by Karla Luna
“They killed her?”
He shrugged. “Died, whatever. Another mystery about that guy. But never really knew how she died.”
I nodded at him, turned to another page, and started to read it. They were his mug shots and some other information that I’ve sort of heard about. This was the reason people were intrigued and also scared of him.
Who would kill and go to juvie at age 12? Well, obviously him.
But looking at the facts about Davne, something doesn't seem right, as if it doesn't quite add up. Maybe there’s more to him than what these papers can tell. Who knows? Bad boys did have their mysteries.
“Okay, rumors of killing his brother by poisoning his drinks,” I read, “and his father by causing him to fall down the stairs somehow.”
“And his mom?” Darrel asked.
Jesse shrugged once again. “Left them, I guess. They were all fucked up, obviously, but especially Davne.”
I stayed quiet after that and just put the papers down when I felt I’ve had enough of reading them. I was starting to get even more nervous, quickly tapping my foot against the floor and breathing hard. Maybe sweating a little too, or were those my tears from fear of possibly dying tonight?
Oh hell, I couldn’t do this. What in the world was I even thinking? That I suddenly got tough and could do this for the girl I loved? But I couldn’t back down now, could I? Definitely not.
I was doing this for her. Just for her and I was not giving up. No matter how scared I really was. May I die tonight knowing Evelyn Jo is safe and sound.
“All right, the place is filling up,” Jesse whispered, making me sit upright as he stopped a few feet away.
I cleared my throat and touched my sweaty face.
“Dude, you’re pale as fuck,” Darrel commented, making me tightly close my eyes and laugh. But the truth was, I probably did look like a ghost, if not worse. My knuckles were also turning white from how tight I was holding on to my seat.
“It’s nothing. Just… j-just follow close behind me,” I paused to look over the papers again, “He has a green mustang, was it? Green mustang. Yeah, one of the racing cars, you can’t miss it.”
Jesse looked over at me, all the humor and laughter drained from his face. But I just kept staring in front with a frown, clicking my tongue against the inside of my cheek.
“Zavier, are you sure you want to do this?”
I ignored him and kept a look out for Davne. It was getting late and my plan was to follow him and see something – anything. Just anything we didn’t know about the guy. Perhaps other places he might like to hang out in. I don't know what exactly. But I guess any evidence that we could take to the police to prove that he's a genuinely bad guy and should not be allowed to roam free among the unsuspecting public.
“Wouldn’t the cops have an eye on him like they do with us?” Darrel asked.
“Yeah, well, the cops around here really don’t give a shit sometimes. You guys managed to escape, didn’t you?” Jesse replied. “But they do keep an eye on him wherever he lives, and there’s a certain distance he has to stay within the city.”
“Wait, wait…” I put my finger up to silence them and squinted my eyes, finally seeing Davne. He was smiling and giving a few guys handshakes, but then he nodded at two of them and they followed him up to his car. “He’s starting to leave with those two guys. Get closer.”
I definitely wasn’t backing down.
“Why the hell would he be here?” Jesse asked as he stopped behind some bushes so that Davne wouldn’t see the car.
We had to keep our distance because he definitely would’ve known if someone was following him. Darrel and I kept an eye on his car, and it really wasn’t hard to keep track of it. His car was bright neon green with a bunch of stamps and stickers.
It seemed like we’d following him for hours since it was now getting darker by the minute. He had gone to too many places that didn’t even seem the least bit interesting. Just the usual hangouts, which made me think that maybe we were wasting our time.
“Maybe he’s secretly a nerd boy like you,” Darrel joked as he patted my back. “Poor boy forgot his textbooks!”
That’s when I quickly got out of the car, hearing Jesse yell behind me as I heard the Jeep turn off. I wasn’t offended or mad, I just wanted to get this over with already. I’ve been waiting too long and my nerves needed to go away.
Now why would the local bad boy be here at school?
