LEECH MOB: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Getting Out Of A Gang

It’s like saying, “getting away from your friends!” So the first thought is always - It’s not going to be easy to do. Though the first part is pretty obvious, you have to busy yourself with other activities - such as working a job, or working on your music, and then when your old friends call - don’t answer them or call them back. The truth is that most normal kids will get the hint pretty quick - he’s busy with his girl, or he’s always working now, or he’s really into going to the gym now so he doesn’t hit me back anymore - oh well!

And then there are the kids that don’t get the hint. They will be the ones that catch an attitude when they see you out - and glare at you. Call you up and leave threatening messages like “You better call me back when you get this - you dissed yesterday and I’m not letting you get away with that again today!” And you should recognize pretty quick that guys like that have ulterior motives for taking the most offense on what you choose to do with your personal life.

So first, it’s real easy - if they call you, don’t call them back. And if they start to get loud or threaten you, do not bitch out to pressure from them. If you start to get nervous or scared and decide to do what they say - that attitude is what will get you in trouble later! Cause some kids will say that you are now their bitch. And since you are nervous around them, you have to do everything they say. And if they can get away with bossing you around - they can get away with anything!

So don’t ever call them back, and when you see them out, act real positive and smile, and laugh off whatever they are saying, with something like, “I know you’re not serious. You don’t really care about all that! You probably got a million things to worry about!” And as you are saying this, keep walking, hold out your hand as you pass and try to give them dap.
And if they refuse, keep smiling and say, “That’s okay, you know I still love you but I really got to get going. I have to get to work. You know how it is!”

That’s how you don’t get caught in their tractor beam and get pulled into their circle. Cause when that happens, they''ll just begin to pick on you and talk shit until you nervously decide that you better hang out with them to make up for all the disrespect you showed for dissing.

However, If you stay friendly and positive - and act like you don’t have time to stand around and take their abuse, there is really nothing more they can do - except give you an attitude. After all, you may really be telling them the truth about all the stuff you have to do these days instead of just hanging out. So keep moving when you see them!

The first couple of times may be the hardest but as soon as you set the precedent that this is the way things are now, it gets easier every time and they will give up the attitude.

Now let’s go over what the failures may look like. When they see their old boys hanging out on the block they get nervous and think, “I better go over and hang out with them for a minute to do what they want- cause they look pretty pissed off.” Then when they do that, they stand there getting tongue-tied and more and more uncomfortable as their old gang ridicules them for having the nerve to diss them the other day. The minutes turn into hours and pretty soon, the old gang sees that they were not really serious about having to do other things.

They are just lying and making up excuses cause they are scared about something. The ringleader may call him a bitch for trying to diss them lately. And then, the next thing he may be thinking is he better do something quick to impress the gang - so they will stop picking on him. Then, before he knows it, he has to take a risk, or do something stupid to prove he’s not a bitch. And that is how so many good guys get arrested and stuck in jail. And that's where the bad guys like you. Often times it’s a psychological thing; a loser on the street is a bad guy who knows how to intimidate and put pressure on other kids. Often times they may be older or more experienced at mind games. They know how to influence other kids, who are not so bad, to really screw things up for themselves so they wind up in jail and kill their futures.

Once you get locked up, you often lose your girl cause your girl starts dating someone else. You lose your job, you lose your apartment, and when you finally get out - the same a**holes that helped get you locked up are waiting for you. This time they have even worse plans, that may get you shot, killed or stuck in a prison for the rest of your life. This is how losers get guys with talent in trouble all the time. So understand a big part of street life is psychological. You have to be tough minded, not just physically tough. If you can get pushed around mentally, you are not too strong at all!

That is the biggest problem with gangs: most times individuality suffers and the herd mentality takes over. It’s like being a part of any weird cult - where you have to shave your head and do whatever the cult demands. Cause it’s not about you and your freedom anymore - it’s only about the gang of weird people you joined.

