admin

The gang consisted of guys - all old enough to drink, smoke and have sex - hell they'd been scoring with girls since before they were old enough to have sex! They were rough and angry and they liked to fight and break things - sometimes they started fights in pubs or in the streets. Often they brawled with each other, like a wolf pack, the hierarchy could change with a fight. They stole cars and sped round the back streets in them, before stripping them for parts and abandoning the husks, smoking and burning, in no-man's-land.

They didn't have girlfriends, wouldn't commit, couldn't be arsed to follow the conventions of being charming for longer than it took to get into to girls' knickers and take them hard against a wall in an alley, or for a more comfortable screw in the back of a car. Definitely no girls in the gang ... until now.

Glynn brought her along, she was slim but tough, her bleached hair dark at the roots, her tight grey jeans ripped and her lip and eyebrow pierced. She didn't talk, staying glued to Glynn's side - her hand always in his pocket or on his thigh. When he swung his leg over the tank of his motorcycle, she was on the back in a nanosecond, helmet on, visor down, her body nestled snug against his, sliding her hands round his waist.

Glynn didn't ask if she could join the gang, he just kept bringing her along - his shadow - why should he? Only Ant or Gary could match him in a fight, and having his own wheels gave him status, Gary shared his truck with his brother. So she came, and she hung out with them until one night - when the beers were scarce and Ant had a mean look in his eye - he challenged Glynn. She had to prove herself if she wanted in, show that she was tough and had balls of steel, just like the rest of them. Ant pointed his beer bottle in the direction of the railway sidings, where some small businesses had tatty, pre-fab, premises.

"Steal something," Ant goaded her.,

"Dodge the security guard and nick something from inside."

Glynn rose, shrugging off his leather jacket and squared up to Ant to fight, but Abby put both hands round his arm and pulled at him.

"S'OK" she looked up at Ant, the tension showing on her face, "I'll do it. But I won't steal anything - I'll tag it." Now her face showed defiance as she glared at Ant, the shadows on her face making her look hard.

"I can't do it tonight, got no paint with me, but tomorrow night. You'll see my mark, and then I'm one of you." She looked round at the rest of the gang, her chin up and her face showing anger and determination. With that she tugged on Glynn's arm and they stalked off, mounting his bike at speed and roaring into the night.

Glynn parked the motorbike in the shadow behind his flat, and the way he threw himself off it and shouldered his way inside the front door spoke volumes about his contained anger. Abby followed him silently, hanging up her jacket