Five Times Revenge

by Lindsay Eland

  He knew he had to apologize to everyone—he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

  “So, are you going to talk to them?” Perk asked.

  The bell rang and Adam grabbed his lunch bag, thankful that he could get away with a short response. “We’ll see.”

  Yet again, Mr. Franco, Adam’s gym-teacher-turned-fairy-godfather, was the one who swayed him one way.

  It wasn’t his quote, “A clear conscience is a sure sign of a bad memory,” which he had spouted while they were practicing basketball passes and which had absolutely nothing to do with anything about passing or basketball or gym class or motivation. And it wasn’t his “if you hit the target every time, it’s either too near or too big,” which didn’t make a whole lot of sense either except if he thought about the target being the basketball hoop … though that still didn’t make sense. It was his “no team works without teamwork” and “leave no man behind” that made the difference.

  Perk was right; they needed everyone.

  Even though it wasn’t going to work out like Adam wanted, Ray had thought about how to do the car on the roof from beginning to end. What if he hadn’t found out about the weight and they put the car up there and it plunged through the school? Pearl had become a spy at her own lunch table to help find out information, and even if it meant being humiliated by Hill on purpose, Dutch had always been willing to do whatever they needed. In fact, Adam and Perk had the least risk in all of this.

  Yes, they needed everyone else, but not because they needed help. Because they were in it together.

  CHAPTER 67

  Perk

  “Is it almost time to go, Perk?” Tommy asked.

  “Almost, Tommy,” he said. He rifled through his drawer, searching for something that was clean. “Are you dressed yet?”

  Tommy tapped him on the shoulder, and Perk turned around. His brother was dressed in his suit and bow tie, the blazer pulling around his belly just a bit and the pants a little on the short side. He smiled wide and held out his arms. “How do I look?”

  Perk grinned and high-fived Tommy. “You look awesome.”

  Tommy lifted up his chin a little. “Do you think Nish and Mrs. Pell will like it?”

  “Of course.” He glanced down at his watch and then at the flyer for the Special Education Art Show. “Now, what should I wear, Tommy? A plaid shirt and jeans?”

  Tommy smiled. “No. You should wear your suit and bow tie, too. Then we’ll be like brothers even though we’re brothers already.”

  Perk hated getting dressed up and he especially hated the choking bow tie and the too-tight pants that his parents made him wear to synagogue. And not to mention the fact that he and Tommy would be the most overdressed kids at the art show. Hands down.

  Still.

  “Where’s Mom and Dad?”

  Perk put his hand on his neck, already feeling the tie choking him. “They’re going to meet us there, remember? They wanted to have a car at your school so we could get ice cream afterward.”

  “Oh yeah! I love ice cream.”

  “I don’t have to wear the bowtie, do I?” Perk asked, holding it up.

  Tommy dragged him down the hall. “Come on. We don’t want to be late. Get dressed.”

  And fifteen minutes later, Perk and Tommy were walking down the sidewalk to the high school, all dressed up in their suits and bow ties.

  And even though the bow tie was choking his neck and the pants still felt too tight, Perk didn’t mind.

  “Pearl and Ray and Dutch and Adam are going to come, too,” Tommy said, jumping over a crack in the sidewalk.

  He should’ve warned Tommy earlier. “Adam will definitely be there, but I don’t know about the others. But don’t worry, there’ll be a lot of—”

  “No,” Tommy said. “They told me they were coming.”

  Perk sighed. “Yeah, but that was a while ago. They might not have remembered.”

  “I emailed Pearl because my throat was sticky when I tried to call. She emailed back and said she would come. And I called Ray and Dutch. Ray didn’t pick up the first time and then he did. They were excited to come.”

  Perk laughed. “How did you get their e-mails and phone numbers?”

  “I looked on your phone and your computer. You think I don’t watch sometimes, but I do.”

  Perk wrapped his arm around Tommy’s thick shoulder and pulled him closer. “I’m impressed, Tommy. Seriously, you’re a smart guy.”

  Tommy leaned his head on Perk’s shoulder for a moment before pushing off and dodging another sidewalk crack. “I know, Perk.”

  The front of Tommy’s classroom greeted them with a bright banner that said, “Art Show.” The special ed program had held at least six other fund-raisers that year to raise money to help remodel the main classroom, and the art show was another attempt. From all the work that still needed to be done, it seemed like the fund-raisers must not bring in much. Maybe something was better than nothing?

  “Look, Perk,” Tommy said, pointing to the banner. It was dotted with handprints and students’ names written in different colors. “There’s my hand. It’s one of the biggest ones. Do you see that? I’m one of the biggest.”

  “That is pretty cool,” Perk said.

  They stepped into the building and walked down the hallway to the art room. Mrs. Pell smiled as they walked up. “Are you ready, Tommy?”

  “Yes,” he said. He twisted his shirt around and around his finger.

  “Well, go on in and show your brother your painting and then you can wait for the other art lovers to come.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Pell,” Perk said, walking in.

  Tommy showed him his painting, and though Perk was a little biased, his brother’s was definitely the best. The house he’d painted was bright and smiling and so were the sun and trees. “This is so amazing,” Perk said. “I’m impressed.”

