Chapter 1: The Alliance of Petal and Tone
Once upon a time there was a little girl called Petal. Petal was a bit of a tomboy. Petal's dream was to a member of the Blues gang. They were the most biggest gang in her streets.
The chief leader of the Blues gang was Little Mal. In the gang, he was known as the Opposition President. Little Mal lived in the biggest house in the neighbourhood. Petal didn't like him very much. Little Mal was good friends with Jewel and Petal really disliked her. Jewel was slim and pretty, she always wore beautiful clothes and shoes. The boys loved her.
But Petal was a wise and cunning little girl and she was aware that if you weren't in the gang, you would never have any power and she really craved power. She wanted to be looked up to, just like Jewel.
But sadly, like most tall and lanky girls, Petal didn't fit in with the girly, girls. They found her bossy and aggressive. They didn't want her in their gang. Petal wasn't really like them anyway and she would have much preferred to be one of the boys. But they were a bit intimidated by her, try didn't trust her, so they told her to go away as well.
Petal had to find a way of breaking into the gang.
She tried and tried to impress the boys. She was even a killer game player but it wasn't enough. They wouldn't let her in. Some of the boys were frightened of her. Others were intimidated and some didn't think girls belonged in gangs anyway. Petal was running out of options fast. But she wasn't going to give up.
Petal figured out if she could find one friend, who like her craved power, maybe they could team up and take over the Blues Gang and even the rest of the gangs. She was very ambitious.
One day, by pure chance she meets Tone. Now Tone had a reputation for being a bit intimidating. He wasn't really, but he liked to box and he played a lot of sport. He wasn't that articulate at times, he had a habit of getting a bit tongue-tied. He used to do silly things and he was a bit awkward, but deep down he was nice and he was very intelligent and crafty. Some of Little Mal's supporters didn't trust him one bit. But he, like Petal had a few scores to settle and he really, really wanted to be the Opposition President not just a street leader. Maybe one day, even President of the whole neighbourhood.
Tone and Petal hit it off straight away. The partnership was cemented.
What Tone lacked in organisational skills and cunning, Petal had in abundance. Tone was the fighter, Petal was the planner. Together they thought they were invincible and they used to dream of the day when they ran the gang.
Hence, Tone and Petal embarked on their mission to take over and dominate not just the streets owned by the Blues gangs, but all the streets; the Reds gangs, the Greens gang, and all the little streets overrun by those pesky little Micros. But Petal's help was conditional. If Tone was elected Opposition President he had to listen to everything that Petal told him. They would make all the decisions together. He would only talk to people she approved. Anyone who posed a threat to Tone or to her would be treated very harshly. Tone agreed, because without Petal, his plan to be the President would never come true.
Tone went home that night and dreamed of the future with him as Opposition President.
Next morning they started to plan. The first thing they had to do was get rid of the President, Little Mal. And Little Mal played right into their hands. Little Mal had made a fatal mistake, he tried to charge the gang members and street leaders, both the boys and girls a membership tax. He called it a clean up the neighbourhood tax. The gang members were very angry and they complained bitterly to their street leaders. The street leaders knew their members would leave and some would lose control of their streets. They were very, very unhappy and very, very angry.
This is where Smiling Kevie came into play. Smiling Kevie the President of the Reds gang. He was the most powerful leader of all. He controlled the majority of the streets. And along with the Greens gang, they ruled the whole neighbourhood. Smiling Kevie was an opportunist. He knew the Blues gang members were unhappy, so he said, "Come over and join my gang. I won't charge you a tax. I'll give you free computers, free smartphones, free bonuses. Whatever you want." The greedy, unhappy Blues members left in droves and poor Little Mal was distraught. Little Mal was now very, very unpopular.
That's when Petal and Tones saw the chance to pounce. So when Tones announced at the next meeting, "If you make me leader, I won't charge you a tax and even better we'll work on a plan to take over all the streets and wipe out the Reds & Greens gang." there was a huge cheer. And the gang leaders took a vote and Little Mal was sent packing. And Tone was crowned Opposition President of the Blues.
Tone was very happy and he honoured his commitment to Petal and announced that Petal was joining the gang and that she would be his Assistant Opposition President. Petal beamed with pride and an abundant dose of self-satisfaction. The room fell silent, but that didn't last long and thus planing was soon underway to take over all of the streets.
End of Chapter One.
