* * *
“You made a C in science? Matthew!” Mom put on her “stern” face as she read my semester report card. She sat on the edge of the living room couch and waved the paper around. “You need to spend a little more time on your homework, mister.”
I yawned, too exhausted to care. I’d been on two hunts in the past week alone. Grades were low on the priority list when I had monsters to kill.
Mamie stood behind the couch, smiling sympathetically. “I’ll help him study, Mom. Not to worry. We’ll have him to an A in no time.” She winked. Sometimes I really loved my sister.
“Thanks, sweetie. Matt, I know not having Uncle Mike here is hard on you. And with your dad gone...” She paused, looking startled to have mentioned him. “Um, well, the best thing to do is to keep busy. Focus on school—the time will go by faster.”
Mom went to start dinner and Mamie sat down on the couch with me. “We have to figure out how to get you more rest. The colonel has you on a killer pace.”
“Maybe, but people aren’t getting attacked as often,” I said. “That’s because of me and Will. The Bears know we’re out there hunting. We’ve taken out six more of them in the last three weeks. Only three to go.”
I stretched. Man, I was wiped from bagging that nine-foot tall male with extra-mean claws last night. “I know what my problem is in science. My teacher is a total bore. I fall asleep in class, especially after a hunt. If you can help me study for tests, I think that’ll be enough.”
“I’ll help you with school, as long as you promise to take it easy when you can.” Mamie stood. “I hate worrying about you dying from exhaustion.”
“As opposed to my dying from a paw to the head?” I grinned at her dismayed expression. “I’m just kidding, Mamie. Will and I haven’t been given orders for tomorrow yet, so we’re just gonna hang at his house. Have a lazy Saturday for once.” I yawned again. Lame as it sounded to go to bed before nine on a Friday, I thought I’d do it anyway.
She patted my shoulder. “Good.”
After an uninterrupted night’s sleep, I spent Saturday playing Call of Duty with Will at his house, hanging around just in case Colonel Black called. He didn’t, so I left Will’s at five to go home for dinner. I had biked about halfway there when I spotted a group of guys in Greenhill letter jackets hanging out on the sidewalk at the edge of Will’s neighborhood. I slowed down to hop the curb and ride around, but they jumped into the street after me.
“Funny meeting you here, Archer. And you’re all alone…feeling tough now?” Carter said. He stood four paces back from my bike, letting the other three guys surround me. Two of them were my scowling buddies from the gym, Sanders and McCoy. How unsurprising.
“If feeling tough means taking you on, sure. But four on one…are you really that scared of me?” I glanced at the burly redhead holding my right handlebar. “Barton, I forgot you were Will’s neighbor. What, you ladies wait around for me all day?”
Not the smartest thing I could have said, but the whole situation was stupid.
Barton grabbed the collar of my jacket and yanked me off my bike. I tumbled to my knees in the slushy street. He stood over me, laughing. I should’ve been scared. But I wasn’t. Not even a little bit. Rage pulsed through my veins, soft at first, then getting stronger at the sight of their smirking faces.
Mike’s voice shouted in my head, telling me to maintain discipline, but it was drowned out by the rushing in my ears. We weren’t at school. It was four on one. Nobody in their right minds would blame me. I got up slowly and Barton looked shocked to see that I was taller than he was.
“Touch me again and I’ll tear you apart,” I growled.
Carter laughed, an ugly sound that ripped the cold air. “I’d pay real money to see you try. Barton, beat him down.”
Barton must have wised up in the few seconds after I locked eyes with him. “No, man,” he said, “you wanted Archer. We got him. He’s all yours.”
Carter turned pale, but he tried to play it off. “Fine by me.”
He swaggered over and got right in my face. “Jenna had detention because of you. Mrs. Burns didn’t say crap to you about yelling at Jenna, but she got punished. All because you wanted to protect that little…”
At that point, Carter made his biggest mistake yet. No way was I letting him get away with calling Ella that name.
I lunged for him, but his friends grabbed my arms to hold me back. Carter took the opportunity to pop me in the cheek. I let myself go limp. He got one lick in—he wouldn’t get more.
“Not so tough after all, are you?” Carter cocked his arm back, fist curled.