  Tommy grinned. “I tried really hard. I cried when I drew that part because I messed up a little bit.” He pointed to one of the trees, which had a little bit of brown and purple smeared. “But then I covered it up.”

  “I think it’s perfect.”

  Perk looked toward the door and crossed his fingers. He hoped they all came.

  CHAPTER 68

  Ray

  The classroom was thick with people, music trilled static-y from an old stereo set up on a desk, and even with the fan blowing overhead and the windows opened, Ray was already starting to sweat.

  Luckily he’d remembered deodorant.

  He spotted Tommy right away, showing his painting to Pearl while Adam and Perk stood off to the side looking at another painting. Dutch was at the refreshment table pouring himself a glass of punch. Ray swallowed, his own throat going dry.

  He walked around the room in the opposite direction. He’d see Tommy’s painting last, and then he’d leave and get a drink at the water fountain since he forgot to bring money for food.

  He started around the semicircle of art and smiled at the proud artists standing beside their work—some shy and smiling, others serious and proud, and some who hid behind their hands every time someone walked by.

  In between the painting of a rainbow and a painting of a dog, Ray realized Hill was there. His insides constricted and twisted; his fist tightened, but he stood back a little, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

  “This is good, Nish,” Hill told the girl standing next to her painting.

  Ray’s eyebrows raised. Had Hill actually complimented someone? The girl smiled and covered her hands with her face.

  And then Ray heard Hill make a quiet, barely-there bark and then a whine—it sounded just like a dog.

  What was he doing?

  He continued, getting a little louder, when the girl—Nish—burst into tears.

  Hill smiled and then turned away just as the girl’s parents walked over to her. Adam, Perk, Tommy, Dutch, and Pearl all looked over as well.

  “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

  The girl wailed even louder.
“Why did he die? I didn’t want him to die. He was my best friend. But then my dog died and went to heaven.”

  This is what Tommy had told him about.

  As if watching it all on the outside of his body, Ray saw himself grab Hill by the collar, fling him around until Hill’s surprised face looked into his, and then his fist pulled back and released like a catapult.

  There was a crack as his fist connected with Hill’s nose.

  And then Ray saw blood.

  CHAPTER 69

  Pearl

  She had never seen someone punch someone else in real life—only in movies.

  And though it happened mostly the same as what she’d seen on the big screen, there was more blood and this blood was real and the chaos around the blood was real.

  But she didn’t feel real. The scene didn’t feel real.

  “He punched me!” Hill cried.

  Mr. Parmar, who was talking to Tommy’s teacher, rushed over. “What’s going on? Oh my gosh! Hill? What happened?”

  Pearl looked at Ray. His shirt was wet around his armpits. His cheeks flushed a deep red and his eyes, though they were fiery and rimmed with his furrowed eyebrows, had filled with tears that leaked out onto his face.

  She never would have expected that.

  “He was making that girl cry,” Ray said. His voice trembled a little bit and he looked at his fist, wiping the blood smeared across his knuckles onto his jeans. “He was making dog noises and then she started to cry. He’s done it before.”

  “It was just a joke,” Hill said. “Gosh!”

  “It wasn’t a joke to her,” Dutch said. His voice shook, too, and in addition to him squinting, his neck and cheeks filled with red.

  “We don’t know all the facts except that Hill’s nose is most likely broken.” Mr. Parmar put his hand on Ray’s shoulder. “You get out of here before I call the police. We don’t tolerate this kind of behavior in any part of our school system.” He led Ray out the door. “I’ll see you in my office in the morning, is that understood?”

  Pearl watched Ray swipe at his face and then jog out of the school.

  Parmar held out a paper towel to Hill, who winced when he put it on his nose.

  Hill said under his breath, “This is such a freak show.”

  The blood in Pearl’s veins rushed through her.

  She walked closer to him. “You’re such a jerk. You need to apologize to her for what you did.”

  “What are you talking about, Pearl?” Hill said. “Are you standing up for him? For these losers?” The blood on the paper towel was seeping through. He leaned closer and continued, quieter. “I didn’t know zebras like you would be so sensitive about everything—is that your black side or your white side? Is that what made your parents get a divorce?”

  Her breath caught in her throat. “What?”

  “Everyone knows, Pearl. And now you’re a freak lover, too.”

  And she wanted to punch him. She wanted to push him.

  But Dutch beat her to it.

  CHAPTER 70

  Dutch

  It felt good.

  Really good.

  He could almost feel Mr. Parmar’s hand still gripping his shoulder and pushing him outside the classroom.

  But he saw Pearl’s smile, and Tommy’s wave, and the way that Perk and Adam looked at him like Gramps did when he said, “I’m proud of you, Dutch.”

  “Your grandfather will be hearing from me tonight,” Mr. Parmar said, pointing his finger at him. “You can’t act like a savage around my son.”

  What would his grandpa say?

  He was pretty sure that Gramps would understand once Dutch explained it to him. But really, even if he didn’t, shoving Hill wasn’t something he could’ve stopped himself from doing even if he had tried.

