Tim and Alan were walking down Sherman Way headed home when they heard Mark and Debbie call out to them from a bus stop. They ran over to the other two and asked where they were headed. Tim said, “Alan is coming over to my house, so my mom can take a look at his nose. I think those fuckers broke it when they were kicking him.” Alan had two pieces of bloody toilet paper sticking out of his nose, which was purple and black as were both of his eyes.
“Hey, can we come with you?” Mark asked. They nodded, and the four headed to Tim’s house. “Your mother’s a nurse, isn’t she Tim?” Mark asked. “Yeah…she works the night shift at Northridge Hospital, so if we get to my house fast enough she can take a look at Alan.” “Hey, has anyone seen Jerry?” The two boys shook their heads, and Mark said, “I didn’t see him at school today. I think his group was being called for class pictures today, too. I mean, this is it, our senior year. We will get out of this hellhole soon and go to college where we won’t get beaten up anymore.”
The other two boys laughed, and Alan said in a nasally voice, “As long as there are schools, there will be bullies, Mark. We will only be trading one type of bullying for another. I just want to survive the rest of this year, so I can get out of school altogether.” The four turned onto Capps Avenue and walked up to Tim’s home. When they walked through the door, Linda Elliott was putting some food in the oven and yelled out when she saw Alan’s face.
“What the fuck happened to you?” “I got beat up.” “Jesus Christ. I would say so…” She looked at Tim, who had a cut on his chin and a black eye. “You, too?” “All of us, Mom. Just another day in paradise.” “This has to stop. This is getting more and more violent. Someone is going to get seriously hurt or even killed. I’m calling that goddamned school. This shit has to stop.” Linda was taking out her cell phone, and Tim put his hand on her arm and said in a soft voice, “Please don’t do it, Mom. It will only make it worse. We can take care of ourselves.” She put the phone down on the table and walked over to Alan to look at his nose.
“It’s broken, that’s for sure. There’s nothing you can do for a broken nose.” She pulled out the toilet paper, and there was no bleeding. “Well, it looks like the worst of the bleeding is over. Don’t blow your nose, Alan. Okay?” He nodded. Linda looked at the three boys, and Debbie and asked, “Where’s Jerry?” They all shrugged and told her he had not been in school. Linda was buttoning her uniform and said, “I hope he’s not running around out there alone. Those thugs will hurt him bad if they get to him.” There were nods of agreement as the four walked back down a dark hallway of the small three-bedroom home to Tim’s room to play video games.
“Timmy, dinner is in the oven. There is enough for all of you. Is anyone staying over? I have to go to work. I don’t want you out tonight. Okay?” “Mom, I’m eighteen. I have a car, and I can drive myself around. For crying out loud, it’s my senior year, and, yeah, I think Deb and Alan might stay over. I know Deb will.” “Well, I don’t want you out there tonight. I have a bad feeling after the fight you three were in today. Promise me!” Tim promised as he disappeared into his bedroom.
Linda called out to Debbie and asked, “Deb, are your folks still out of town?” Debbie walked down the hallway and into the living room where Linda was putting on her coat for work. Debbie said, “My stepfather is back. My mom is out of town for a few more days. If it’s all the same with you, I would like to stay here for a day or two. If it’s okay.” Linda looked at the sad expression on Debbie’s face and said, “Of course, honey. You can stay here. You’re eighteen. You can stay here as long as you like. Is everything okay at home?”
Debbie was a little skittish. She was dressed in a black short skirt and low cut top. She was wearing black Goth makeup, which made her look sinister with her jet black hair and white skin. “Oh, yeah, Ms. E. It’s just my stepfather and I don’t get along so good, if you know what I mean, and I don’t want trouble while my mom’s away.” “Stay in the guest room. You know you’re always welcome here.” Linda turned to leave but stopped near the front door and asked Debbie with her back to her, “Are you on birth control?” Debbie’s eyes grew wide, and she said, “Um…yeah…why do you ask?” Linda just let out a little laugh as she walked out the door and said, “Just checking, that’s all.”
Debbie walked back down the hall to Tim’s room and sat down on the floor where the three boys were playing a video game on their tablets. She looked at Tim, who had a headset on and was banging away at the keyboard, and said, “Your mother just asked me if I’m on birth control.” All three froze and stared at Debbie, and then Alan and Mark looked at Tim and asked, “Are you two fooling around?” Tim got red-faced and said, “No!” Debbie was red-faced, too, and the two boys looked at Debbie and said, “Well, fuck, you’re fucking Tim?” Debbie let out a sigh and stood up. “I’m not going to dignify that with an answer. I’m going to my room.”
