Clubhouse Of Mischief (edit)

Sam is the new kid in neighborhood. He has a friend named Leroy whom he befriended a few weeks back. Leroy invites Sam to join his club. It is initiation day and Sam finds out what his task will be.

The Mischief club

It was a frosty September morning. The air was crisp and cold. Skies were clear and the sun shined brightly. The snow on the ground sparkled and glistened as Sam and Leroy walked. Snow crunched beneath their feet as they continued their journey. They had met a few weeks ago and became good friends. The boys were on their way to a Saturday afternoon clubhouse meeting. In those days, Neighborhood Watch was real. If you were caught doing something wrong, a couple of slashes on the behind from a leather belt sufficed. You were then sent home to your parents for a repeat performance and then grounded. The clubhouse was a place where neighborhood kids could be themselves without restrictions. Member's ages ranged from nine to twelve. The total consisted of ten, with an eleventh hopeful. Sam would soon find out what the clubhouse was about. He would find it was a clubhouse of mischief.

Their clubhouse was in an old broken down dusty garage, located on Old Hickory Road in the back of an abandoned and condemned house. It was hidden by an old cedar tree with branches and stems with falling leaves and snow covered the ground. The entrance was covered by a remainder of tall grass, dried out weeds with high thick jagged hedges. The door was cleverly made with one huge piece of plywood board and long rusty nails to hold the steel hinges. They were attached by a long splintered and cracked board at the opening. The board squeaked from left to right as club members entered. The clubhouse was their safe zone. It was their home away from home. Soft drink cans, empty chip bags and candy wrappers were on the floor. The sound of spitting on the floor and a few loud swear words were heard as the members planned their activities for the day.

An old tattered and moth eaten curtain hang in the window. You could see dust particles in the air from the sunshine's rays beaming in on the wall of the garage. It was dark, damp and musty inside. The ceiling leaked on rainy days. Kerosene lamps and flash lights were used for lighting. Sam was asked to join the club a few days back. Sam had recently moved into the neighborhood.He was twelve years old, an only child and kinda tall for his age. He had a quiet demeanor. Big ears which seemed to flap as he walked. Sam a bop in his step and girls were quietly attracted to this. He had Long legs, slinky arms and big feet. Had patches in the knees of his blue jeans, but dressed neatly and always had that Sunday barbershop haircut look. 

It was initiation day for Sam. He had to prove his loyalty in order to be accepted. From the deep south, Sam spoke with a southern slang and was very respectful to adults. A constant yes mam no mam, yes sir no sir always came from his mouth. Alex Wilson was the leader. Members called him Alex the man. He was tough, arrogant, prideful and extremely bossy and selfish. It was always his way or the highway . Pretty much a butt head. Sam thought, "Sooo he's all hat and no cattle."  Sam went on to say to himself, "He may look the part but, don't know diddly-squat about being a leader." Stan chuckled quietly. 

Clubhouse meeting begins. "Okay bros, quit the congregating. Time to get the show on the road!," exclaimed Alex rubbing his hands together with a devious smile on his face. The horns of Satan began growing from the top of his head. Sam sat off at a distance staring at Alex. He whispered to his buddy Leroy saying, "Man..Looks like he fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down! Shoot, looks like he got beat with a ugly stick! and If he knew what I was thinking, he'd be on me like white on rice." Sam quietly uttered this under his breath. Unknowingly, Sam's negative perception of Alex would soon be replaced with fear.

Alex strolled up to Sam saying, "So you want in, huh? You sure you have the guts?  We don't need no crying babies or little punks." Alex went on to state, "To be one of us, you gotta be tough and know when to get out of Dodge if going gets rough."  Sam felt intimidated, but listened attentively.  Alex forcefully exclaimed, "Don't mess up or get caught! You feel me bro!"  Sam was nervous. His palms were clammy, sweat droplets were rolling down his cheeks and his mouth was dry.  Sam shook his head, yes, but was suddenly filled with uncertainty. "What's the matter, you scared?," exclaimed Alex.  The other boys laughed, pointed fingers and cracked jokes about Sam. He sat there feeling embarrassed.