  The feeling of pushing Hill down and standing over him actually made his stomach turn. But the look on the others’ faces was something he would never forget.

  He had done something about what was happening in front of him.

  His heart drummed inside of his chest.

  Maybe he could do something about the swirlies and the lockers and the posters, too.

  CHAPTER 71

  Adam

  Adam paced his bedroom a few times, then sat down at his computer and turned it on.

  He stood up, walked to the window, then walked back. Sat down.

  It was time to be creative, careful, precise.

  Right up his alley.

  He clicked on a few files on Mr. Parmar’s computer, read them, then did more pacing to the window and sitting down again. The adrenaline from the art show was still running through his veins and, from the looks of the files he was pulling up, it was going to stay there.

  Adam looked over the school budget estimates, the actual budget right then, the different funding for school programs, and some back-and-forth emails between Parmar and one of the school board members about funding.

  Adam laughed to himself.

  It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know what was going on. Mr. Parmar and a guy named Mike who was on the school board were taking money from the budget for the special education program. New football jerseys, a new desk for his office—the list kept going.

  Adam attached the files to an e-mail, sent it off to Perk, and then texted him: Check e-mail. Then he sat back and waited for the call.

  Sometimes things just needed a little tweaking. A science class with Mr. Spierling rather than with Mr. Hornblath, thirteen absences changed to eight. Some sorts of tweaking made things worse, like the time his mom decided to go a little blonder with her hair and ended up looking like his Aunt Hildy, while others made something better, like adding chocolate chips to banana bread.

  And this tweaking needed to be the crème de la crème, the pick of the litter, the best of the best, the perfect tweak to an almost perfect plan.

  When Perk called him five minutes later, he was fuming.

  Adam, calm, creative, and precise, interrupted Perk’s rant. “Let’s come up with something new.”

  CHAPTER 72

  Perk

  Perk looked at the copy of tomorrow’s morning announcements on his computer.

  “Just be careful that you don’t change it so much that Hill realizes it,” Adam had told him.

  The changes he made weren’t exactly subtle, but they didn’t need subtle right now; Perk couldn’t do subtle right now. They needed a plan and they needed three other specific people.

  He read through the announcements one more time, then sent it off to Adam.

  Adam texted while Perk brushed his teeth.

  ADAM: you sure about this?

  PERK: yep

  He printed off the paper and set it on his backpack so he wouldn’t forget in the morning. Then Perk climbed in bed. He still couldn’t settle down.

  Every part of him was twitchy—nervous, excited, angry. The covers were too hot on his body but his feet were too cold without them, so he lay with everything bunched up around his feet.

  He stared up at the dark ceiling.

  They only had a few days to pull it all together.

  CHAPTER 73

  Ray

  He was forced to leave the school property after he punched Hill, and he was fine with that. Well, not totally fine, because he never did get to see Tommy’s painting up close or congratulate him.

  And he had scared himself.

  It had happened so fast, his fist reacting before his mind had a chance to know what it was doing. He wasn’t sorry about it, not when he thought of the girl crying or Hill chuckling to himself. But maybe he should be.

  Without bothering to change his clothes, Ray fell onto his bed.

  Would he hear from Adam or Perk?

  The answer was immediate. It wasn’t if he heard from Adam or Perk, it was a matter of when.

  He’d just have to wait.

  CHAPTER 74

  Pearl

  Pearl listened for the door to close below and when it did, the house ech
oed a bigger silence.

  One that her dad didn’t occupy anymore.

  Her mom’s voice carried from outside as she helped Pearl’s dad load a few things into his car so that he could have some essentials in his apartment.

  So that it could feel more like home?

  But home was here. With her.

  Silence. That was what played in her head right now for whatever this divorce thing meant. Her fingers didn’t flicker across the imaginary strings and nothing played in her head. Her hands lay limp and lifeless.

  Pearl turned her head toward the window when she heard the trunk of her dad’s car close. The headlights lit up her window from below as the car hummed to life.

  Her parents hadn’t fought once since they told her.

  Not once.

  It was as if now that the decision was made, they were friends again.

  The lights disappeared down the road, and she could picture him driving the five blocks straight, right on Hanford, first left into Riverside Apartments, Apartment 1C. Ten minutes away, if that. And there wasn’t a river behind or beside or in front of the apartment building.

  Pearl closed her eyes. Her mother’s footsteps sounded down the hall and then her door opened.

  “Pearl?”

  She didn’t answer. She didn’t want to talk right now. There wasn’t really anything to say anyway. She made her chest rise and fall rhythmically as if she were asleep. Thankful her mother couldn’t see her eyes.

  “I love you,” her mother said.

  The light from the hall disappeared and the door clicked shut. Pearl flipped onto her back and stared at the ceiling.

  The night had been a long one. Weird and infuriating and good and awful.

  Weird: going to Tommy’s art show and seeing her friends there. And Dutch. But not talking to them.

  Infuriating: Hill. In so many ways.

  Good: Ray punching Hill and then Dutch pushing him.

  Awful: A pizza dinner with her parents and then afterward her mom and dad packing up a few boxes.