“Shut the fuck up,” he shouted, as he walked across the spotty lawn.
The dog stopped barking and turned to Drew.
“Go lay down,” Drew said. The dog loped toward the patio and Drew’s outdoor gym. Drew approached Caleb with narrowed eyes, his upper body swollen with blood. “Caleb fuckin’ Miles.”
Caleb nodded, keeping his distance.
“Aaron told me that you were lookin’ for some gay porn.”
Caleb opened his mouth but nothing came out.
Drew smiled and opened the gate. “I’m just fuckin’ with you. Watch your step. Fuckin’ land mines everywhere.”
Caleb followed Drew across the lawn, if you could call it that. It looked like a war zone. Land mines of dog shit in various stages of decay. Holes of various sizes. Patches of compacted dirt and supergreen weeds, supercharged by urea. They stepped onto the brick patio, moving past the weights. Drew stopped at the back door and turned to Caleb.
“Gimme the money,” Drew said.
Caleb furrowed his brows. “How much?”
“Depends on what you want.”
“I need something that’ll really mess me up. Like the stuff you gotta be careful not to, like, overdose.”
A crooked grin spread across Drew’s face. “You for real?”
“Yeah, I, uh, wanna get really fucked-up.”
“Let’s see how much you got.”
Caleb retrieved the money from his pocket and handed it to Drew. He flipped through the bills and scowled at Caleb.
“You think this is the fuckin’ Dollar Store?” Drew shook his head, still holding Caleb’s money. “Get the fuck outta my face.”
Caleb reached into his pocket and removed the gold necklace. “I got this.” He held up the necklace.
“This shit real?” Drew asked, snatching the necklace.
“I got it off my sister, Ashlee. Her dad bought it for her.”
“Didn’t her dad buy her that sweet-ass whip?”
“Yeah. The Jeep.”
Drew nodded. “On the real, she’s fuckin’ fine.”
“She’s a bitch.”
“Ain’t that the truth. They’re all bitches. I’d still fuck the shit out of her. She still fuckin’ college-boy Ryan?”
“I think they broke up.”
“I heard that shit, but you never know with these hoes. Can’t never make up their fuckin’ minds. Let’s do our business inside.” Drew turned, opened the door, and stepped inside.
Caleb followed. The trailer was a wreck. Dirty dishes filled the sink and overflowed on the kitchen counter. Junk mail was strewn about the coffee table in the living room. The dingy couch had stuffing spilling from the armrests. It smelled like body odor, smoke, and skunk.
Drew shouted down the hallway. “Aaron, get your ass out here.”
Aaron appeared, walking down the hall from a back bedroom. He wore jeans and a white tank top. A pit bull with bared teeth was tattooed on his upper arm. It was red and irritated around the edges, the tatt obviously brand-new.
“Get your boy a small bag of ice,” Drew said to Aaron.
Aaron furrowed his brows. “You sure?”
“He wants to get fucked-up.” Drew went back outside to his workout.
Aaron turned his attention to Caleb. “Follow me.”
They moved down the hall to the bedrooms. One door was locked with a padlock. Aaron’s bedroom was surprisingly neat and well-appointed. He had a MacBook and an iPhone on his desk. One wall had an entertainment center with an ultra-HD television and a PS4 game console.
“Wait here,” Aaron said, going to the locked bedroom. He opened the lock with a key and entered the room. He returned with a small plastic baggie of bluish rocks. Aaron handed it to Caleb. “You wanna get fucked-up? This’ll fuck you up.”
Caleb looked at the little crystalline rocks. “Do you swallow them?”
Aaron laughed. “Are you fucking with me?”
Caleb remembered Shane and Lance and Drew smoking from a pipe in the school bathroom. “You smoke it?”
“What the fuck else you gonna do with it? I’m assuming you ain’t got a pipe?”
“No.”
Aaron went back to the other room and returned with a Bic lighter and a small glass pipe, open on one end, a small bowl at the other. The bowl end was blackened.
