Sink or Swim
Four
Nash’s pov
I stayed in the bathroom cleaning my wounds. They didn’t hurt bad, you’d get used to the abuse from Brandon if you lived with him. He had a pretty horrible temper so when I was little I learned either to not annoy him or just fight back. I got good at the fighting back so of course that’s what I would do. There was no doubt in my mind that there would soon be purple bruises on my stomach and shoulder from where I got the worse hits, but I knew he would have the same or worse bruises.
Carefully I pulled my beanie off my head and combed through my hair with my fingers until I had it pretty much strait again before putting my beanie back in its place. I smiled at my reflection then went to walk out of the door then stopped when I realized that wasn’t the only reason I was smiling. Alex was another reason I was smiling, he was the only guy I knew of that would stand up to Brandon and take his abuse but somehow make a joke out of it. Either that boy had balls of steel or he got off on being abused.
When I walked out into the hall I heard Alex talking to Bug, “He’s past steaming or seeing red. He’s approaching postal, maybe nuclear-”
I cut him off, “But he can’t do shit unless his master says so.”
“Brittany?” Bug asked.
“Fang.” Alex answered before I could, “She’s behind your arm and my gut. The fish stinks from the head.”
Bug looked confused, “Why would Fang want to hurt us?”
“I got an eight for being outside the girls second floor bathroom between two and two-thirty. That’s when Fang debriefs her minions.” Alex’s voice was so smooth that I almost lost grasp of the topic.
“Anyone caught there then is considered a spy.” I pointed out.
“Just being there doesn’t mean your spying.” Bug mumbled.
“I was spying. There’s a revolution going on, Condor. Fang must fall, but we can’t bring her down without intelligence.” Alex’s eyes got dark at the end of his sentence.
“Intelligence as in information. How do we learn what she’s up to? What she’ll have her minions do next?” I questioned popping a piece of bubble gum in my mouth.
“I don’t know.” Bug shrugged.
“We need some sort of listening device.” Alex nodded then quickly pulled his phone out from his pocket and hit a couple numbers.
Bugs phone went off and he answered, “Hello?”
Alex grinned, “Condor? Coyote.”
Bug turned around to see Alex waving his phone at him. I giggled softly at the two then looked at the clock on the wall.
“fang and gang will arrive in the toilet in two minutes. Everybody else clears out five before. Now’s your window.” Alex pushed Bug towards the door.
“What?” Bug asked confused.
“Get your phone in there.” Alex pointed then tapped his watch, “Tic toc”
Bug hesitated so I quickly snatched the phone from him and headed towards the girls bathroom. I waved hello to the girls inside and walked into one of the stalls. I heard girly screams then one of the girls say, “Jerome get out of here! Your in the wrong bathroom, Fang’s going to be here any minute!”
“Clear” He whispered/shouted and I heard the clinking of his cane going down the hall.
“Can you hear me?” I asked into the phone.
“Yes I can gorgeous.” Alex was most likely smirking.
I blushed and smiled, “Phone’s in position.”
I set it above the ledge then ran out of the bathroom and around the corner, slamming into Alex in the process, good thing he caught me. It was one of those moments where your stuck staring into each others eyes and it’s like you can feel a kiss coming on but then it’s interrupted by the sound of Fang’s heels coming down the hallway with her crew.
“Closet.” I pointed and we quickly got inside of the Janitor’s closet while the crew searched the area before going in.
Alex put the phone on speaker and a roar of laughter is heard from the girls meaning that they were coming in loud and clear.
“Muhahaha.” Alex laughed.
The closet was pretty damn small so I ended up leaning against Alex while Bug leaned against one of the shelves trying not to knock things over. Alex looked over at me and smiled, guess he didn’t mind that I was practically on top of him, because of the lack of space.
There was a serious of noises like clinks and crashes before Brittany’s voice came over clearly, “Ready to report, Fang.”
“There was a glitch with administering the Numbers this morning?” Fang spoke.
Brittany cleared her throat, “The numbers were administered properly and on schedule. However before Brandon could make his escape, Nash O’Neil intervened then of course Penelope Bryte joined in and told him he was going to hell.
Fang’s laugh sent chill up my spine, “Brandon would enjoy hell. He’d kick some ass and we could expand our markets.”
“Thing is it caused a stir. And Maria’s dad was right there, and could’ve seen-” Brittany was interrupted by Maria.
“Dad’s cool, I have stuff on him. My mom would kill him if I told.”
Fang growled, “Maybe people like Penelope needs a nine.”
Brittany stuttered, “Wh-what about Na-Nash O’Neil?”
I listened closely to she what she was about to say.
“Nash O’Neil? Brandon kicks the shit out of her daily but she could defiantly go for a twenty.”
Alex glanced down at me with a sympathetic look. Bug didn’t because he already knew. I ignored the look and kept on listening.
