Nimarit

By Nimarit Walia

7 ^o

GTA

Grand Theft Alex

Chapter 1

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Pick me,” screamed the impatient boy.  He was hopping around like a hungry monkey waiting for a banana.

“Is there anyone else in the class who can give me an example of a simile?”  The hopeful teacher peered around the classroom in effort to find at least one student that knew the answer.  But she didn’t and turned her head back to the boy who was jumping all over the place.  She then gave out a deep sigh and said, “OK Alex, what’s your simile?”

“Ooh, I got a good one today teach’.  All right here it is.  ‘The sun was as hot as the sun.’”  All 38 students burst into a hysterical laugh.  “What?  Ain’t it good?  That one took a lot of thinking.  Had to work the ol’ noggin’.”

“No Alex, you have to compare one item with something else in a sarcastic way.  For example, ‘the man ran as fast as lightning.’”

“Oh! Ok then.  How about ‘Usain Bolt ran as fast as Usain Bolt.’

“DETENTION!  After school!  30 minutes!”  yelped the enraged teacher.

Immediately after the incident, the bell rang.  School was finally over.  Alex proudly ran out of the classroom, stopping every few seconds to look back for his teacher.  He was the class-clown, the joker, and the circus act.  He was in the 9^th grade and he still had straight F grades.  Not only had he not gotten an A for three years, but he also never failed to get in trouble.  Today he had gotten detention and ran away.

As he approached the crosswalk outside the school, his friends came running to him.  They joked around about his simile and asked him if he wanted to hang out with them at the mall.  He agreed, and quickly hurried home to tell his mom.  He approached his house at about 3:30 p.m.  He ran up to the large white doors of his house.  He rang the doorbell and entered his name and fingerprint.  The door was quickly opened by a tall man in a tuxedo.  The man kindly gestured Alex into the home, and shut the door behind him.  Alex then passed by the swirling staircases and entered the kitchen, where another butler was swiftly cooking a meal of mouth- watering barbeque chicken drumsticks, several slices of bread, and a fresh salad covered with Ranch dressing.  He walked by the study and saw his dad working busily on his laptop.  He said hi and then walked to the living room.  There he found his mother pacing back and forth, brown hair flying into the air each time she turned.  She stood 5 foot 9 inches and was quite slender.  She was usually nice and caring, but she was like a volcano when she was mad.

“Where have you been young man?  I just got a call from your teacher and I heard that you were being a smart-a-lick again.  How many times do I have to tell you to pay attention in class?  And you apparently have straight F’s again.  You promised me that you would get good grades if I got you a go-cart and built you a course in the backyard.  But you never keep your promises.  That is it!  Enough is enough!  YOU’RE GROUNDED!  No TV, no video games, no friends, no phones, no computers, no butler, nothing for a month.” The furious mother towered over Alex and made sure he understood.  “I expect better from you Alexander Gates.  Why can’t you be like your father and I.  We studied well, got a good job, and are now living it big.  Don’t you want to be rich and famous?  You can’t just rely on your boxing to take you places.  You need to be intelligent. 56 With that, the mother calmed down and paced into one of the elevators in the house.  Alex put his hands over his head, brushing back his thick black hair.  He went to his room and lay down his bed and buried his head into one of the cushions.  He had thought about how he acted, and decided to make a change.  A change that would affect his whole life.

Chapter 2

Alex awoke to a loud buzzing sound in his ear. He tried to cover his head with his pillow, but the sound wouldn’t go away. It just got louder and louder. He got out of bed and was surprised to see red light flashing all over his room. He opened his large, glass door and saw more red lights flashing. Suddenly he heard a shriek, a familiar scream that reminded him of his mother telling him to clean his room. It was then that he realized that the house alarm was going off and his mother was the one screaming, “HELP! HELP! HELP!” Alex hurried back into his room and went to his large 10X10 foot mirror. Then he said his name and whispered a secret password into the edge of the mirror. Finally, he placed his nose on the mirror and it rotated 180 degrees. A large box was revealed. In the middle of the box, there was a pair of blinding white gloves that seemed to be floating in mid-air. Alex quickly grabbed them and slid them on. Call his crazy, but he was going to protect himself with a pair of boxing gloves.