“Is this crystal meth?” Caleb asked, holding up the baggie.
“You said you wanted to get fucked-up. Crystal meth’ll definitely fuck you up.”
“Can it kill you?”
“If you take too much, but I’ll show you how much to take.” Aaron took two small rocks and deposited them into the pipe. “Hold the pipe like this,” Aaron said, holding the pipe horizontally. “Take it.”
Caleb took the pipe, holding it like Aaron instructed.
“Now heat up the rocks with the lighter and inhale that shit.” Aaron handed the lighter to Caleb. “Put your mouth on the pipe.”
Caleb lit the glass bowl, his mouth on the pipe, his heart pounding in his chest. I’m doing meth! Smoke moved from the bowl down the pipe and into Caleb’s mouth and lungs. It tasted bitter. Caleb coughed, smoke spilling from his mouth and nostrils.
Aaron laughed again.
Caleb’s heart pounded harder; he felt energized, a rush of euphoria washing over him.
“Feels good, don’t it?” Aaron said.
It did. For the first time in a long time, Caleb felt good.
CHAPTER 47
Rick and Blackmail
Shortly after the bell rang, while his health students filtered out, his classroom phone rang.
Rick picked up the phone attached to the wall. “Rick Barnett,” he said.
“Mr. Barnett, this is Principal Wilcox—”
“What do you want, Janet?”
“That’s Principal Wilcox—”
“I don’t care. I know who you are, Janet.”
“You need to come to my office immediately.”
“I’m busy.”
“This is your planning period.”
“Yeah, I’m busy planning.”
“If you value your job, I expect to see you within the next five minutes.” She hung up.
Rick sighed and hung up the phone. He locked his empty classroom and waded through the students as they went to their lockers and switched classes. Rick walked into the main office, waved to Mrs. Moyer as he passed the front desk, and headed for Janet’s back office. Rick knocked on the open door. Janet looked up from her laptop as if she hadn’t been expecting him.
“Shut the door,” Janet said.
Rick shut the door and sat across from her at her desk. “What do you want?”
Janet pursed her lips and shut her laptop. She wore a black dress with a plunging neckline, exposing cleavage that would be unacceptable for a student. Her blond bangs hung over her forehead, covering her wrinkles.
“What do you think I want?” she asked.
“I don’t have time for games, Janet. I’m busy.”
“I’m not happy that you benched my son without cause. He’s a senior, and he deserves to be treated with respect. I’m willing to forgive the transgression of last Friday, but I want you to start Shane for the rest of this football season.”
Rick clenched his jaw, gripping the armrests. “And if I don’t?”
Janet pushed a manila folder across the desk. “I’ll expose you.”
Rick opened the folder. An eight-by-eleven photograph was inside of Rick standing in his doorway, wearing nothing but a towel, and Ashlee clearly kissing him on the mouth.
“This is bullshit.” Rick shut the folder and slapped it back on Janet’s desktop. “I didn’t do anything. She broke into my house. I was in the shower. I kicked her out. I didn’t kiss her. She kissed me. And, if you took that picture, you’d know that, because I pushed her away.”
“I can’t say where I got the picture, but they didn’t mention anything about the kiss being unwanted. For heaven’s sake, you’re naked with a student in t
he middle of the night. It doesn’t look good. I have to say, I’m extremely disappointed.” She smirked for a split second.
Rick shook his head, scowling. She’s enjoying this. “You took the picture, didn’t you? I thought I saw your car following me after the game on Friday. You called the police, told them I was drinking and driving. Didn’t you? All this because I benched your son. You really are a piece of shit, you know that?”
Janet cackled. “But you’re the piece of shit who’s having an affair with a student, and everybody in this town will know what you did, including Gwen Townsend.” She paused, adjusting her glasses. “Just put Shane back in. Is it really worth your career? Your reputation? Your freedom? You could go to jail.”
Rick stood from his seat and glared at his boss. “This is corrupt, even for you. I won’t be blackmailed. You can take your threats and shove ’em up your ass.”