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Friday, July 29, 2016

Leech Mob Girls

Eve Krissy

In Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang, we lucked out to have the coolest and smartest group of punk rock chicks in one place in time. They didn’t even dress that weird, but the Jocks would stare at them, the preppy girls didn’t like it and there was nothing but problems but I don’t care what anybody says, the Leech Mob Girls were just hot! Macey is a pretty girl who every Leech Mobber is secretly in love with. Could it be her natural good looks and her sweet personality? Macey’s always down to hang out, just don’t tell anyone you saw her smoke pot!

In the chaos that surrounds the Leech Mob, Krissy often has to step in and set things straight. This is not going to be a simple thing to do, yet we still have to commend the girl’s efforts. Violet dated half the Leech Mob so when it’s your turn, don’t expect any special treatment. As Krissy warns Kelly, “Don’t let Violet make you cry.” Yet still, Violet remains the funnest girl in the world to skip school with. Eve is a tough chick who doesn’t take shit from anybody. She makes combat boots and fishnet stockings look good.

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Clothes Styles of Leech Mob

Zed

The clothes styles of Leech Mob were very different. It was a mix of hardcore, punk, skater, gangster, and industrial gear. Kids would wear champion sweatshirts, ripped at the collar, with black jeans and sneakers; or zippered sweatshirts with cargo pants and doc martin boots. For a minute, long-sleeve t-shirt hoodies were all over the place with baggy pants, meaning size 48 waistlines we had to cop from second hand joints cause the jeans they sold at department stores were just too tight. For the skaters, baggy denim jeans and flannel shirts helped keep their skin intact when they flew off skateboards. Underground skateboard companies still sold t-shirts with unique logos and art designs that the mainstream skateboard companies could never live up to. Hardcore bands developed their own trademark long sleeve t-shirts with statements printed down the sleeves and I remember the style was to wear a short sleeve hardcore shirt over a long sleeved one.

Everybody’s ears and noses were a wreck of piercings and the baseball hats were always rolled down tight so our eyes were shaded. Usually kids shaved their heads around the sides and back but left the tops long, which they bleached blonde or dyed black while other kids got hair dye for the red, purple and green. Some of the girls would show up dressed like hippie chicks with long dresses and beads.

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Pranks

Brody

Pranks are always fun, playing practical jokes on your friends and teachers, or in Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang, on complete strangers too. For example Geo likes to raid his parents’ fridge for all the leftovers, mix them all together, add ketchup, mustard, eggs, fry it all up and then carry it around in a bucket to utilize as a weapon. Or how about when Kelly decides to throw half the classroom out a third story window. Textbooks, globes, overhead projectors and the classroom TV all had to go. And last but not least, in Ancient Civilizations class, Brody replaces the documentary on Ancient Rome with Asian Pornography. In the words of old Dr. Nooland, “HELLS BELLS, WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!”

Hear the first two chapters on audio book - with artwork and video interviews with author John Harwood:

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Alcohol Abuse

Since there are a few keg parties and drunken bashes in Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang, let’s talk about alcohol abuse for a minute. I always thought there was a fine line between using alcohol and abusing alcohol. Since alcohol doesn’t taste too good, I never believed people who said they drink one or two glasses for the way booze tastes. Let’s face it, beer and whiskey aren’t the first items named when people think about delicious things to drink. People drink, whether they want to admit it or not, for the way it makes them feel. People describe it as a buzz which, after a few more drinks, turns into spinning sensation. How many drinks you have usually depends on your tolerance to alcohol or just how often you drink booze for it’s sensational taste.

Unfortunately many high school and college kids drink to get drunk and this leads to many problems including fights, drunk-driving, and accidents. When kids drink too much, it changes them for the worse. There is nothing more pathetic than a sloppy drunk. In fact, the very nature of alcohol is to disorientate the user until they can no longer walk, talk, or appear even remotely sensible. While this may seem fun when we’re younger, as kids mature, hopefully they will begin to see how alcohol abuse ruins people’s lives. When a drunk, drooling zombie stumbles over to you at a party and begins to chew on its tongue instead of talking, we might begin to realize that zombies are never cool. Zombies don’t get the chicks and zombies don’t impress the dudes.