A large shattering noise from the first floor startled Alex, and he quickly ran to his door and thrust it open.  He was about to make a run for his parent’s room, but was stopped by a large man in a black- suit.  The man was about 6 feet tall and had red paint covering his entire body including his face.  Alex lunged at the man and gave him a solid blow on his jaw.  The muscular man retreated backwards and touched his jaw.  Alex examined his glove and saw that it was covered with red blood.  His white glove had been ruined.  While Alex was distracted with his gloves, the man went into a football stance and charged at him with full force.  In a matter of seconds, Alex was on the ground hollering with pain.  The man was on top of him, locking his arms and feet together with handcuffs and dragging him out the window.  Once they were outside, the sound of cops filled their ears.  The man dove behind a fence and taped Alex’s mouth shut.  He then dumped Alex into a bag and surrounded him with trash.  With the cops coming closer and closer, the man took of his suit and body paint and put on a janitor costume.  He had a tan skin color and gray hair that he covered with a hat.  He put on fake wrinkles and a gray beard.  He then picked up his trash-bag, which held Alex in it, and approached a big truck.  The cops finally came out of the car and immediately ran to the man.  The two policemen put their hands on their pistols and walked into the man’s way.
“Excuse me sir, but what might you be doing here?” exclaimed one of the policemen.  The man kept walking like an old man, and acted like he didn’t hear anything.
“I said what are you doing here.  Someone just sounded an alarm and I will shoot if you don’t turn around.”  The cop said with a firm voice.

The “old” man went and stood on a sewer plate on the road and turned around.  “Huh? Pardon?” he said in an even weaker voice, putting his hands slowly around his ear.
“Who are you and why are you here?  Besides, there’s no one supposed to be picking up the trash today.”  The cops tightened their grip on their guns and walked closer to the man.

“I a-am M-mr. S-smith,” said the man, tricking the cops to thinking that he was an old man.  “I don’t even remember when my shifts are these days.  My wife is gone, and I am following her.”
Just as the cops went to grab the old man and question him at the police department, he swung his bag and knocked both the cops to the floor.  The two cops instantly reached for their guns, but were hit hard by a metal pole.  The man walked over to them and stole their guns, bats, and other equipment before jumping into his black Ford F150 truck.  Inside the truck, three other bags identical to the one with Alex were lying on the seats, and two other men were also there wearing the same costumes as the man that kidnapped Alex.  They all were big and buff and were laughing while they sped down Highway 5 and rode to L.A.

Once they reached L.A., they all got out of the car and picked up the bags.  They then walked into a deserted alley that was as dark as the midnight sky, and went to a five-story apartment.  They strode over to the door and unlocked it using a screwdriver and a credit card.  Next, they walked up to the fifth floor and went into the room number 734.  When they got in the room, they turned on the lights and discovered a group of men sitting next to the pool table.  They all were smoking long cigars and had sub- machine guns in their hands.  In the front of them was a dark man with a buzz cut and the words “Live To Die” carved in his head.

“Open da bags,” commanded the leader, Dibs.
The three men, also known as the “Gigantic Trio Assault” or G.T.A., quickly opened the bags and proudly lifted them up for Dibs to see inside them.
“What da hell are ya try’na show me, eh?  What you t’ink I am huh?  Some sort o’ dummy!  Well lets get dis straight,” Dibs said looking the men straight in the eyes, “Ya mess wid’ me, ya get the hamma’.  Ya got it.  I thought that you guys are worth som’thin, but I guess I was wrong.”
The three men thoroughly inspected the bags but found nothing but trash.  “Buh-.”
“ENOUGH O’ DIS! put ‘em on da table.”
Dibs’ men threw the G.T.A. on the table and tied them up.  They then took a hammer and hit each one’s finger until the bone split in half.  The three men screeched like a cat getting run over, and they stared at their broken fingers, now oozing with blood.

“Next ones tomo’ow” muttered Dibs as he stuck his cigar in one of the man’s bloody fingers.