In a multiple attacker situation, you need to catch them off-guard. Fake them out, make them tangle up. It’s all about controlling the fight. Force them to react to you.
Lieutenant Johnson had always given me good advice.
Carter threw his punch. I slid to the ground between the others before he made contact, dragging Barton into my spot. Carter’s fist slammed into Barton’s nose with a sickening crack and he fell to his knees next to me, blood pouring through his fingers. “You idiot—you broke my nose!”
One down.
“Dude, I’m sorry, I’m…sorry.” Carter spluttered apologies and knelt down to check on Barton.
In the meantime, the other two came after me. Since I was already on the ground, I swept my leg behind McCoy’s knees. He crashed down on top of Barton. As he slid off Barton’s back, he accidentally kicked Carter in the side of the head before landing on the sidewalk with a thud. I hopped to my feet and backed up into Barton’s yard. Sanders came running.
He tackled me and we collapsed onto the snowy grass, him on top of me. After my fights with the Bears, this didn’t seem fair—Sanders wasn’t even six feet tall, let alone eight. I got a knee under him and flipped him onto his back. Before he could get up, I rolled him onto his stomach, forcing his face into the snow, and wrenched his arms behind his back.
“Stay down, got it? We’re done.” I gave his arms a tug to make my point clear.
“Yeah, man. I’m done,” Sanders squeaked. I let him go and he rolled around, moaning.
Carter and I stood up at the same time. He looked at his friends, all of them worse for wear, and clenched his jaw. It was just us.
“I’m gonna kill you, Archer,” Carter said. “I mean it.”
Use your attacker’s momentum against him.
Carter lowered his head like a charging bull, probably convinced he had good line of sight, and rushed me. But I was faster than he bargained on. I sidestepped him and gave him a shove in the back. He tumbled into the snow, his arms barely breaking his fall in time. Not knowing when to quit, he scrambled back up and ran at me again.
I hauled off and rabbit-punched him in the kidneys as he was mid-stride. Carter staggered around the yard, his face purple.
But that wasn’t enough for me. I was fighting years worth of torment—for myself and every other kid he’d knocked around. Anger pounded in my head. I was gonna finish this. I stalked Carter down and grabbed his collar.
“Don’t you ever insult Ella again! You hear me?” I cocked my fist, ready to send him lights-out, when a car slammed on its brakes in the street.
“Matt!” Mamie screamed. “What are you doing!”
Brent was already out of the Toyota. “Matt, come here.”
His voice stopped me dead—I’d never heard Brent bark like that. He sounded like Uncle Mike in Major Tannen mode and, with a jolt of fear, I let Carter go. He sank to the ground. Trembling with unsatisfied rage, I headed for the car. I stopped in front of Brent and said the only thing that made sense.
“They started it. Four on one.”
He glanced at the bleeding kids lying in the snow, his forehead creased. “You okay?”
“Little bruised, that’s all.”
“All right…we’ll talk about it when I’m finished cleaning up here. Go get in the car.” He nodded to Mamie, who was staring at me like I’d grown horns and a po
inted tail. “Mamie, drive him home. I’ll bring his bike back after I sort this out.”
I crawled into the car as Mamie went around to take Brent’s seat. “We came to give you a ride. Mom’s still working at home, so we were going out for pizza. Matt…” She trailed off, sounding choked. “All four of those boys are bleeding! And you were….”
Every cell in my body still wanted to jump out of the car and beat Carter to a pulp, but Mamie was freaked out enough already. I took a breath, trying to calm down. “It’s okay, Mamie. It’s okay.”
“But…the blood.” Her hands shook on the steering wheel. “Your face, the expression you had. You looked like…like a killer.” She snapped her mouth shut, like she wanted to swallow the last word.
I put my head in my bloody, bruised, dirt-covered hands. “That’s because I am.”
Chapter Eighteen
The fallout from my fight with Carter’s gang wasn’t pleasant, but it could’ve been worse. To my surprise, neither Brent nor Mamie said a word to Mom. Mamie was quiet on the drive home, but by the time we made it to the house she didn’t seem all that scared of me anymore. She diverted Mom, keeping her in her office so I could go up for a shower without showing off my battle scars. I stared at my soap dish, hot water thumping my shoulders, wishing I could stay in here forever. Then Mamie knocked, disrupting that plan. She wouldn’t let me put her off for long, I knew that much, and eventually the hot water would run out. I turned off the shower; time to face the music.
