Lena Armani was born in Battle Creek, Michigan on October 22nd, 1999. Since the day she was born, the only family she had known was her sister, her mother, and a distant aunt whom she was not allowed to see. Having not been able to make the money she needed to provide for herself and her girls, the girls’ mother often borrowed large sums to pay for food and utilities. The hole of debt grew deeper and deeper with each investment, and she never made enough to pay back. One day, when the two girls were playing around in the woods near their home, their mother had returned from shopping, stuck outside scrabbling with bags. A car zipped around the block, headed towards her house, the barrel of a silenced pistol poking out. With one muffled bang, the woman dropped dead at the hands of a drive-by shooting. The hands that once gave her temporary security in life quickly stripped it away with greed.
The two sisters went home and found the mess of their mother’s body on the front lawn, mortified. Lena and Roxanne were moved into a foster home as the government deduced if there could be anywhere the two could live with extended family. The only sign of anyone left alive or in contact, was their aunt, Cecilia. She gladly accepted them into her home, and the two sisters were quite unsure of why their mother had so adamantly refused contact with her. She was sweet, friendly, and instantly fell in love with the two. As time went on and they spent more time living with her, they noticed many strange behaviors. She would often disappear in the middle of the night or have strange friends over, ones that the kids could not come out and see when they visited. All that could be heard was low, and very serious conversations between the strangers.
At the ripe age of 15 and 16, their aunt told them that they were now becoming women and could know the secrets she held. Cecelia ran an all-women’s gang, small, but powerful. She and her fellow leaders each owned laundromats and diners around the most dangerous parts of the city, which they used as guises for all things drug and weapon distribution. Most of all though, these simple but active locations gave these women, The Vipers, a watchful eye over the city. They strived to protect women who were poor or felt unsafe in the violent city. Single mothers with lots of children, young college girls riding the dangerous buses and roaming the midnight streets alone. Their purpose was to give them homes, work, and places of security, and in turn, they would keep the gang’s secrets hidden and even help out in its activities. Cecelia revealed these secrets to the two, hoping they would too follow the same path.
Lena and Roxanne were shocked but enthralled by the idea, and quickly became interested. They passed their initiations and shot up the ranks. Lena put her strength, and beauty, in the front lines. She would use her femininity as a fly trap, luring people in and getting them to do what she wanted. With her aunt by her side assisting her, the family quickly grew to strength and power and made influence across the city. Crimes against women went down and each day felt a little safer for the young college girls, or the mothers like Lena’s own, who were single and poor just searching for the best path their little ones could take.
Though Lena loved her family, she was getting sick and tired of the city, the leadership, and desperately wanted to explore other experiences the world had to offer. From a young age, she’d been fascinated with the West Coast, and more specifically the island of Los Santos that it bore. The city was massive, warm, and most importantly, alive. It was littered with activity and people with a whole new mindset from across the country. The young woman, now 22, flew out and found a motel in Los Santos to stay at. With the people she talked to, she learned quickly that the pier was the hotspot for infamous criminals in the city. She felt most secure there and stuck for a while, homesickness washing over her more than she’d expected for wanting to leave so bad. There, she fished, chatted, and learned. Lena analyzed the groups and how they acted, feeling alone and desperately looking for another family to partake in.
For a while she rolled around with a variety of different groups trying them out, going from hitting a store or two with Underground to ambushing cops with Woo. All of them seemed far too loud, and masculine for that matter, to appeal to her tastes. Her current gradually flowed up North to Paleto, where she’d met a man named Tank. The two clicked quite easily with their lifestyles and went around the city hitting stores and farming weed. Soon feelings began to grow as did their relationship. Tank understood Lena’s pride and only gave her what she needed to get on her feet, just sticking by her side and smiling with support at her ambitions. They moved in together and passed the time cooking while Lena continued to evaluate potential families.
After the lengthy search, her eyes rested on the group known as the Royals. She liked the way they held themselves with confidence but didn’t try to gloat much like other gangs in the city. They knew they were the best, and had no reason to over expand that fact. Lena met a man named Dan through some friends of hers and asked him what it’d take to join. She rolled around with them for a while and learned their names, making sure they knew what potential she held. Eventually, recruitment took place and she became a Hangaround. Her story will continue to grow, doing her best to prove herself to her new family while keeping the memories, and the markings of her old one.
