We had a game today. And it was bad. My team, the SC Coyotes, was about to lose to the Charlotte Bobcats. If that happened, that would be the humiliation of the town as that would end our year long winning streak. It was the sixth inning. It was dangerously tied (12-12). One more round and either we boomed or we busted. It was scarier than hell. And I was up to bat. Coach Hauser whispered hurriedly into my ear before I had to decide the fate of whether our team won or not. The years of training that I put in were condensed into these four simple words: “Don’t think. Just act.” I took this cliche maxim to heart as I narrowed my eyes on the readying pitcher with no plan in my mind. A curveball was thrown. My bat was ready. I had to make a decision in less than half a second. Then one of my eyes spotted them-Billy’s Gang. They were sitting in the bleachers, watching me with their angry, vengeful eyes. I realized that bad luck would befall me post-game. And the thought of that evil luck made me angry. It made me so angry that I did not even bother to close my eyes. I kept my eyes on them as I swung the bat. BOOM! The ball flew outfield. It landed smack dab in the middle of Billy’s nose. He collapsed into his boys, who also began to collapse like a stack of dominoes. I covered all four bases in less than five seconds. What a double victory! I had saved our winning streak and I had saved my life! Also, I had beat Billy a second time. Hopefully, there will be a third.

  After the game, I reunited with The Gangster Guyz. Jordan Chen was as usual, garbed in her pinko soccer kit, a sign of her autistic prowess. Andy shared the same uniform as me-the drab gray but with a nice streak of orange Bree Serif lettering. Ethan was the most pure form of nerdiness with his small square, thin-framed glasses perched over his small eyes, curly dark brown hair that folded into itself over and over again, the numerous chocolatey freckles that dotted his face like paint, a dark blue dress shirt, faded brown dress pants, and worn sneakers from a very distant time past.

  “I’ve got a proposal,” I proudly began. “Ethan.” I snapped my fingers. “Remember the ‘Submarine Bomb’?” It took a long time for him to realize what I was saying. However, once he understood the gravity of it all, his face became noticeably worried.

  “You want me to blow up Mr. Grincher?” he asked in a shaky, insecure voice.

  “Yes.” The leader need not be influenced by the insecurities of his underlings.

  “That is so criminal,” Jordan spoke sharply.

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  “I’ve already done criminal,” I quickly interrupted. “When I sacked the Spirit Assembly. And I saw you clearly dancing in the middle of the crowd.” She scowled at me. “Admit it, girl.” With a sudden hand motion, she grabbed my right cheek and began to pull it. It hurt like hell.

  “OWWW!!” I moaned, jumping around to knock off the pain. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’M SORRY!!!” She immediately let go.

  “You’d better be.” She stared at me like a snake of prey. ”You’ll only bring more trouble and condemnation on yourself if you keep going with this revenge nonsense. And morally, it is wrong.”

  Condemnation. God, I hated that word. What was I being condemned for? I was being condemned for following the rules of stupid, idiotic authorities. The most clear case being that of Mr. Grincher. I could care less about them. I answered to no one.

  “Ethan, you in or not?” Finally, he gave me a response-a slight shake of the head. “Why not?”

  “Um… um Calvin, I don’t want to get into any more trouble, if that is okay with you?”

  “You’re not getting into trouble, Ethan. You don’t even need to show up with me at Grincher’s place. All you need to do is to make the bomb and head on over to my place where you’ll bury it in the back garden. Plant a red flag. No one will know. That easy.”

  “Uhhh…” His uncertainty was dragging my mental balls on concrete. “I’d like to be a good boy.”

  “Pussyboy,” Andy chipped in. We laughed.

  “Hey, take that back!” Jordan snapped, quite angrily. This time, we decided to ignore her and continue pressing into Ethan.

  “Just do this one more time,” I continued. “And if Mr. Grincher asks you who built the bomb, tell him it was Andy.”

  Andy’s face immediately turned red as he shouted “I’ll effing kill you if you do that!”

  “Hold man, I was joking!” I burst into raucous laughter. Man, I love pranking my boys.

  “You’d better not be lying,” Andy warned, giving me the same dead eye like that of Jordan prior. “I’ll die before I go in that rat’s hell of Mr. Grincher’s room.”

  “Fine, tell Mr. Grincher that it was me who built it. Tell him that I searched it up. Internet. Is that good for you?” After a million years, Ethan finally nodded. “Good boy. Make it ASAP. I need it by tonight.” I turned to Andy. “Bro, you coming?”

  “Yessir.”

  “Meet me at 11 p.m. in front of my condo.” And with that, the heist was set. Let the adventures begin!