CHAPTER 48
Janet and Holier Than Thou
All he had to do was one simple thing. So fucking holier than thou. A knock came from Janet’s door.
“Come in,” Janet said.
Rachel stepped inside, shut the door behind her, and sat across from Janet at her desk. “I came as quick as I could. What in the world is going on?”
“I need you to get a message to our Facebook friend.”
“What’s the message?”
“It’s about Rick Barnett. He’s having an affair with a student.”
“Oh, my word.” Rachel’s eyes were wide.
She was the same age as Janet, forty-five. They’d been classmates, but they weren’t friends growing up. Janet was popular and pretty; Rachel was not. Janet probably had made fun of Rachel in school, not that Janet remembered. Rachel had been too insignificant to register. Now, a friendship with her had its benefits. The plump mom with the haircut and style, circa 1985, was an effective disseminator of gossip.
Janet continued. “He was seen at his front door, wearing nothing but a towel, kissing a scantily clad student. He’s a sexual predator and has no business teaching students. He belongs behind bars.”
CHAPTER 49
Gwen and Influence
Gwen knocked on the open door of the technology office. Greg Ebersole sat behind his desk, tapping on his cell phone and sipping a soda. He waved her in.
The technology office was a square room with long tables against the walls. Atop the tables, electronic equipment was charging, waiting for repair, or waiting to be loaned out.
Gwen approached Greg’s metal desk. “I just came by to pick up that document camera.”
Greg put up a finger, signaling for Gwen to wait. He continued to tap on his phone for a minute, while Gwen waited in silence. He adjusted his glasses and looked her over. “It’s there, on the cart.” He gestured toward the wall behind her.
“Thank you.”
Gwen turned on her heels and walked to the cart. She felt his eyes crawling over her backside. She thought about her pencil skirt and bare legs. She glanced over her shoulder, and he stared with a smirk on his face, his phone pointed at her. She turned the cart and pushed toward the exit.
“You need to sign it out,” Greg said.
Gwen stopped in her tracks and walked back to his desk, leaving the cart near the exit.
“Your legs are really white,” Greg said. “I thought I was pale.”
Gwen frowned.
He chuckled. “I’m just joking.” He placed a form and a pen on the edge of his desk.
She leaned over and filled out the form. She glanced up, and he was looking down her blouse. Gwen stood abruptly, handing him the form. He took it with a crooked grin, his scruffy beard spreading across his face, hiding his weak chin underneath.
“You think you can figure this thing out on your own this time?” he asked.
“Don’t worry. I won’t ask you for help,” she replied.
“Finally figured out the Input button, huh?”
“I have to go.”
* * *
The bell rang, ending Gwen’s creative writing class. The students packed their backpacks, grabbed their purses, and filed out. Caleb was the first to exit. Gwen suspected he was avoiding Shane and Lance.
“Don’t forget to read,” Gwen said. “Remember. If you want to be a good writer, you have to be a reader first.”
Shane, Lance, Drew, and Aaron approached Gwen on the way out the door.
“Ms. Townsend, um, Lance doesn’t know how to read,” Shane said with a grin.
Drew and Aaron laughed.
“Shut the fuck up,” Lance replied.
Drew and Aaron glanced at each other and stopped laughing.
“Language,” Gwen said. “Go to class.”
The boys filtered out, Lance and Shane walking out separately. Jamar put his backpack over his shoulders.
“Jamar, may I speak to you for a moment?” Gwen asked.
He approached with a broad smile, his retainer showing. “What’s up, Ms. Townsend?”
“Are you friends with Caleb?”
“Yeah, we’re friends, but we don’t really hang out or anything. We hung out a little last year, but mostly he hung out with this girl Madison, but she moved.”
“Why don’t you hang out anymore?”
Jamar shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess we’re both busy. And now, with him not playing football, I don’t see him much.”
Gwen nodded. “I think he could really use a friend. And I think you could really help him by spending a little time with him.”