It wasn’t late but I put on fleece pj pants and a t-shirt anyway. I didn’t have a reason to dress up on a Saturday night—what exciting lives monster hunters led. Feeling very alone for some reason, I took one last look at the bruise Carter had given me, then sighed and opened the door.
Mamie was waiting for me just outside the bathroom, first aid kit in hand. She steered me toward my bed and went to work on my busted knuckles. “Matt, are you okay?”
For once, I didn’t mind being smothered with concern. I needed it. “I don’t know.”
Mamie finished wrapping my right hand and gave me an ice-pack for the bruise on my cheek. “Maybe you should get some rest tonight,” she said. “If the colonel calls, I’ll tell him to shove off.”
I tried to laugh—it came out as more of a grunt. “He probably won’t call, but I’d give anything to hear you tell an officer to shove off.”
She stood and put her hands on her hips, looking like a pigtailed version of Wonder Woman. “There’s more to me than you know.” With a wink, she left.
It took me a little bit to realize she was repeating my own words back to me, from the night she found out about my job. Then I really did laugh.
When Brent brought my bike home, he dragged me out to the garage. “Those kids are a mess. The guy with the broken nose is the only one you didn’t maim! How the hell did you manage to fend off four guys at once?” He didn’t sound pissed. He sounded impressed. “I mean, that kid, McCoy? He almost busted his tailbone on the sidewalk. Thought I was going to have to take him to the ER, but it turned out to be a bruise. He’s gonna walk with a limp for a few weeks, though.”
I’d nearly sent one of them to the hospital. Great. “They surrounded me and were planning to hold me down so Carter could beat the crap out of me. I guess adrenaline kicked in.” Now that it was over, I felt a little sick about the whole thing, even if I was right. “Carter’s been riding me all year. I must’ve just snapped.”
Brent raked his hands through his hair. When he spoke again, his voice was softer. “Bullies suck. That’s a universal truth. I was one for a while, so I know.” He closed his eyes and his face twisted with pain at some memory I knew I’d never hear about. “I’m glad you took it to them. Guys like that deserve a trashing every once in a while. Does wonders to have your ego deflated.”
I stared at my feet. “Yeah, I guess.”
Brent gave my arm a tug to make me look at him. “If they bother you again, tell me, okay?”
“Okay.”
“With Uncle Mike gone, I’m the closest thing to a man you have around,” he said. “I’m trusting you to let me know if you need back-up. Even if it’s just to clean up the mess afterwards.” Brent let go of my arm. “I told those morons I’d call their parents if they claimed you started it. I think they’re embarrassed about losing a four-on-one fight. Trust me, they won’t say anything.”
“Thanks for stopping me today. I probably would’ve really hurt them if you hadn’t been there. No telling how much trouble I would’ve been in then.” I stuck out my hand, feeling it was more adult to shake on it.
Brent grabbed my hand, then surprised me by pulling me into a guy-hug. “You’re welcome, butthead.” He let me go with a shove and we laughed when I stumbled into Mom’s van. “You’re gonna have to tell me where you learned to fight like that.”
“Self-defense class,” I said. Taught by Green Berets, but what Brent didn’t know wouldn’t kill him. “Came in handy.”
Brent started at me, a disbelieving, but proud, smile on his face. “No kidding. I’m going to pick up some pizza. You’re probably starving after burning all those calories.”
I smiled back, feeling my appetite return. “Get me a large Supreme. Extra cheese.”
* * *
My birthday, February tenth, rolled in. It was a Monday, and the day didn’t start off too well. I didn’t hear my alarm and overslept, my locker door got stuck so bad that I was late to homeroom, and I slipped in the hall after second period, earning a round of applause as my butt hit the floor. Things didn’t improve at lunch. The cafeteria wasn’t serving anything I liked—not even Salisbury steak. That was the last straw. After getting a tray of soggy eggplant parmesan and canned corn, I stomped over to Will and flung myself into a chair.