“Zavier!” I heard Jesse whisper-yell at me, but that just made me clutch tight the sleeves of my jacket as I kept walking. I rounded the corner toward the school and stopped when I saw no one in sight.
When I heard my name again and steps behind me, I crouched down a little and made a run for one of the entrances.
“This fucking bastard,” I heard Jesse hiss after hearing someone fall.
I got to the entrance and took a few deep breaths, touching my messy hair and then pushing my glasses up. I waited up for Jesse and Darrel as they tried to catch up with me, both of them out of breath.
Well, Jesse seemed like he was close to dying. Darrel, on the other hand, seemed as lively as ever, as if this was a usual thing. I looked at him and nodded at the door.
“All right, Darrel, show us what you got,” I said as he grinned and touched his blond hair.
Jesse laughed but he was still trying to catch his breath. “Oh, what’s he going to open it with? It’s not like he has a pocketknife in his… Holy shit! Dude, why do you have a pocket knife?” he swore and hid behind me as Darrel took out a pocketknife from – well, his pocket.
“Always gotta come prepared,” Darrel said with a wink as he motioned for us to move out of the way so he can get to the doors.
We held our hands up and moved. He went down on one knee and started working the lock with the tip of the knife.
“Evelyn’s record is like, ten seconds or something. Mine?” he stood up when we heard a click, “Seven.”
I nodded, impressed – making Darrel laugh as he pointed the knife right at us.
“I’m awesome, I know.”
“Can you put that away now?” Jesse shyly said from behind me, making me grab his shirt and push him forward. Darrel just laughed and put the knife back in his pocket as he opened the door for us to enter. “It’s so creepy being in here when it’s dark and empty.”
“Isn’t it already creepy during the day?” Darrel asked as I walked in front of Jesse to look out for Davne or any of his friends.
I knew I saw them coming in here. They parked just outside. I still wondered what exactly he was doing in here. And I did hope I’d find out before leaving. Maybe this way, I could find out more about him, look into his devious little plans, and finally get back at him at last.
I wanted to break the bad boy – pound his face in, kick him for all the years he’s tortured me. Just have him in serious pain.
Damn, I almost laughed menacingly at the violent thoughts swimming in my head, especially of him lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood.
What the hell was I turning into?
I abruptly stopped walking and when I felt someone bump into me, I swiftly turned, ready to jump on them, when I saw Jesse hold his hands up in defense. “Please don’t punch me again. This time I don’t think I can forgive you.”
I put my fist down and patted his back. “Sorry,” I whispered, and then looked behind him. I frowned when I found Darrel gone. “Oh, now where did he go? Went for a quick snack at the vending machine?”
At that second, Darrel came back. He was eating, but he also held something dark in his other…
“Who is this little prick?” he asked while holding someone up by their hoodie as if they were just a simple sheet of Kleenex.
Jesse leaned forward and then took the guy’s hood off. My eyes widened when I saw who it was.
“Ethan?”
Ethan shyly smiled and waved. But he didn’t say a word, as usual. But what was he even doing here?
“You know this guy?” Darrel asked.
“Yeah, he’s one of our friends. Shy little guy, but he’s as crazy as I am,” Jesse responded.
“Oh, hey man! Name’s Darrel, nice to meet you.”
“Guys?” I said as I popped my head into the little circle they had made when they huddled up. “Yeah! Hey, still here. Can we skip the introductions and get on with the plan?”
“We’ll talk later, buddy,” Darrel whispered as he smiled and fixed Ethan’s collar, which was a bit wrinkled now.
Ethan just scratched his head and looked at anywhere but me. He was still acting so weird.
“Yo, Davne!”
I froze and put my finger up to signal everybody to stay quiet. Darrel froze between bites but never really stopped eating altogether. “Seriously, dude, thanks for doing this.”
Jesse tapped my shoulder and did something rather inappropriate with his hands, mouthing ‘threesome’ to me. I just gave him a disgusted look and walked closer to the voices instead.