Jamar pursed his lips. “I know what you’re saying, Ms. Townsend, but Caleb’s been kinda in his own world.”
“Caleb’s had it rough. I think you know that. You’re very popular, Jamar. For better or worse, being the star quarterback in this school gives you a lot of influence. You could use that popularity for good.”
CHAPTER 50
Caleb and GTA
Ashlee was at her friend’s house, and Caleb’s mother worked as a receptionist until six on Mondays. Well, the Mondays that she felt like going to work. She often needed to rest on those days, recovering from her busy, fun-filled weekends.
Caleb had taken advantage of the empty house, smoking meth as soon as he got home from school, then playing video games. For a few hours, the meth made him feel euphoric and dangerous and confident, providing a much-needed respite from his life. Caleb had thought he’d use it to overdose, but it worked better as an escape.
He sat on the couch, playing Grand Theft Auto. Caleb mimicked the sounds of car crashes and people being beaten as he wreaked havoc on Vice City. A knock came from the front door. Caleb paused the game, looking around, as if he’d heard incorrectly. Another knock sounded. Caleb went to the door. It was Jamar.
Caleb opened the door with wide eyes and a wide smile. He spoke faster than normal, almost manic. “Jamar, what’s up? Come on in. What are you doing?” Caleb motioned him inside.
“You all right?” Jamar asked, stepping into the trailer.
“I’m great, man. You wanna play some GTA? I’m fucking killing it. Come on.”
Jamar followed Caleb to the couch, sitting closer than Caleb expected.
“You wanna play?” Caleb held out the controller for Jamar. “I know this shit is old, but it’s still badass.”
“Nah, I’m good,” Jamar replied. “I’ll just watch you.”
Caleb unpaused the game and continued his mayhem. Caleb gave the play by play, complete with sound effects, as he continued to commit crimes on the screen. “I stole a fucking tank. Can you believe that shit? You can literally run over everything, and they can’t do shit.”
“Really? You can get a tank?”
“I got one in my garage. I’ll show you.” In the game, Caleb drove an eighties Lamborghini to a garage. He parked it, got out, and hopped into the tank. Caleb proceeded to drive through the streets, running over people and destroying police cars. “Badass, huh? They can’t do shit.”
“Damn, that is badass.”
“You sure you do
n’t wanna try?”
“Yeah, I’ll try.”
Caleb paused the game and handed the controller to Jamar. “Don’t lose my tank.”
Jamar rumbled through the streets in the tank, picking up where Caleb had left off. He had a grin on his face, his mouth partially open, his eyes wide and trancelike on the screen. Caleb stared at his guest and smiled to himself, happy that he was happy. His skin’s so … beautiful. Like caramel. Caleb’s eyes roamed unabashed. Jamar’s arms were lean and wiry, every muscle visible as he worked the controller. Caleb wanted to trace his fingers along Jamar’s veins. His gaze returned to Jamar’s face and those full lips, that thin black mustache. The perfect mix of man and boy. He’s not like the others. Caleb sucked in Jamar’s scent, his musky deodorant.
Jamar made it back to the garage with the tank, the military swarming just outside. “That tank is crazy.” He handed the controller to Caleb, their hands touching in the exchange, the electricity charged between them. In that moment, that perfect moment, Caleb leaned in and pressed his lips to Jamar’s.
Jamar nearly jumped from the couch, standing abruptly. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m sorry. I thought …” Caleb stood from the couch.
“I’m not like that.” Jamar shook his head, his eyes glancing at Caleb’s crotch. He took a step back, grimacing. “This is so messed up. Stay away from me.” Jamar ran for the door, almost as fast as he ran for touchdowns.
Caleb looked down at his sweatpants, his erection creating a visible tent.
CHAPTER 51
Rick Takes a Hit
Rick should’ve known better. Shane had begged Rick to play free safety on the second-string defense. They were short a free safety due to injury, so Rick agreed. When the first-string offense began scrimmaging the second-string defense, Shane was at free safety, looking across the line at Jamar.
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