Chapter 3

Alex, his mom, dad, and baby brother were all running to the nearest hotel, which was 2 miles away.  But how, might you ask, did they escape the kidnappers?  Alex had managed to break free of the tape on his mouth and bit the trash bag open.  When they were in the car, Alex got out of the bag and put the bag over him like a blanket, concealing himself from the kidnappers.  He then broke the other bags free and saved his family.  To keep any suspicion, they filled the bags with trash and used the tape from their mouths to tape the bags shut.  When the men approached the dark alley, Alex and his family snuck to the trunk of the truck.  The G.T.A. then took the trash bags and went inside.  That’s when Alex and his family made a run for it. They all ran away for their lives, with Alex’s dad carrying his 3-year-old brother. When they finally reached the nearest hotel, The Hilton, they got a room and relaxed. Mrs. Gates (Alex’s mom) called her neighborhood friends to check on her house and see if it’s OK. But to her dismay, her house was burned down. Alex, who was bored out of his mind, went to the lobby to see if they had any games. When he found out they did, he brought his brother and parents, and together they all went into the game room. The game room was a nice and peaceful area with table tennis, 3 couches and a plasma screen T.V., foosball, and pool. Alex went straight to the foosball table and played his little brother and dad. Alex beat his little brother by a score of 10-3, but his dad was a lot better. He was tied 9-9 with his dad, and he had the ball. His mom was counting down from 10 as Alex passed the ball to his forward. Right when he was about to take a shot with 3 seconds left, a man walked into the room. Alex looked to see who it was, and the ball rolled to his dad. His dad, taking advantage of this great opportunity, shot the ball and scored in the final second. Alex looked back at the foosball table and laughed. The mysterious man was wearing a white suit and a pink/white/black-striped tie. He had on a pair of expensive designer shoes on that were also white. His complexion was of a tannish- brown color, and he had a fresh buzz cut with a unique design carved in it. The man also had a pink handkerchief sticking out of his shirt pocket with a small print on it that said “Dibs”. The man walked toward the couches and sat in one of them. He then picked up the remote and switched the T.V. on. When he did, two men dressed in football jerseys appeared. He changed the channel to the Kron 4 newscast and concentrated on the screen. Alex soon stopped staring at the man and went back to playing with his family. But his whole family turned to the television and started listening to the conversation. A picture of their house was shown on the large hi-def screen and there was also a signature on their door. The television said that a mysterious man bombed the house and signed the door afterwards. They said that the name on this door was Dibson McCarthy. When the man on the sofa heard that name, he turned and smiled at the family. Alex knew it was him.

Dibs got off the couch and approached Alex slowly. Mr. Gates guarded Alex and got in his fighting stance. But Dibs just pulled out a gun and called in his men. The Gates family yelled for help but it was to no avail. When the men carried Alex and his family out to Dibs’ Chevy Escalades, there were Hilton security workers lined up outside on the floor. This time the big men were holding Alex and his family in the car. Instead of going to their usual hideout, Dibs traveled to a lonely desert- like area with no buildings or anything. He then took the Gates out of the car and questioned them.

“Where’s da money at? I know you just created some sort o’ diamond that extracts da sun’s rays and energy, formin’ an indestructible weapon or object.”

“Yes, and as a matter of fact, the diamond is used for researching the sun. It is very powerful indeed, and that is why you men probably want it right.”

“I don’t like no small talk. Jus’ give me da diamond an’ we cool. I’ll get ya a new house, and I won’t kill you. So talk up buddy or Alex goes first.”

Dibs pointed his gun at Alex. Simultaneously, Alex pulled out a gun that looked exactly the same. When he did this, Dibs’ men also pulled out their sub-machine guns, pointing directly at Alex.

“Relax. Relax. It’s just a fake gun. I just wanted to have proof that you guys were going to kill me.”

As Alex shot bubbles into the air, a powerful light shined through the car. “Stop the car now, Stop the car and out with your hands in the air,” said the loudspeaker of a FBI helicopter. Soon, the siren of cop cars filled the desert. Dibs made a dash for it in his Escalade, but was easily flat-tired in a few seconds. He too put his hands up.

Chapter 4

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Pick me,” screamed the impatient boy.  Alex was hopping around like a hungry monkey waiting for a banana.

“OK fine, Alex. What is the derivative of 3x² + x⁴/6? And please if you don’t know, don’t try. If you give one more smart com-.”

“Don’t worry teach’. I got a good one today. All right here it is. The derivative of (3x² – x⁴/6) is solved as two separate equations. First you solve the derivative of 3x², which is 6x. Then you solve the derivative of (- x⁴/6), which would be… hmmmm… According to my calculations, if you take the power, which is four, and multiply the front by it, you get (-2x⁴/3), and then you deduct the power by one, you get (-2x³/3). Now for the grand finally, you combine the two problems. 6x – 2x³/3.”

“U-uh, t-that was a-am-amazing. B-but how Alex. I’m so proud of you. You just solved an 11^th grade problem with ease. Even I understood what you were saying for once!”

“Ah, it’s nothin’ special. You just have to put your mind to whatever your doing and never give up. If you keep trying, you will succeed.”