by Ariel Roma
WARNING
Don’t Just Stand There… Run!
10
RUNNING WILD
IT WASN’T THAT complicated. The meeting wasn’t a secret after all, at least not from Lenny anyway. Sloane had slipped up and told Maxx about it, and Maxx hadn’t known enough not to tell Lenny about it. In fact, the spies stung like peppercorns on the power lines had told all of Darkotika about it. What Lucas didn’t know was that Lenny was gaining ground fast, in more ways than one. As soon as Maxx spilled the beef about the club meeting, Lenny was buzzing like a hornet on their trail. Something was pushing his buttons. He didn’t have a plan. He didn’t know what he would do if he did catch up to them. It didn’t matter because the Nimmer did.
There was a trigger somewhere in his head just waiting to be squeezed if anyone could find it. The loose hanging Nimmer was lazily riding along, happy to finally have his own mount again. Suddenly, he was busy. The little backpack slung from his shoulders was his cache. The instrument he grabbed flipped like a switchblade. Lenny felt a quick jab. Now he was mad!
Lately he was mad at everything. His patience was wearing as thin as the old t-shirt he was wearing. It was a grind trying to sweet-talk Maxx into letting him come over to his place. He wasn’t having much luck.
Today he was already frustrated. He hated having anyone come to his house. In fact, no one had ever come before except Dexter. Instead of him going to Maxx’s house, Maxx was coming home with him tonight. It was the only thing he could think of to keep in tight with him.
Dexter was as annoying as heck too. He only kept him around because he could treat him like a dog. Dex didn’t seem to mind.
Needles of jealousy were jabbing in. Lenny was sizing-up Lucas. He was a spoiled brat too. At first it was only a game to bug him. Now it was a need.
Lenny’s dark-tilted ways were beginning to siphon the life out of him. Just like Miss Goodwin had warned, shadow-spots were appearing on his heart. At his young age it should have been bright red and full of life but instead rot was already setting in. If anyone cared… if anyone knew… it should have set off an alarm. But who cared?
Lenny’s sneakers slapped the trail churning like a treadmill under his feet. He was on a tear. He whipped around to shoot Dexter a sparkly glare. He and Maxx were falling behind. They needed to hustle if they were going to catch up with Lucas and his groupies.
Lenny was miserable. The craving was eating him up. He needed a bug-fest. It would make him feel better at least for the moment. It always did. Well, that’s what he thought anyway. The truth? He was sucking Darkotika’s poison.
Dexter was bumbling along like the big lug that he was, goofing around with Maxx like they were best friends. He must have had a huge wad of something in his mouth because he was chewing big and chewing slow.
Lucas and his friends were coming up to Lenny’s house. A sting of ravens hoping for a showdown had assembled early on a hydro line. They cheered them on. Another rowdy group just flapping-in squawked a complaint when the kids got up to Lenny’s front yard.
Just looking at the house had Lucas’s nerves snapping. His stomach felt like a rock. Someone’s watching. I can feel it, he said to himself. His hunch was cut short.
“Owe!” Sloane howled. Lucas broke into a dread-sweat.
“I must have a stone in my shoe,” Sloane cried, plopping down on the sidewalk. She pulled off her sandal and tipped it upside down. Everyone stopped to wait.
When the three boys walked from behind the leafy green curtain that draped the edge of the woods, it was like they were stepping onto a stage. At least that’s how Lucas saw it. The fireworks were about to begin. He had the jitters. The kind that could spin aftershocks for three days.
“Oh no!” Lucas cried, “It’s Lenny! C’mon Sloane hurry up!” he pleaded with her. “He’s got a couple other guys with him too.”
“I’m trying… owe. Just a minute.” Sloane didn’t seem the least bit uptight. She was still calmly struggling back into her shoe.
Lucas wished he could run.
“Hey Sloane, wait up! Sloane!” someone yelled.
Lucas could see that it was Maxx shouting. It’s likely a trick, he huffed. He was with Lenny and Dexter. That could only mean trouble.
“Oh! It’s Maxx, Lucas.” Sloane was drenched in delight and not the least bit bothered. “I wonder what he’s doing here? He’s with Lenny?” she said.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell ya,” Lucas insisted. “He’s part of his gang. Now c’mon let’s go!”
“Yeah, come on Sloane, let’s go,” Sergio and Nick urged, already drifting away.
Sloane was scrambling to her feet, clapping her shoe on the sidewalk, wiggling back into it with a dance. She didn’t get Lucas’s worries about Maxx. He wasn’t part of any gang of Lenny’s. Still, it was weird to see him here. She hopped up beside Lucas.
“Ribbit, Ribbit.”
“Ewe. Yuk. It’s a big fat gross frog!” Sloane squealed. The pudgy frog’s button-eyes stared blank. He was nestled in a hollowed out shady spot under a bush by the sidewalk. Lucas had warned her there were lots of them around here now. Even though she wasn’t a girly-girl, she wasn’t a fan of amphibians!
As for Maxx, he had only decided to hang with Lenny tonight to get him to lay-off. Lenny had been pestering every day to go home with him after school. He was trying to put him off. He agreed to go to his house instead today. He was happy to see Sloane up ahead. He really wanted to catch up with her.
To everyone’s surprise, Lenny took off running full throttle. His oversized feet thwupping hard on the cement made him sound way bigger than he was, at least that’s the way Lucas heard it. Today, he was a giant.
Now Dexter and Maxx were running wild too. The sidewalk was on their side. It was like a flying carpet. They’d be there in no time.
The only things wobbling faster than Dexter’s satellite-dish ears were Lucas’s knees. That’s it. I’m toast, Lucas told himself. He couldn’t run and leave Sloane. He grabbed her by the arm and gave her a tug.
The other boys bolted to the front of his house. About now a fake-out would be good, Lucas thought. He didn't want Lenny and his gang thinking he was running away from them. He called ahead to his friends and ran a few steps to make it seem like he and Sloane were just catching up with them.
Just like a squirrel monkey, the Nimmer riding on Dexter nit-picked through his hair, stopping to nibble on his findings. Suddenly, he quit his preening ritual to dig through his backpack for a needle. Like he’d done this a million times, and with the skill of a brain surgeon, he injected a big dose-of-nasty into Dexter’s mind. Then, quick as lightening, he was back to his scavenger hunt through Dexter’s mop. Dexter already had a mean streak but this was different. The talking board game had him on a leash. Ever since that day, his messy life felt way worse. If anyone asked him, and no one did, he would have said nothing was different. But it was. Before, he was just moody and easy to rile. Now he carried a load of lead on his shoulders. Everything was hard. He was starting to understand that he hated his life. Just like Lenny, he was biting the bait. The red was draining out of his heart.
Just like Lenny too, right out of the blue, he was bugged by Lucas Warbuck for no reason. The guy just irked him that’s all. He didn’t even try to figure out why. He was a yellow-bellied mama’s boy, and that was enough to make any tough guy like him mad. He just wanted to get under his skin… to get back at him, just because he could. Bullying meant nothing to Dexter. It’s just what he did. It was anyone’s guess where it would end.
