face, though for Duke the handshake was more like being aggressively assaulted by a human massage chair.
"I'll call my niece up to lead you to them. She joined the gang yesterday herself and she's the head of student relations" he pressed a small, red button on his desk and spoke into it, telling a certain Eliza Knotts to come into his office.
In the span of thirty seconds someone was barging into the office in a flurry of paper and a distinct smell of mint.
"Sup Mr Duke! Eliza Knotts at your service!" A familiar wooly hat wearing girl said while saluting her uncle, the principal, with a massive grin on her face.
"Eliza could you please show Killer to the gym where gang member recruitment is going on?" Duke spoke with an exasperated tone while massaging his temples.
"Killer? Killer!!!" Eliza finally noticed the grey haired boy sitting there absent-mindedly and jumped to hug him but he instinctively grabbed her face, effectively stopping her from reaching him.
"I don't do hugs Wooly Hat Girl...or should I say Eliza? The next time you hug me will be the last time you have hands"
*******************
The two teens walked through the shiny Halls of Leon County High, a comfortable silence between the two of them.
Well let's say it was comfortable for Killer who just looked at all the varying notice boards while Eliza felt an uneasy akwardness.
Killer stopped looking at the walls and instead stared at the girl leading him to the auditorium. Her skin was considerably lighter than his, almost pale and her eyes were a light green. What he just noticed however was a scar that ran from her right cheek and across the bridge of her nose.
"Has that scar always been there?" He asked and poked her cheek.
"No. I got it the day after we met. Signing up to join a gang sure is brutal" she chuckled and pulled a cigarette out of her pocket, sticking it in her mouth before pulling out another and giving it to Killer.
"Thanks" he took it and put it in his mouth, confused as to why the cigar wasn't made out of paper and had a minty taste.
"It's not really a real cigar...it's a candy cigarette. I can't get enough of them. But I think you can still light i and it'll function as a normal cigarette..." She bit part of her's off and swallowed it.
"Oh. That explains a lot" he swallowed his own cigar whole and belched shamelessly.
"So. Don't you have any friends or family in Florida? You said you were looking for your sister right? What of your mom and dad?"
"My parents are dead, my extended family don't give shit about me and I only had two friends. Boris and Lance" Killer smirked as he began reminiscing about the past. "Boris wasn't as strong as Lance and I but he was the brains of the group. Lance Redford, or as we liked to call him, "Last Resort" was the strongest fighter I've ever seen"
"No way! Was he stronger than you?"
"Way way stronger. In the 2nd grade he single handedly beat both the 3rd and 4th grade boys because he was in a bad mood" Killer laughed at the memory of witnessing all those seniors getting their asses whooped "Good times"
Eliza's eyes sparkled with joy, her mind racing with multiple thoughts at once. First off was the arrival of Killer, who defeated almost half a hundred people singlehandedly and now she hears of someone even stronger than him? Her small mind could barely contain it.
In a few moments they were in front of the gym, the sounds of something intense happening on the other side of the huge double doors.
"Are you ready Killer?"
The teen looked down at her and smiled before literally kicking the door off its hinges with a bang and running into the room at full speed.
"Hold up what in the fu-" one of the students in the gym was about to ask before eating a punch to the jaw from Killer, who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Come on! Let's get this thing OOOOOONNN!" Killer flung the boy to the side and ripped off his shirt, revealing a wide array of scars all over his muscular body.
Eliza just stared in awe.
Talk about making an entrance.