The story of David

It was almost noon by the time Constable Lim and Constable Tan had finished settling a family dispute case. They were about to go for lunch when they received a call over the radio.
"Division to one-two, over! One-two, proceed to Block 64 Sims Place. A dead body has been found at the lift lobby of the block, over!"

"Roger! Proceeding now," acknowledged Constable Lim.

On arrival at the scene, they saw a boy in school uniform lying motionless outside the lift. They immediately cordoned off the area and within minutes, Constable Lim and Constable Tan had the curious crowd under control. The police photographer took pictures of the scene and the police collected whatever evidence they could found. The body was then removed to the mortuary.

After investigation, it was confirmed that the deceased was a 16-year-old Chinese boy named David. David was in his last year in secondary school. He led a life of a normal teenager until one day…

David was as usual, hanging around in a shopping centre in Orchard Road with his girlfriend, Kathy after a day in the school. However, David was in a very foul mood that day. He had just failed a test in which he had studied very hard, and was now afraid of going home to be scolded by his parents yet again. His parents would always compare him with his younger brother who had never managed to let his parents down, be in studies or sports. And worse of all, whenever David’s parents did that, he would feel very insulted, as if they weren’t his real parents. He felt that they were being very unfair to him.

Just then, a very stylish yellow Versace T-shirt displayed in a shop caught David’s eyes. "How I wish I could afford it," David said to himself, not knowing that those words actually got into Kathy’s ears. She went into the shop and within minutes, she came out with the T-shirt. David was overjoyed when Kathy gave the shirt to him. Still, he asked, " Hey, how did money to buy this shirt? It actually cost, emmm…. …, two hundred dollars." "Well, I have my own way" came Kathy’s reply but no matter what, David like it very much.

David immediately went into a nearby toilet to try out his new T-shirt. Just when he was about to put on the shirt, three teenagers wearing school uniform and were of about the same age as David came up to him and snatched his shirt away. They wanted the shirt for themselves. David tried to fight back but was beaten up harshly by them instead. The three teenagers went out of the toilet with all the money that David had, leaving David lying on the floor.

It wasn’t long before David managed to get up and walk out of the toilet, with bruises all over his body. Kathy, who was waiting impatiently outside the toilet, was shocked when he saw David. After hearing his story, Kathy was extremely mad and told David not to worry and that he would help him get back at them.

David reached late that night. His parents were also very shocked when they saw the bruises all over their son’s body. However, they were quick in scolding him and blamed him instead of showing concern for him. David became very frustrated. He already had a very bad day. The anger grew and grew in him.

The next day, after school, David was surprised to see Kathy with some other people waiting outside the school for him. Kathy told David that John, Michael, Thomas, Peter, Jenny and Eileen (the people waiting outside the school with Kathy) were her friends. John, Michael, Thomas and Peter were members of the White Crane Gang and they were going to help David to get back at the people who had beaten David up that day. At first, David was reluctant to go with them but after some persuasion by Kathy, David agreed. They waited outside the school of the three teenagers for them to appear. Soon, they caught sight of them. John, Michael and Peter rushed up to them and gave them a real beating. They only stopped when they heard someone shouting "Police! Police!" Then, all of them ran away.

David then spent the rest of the day with the gang. They went to a nearby fast-food restaurant and when a person tried to jump the queue, which David was in, Michael, and John dragged him out of the restaurant and beat him up. While hanging around in the shopping centre, Peter caught sight of a person staring at him and together with Thomas, they dragged him into the toilet and walloped him and took all his money away, just like what the three teenagers had done to David.

It was soon night and David was still with them. He did not want to go home. He would rather hang out with the gang though he knew that wasn’t the right thing to do. They were lying at the ground floor of a block when Thomas felt very restless and wanted to look for some excitement. As it was already quite late, most of the shops had closed already. Michael, the Gang leader, suggested breaking into one of the provision shops. And that was what they did. At first, David was afraid of getting caught but when he saw how John had easily broke open the lock, he joined in looting the goods of the shop too. The gang took whatever they wanted, tibits, drinks, food and even cigarettes and beer. And before they left the shop, they made a mess out of it.