The initiation plan. "You ready Sam? okay dudes listen up. I want you to hear this too, so gather round,"  Alex demanded.  "You know old lady Wellington?  She lives at the end of the block, in that big yellow house with the brown picket fence?  She is always spying on us and getting us into trouble."  Alex went on to say,  "Anyways, every Tuesday afternoon, she bakes two peach cobbler pies for her church social, and puts them out on the ledge of her window seal to let them cool." Alex explained. "This is where you, Sammy.. my homeboy, come in."  He put his arm around Sam's shoulder. "I want you to sneak up to the side window and take those pies! You do this, and you're definitely in.  Alex shook his fists.  "Mess up and you can forget it!  Umma send my man Leroy with you as a back up in case you flake out. Me and the other guys will be hiding  in the bushes watching," exclaimed Alex. As the boys left the clubhouse, Alex yelled, "Can't wait to get my choppers on that pie!"  Sam was scared and felt a lot of pressure.

As Sam and Leroy approached old lady Wellington's house, they noticed that she was on the front porch chatting with the mail man. "Now's our chance, come on," exclaimed Leroy. "Man stop shoving me. I know what to do!" whispered Sam. The two boy kept along the side of the house until they reached the ledge where the pies were. "Careful man!," Leroy cautioned as Sam reached for the first pie.  "Hurry, Hurry grab the last one, and lets get out here," Leroy demanded. There were footsteps headed toward the kitchen. The boys were listening through an open window while

waiting for the coast to be clear. "Run, run!" Leroy shouted. "And you better not let her see you,"  The boys did slip and slide, but they were able to dash across the street and hide behind a parked car and another big maple tree standing near. Old lady Wellington came to the front porch pointing her finger. 'Thieves, thieves! Where are my pies? I know you're out there! Just wail until I get my hands on you! I'm gonna tell your parents! I know it was you ...you pesky kids! Come out from your hiding place, right now!" The old lady was very upset.

Sam was starting to panic. "Maybe she saw us..you think we should give up, and turn ourselves in!  I just know she saw us!"  Sam's voice was very nervous. He began sweating profusely, and breathing fast because his heart felt like it was in his throat. "Oh man!, I'm hyperventilating.  Feel like I'm gonna pass out!," Sam complained.. "Calm down, calm down! You gonna get us caught!, Leroy whispered as he put his right hand over Sam's mouth. Sam fell to the ground. "Awwwww man, I feel dizzy and everything is getting dark. The other club members were watching from a nearby bush. Just then, Alex starts to approach. "What the heck is going on here! What's the matter, little Sammy wet his pants or something? Does he want his mommy!  Shucks.. he'll be just fine!  You two are total losers! Give up them pies now!" Alex demanded. He took the pies and laughed and chuckled as ducked and ran away.  "Sheer idiots..I tell you!" Alex remarked. The other members left with Alex to enjoy a chunk of those stolen pies.

Leroy shook Sam aggressively, trying to help him breathe. " Come on, breath man! Please breathe! Stop kidding around! This ain't no time for messing around!" He shook him again. "We gotta get out of here right now before we get in trouble," Leroy pleaded.  Sam's lips were turning blue. Leroy jumped up running in a panic back across the street to old lady Wellington's house.

"Please you gotta help me! I think my friend is dead. He's cold and all bluish."  Mrs. Wellington immediately came to Sam's aid, administering CRR. A next door neighbor had already called an ambulance and the police. Mrs. Wellington continued the CPR until paramedics arrived. They loaded Sam into the car and worked on him frantically as they drove off making their way to the hospital.

Back at the clubhouse....

Author's Note

Please read my story. I am open to comments, suggestions and reviews.

Reviews

[Bear]

I suggest you run this through Grammarly https://app.grammarly.com so you can see and correct the simple errors. The story has good imagery and a cast of characters that are engaging so there is good potential to develop them if you want to expand the story. You have the beginning of an emotional flow between characters so the is room here as well for development. With the use of a thesaurus, you could easily make the story more sophisticated or smarten up the appearance of a key character to make him more leader-like. All in all, I like what you have written and encourage you to continue writing stories in this format. After you run Grammarly and have questions or comments feel free to contact me.

[Valentine]

Nice word usage. Valentine

[wordman]

an adventure story,loced it sounded like a readers digest story

[samparks,sam]

Nice story I read care fully : ) Nice Theme Great Adventure your story. Like it. I read Every line with silentely. Really Nice story

[samparks,sam]

Nice story I read care fully : )