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Fights

Casey

Fights are never good. Kids could get seriously hurt and these days schools do not hesitate to have students arrested. In Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang, among the many brawls there is a big fight between the Leech Mob and the Jocks. The cops arrest only members of the Leech Mob and let the Jocks go merrily on their way, which creates some hard will among the group who thinks the Riverview school system takes it way too way easy on the groups they favor. So the Leech Mob retaliates by invading a Jock party where another rumble takes place. So it’s safe to say, there are quite a few fights in Leech Mob. What kids should learn is that it’s up to the leaders of the different gangs to learn how to handle problems more diplomatically—or often their gang is broken up and hauled off to jail or worse. In Leech Mob, you get to decide which fights were unavoidable and which fights could have been handled differently. Since many young people are into Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and Streetfighting, Leech Mob is a good book to introduce them to. Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang is a fast-paced novel with mad drama at every moment that will keep you thugs flipping the pages.

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Raves and Drugs

Remmy

In the early 90’s, Raves were underground parties that took place at makeshift clubs, usually in warehouses. The DJ would spin techno music that evolved into several different styles, such as Jungle, Trance, Drum n Bass, and Dub Step. I remember how it changed a lot of kids’ styles, who went from wearing old, baggy Goodwill-copped pants and torn hoodies to designer clothes. Quickly the skater and hardcore look was abandoned for the designer-thug look and people could easily spend a thousand dollars on an outfit. Of course, it helped to pay for all that gear if you sold drugs, so Raves also helped turn many kids into serious druggies. Before Raves came around, it was all about weed, 40’s, and shrooms. But after hitting a few Raves, Ecstasy, Heroin, and Cocaine became easier to find. In Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang, you get to read about Kelly’s first experience at a Rave. This is the straw that breaks the camel’s back and, after the cops raid the joint, Kelly is hauled off in cuffs.

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Going To A New School

Tank

Going to a new school is an issue many kids have to face in their lifetime and it sucks! Not knowing anybody, trying to fit in, and having to make new friends are all unnerving challenges. But it’s also a time when you can start a new chapter in your life. In Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang, Kelly’s parents divorce and he moves to a different state – where he doesn’t instantly get along with everyone he meets; in fact, quite the opposite and he gets into a fight on the first day of school. At lunch he sits at the Loser Table and to make matters even worse, Kelly has to ride the Tard-Cart to school. By the time Kelly finishes the first semester, the teachers label him the right candidate for The Program, designed for outcasts, screw ups and kids with learning disabilities. Even though he’s not happy about his current situation, Kelly finds friendship with other kids who don’t exactly see eye-to-eye with the school’s royalty – the Preps, Jocks, and popular kids. However, Kelly finds that the Skaters, Hardcore, and Leech Mob kids could care less as they form their own society outside the hierarchy of the Riverview High School elite, but find that comes with a price.

Hear the first two chapters on audio book - with artwork and video interviews with author John Harwood:

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Losing Your Virginity

Violet

Losing your virginity is a vivid scene in Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang—not so vivid as to receive an R-rating but maybe a PG-13. In Leech Mob, Kelly hooks up with the older Violet. She’s Kelly’s first love, but Violet has been on a spree for a couple years now and soon leaves Kelly in the dust. He chases her for a while but then finds what his friends warned him about is true: Sooner or later Violet is going to make you cry. Yet Kelly has some payback in mind and starts a civil war within the Leech Mob. Kelly and the Riverview Crew storm a Landbury party because Violet is there with her new boyfriend named Mud. I can tell you one more thing: This doesn’t end pretty.

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Bad Teachers

You ever have a bad teacher? Well in Leech Mob, we get to make fun of all the bad teachers we’ve ever had. The foreign exchange teacher who abandons her classroom that erupts into nothing short of The Lord of the Flies, a novel about a bunch of kids – deserted on a tropical island – who all go crazy. Or how about the ancient, ancient history teacher with tufts of hair growing out of each ear – who doesn’t realize when his history documentary video has been replaced with… pornographic entertainment. What about the crazy, pro-wrestling fanatical teacher who stages a pay-per-view wrestling event in class to get his students motivated? You get to read about these teachers and more in Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang.

