THE ADVICE OF THE ARCH-ANGEL MATTHEW · TO THE
KENSINGTONIANS
Keep your mouth full of gumLearn what baseball bats are really for
Chapter 12
If you’re young,
2It’s a good idea to join a gang,
3The way Kensingtonians always have,
4And learn what abaseball bats are really for, bnot to mention motorcycle chains and knives and sawed-off shotguns,
5Because if they should ever find a sneaky way to hurt you,
6You’ll need to know how to deal with them,
7Which is why it’s better not to think about anything at all when you’re in a gang,
8cBut do whatever your leader tells you to do, just like your dad did,
9dWhich is why a gang leader in Kensington always has to be the hardest, meanest, dirtiest animal available,
10And why gang rules are the same from one generation to the next,
11Like if somebody messes with any one of you, then the whole gang takes care of it,
12Immediately,
13Savagely,
14And for keeps,
15eBecause there’s no point in wasting time when vengeance is necessary,
16And it will be necessary,
17Because nobody in this whole stinking fcity likes you,
18And you don’t like any of them,
19So the gang is your protection,
20And it’s your camouflage too,
21Because when the gang goes to work,
22What people remember is the gang,
23And what wild animals they were,
24And nothing else,
25gBecause animals are not individuals,
26And they have no faces.
✦ · · ✦ · · ✦
Chapter 12 / 39