We were right by the office and if we went even closer, I’m sure they’d see us and we’d get caught. And when I took the risk of peeking, I saw three guys standing by a computer and some files in the office.
Typically, schools would have some video cameras. This one though had them only in the office. But I saw that they were currently cut off, which definitely must’ve been Davne’s (or his buddies’) doing.
A different voice began speaking then, “We really need to change our grades and you said you were gonna do this. It doesn’t seem like it’s…”
“Shut up,” Davne hissed at him as he pressed some things on the keyboard. “Don’t pressure me. Don’t you see that I’m fucking doing it? You’ll get what you want, but you are both going to help me with my own plan. Deal?”
The guy crossed his arms and I’m sure he also rolled his eyes at him. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. As long as I get those good grades, because no way am I going to military school.”
The other guy hit him on the arm. “Summer school or repeating a grade for the 5th time is way worse.”
These guys were complete idiots.
“Just shut up. Both of you,” Davne hissed again as he continued to type.
A few more minutes passed and they were all quiet. I had to breathe very slowly since I felt like it was going to be too loud if I actually breathed like I normally would. The guys were leaning against the wall with me, and I was glad they were quiet, too – especially when they're usually too loud.
I guess to keep Darrel quiet, he had to play with something.
And that something, at the moment, just had to be Ethan’s hair.
“All right, done…”
I looked over at the office and saw Davne stand up straight and dust himself off. “You dumbasses got your grades, now all we need to do is…”
We all froze up when the fire alarm suddenly went off.
Shit.
“Shit! Who the fuck…” When we heard Davne yell, we all looked at each other and made a run for it. The guys were right in front of me so I was all the way in the back, trying to run as fast as I could. My lungs felt heavy and my throat seemed to be closing up because of how frightened I was.
And of course, just like those stupid horror movies – I tripped and fell to the floor face first. Jesse turned and ran over to me, helping me up right away as he was looking behind.
Once we made it outside, we already saw Darrel and Ethan run toward the bushes, but Jesse and I didn’t have enough time to. So to minimize the risk of being seen by Davne and his minions or whoever – we hid right behind a wall where we knew Davne wouldn’t pass.
After a few seconds, we saw all three of them run toward Davne’s green racecar.
He drove away in the blink of an eye and I realized I had been holding my breath… and Jesse’s hand. We looked down at our entwined hands and quickly moved away from each other, shivering.
“Holy fuck,” Jesse said, between laughs. And I couldn’t help but breathe out and laugh, too. “Dude, that was awesome!”
He patted my back this time as we both walked to his Jeep. On the way home, we were trying to figure out a few things. This was just step one of my plan and I guess something did happen. And it will contribute a lot, too.
Davne had a plan with those two guys. To do what?
That’s what scared me the entire drive home.
Once I got home, Evelyn questioned me like my mother would’ve, who was just sitting on the couch with a seemingly worn out Ian.
He gave me a ‘thumbs up’ when my mom wasn’t looking, and Darrel walked over to him like the buddy he was.
“Where were you, Zavier?”
I turned to Evelyn and inspected her blue eyes that were full of worry – and something else I couldn’t quite catch. But I just chuckled nervously, shrugged, grabbed her hand, and kissed it before replying, “Just… went out for some ice cream.”
40: Whoever The Third Wheel Is
• Zavier •
“Are you and Jocey going out now?” Mom asked with a glint in her eyes, giving me a huge and cheesy smile as she placed her elbows on the kitchen counter. She was holding her mug pretty tightly and she was kind of, sort of, really freaking me out with that look.
She’s never given me that look before.
I shook my head very slowly and dug my left hand inside my jeans pockets. The other hand reached for my water bottle. “I’m just gonna go talk to her, Mom. No big deal.”
“Get it, man. Get it,” Ian said as he passed by me, making me choke on the water I was drinking when he slapped my back hard.
