Delinquents is a story about two sets of brothers, the Hoopers and the Ryan's. George and I and Jimmy and Frank Ryan, four friends who group up together in South Florida. We were like the four horsemen as where one was, usually you could find all four of us. We were inseparable except for the times when we were quarreling or fighting amongst ourselves. Then generally it would be Jimmy and I against George and Frank the older siblings against the younger ones. With occasionally one sibling pitted against the other, which was usually George and I against each other. Oh, forgive me allow me to introduce myself I am Mark Hooper, George's older brother, and the eldest of the four of us. I was the one our parents trusted to keep everyone under control and out of trouble.... Yeah Right!!
I will be telling the story of our youth and the trouble we got in from the time I was around eleven years old up until the time I was around twenty years old. There will be stories of being in trouble with, teachers, principals, older teenagers, our parents, local security officers, local cops, state troopers and the Florida justice system. We were more mischievous than criminals although we did do somethings that could have ended with us in jail had we been caught. Things like, breaking and entering, destruction of private and public property, Theft, fighting the cops (Which did end up with us in jail). Mostly just boys being boys with a bit of a wild side. Although I will be the one writing this book, I will be having help from Frank Ryan in recalling the events that transpired in our younger days. He has an uncanny ability to remembering things from our past, in great detail. He has been an invaluable asset in the writing of this book, whom without it would never have come to fruition.
How we never ended up doing serious time in jail or juvenile detention is beyond me. We were really more mischievous than criminals, although we did do a few things that we could have gone to jail for.