My cousin came to visit that summer. It was a summer I'll never forget. My cousin arrived the first week in June, causing my parents to have many whispered conversations when they thought I wasn't around. It was clear my cousin brought many secrets to our house. At night my cousin would lock himself in the guest bedroom, and I was becoming very suspicious of him. I asked my parents to tell me more about him since I haven't seen him for a few years.

My Mom told me a little of Henry's past. 'Your cousin Henry has had a few problems in the past with gangs. One night he was with his gang, The Ohio Mafia, when they went to a gas station. Henry went in to use the bathroom when he heard two gunshots, and he ran out of the bathroom to find his gang bolting to the car and driving off. Then he saw the clerk laying face up with two bullet holes in his chest. Henry didn't know what to do. He couldn't call the cops since they knew he was part of a gang and they might think he did it. So he ran out of the gas station, but somebody saw him leave. The witness told the police and then a couple of hours later Henry was arrested.'

The next morning I woke up. I walked down stairs to the kitchen to eat, and I saw Henry already down there at the table eating. I wanted to confront him and talk to him about what my mom had told me last night, but I didn't want him to get angry with me for asking. He was eating pancakes with eggs and bacon, with a glass of orange juice. He looked up at me and asked if I wanted some, and I said no. I went to the cabinet to grab some cinnamon crunch and a bowl, and then I went to the fridge and grabbed some milk. I sat down across from him at the kitchen table, and there was an awkward silence.

My parents walked down a few minutes later and gave me a look. A look that meant don't mention anything we told you last night. After breakfast I asked Henry if he wanted to go out back and throw the football, but all he wanted to do was go back up to the guest room. I was getting more and more suspicious as to what he was doing in there. Henry came back down a couple minutes later.

'Do you still want to throw the old pig skin?' he questioned.

I responded, 'Yes.'

We went out to the backyard and tossed it back and forth for about thirty minutes then retired back inside, and of course Henry retired back up to the guest room till dinner. For dinner we had pork with green beans and mashed potatoes. Henry walked down the steps in torn clothes and a couple blood stains on his pants. He had told us that he cut his finger and then wiped the blood on his pants until he could find a rag to wrap around it, but that doesn't explain the torn clothes. I have a feeling that he is still involved with his gang.

The next morning I woke up and walked down stairs to the kitchen, but Henry wasn't there. I walked up to the guest room where he was sleeping, this time the door wasn't locked. I walked in to find he wasn't there, and then all of a sudden I see that somebody is coming through the open window in there. It was Henry with more torn clothes and blood.

'Where have you been,' I questioned.

'I was just out getting some food. I'm tired of eating in this house everyday,' he answered.

'Well why do you have your clothes torn again,' I acknowledged.

He pondered for a second then said, 'When I got up I was still tired and I fell down a metal fence when I was hopping it.'

I replied, 'Okay.'

The next morning I was already up and waiting for my cousin to leave, when he did I followed him. He passed the diner and kept going; I followed him to a dark ally where I saw him meeting some people. There were five of them. They left in a car and so I followed them again. They met up at a house. It was white with some maroon shutters. They went around back and broke in they were still in there when the owner had unexpectedly returned home. The owner walked in and caught them, and when he did I heard three gunshots and then Henry and the people he met up with bolting out the front door and into their car.

I was too afraid to walk into the house to see what had happened. I went home as fast as I could, and when I did return home I ran upstairs to my parents room to tell them what had happened. When I did my dad called the police. They arrived at our house in about ten minutes waiting for Henry to arrive. When Henry did the police hand cuffed him and put him in the back of the police cruiser. I guess he never left his gang and will always be a prisoner of the Ohio Mafia.