I was walking around in the night. The Streetlights that flicker on and off illuminate the roadside. Those and the neon signs hanging in the windows of every bar, motel, and strip club in the disgusting city I call home are being swarmed by moths. I hear stories and movies of people having their nights being lit by these beautiful lights that glitter in the dark sky, stars. That a load of bull. I’ve never seen the stars in my life. I reach into the pocket of my dark red velour hoodie. I pull out a box of cigarettes. I gently hold it in my mouth while I take out a lighter. Then my phone started ringing. I answer the phone, a loud voice yells over just as loud music, well if you can call the trash their playing music.

“Grandma’s order is ready, come pick it up.” Said the voice on the phone. Before I had the chance to respond they hung up. You see, Grandma, was one of the heads of the city. There are a lot of gangs in this place. Grandma’s gang, the riding hoods, was one of the biggest in the city. Unlike some little gangs, we all have a job to do in order to keep the gang running like a well-oiled machine. I get a few different jobs every now and then, but for the most part I’m a street runner. I pick up whatever Grandma wants then I make sure she gets it, no matter what. I guess I take a little pride in it, I even got a nick name; little red riding hood. I’m also grandma’s favorite, I guess the fact that I’m her actual granddaughter does help out.  

            I’ve got to get going, I may be grandma’s favorite, but she gets angry if I don’t get the package on time. Besides, it’s not like I’m doing anything fun anyways, so I head out. I get to the spot where I’m supposed to pick up the package; the local police station. The gang practically own the place. There’s a dealer in the basement of the place that all the gangs pick up from. The cops don’t stop it, they couldn’t if they wanted to.  I waltz right on in, I come here so often that it’s almost like a second home.  All of the officers greet me with; “What’s up Red?” or “How’ve you been Red?” I’m cool with these guys, normally I would’ve stopped to talk with them, but I’m a little busy right now. I get to the basement. As soon as I enter I’m blasted with the bass of trash music that is so loud it hurts my teeth, and the smell of cheap booze that can probably get you drunk from just smelling it. I don’t waste any time; I go to the counter. “Got a package for Little Red?” I said to the bartender. He doesn’t even look at me as he reaches under the bar stand and slides a little white box wrapped in tape. Before I get the chance to leave, a hand touches my shoulder. I look over to see a man with dark black, slicked black hair that has more oil than a New York pizza. He’s wearing a fur jacket with a black dress shirt underneath. His name is Wolfe.

            “Now, what’s going on, Little red? I haven’t seen you in a while. What’ve you been up to, come on, sit down let’s talk.” He leads me back to the counter with a sly grin on his face. Like he was trying too hard be kind, but he definitely came across as creepy. He reaches into his fur coat and pulls out a wallet and slams some money on the counter. “Bartender, a round of shots for the lady in red! Hell, a round of shots for everyone, my treat.” Everyone starts screaming and hollering.  The bar tender pours me a little glass. I don’t like Wolfe, he’s a runner of a different gang, and he just creeps me out. But, I’m not just about to let a free drink go to waste. So I drink. Wolfe just stares at the partying people. He turns back to me with a devilish grin that spreads nearly ear from ear. “look at them, sheep, am I right? They’re not like you and me, were the… what do you call it, I forgot the word.” Said Wolfe. “Were the wolves?” I respond. He laughs out loud, banging the bar. “You know, I like you Red. Were kind of like family, y’know? Sure, technically were on different sides, but we do the same job, were both good at our job, and every now and then we run into each other.” I didn’t respond, it’s not like I can understand what he’s saying anyway, not with all that crap coming out of his mouth. His face turns serious. “So, what’s in the box.” Said Wolfe. I get up, and walk away towards the exit, I wasted enough time here, plus the noise is giving me a headache.

I head to Grandma’s house. Grandma’s house is an abandoned factory in the wooded area off the side of the city. Its covered in cobwebs and smells like dust, but I love that place. When I walk up to Grandma’s house I see a car with A wolf head on the front, crashed in the front of the factory. I only know one person who’s so full of himself to have a stupid car like that. I unzip my hoodie and take out a pistol from the inside. I run on inside. When I open the door I see Wolfe on the floor. Somehow he’s smiling even though he’s completely surrounded by every riding hood in the city, each and every one of them has a gun pointed at him. Then there’s Jack, Grandma’s body guard, he’s towering over Wolfe with a gun in one hand and an old axe in the other. Jack is a huge guy, he’s wearing a plaid shirt with jean overalls, and he’s got a raggedy bird’s nest of a beard. His get up doesn’t really fit with the rest of the gang, be we keep him anyways for the muscle. He’s stepping on Wolfe’s back holding him down. It must suck for Wolfe, that expensive fur jacket ruined by Jack’s muddy and crusty boots.

“Hey, little red, fancy seeing you again.” Said Wolfe. Now I’m not a very comic person, but I couldn’t help but laugh a little, seeing him like that. I stop when I hear Grandma’s cane banging on the ground as she gets closer. She stands right there besides me. I wish I could say something amazing about how my grandma looks, but I can’t. She’s a little old lady with white curly hair and thick circle glasses. She honestly looks like she should be working a bakery, not a gang. She speaks with a soft sweet voice. “He sneaked in. He crashed his car to get our attention.” Says Grandma. “yeah, I was gonna sneak in, kill the old lady and maybe get whatever Little Red’s got. It was going fine until Paul Bunyan here saw me.” Grandma sighs, “Let him up jack. I don’t feel like starting a gang war just because we killed this runner.” Jack gets off of Wolfe, who happily gets up. “Wow, you really are a nice old lady, aren’t you, granny?” Laughed Wolfe. “Yea sure, I’m a nice old lady, now, can you stop coming back here, you’re throwing us off schedule.” Said Grandma. Wolfe walks away waving, he bumps into me. “you know that’s not gonna happen, I’ll be seeing you around; Granny, Red, Hillbilly.” Says Wolfe as he walks out. Now that that’s all done, I put my gun back and reach into my jacket looking for the package. It wasn’t there. I sigh “Wolfe.”