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Gangster Steals Kid’s Earnings, Then Walks Into A Trap That Costs Him Big

by Leona Pham
October 29, 2025
in Social Issues

We all face moments in life when we’re forced to deal with bullies, but how many of us ever find a way to turn the tables?

One young teen’s encounter with a much older, threatening figure could have been a nightmare, but instead, he found an unlikely ally in a seasoned neighborhood veteran.

As the situation spiraled, what seemed like a simple robbery turned into a lesson in streetwise strategy, leaving the bully humbled and the young kid with more than just his pride intact.

A 90s kid complies with a bully’s home demand for fundraiser money, leading him straight to a respected gang OG’s house for payback

Gangster Steals Kid’s Earnings, Then Walks Into A Trap That Costs Him Big
not the actual photo

'Thieving bully demands I take him home in order to give him my fundraising earnings. I comply and it works out beautifully for me?'

I was in middle school in the 90s. I loved growing up then and even though there were gangs in my area, I generally avoided trouble.

One of my classes had this big field trip planned and they had us selling chocolates to raise money for our trip.

I was pretty good at it and was selling at a good rate.

I would take the bus (public transportation) to school and my stop was about 2 blocks from my home.

I got off at my stop one day with my box of chocolates and there was this older kid (around 16-17), pretty big for his age hanging out there.

He saw me and came towards me. This guy is clearly a gang banger.

“Payaso” comes up to me and says “Hey homie where you from?”He was asking what gang I was from.

It’s not the first time I get challenged like this so I just reply “I don’t bang man, I’m just a junior high kid”.

Payaso looks at my box of chocolates and takes it from me “What’s this?”

I tell him it’s nothing, it’s something for school. He opens the box and sees a bunch of dollars in there.

He grabs the bills (around $15, my sales for the day) and takes a bunch of chocolates as well.

“Tomorrow you’re going to give me $20 more. If you don’t, we are going to have a real f__king problem.”

I walk away feeling scared and pissed off. I realized I’m going to have to pay back the lost money from my birthday money.

And I definitely didn’t want to give this guy any more money.

I think about it and decide I’ll get off at a later bus stop from now on and walk a little more just to avoid this guy.

The next day this is what I do. I stuff my box in my backpack just in case and I exit about two stops later.

I don’t see the guy and think I have solved my problem.

Then I get to the liquor store a block away from home and who do I see but this overgrown i__ot Payaso.

“Hey man, you didn’t forget about me did you?” I said “look man, I don’t have any money right now. I don’t even have my chocolates. I left them at...

I shouldn’t have said that. “Ok, let’s go to your house and you’re going to give me the money or something else if you don’t got it.”

I begin getting real nervous. My mom is at work and my grandma is home.

I definitely don’t want to bring him home with her there. I glance at him and notice the tattoos on his arms.

At this point I saw the perfect opportunity for malicious compliance.

I tell him “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Why don’t you just let me go, man”

Payaso grabs me by the collar and says “I tell you what to do and you f__king do it. You understand?”

I nod my head and tell him to follow me.

Now it’s time to give a little background.

My neighbor, who lived in the house next to mine was a “Veterano”, a veteran of one of the biggest, most notorious gangs in the city.

He was in his 40s and a real chill dude. He loved my grandma because she would often share plates of food

she made with him and his wife, and he was fond of me because I taught his 8-year-old boy how to play baseball.

His son had a disability, a problem with one of his legs, so most other kids wouldn’t play with him but I often did.

Let’s call my neighbor OG. OG always had a bunch of guys over at his house.

He made sure they never caused problems and they were all respectful towards my family in particular.

Back to Payaso. The tattoos on his arms? I realized he was from the same gang as OG.

I have a big smile as I’m walking home and Payaso asks me “Why are you smiling pendejo(i__ot)?”

I say “no reason” and keep walking home. As we get closer I see a bunch of guys hanging out at OGs house.

Payaso narrows his eyes then smiles as he recognizes some of the guys.

We get to OGs house and Payaso says “Wait here pendejo, let me talk to my homies”

OG is sitting on his porch and Payaso starts greeting some of the guys and then heads towards OG and greets him in a reverential manner.

OG notices me and says my name “Hey OP, what’s up?”

Payaso turns to look at me and I say “Payaso told me to wait here. I have to go home and give him money.”