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Jails and Institutions

Kelly

Raise your hands, kiddies, if you were ever locked up in an institution. If you’re not nuts when they put you in, you will be when they decide to release you. In Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang, after a series of arrests for minor infractions, Kelly’s next mistake lands him into a psychiatric facility. There, Kelly meets a lively cast of mental patients, all with issues of their own: anger, violence, promiscuity, drug and alcohol abuse. Kelly finds a common link to many teen’s issues. Here, Kelly relates to his psychiatrist and peers the events leading up to his final arrest. So sit in with Kelly on a couple mental health groups where there is never an outburst or anyone hauled off in four-point restraints or anything crazy like that-wink wink.

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Date Rape

This is a blog on the dreaded subject of date rape. Date rape is when a couple goes out and usually the guy puts pressure on the girl or gets her drunk and takes advantage of her sexually. Date rape usually involves someone, once trusted, who uses their proximity to manipulate their partner. In Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang, Violet is a girl known to have many boyfriends. She also comes from a family whose parents like to drink and throw a lot of parties. When one of her parent’s friends gets drunk and tries to pressure Violet sexually, all hell breaks loose, especially when her friends don’t believe her. Is this just another one of Violet’s made-up stories? Through the whole ordeal, Violet feels a little like the girl who cried wolf.

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Conscious Bands

I’d thought I’d write a short blog about Conscious Bands, which are an important factor in Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang. A Conscious Band is a necklace, usually with a round, leather medallion with the continent of Africa in the middle. They are striped black, green, yellow and red which are popular colors for African flags and have different meanings behind them. Conscious Bands represented a Free South Africa-- or being conscious to the struggle that was happening in South Africa.

Conscious Bands became popular in the late 80’s and early 90’s when many hip-hop artists also wore them. People could find them in many African imports shops in the 90’s but in 2012, searches for the phrase Conscious Bands turned up very little information and images for them. Now, at the end of days, it will be Andrew who will be held responsible for the Conscious Band Incident. In Leech Mob, Andrew introduces Conscious Bands to Kelly who goes on to wear one, which sparks some controversy among the different gangs.

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Skaters

Matty Brody

Anyone who ever failed to land a rail slide or fell off their board while skating down a cliff and put a hole in their skull like I did that day, could tell you, skaters have to be a hard breed of people. In skateboarding, there is very little between you and metal and concrete – so some of the craziest and toughest kids I’ve known in my life have been skaters. And in Leech Mob you get to read about some of them!

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Hardcore Music

Jasper and Aaron

Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang is a funny, shocking novel about youth in America – set back in the day in the early 1990’s. This was a period of time when rock music was fading out and hardcore was fighting its way out of the underground music scene. In Leech Mob, you’ll read about hardcore shows, mosh pits, underground bands, fights, rumbles and all sorts of chaos in general.
Just remember kids,
HAVE FUN!

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F*ck Racism

Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang is a book with an anti-racist message. It breaks down stereotypes and introduces a range of diverse individuals from all races and walks of life. Everyone who reads Leech Mob will be able to identify with the different characters and witness how these characters interact and relate with each other. Groups of preps, jocks, skaters, hardcore kids, skinheads, and gangsters are constantly at odds with each other and there is never a dull moment.

Hear the first two chapters on audio book - with artwork and video interviews with author John Harwood:

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Marijuana

As the American government decriminalizes marijuana, we, as a society, are going to have to learn about weed in a different light. First, cannabis is a lot safer to use than alcohol. In fact, alcohol kills more people than every other drug put together while pot remains the safest alternative. The truth is that alcohol is the biggest gateway drug and also the most socially accepted one, so what’s up with that?! I believe that all the bad press about marijuana is often contributed by the big alcohol companies who are trying to eliminate competition. In Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang, you’ll meet a pothead here and a social marijuana smoker there and find that after using weed, kids don’t blackout or change the ways that alcohol and hard drugs change kids for the worse.

