Alleyways

I worked hard, while I was in juvie, and I had actually earned a two year college degree, by the time I turned 18-years-old and had to leave juvie.
I got a job, programming computers and I was really good at it. Unfortunately, I only had a two year college degree and I found that I had to have a four year college degree to really be a computer programmer. I was making less than half of what the four year college guys were making and I was doing more and better work than they were.
I checked around a bit and found that I could get a scholarship at a new wave school. A scholarship that would support me, a disadvantaged kid, while I earned the magic four year college degree. The problem was that I needed to front $1,000, to get into the scholarship system.
I began to work days, programming computers and nights, ripping off Bum Town drug dealers.
The individual street drug dealers were no problem, for me. I could knock a street drug dealer unconscious, take his money and prevent him from getting more drugs to sell. Unfortunately, there was an organization behind the individual street drug dealers. The organization began to send out hard boys to stop the ripping off of the individual street drug dealers. I had no desire to find out if I could handle one of the hard boys, one on one.
I now had a bit over $850 saved. I needed one last, good sized, hit and I would have the school entry fee. Unfortunately, time was running short for the sign up period.
The hard boys had begun to watch the places where I had been operating. However, there was one place that I had avoided. Riveredge was a very dangerous place, but there were a lot of drug dealers operating there. One big hit, in Riveredge, and I could begin to live my dream.
I took a bus and then walked over to the outskirts of Riveredge. I then began to slink through the area. I found that there were street dealers and hard boys, watching the street dealers. One of the hard boys was drinking cheap booze, straight from the bottle. I sneak up on drunk boy, hit him upside the head and then sneak up on his street dealer. I hit street dealer boy upside the head, grab his cash and find that the organization has just pulled up in a big sedan.
I make with the feet and get to an alleyway. I dodge into the alleyway.
(The lowest of the low hang out in the Riveredge alleyways. There are scum in the alleyways who will kill, for the price of a drink. However, the scum are, by definition, petty criminals. I have dealt with much worse than petty criminals, back in juvie. I know how to deal with the petty criminals.)
I quick walk down the alleyway. Some booze or drug addled scum lunges at me. I kick it in the solar plexus and move past the would be robber. As I move on, the scum that hangs out in the alleyway descend on what’s left of the would be robber. Since I move on from the very slim pickings of the would be robber, I must be more than just a petty criminal. How much more could cost the life of he who would find out. I get to the back door of a noisy, smelly bar and duck in there. A couple of dollars of drug dealer money gets me a cup of booze. I then exit, out the front, leaving the cup of booze with a passer by. I quick walk down to the corner and around. I then plunge into another alleyway. The second alleyway is the territory of a gang. I quick walk down the alleyway and one of the punks tries to tackle me. I kick in the top of his head and walk on. At the far end of the alleyway, there’s a guy with a gun. I motion to him and tell the guy, “He ran into the alleyway, he’s got a gun.” In the process, I get close enough to gun boy to knock him out and relieve him of his gun. I then quick walk down to a street and walk along the street. A car cruises past and the guys inside eye me. I look at the car, kind of shrug and walk on. The car cruises on, around the next corner.