“Dude, cheer up. It’s your birthday! Hey, I brought something for you.” Will dug around in his backpack and pulled out a little cardboard box. “Millicent made it, but I did the words.”
He’d brought me a chocolate cupcake. “#1 Monster Hunter” was written in icing on the top in Will’s barely legible scrawl.
“Thanks, man,” I said. “I mean it.” I pushed my tray away without eating anything and started on my dessert. Will’s housekeeper was an awesome baker; the cupcake melted on my tongue.
“Glad you like it. I tried to talk her into making you a bourbon cake, but she didn’t think that was such a good idea.” Will grinned at me.
I felt my bad mood shake off a little. “Probably not. The chocolate’s enough to help, though.” I crammed another huge bite into my mouth. “This morning sucked. I gotta figure out a way to make the afternoon better.”
“No kidding. You look like your dog died,” Will said, prodding his meatloaf with a fork. “What’s in this stuff?”
“The parts of the cow that got leftover after they cut it up for steaks.” I shook my head in disgust. “So any ideas on how to improve my day?”
Will looked around the cafeteria. “Yeah. Lick the icing off your teeth and go ask Ella out.” He nodded in the general vicinity of her usual table.
A bolt of heat ran through my chest. “Hmm. Let me think. I’m already in a bad mood. Getting shot down on my birthday isn’t going to help.”
“Enough,” Will said firmly. “We’re doing this. Besides, Tasha’s with her. I haven’t had the chance to drool today.”
Tasha, Ella’s new BFF, had mocha skin, shining black hair and the attention of a half-dozen guys at any one time. That wouldn’t stop Will, though. After running his fingers through his hair, he hopped to his feet, then swaggered to Ella’s table without waiting for any more excuses.
I sank down in my chair, feeling the flush in my chest spread up my neck to my face. Will knelt down between Ella and Tasha. Ella was facing my direction; she nodded a few times while he talked, then stood. Will took her chair, still chatting up Tasha. Ella headed my way.
“So, it’s your birthday, huh?” She plopped down in Will’s chair. “Happy fifteen.”
; “Um, yeah, thanks.” I gave her a nervous smile. How awesome would this birthday be if I finally asked her out? My ears started to steam.
She smiled back. “Will says you’re having a tough day. You okay?”
My best bud was either a genius or a snotrag. “Better now.”
Wow, that was smooth. Ella must’ve thought so, too, because she giggled. Either that, or she was laughing at my attempt at charm. I decided to believe the former; it was my birthday, after all.
The bell rang, warning us we had ten minutes until fourth period. In a fit of courage, I asked, “Can I walk you to class?”
Ella blushed. “Sure.”
On our way out, Will jerked his chin at me in a cocky way. If this worked, he was going to have a swelled head for days.
Ella and I wound our way down the crowded hall, toward her next class. Totally nervous, my insides squirmed as if my birthday cupcake had been laced with live worms.
“Um, so you have Mr. Todd for science, too?” I blurted out. Not much in the way of small talk, but my mouth had gone dry and I couldn’t think of anything more creative.
Ella nodded. “Boring, isn’t he? Having him right after lunch, while I’m going into food coma, is the worst. I think I’ve fallen asleep six times this year.”
That little exchange had been enough to get her to the classroom. “Thanks for walking me to class, Matt,” she said. “Have a happier birthday, ‘kay?”
She turned toward the door. It was now or back to square one. I put a hand on her sleeve. “Ella, wait. Will you, uh, would you…Um, it’s Valentine’s Day on Friday. How about a movie? I mean, going to a movie…with me.”
That had to go down as the worst asking-out ever played. And it went downhill from there.
Ella’s face turned pink, then hot-pink, then red. “Oh, um, that…I’m really sorry, Matt, but I already have plans.”
My lungs filled with acidy air. Another guy had beaten me to the punch.
But she went on, “My sister’s in town, home from college, and she just broke up with her boyfriend, so I said I’d be her Valentine’s date. Some other time, maybe?”
“Yeah…of course. Sure. That’s nice of you to take care of your sister like that. Totally understand.” Once I finished babbling, I stared at the floor, not sure how to break away and run down the hall in freakish misery.
Matt Archer: Monster Hunter Page 15