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A Book For Teens Who Hate To Read

When I was young I didn’t like to read books cause they were usually very boring and you had to read hundreds of pages until something cool happened. What’s different about Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang is that it takes off from page 1 and reads like a collection of short stories - joined together by a group of main characters. Something always cool is happening in Leech Mob! In fact, I dare you to take the Leech Mob challenge! That is, open the book to any random page and start reading and I bet it will grab your attention!

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Friday, October 17, 2014

To Fight Or Not To Fight

John Harwood

In Leech Mob: A Novel about a Connecticut Gang, the topic of bullies and standing up to bullies runs through the book. Upon moving and going to a new school, Kelly first has problems with a gang of Jocks. So the readers can ask themselves, “Did Kelly deal with the situation the right way?” and "What other ways could he have dealt with the situation?" By choosing to fight back, Kelly made a few enemies; however, by choosing to fight back, he also gained a little self-confidence.

A gang of Skaters and then, the Leech Mob approach Kelly next. At these points, is Kelly handling bullies in a different manner? The reader can experience how different gangs of kids handle problems with each other. After Kelly starts hanging out with The Leech Mob, they all have trouble with the Jocks - an older gang of football players, and then later with the Empire State Skinheads, and last with Hilltop Posse. How these kids handle problems with each other is intriguing to read. We find it might be best not to fear the other groups but to approach each other in a more bold and, sometimes, good-natured spirit.

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Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Handling Bullies

In Leech Mob, bullying is a big topic so I wanted to write a blog for some of you kids who are still in school on how to defend yourselves against bullies. From my experience, most bullies enjoy psychologically torturing people. Rarely do bullies walk over and proceed directly to the fight. The whole act of picking on someone is the process of mentally torturing them. This is the way the bully enjoys itself.

Fighting attracts the attention of teachers and the authorities, so there are often consequences. Most bullies would like to avoid suspensions and legal problems so they can go on to a long career of bullying others! With that being said, we realize that a bully will look for those who will stand there quietly without doing much to defend him or herself. When confronted by a bully, many kids will react with the “deer in the headlights look". That is, not knowing how to respond to a cruel threat, the target will stand there almost frozen, staring at the bully and taking the abuse. Then they get themselves locked into a situation they see no way out of, which can become an everyday routine.

Even though the solution might seems obvious when explained, it takes some effort to practice.

Rule # 1 Don’t stand there and let the bully close in on you.

If you see a bully closing in, don’t wait for them and definitely don’t stop for them. I don’t know how many times a gang of kids will look for someone to pick on and this happens to be whoever stops to give the bullies the time of day. Before you came by, dozens of kids have walked by, ignoring the bullies. If the bully tries to get in their way, they quickly walk around the bully or shrug them off with a stern, “GET A LIFE, LOSER!” and go on with their life without any further problems from that bully. So most bullies look for those who will let themselves be picked on. So don’t meet the bully halfway!

RULE # 2 - USE YOUR VOICE. If a bully rolls up on you first try to ignore them and walk away. Then don't respond to their wisecracks, their questions, their commands and definitely don't give them any of your attention. Yet if they keep following you around, simply tell them, "GET OUT OF HERE!" in a loud and clear voice and then walk away! This lets the bully know that you are not afraid of speaking up and you are not going to stand around and let them harass you.

If you are at a bus stop or in the schoolyard and they keep following you around...tell them to "LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!" and then find an activity to do and just ignore the jerks Go back to talking to your friends, read your copy of Leech Mob or do the homework you forgot to do the night before. After the bully sees that you are not going to react the way they want you to - with fear or with your full and undivided attention, the bully will lose interest.

Leech Mob, A Novel About a Connecticut Gang, is a book about the toughest years of a kids life, especially as far as bullying is concerned. High School is a time for a lot of fun and when young people really begin to discover who they are; so don't let one or two jerks bring you down...the Leech Mob definitely wont stand for it! Read about all the crazy ways this gang of kids stood up for themselves, from pranks, to brawls to negotiations, The Leech Mob is here to stay!

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