Why did these guys have to do that, seriously?
It’s already happened more than five times the past few days. So why was I not careful after the first two times?
“Talking to her at The Grill X. Yes, it is most definitely a date,” she said while coming over and fixing the collar of my button-up. Once she started pinching my cheeks, I felt like such a little boy and grabbed her wrists before she went and licked her fingers to fix my hair.
I always hated that. But she was a mom, so she did it anyway. After years, she finally left my hair alone because it just wasn’t fixable. It was messy all over and I kind of liked it that way.
“Moooom, stop,” I whined, grabbing a granola bar and starting to open it as she laughed and walked to her office to wait for her patients.
This time, Darrel passed by me and grabbed the granola bar I was about to bite into. “Aww, little Momma’s Boy,” he sang.
Oh, yeah, thanks for taking my food, by the way.
I scratched my head and looked at them both. Ian had grabbed some Frosted Flakes and poured milk in it so he wouldn’t have to get a bowl. I was surprised Evelyn never did that. She can be such a sloth sometimes. “Yeah um, so… how long are you guys staying here exactly?”
That’s when they both looked at each other, and then at me. Darrel slammed the granola bar on the kitchen counter, all of a sudden, making me jump as he walked over to me with a very serious face.
Oh no, what did I do now? I didn’t do anything, I just asked a simple…
“What, are we not likeable enough for you?”
“I… no, no that’s not… not it at all. Okay?” I nervously laughed as he grabbed my shirt and glared at me.
“Are we not appealing?” He smiled and I really couldn’t look anywhere but at his glaring blue eyes. “Now you listen to me, good boy. You never ask a question like that again. Got it?”
“I… yeah sure. Definitely sure, got it.” Holy shit his sudden mood change was really scaring me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so serious before. Was this new?
“Good, good,” He let me go and fixed my shirt.
I swallowed a lump in my throat.
“Now I’m gonna go off to the next room. And I’m gonna laugh a little menacingly. Just a little.” That’s when he smirked and walked away… laughed pretty menacingly as he had said. Although, it sure didn't sound a only a little menacing to me.
It was as if he was saying 'Hell no, I ain’t doing that!’ in that laugh.
I cleared my throat and looked at Ian, who watched me as he was chewing his food. Then he saw how freaked out I actually was and that made him smile.
“What was that?” I asked.
He shook his head at me but continued to smile. “That’s just Darrel. He hardly shows that side of himself. You know, trying to be serious to scare the shit out of the other person? It’s hilarious.”
Yeah, well, it sure almost made me have a heart attack. I wasn’t even scared when he had the pocketknife the other day, but to see those threatening eyes up close... well, it was pretty damn scary.
“I’m gonna go now,” I said quickly as I passed by him. But then I stopped, turned back, and pointed at the knives by the window. I nervously laughed again and grabbed them. “I don’t think we need this many in the house, so…” At that, I threw them out the window into the bushes, and walked straight out of the house and into mom’s car.
Yeah, ridiculous, but what else was I supposed to do? These guys wouldn’t kill me or anything and I knew that. But deep down inside, I was just a bit scared to have sharp objects… in a house full of badass gangsters.
Great, now it sounds like I’m judging them when I’m not. Gosh, I’ll go into the bushes and find them later. Or buy a new set for my mom.
Being paranoid just makes my head go haywire sometimes… or a lot.
There’s also been a lot going on that I didn’t know what to think… or which to deal with first.
But something that has been bothering me for a while now was how weird Ethan was acting. Darrel seemed to get along with him, but in the car ride home, he was acting pretty suspicious. So I told Jesse to ask him about it afterwards. Jesse said he wouldn’t say a single thing. He would just joke around… as if to say we were probably just imaging things.
I planned to go ask him myself and not leave until he told me something, because really, this was getting out of hand. We’ve been friends for years and he’s acting so strange that not even Jesse gets him now. It’s making me pretty worried.