OG stands up and says “Why do you have to give him money?”

I say “Because he told me yesterday at my bus stop that the $15 and chocolates he took from me weren’t enough and I had to give him more today”

Payaso begins to speak “you know this kid OG?” OG gives him the scariest look I’ve ever seen and tells him to shut the f__k up.

OG looks back at me and asks “Is this from the chocolates you are selling?” I said yes.

OG asks me how many chocolates I have left to sell. I say about 50.

He tells me not to worry, Payaso is going to pay me for the 50 I have left, plus 20 for the day before, and an extra 50 for my...

He tells me to keep whatever else I sell. He tells me to go home and Payaso would be back later with my money.

About an hour later there is a knock on my door and Payaso has an envelope and says “here’s $120 little homie. I f**ked up.

I’m sorry. Do you have Nintendo? I brought you some games”

I just stood there stunned and thinking how I never would have guessed that getting robbed had so many benefits.

I didn’t see Payaso too many times after that, but whenever I did he would wave at me and never bothered me again.

There is a fine line between fear and strategic thinking when dealing with intimidation.

In this situation, the Original Poster (OP) found himself facing a difficult and dangerous encounter with Payaso, a local gang member who demanded money from him under threat of violence.

Initially, OP was fearful, knowing he had no way to escape the situation. But instead of caving to the intimidation, OP used his knowledge of the local gang culture to outsmart Payaso. By leading him to his neighbor, OG, a respected figure in the same gang, OP turned the tables and ended up being compensated far more than he had lost.

Many people might think OP’s actions were just a form of submission, but in reality, they were a calculated form of malicious compliance.

Dr. Michael C. Bradley, a criminologist who specializes in gang culture, explains that, “Malicious compliance occurs when someone complies outwardly, but secretly takes advantage of the situation to achieve their own gain.”

In this case, OP’s willingness to comply with Payaso’s demands was a ruse to gain the upper hand and put himself in a position where Payaso’s behavior could backfire.

“Gang culture thrives on respect,” Dr. Bradley continued. “When a member is seen disrespecting a community or another member, it can cause friction within the group. OP cleverly exploited that dynamic to his benefit.” By leading Payaso directly into the presence of OG, OP understood the social hierarchy and used it to protect himself.

However, while OP’s strategy worked in this instance, it’s important to note that relying on this kind of manipulation is risky and not always advisable.

Dr. Nicole Arzt, a licensed marriage and family therapist, warns that using fear and manipulation to control a situation can be dangerous. “While it might seem clever to manipulate the situation to your advantage, emotional and physical intimidation should never be allowed to continue unchallenged,” she explains.

“Instead of relying on short-term strategies, individuals in such situations should seek out professional or community support to stop the cycle of violence or bullying.”

In cases like OP’s, it’s easy to understand why he acted the way he did, but experts suggest that individuals facing similar threats should seek assistance from trusted adults, community leaders, or authorities.

Building strong community networks and fostering open communication can help prevent such situations from escalating and ensure that individuals have the support they need to navigate challenging circumstances.

Let’s dive into the reactions from Reddit:

These Redditors shared personal experiences where showing respect to gang members led to unexpected safety and support

[Reddit User] − Glasgow 1940s. My mom (then a schoolgirl) was being followed by a stranger.

Approaching her neighborhood, the local toughs said hi, you alright.

She pointed out the stranger, they said Go home, we’ll sort this out. Real leaky blinders stuff.

deefjuh − I used to live in a bad part of the city. All kinds of cultures, and us being very white were the minority.

They knew us and left us in peace, but you shouldn’t walk there when the sun had set if you were foreign to that part.

Everybody greeted us when walking by at night, never gave us an unsafe feeling.

However, there was a lot of shooting, even had a stand-off between a cop and a guy shooting at each other in front of my house.

Or a car exploded 15 meters away, a guy in loafers and bath robe just got in his car behind it, parked it a couple of meters away, and went...

Our apartment had a basement that was only half in the ground, with first floor being like “half a floor” up.

We shared our narrow hallway with a friendly older Moroccan guy.

We sometimes hung out, shared drinks, or he would knock and bring us cookies.

He used to be a higher up in a d__g related gang, and people still respected him a lot.