Tim shrugged, and the other two asked, “So…are you tapping that?” Tim put his headset back on, but Alan and Mark persisted. “Can we play?” Tim asked. “When you answer the question,” Mark said.
“I have known Deb since kindergarten…” Mark said, “So?” Tim slumped his shoulders and said, “We’ve made out a few times, and she gave me head.” Mark and Alan high fived Tim, and Mark asked, “Do you think she would give me and Alan head?” Tim started typing on his keyboard and said, “Ask her...I don’t know.”
Brian Donaldson walked under the bleachers of the school and stood in the spot where he always got his pot. He looked around, but his dealer wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He leaned against a support post with his hands in his letterman’s jacket and a cigarette in his mouth.
Jerry Pinskey was laying on the top bleacher looking down at Brian smoking his cigarette. Jerry pulled a rolled piece of white nylon rope from his pocket and tied a five-pound razor sharp, barbed, leveling plumb from his other pocket and tied it to the end of the rope. He stood up and held the steel projectile in his hand then threw it down at Brian with his full force and weight.
Brian was just finishing his smoke when he felt a sharp pain. He looked over to see a white rope and blood spurting out of his shoulder. He felt pressure as his feet began to leave the ground. As he was hanging with his feet a foot off the ground calling for help, he saw Jerry walking toward him under the bleachers. “Jerry, Jerry, help me, man. Something fell on me, and I’m hurt.” Jerry walked over next to Brian and said, “Nothing fell on you, man. I threw that at you. I made it just for you, Brian. It’s my own special gift to you.”
Jerry was a small kid, and Brian lashed out at him, but the pain of the barbs cutting into his shoulder limited his ability to move. “I’m going to get down, Jerry, and when I do I’m going to kill you.” “I believe that, Brian. I really do. That’s why I’m not going to allow you to get down…alive.” Jerry pulled a ten-inch hunting knife from its sheath, and the shine of the steel glinted in the broken sunlight coming through the bleachers. Brian’s face went from one of bullying anger to one of horror, and he said, “I’m only kidding, man. Jesus, I’m only kidding. You hurt me, Jerry. Just get me down and all will be forgiven.”
“Now, you know that’s not true, Brian. You’re just scared. Scared of the pain, scared of dying.” Brian started crying and begging, “Oh please, man, please. I was only trying to kid around with you. Don’t kill me, man. Don’t fuckin’ kill me. Jesus, Jerry, come on.” Jerry slid the blade under Brian’s jacket and popped off one button at a time as he spoke, “You pushed me too far, Brian. You and your guy pals have…pushed…” a button popped off the jacket, “and pushed...” Another button popped off the jacket. “And PUSHED!”
All the buttons popped off the jacket, leaving only Brian’s T-shirt with a marijuana leaf on it between the knife and his skin. Jerry said, “You’re the first, Brian. This is personal…me and my friends are going to take out the rest of your posse along with a few thousand other assholes in this shithole school, but
I wanted to kill you real personal. You know what I mean?” Brian went to say something, but Jerry drove the blade into Brian’s abdomen. His eyes got huge, and Jerry jerked the knife up until it hit the bottom of Brian’s thorax. He pulled the knife out and gravity took over, and Brian’s entrails poured out onto the dirt and concrete below his dangling feet.
Jerry stepped back and looked into Brian’s dead eyes. He had never seen a real dead person. Jerry started to shake violently as he put the knife, blood and all, back in the sheath. He put it back into his pants and stared for a few seconds into Brian’s eyes. He stepped back and said, “Oh God, what have I done? Jesus…fuck…what have I done?” Jerry heard the sound of voices approaching and ran as fast as he could out from under the bleachers, and as he ran, he heard a girl scream.
Tim, Alan, and Mark had their headsets on and were playing an online game on their tablets when Tim’s phone rang. He said, “Timomonster, A. F. K.,” and answered his phone while the other two kept playing.
“Tim, it’s Jerry. It’s done…phase one is complete. Brian is dead.” There was silence on the line, and Tim put his cell phone on speaker and said, “Say again. The guys are here.” Debbie walked into the bedroom as Jerry repeated what he had said, and Alan said, “There’s no turning back now…we have to see this through…we have to kill them all.” Tim opened his bedroom closet, pulled back the clothes, and removed a false wall. Behind it was a stockpile of automatic weapons, hand grenades, pipe bombs, shoulder mounted rockets, and magazines of ammunition. He looked at the other two with Jerry on the line and said, “We’re ready!”
About the Author
Roy A Teel Jr. is the author of several books, both nonfiction and fiction. He became disabled due to Progressive Multiple Sclerosis in 2011 and lives in Lake Arrowhead, CA with his wife, Tracy, their tabby cat, Oscar, and their Springer Spaniel, Sandy.
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