The children of the Tail Gang, carrying all kinds of parcels and pulling various boxes, left the street corner.
Fortunately, the wasteland behind the warehouse was not included in the remodeling plan. There was a small grove at the edge where they could make a temporary shelter for the night.
Just as they reached the grove next to the wasteland, Jason saw another group of children coming this way. The members of the Tail Gang who had just settled in immediately became alert. The two biggest children took out their guns, while the group on the other side was also somewhat surprised.
"Jason?? What are you doing here? Were you guys driven out too?!" asked one of the taller African-American boys, "Isn't the Tail Gang the toughest children's gang on the block?"
His tone did not carry mockery, only surprise, because the gang in front of him only consisted of about a dozen children, who were fewer and weaker than others. They appeared to be at the bottom of the pecking order of kid gangs.
"Jon, were you guys driven out too?" Jason walked over and said, "If I'm not mistaken, the Birch Gang in your area must have been expelled too. They used to have two motorcycles...."
The black boy named Jon nodded and said, "You're correct, we've all been driven out, I heard something about a resettlement project...."
He shook his head and added, "We got the slots, but the mob members didn't want us to stay. They can rent out the empty houses for a high price. That way, they don't have to do anything and can still make money."
Jason glanced at the children behind him, and then said to Jon, "You guys come over here for now. We are planning to set up tents here. We will be stronger if we stick together."
Jon did not say much. His gang was quite weak, and clinging to Jason might be considered good fortune. After all, everyone knew that Jason was the most astute King of Children here.
While the other children went to set up tents, Jason pulled Jon and the Six-fingered Sister aside to the wasteland outside the woods. Looking around, he said, "We can't go on like this, we will surely die in the open."
Just as the black boy Jon was about to say something, Jason said, "This is just phase one of the project. Phase two could cover most of the East District, and phase three might renovate the entire East District, including the dock area. Where will we go then?"
"The security guards in the South District and the West District won't let us in. The North District is out of the question, with all those big mob bosses. So where can we go? Into the sea?"
"Also, young children need a stable life; they get hungry quickly. If we don't have a stable base, we can't work. If we don't work, we won't have food, the children will starve, and we will get even weaker...."
"So what can we do?" Jon raised his voice and said, "The mob will definitely not let us go back. Every additional person who returns will take up a room, costing them forty-five dollars monthly income. That is forty-five dollars...."
Jason took a deep breath and said, "There is another way."
"What is it?" the Six-fingered Sister asked, seeming to have an inkling.
Jason turned to look at the children setting up the tents. They seemed sad, but not hopeless. In fact, they had gone through similar situations many times before.
The Tail Gang was not born in this neighborhood. It moved here only after Jason took charge, escaping from a brutal gang on their old street. Jason had fought hard to lead them out.
The street they settled on afterwards was too poor, it was hard to find jobs and sustain the gang members. They had moved several times before finally settling here. In just a short span of a year, they managed to become one of the top children's gangs in the area.
Although they felt very sad, they still had hope. After all, Jason was still with them, and he would lead them to their new home.
But Jason knew that they would not have a new home.
Once the news hit the newspapers, all the mobs understood the situation. The fewer the people in their block, the better. The smaller the number of people, the more vacant rooms there are, and potentially, more rent income to collect.
Jason felt afraid. He didn't understand who made this rule, because he realized that it was essentially undermining the foundation of the mob.
The fewer the people, the more resources each person could get. Would they group together? Be fair to everyone? No, they wouldn't. The more they wanted, the fewer the people there could be.
They wouldn't realize that without the children's gang, there would be no fresh blood. Without lower-level members, there might be a problem with manpower. Without middle-level members, financial issues might arise, and without other top-level members, the mob might fall apart.
All they would think about was that one fewer person meant one more room and one more income source. Ten fewer people would mean ten more sources of income. If all the rooms were theirs, moving into the rich district would be just around the corner.
Jason discovered that someone had stabbed the mob, but also given them an anesthetic. They could only see the luxurious houses, convenient transportation, rising rents and increasing land prices.