Together with the things they had stolen, the gang went to Michael’s house. Till then, Kathy and David was still with them. Kathy had no intention of going home. She had got used to such life after hanging out with them for so long. Neither did David felt like going home. He knew he would be scolded and condemned by his parents. He knew that others would look down on him. Thus, he would rather stay with gang and have more fun. That night, David joined the gang after much persuasion by Michael and became a White Crane Gang member.

David did not go home ever since. His parents tried calling the school but to avail, as David had not attended a single lesson since the day he joined the gang. David hanged out with the gang ever since. He picked up a lot of bad habits like stealing, smoking and drinking and what was worse was that they were underage to smoke or drink. Nevertheless, they continued doing so. David also started collecting protection money. Together with the gang, they would bash up whoever did not want to pay up. People whom David did not see eye to eye were not spared by his blind punches. This life went on for quite some time when one day…

David was alone with Kathy in a shopping centre. David had gone to the toilet and when he came out again, he saw a teenager of about his age, whistling at Kathy, irritating her. David was extremely mad when he saw this and single-handedly, dragged the person to a deserted corner. There, he bashed him up real hard and for once, he looked as if he was going to kill him before he was happy.

David only stopped when the person lay unconscious on the floor. Luckily, he was still breathing. Afraid of getting caught, David and Kathy ran away. While running, David suddenly thought of how his life had ended up like that. He knew he would kill someone eventually if this went on. He did not want this to happen. David suddenly had the urge of going back to school to study and not lead a life of only fighting. When they finally stopped, David told Kathy his idea. At first, Kathy thought that he was only joking. But soon, she realized that David meant business. She discouraged him from doing so and told him the consequences of walking out of the gang. Michael would not let him get away so easily.

However, after much consideration, David decided to go home that night. His parents were overjoyed by David’s return. They did not scold him like what they usually did but instead, showed care and concern to him. David finally felt warmth in his family. This spurred him to go back to school to study and quit the gang.

The next day, David finally went back to school to study after a month of lessons missed. He began to find fun with his present schoolmates and found it more comfortable to be with them than with the gang. This life went for about a week or so, before one day…

David was going home as usual after a long day at school. But his greatest fear came true. He saw the gang waiting for him outside the school gate, exactly the same way he first met them but this time, they weren’t as friendly as they were, the last time. But still, David plucked up his courage and went toward Michael, telling him his intention of quitting the gang. Michael was extremely mad when he heard that. "We are not going to let you walk out of us like that so easily. I give you a week’s time. If you don’t pay me five hundred dollars as quitting fee by the end of the week, you’re going to get it from us." After saying all that, Michael, together with the other gang members, walked away.
David did not know where to get the money. He looked at his savings, which had barely a hundred dollars. He dared not ask his parents for the money. David was at his wits’ ends. He had not a slightest idea on what to do.

Very soon, the week went passed. David walked out of the school as usual and the gang was there waiting for him. Kathy was already pleading Michael not to harm David but to no avail. David did not dare to face the gang. Once he reached the gate, he immediately ran as quickly as his legs could carry him back home. The gang gave chase and was shouting at David to stop while chasing.

The gang finally got hold of David at the lobby of the block. The four gang members, Michael, John, Thomas and Peter pushed David into the lift while Eileen and Jenny prevented Kathy was going in too. Soon the lift door closed and the four people started beating up David, the person whom they once said to be their brother.

Kathy could do noting but wait at the lift lobby for the gang to finish beating up David. Decades seemed to have passes but the lift door just would not open. After what seemed to be a very long time, the lift door finally opened again and David was pushed out of the lift. His whole face was swollen and his whole covered with blood. He did not even have the strength to stand up again or move, let alone fight back. He was dying. The gang members soon realized that they had gone overboard. They quickly ran away, dragging Kathy along with them, leaving the dying David there. Within minutes, David stopped breathing.

From the day David had joined the gang, there was no turning back. Now that he is gone, his story may act as a warning which warns us don’t ever step into secret societies.