One day I had my window open on the front and… my backpack was stolen.

I told the guy, his eyes narrowed, and just said: “Let me take care of this”.

Within the hour he knocked, handed me the bag, “Don’t ask, it will not happen again. He is sorry for the trouble. ” Everything was still in it.

I had an old Mercedes, with the metallic star on a swivel on the hood. Nobody touched it.

The same car parked behind my car, within 15 minutes the star was broken off.

On the grass in front of my apartment my ex and I sat on a bench with an instant BBQ, some wine.

The local gang saw us and were truly excited about the idea,

even asked if they could fetch some stuff to put on the BBQ, sat around and we all had a great relaxed time.

Had we not been living there, we would have been robbed 100%. My point is: they didn’t s__t where they’d sleep.

Double_Rice_5765 − Hah, my only experience with legit gang members was when I lived in the big city, my landlord was like og.

I was working on my scuba instructor license, and the lobster license at the time was like $6/year for scubadivers, vs. 10's of thousands for a lobster boat license.

You could take like 5-6 lobsters per day, and that's a lot of lobsters, so my landlord who visited his niece all the time, my downstairs neighbor,

because she cooked seafood heavy traditional foods from his country, just like his moms used to make, so I'd give him a couple whenever I saw him.

This was aperently the cheat code to being buddies with him, hah. Our stuff in our $400/mo 2 bedroom got fixed so fast,

and when my $5 garage sale bike got stolen,  his "boys" "found" it for me right away. Hah.

New-Conversation-88 − A friend had a daughter badly bullied in high school by older boys and girls, 16 17 yr olds she was 14.

My husband rides a Harley is tattooed and happens to know some 1%ers casually.

The day he and two others turned up at the school to give her a ride home on his bike was the last day she was ever given any trouble...

This group appreciated the OP’s clever use of malicious compliance

KiwiKittenNZ − Sometimes, not being in a gang but being respectful to gang members and building a good relationship with them has its benefits

TJamesV − This is beautiful. Great MC, justice served, and your thief came around in the end! Excellent story.

[Reddit User] − Many gangs have a code. When you do petty stuff like this to civilians, you are bringing unnecessary attention to the gang.

These commenters reflected on how relationships with gang members

cobigguy − I used to be a bouncer back in the mid 00s.

The club/bar I worked at regularly had gang members who were honestly just looking to have a good time and enjoy themselves.

We were always respectful and friendly to them and they treated us exactly the same way.

One day one of the younger gang bangers comes in and starts causing issues.

We try to be cool with him but he's a hot-head and tries to escalate and fight us.

My coworker took him down, but before we could kick him out, one of the OGs came over and intervened.

We never saw that dude around there again, and because we had built a relationship of trust with the OG, there were never any problems with his gang again.

KCPRTV − Had a somewhat similar experience.

2 idiots grabbed my mobile phone near my house, I was like 11, it was early 2000s

and that Nokia 3210 was the most expensive and coveted thing I had.

When I passed the local bangers omw, they stopped me to ask why I was crying and all that.

2 hours later the thieves, held by the scruff of their necks knocked on my door, returned my phone and apologised.

Dazzling_College_853 − Lol I feel for this. My great grandmother (God rest her soul) was the neighborhood granny in the hood.

Some of the hardest gang members became the nicest guys when under her eye.

She always had food and a safe place when things got bad for them, and they would always have her back.

Sometimes, the most unlikely people end up saving the day. What began as a classic tale of intimidation turned into a clever twist of fate. OP’s quick thinking and the unexpected intervention of his “OG” neighbor left the bully with more than just an apology; he learned some hard lessons in respect.

Redditors were impressed by OP’s ability to turn a tense situation into an opportunity for revenge, but also admiration for the neighbor who showed that respect can go a long way, even in tough neighborhoods.

So, what do you think? Was this a case of perfect malicious compliance, or did OP push it too far by leading the bully into a confrontation with OG? And how do you feel about the dynamic with the “OG” neighbor? Could we all use someone like that in our corner? Share your thoughts below!

Leona Pham

Leona Pham

Hi, I'm Leona. I'm a writer for Daily Highlight and have had my work published in a variety of other media outlets. I'm also a New York-based author, and am always interested in new opportunities to share my work with the world. When I'm not writing, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. Thanks for reading!

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