“She’s obsessed with Bug, that’s the problem”
Brittany cut Maria off, “Girls find him attractive.”
Bug’s eyes lit up with hope.
“Do you?” Fang asked in a dark voice.
“Well, he’s…” Brittany began but Fang cut her off.
“He’s a cretin, a brain-bomb waiting to go off. The only real friend he has is Dunkelman and Nash. Dunkelman just uses him as his monkey, and Nash well she’s just a loser.”
Bug looked disappointed, Alex was in shock, and I was trying to resist either going in the bathroom and knocking someone’s head off or crying.
“He’s not attractive, Brittany. He was stillborn. He’s been in and out of institutions half his life. Bug’s killed people, wake up and smell the Starbucks.”
All of our jaws were hanging open.
“Monkey?”
“Killed people?”
“Loser.”
Fang continued on softening a bit, “Brandon’s the one for you, Britt. He’s a diamond. A diamond in the rough, okay, but a diamond none the same. By comparison, Bug’s a lump of coal. Trust me on this, okay? If you ended up with Bug he would kill you, but if you ended up with Brandon you’d have the perfect life with only one unfortunate fact of being related by marriage to Nash.”
It went silent for a minute then Brittany spoke, “Okay Fang.”
“Good. Let’s go, it stinks in here.” Fang snapped her fingers and ordered her crew out.
We exited into the hall once the Fang gang was out of sight.
“Say “Thanks, Fang, that felt really good.” Alex ordered.
“I’d be lying.” Bug’s voice was sad.
Alex rolled his eyes, “That’s the point.”
“Thank you, fang. I needed that.” Bug said and glanced over at me.
Alex looked over at me and smiled, “Have something to say about my teaching methods?”
I shrugged, “Well you do treat him like a monkey. Bug I’ll meet you for lunch, later.”
I took one more glance at Alex’s shocked face before walking down the hall to find my second period class, and hopefully sneak in before anyone realized that they were missing a person.
I stayed in the bathroom cleaning my wounds. They didn’t hurt bad, you’d get used to the abuse from Brandon if you lived with him. He had a pretty horrible temper so when I was little I learned either to not annoy him or just fight back. I got good at the fighting back so of course that’s what I would do. There was no doubt in my mind that there would soon be purple bruises on my stomach and shoulder from where I got the worse hits, but I knew he would have the same or worse bruises.
Carefully I pulled my beanie off my head and combed through my hair with my fingers until I had it pretty much strait again before putting my beanie back in its place. I smiled at my reflection then went to walk out of the door then stopped when I realized that wasn’t the only reason I was smiling. Alex was another reason I was smiling, he was the only guy I knew of that would stand up to Brandon and take his abuse but somehow make a joke out of it. Either that boy had balls of steel or he got off on being abused.
When I walked out into the hall I heard Alex talking to Bug, “He’s past steaming or seeing red. He’s approaching postal, maybe nuclear-”
I cut him off, “But he can’t do shit unless his master says so.”
“Brittany?” Bug asked.
“Fang.” Alex answered before I could, “She’s behind your arm and my gut. The fish stinks from the head.”
Bug looked confused, “Why would Fang want to hurt us?”
“I got an eight for being outside the girls second floor bathroom between two and two-thirty. That’s when Fang debriefs her minions.” Alex’s voice was so smooth that I almost lost grasp of the topic.
“Anyone caught there then is considered a spy.” I pointed out.
“Just being there doesn’t mean your spying.” Bug mumbled.
“I was spying. There’s a revolution going on, Condor. Fang must fall, but we can’t bring her down without intelligence.” Alex’s eyes got dark at the end of his sentence.
“Intelligence as in information. How do we learn what she’s up to? What she’ll have her minions do next?” I questioned popping a piece of bubble gum in my mouth.
“I don’t know.” Bug shrugged.
“We need some sort of listening device.” Alex nodded then quickly pulled his phone out from his pocket and hit a couple numbers.
Bugs phone went off and he answered, “Hello?”
Alex grinned, “Condor? Coyote.”
Bug turned around to see Alex waving his phone at him. I giggled softly at the two then looked at the clock on the wall.
“fang and gang will arrive in the toilet in two minutes. Everybody else clears out five before. Now’s your window.” Alex pushed Bug towards the door.
“What?” Bug asked confused.
“Get your phone in there.” Alex pointed then tapped his watch, “Tic toc”
Bug hesitated so I quickly snatched the phone from him and headed towards the girls bathroom. I waved hello to the girls inside and walked into one of the stalls. I heard girly screams then one of the girls say, “Jerome get out of here! Your in the wrong bathroom, Fang’s going to be here any minute!”
“Clear” He whispered/shouted and I heard the clinking of his cane going down the hall.
“Can you hear me?” I asked into the phone.
“Yes I can gorgeous.” Alex was most likely smirking.
I blushed and smiled, “Phone’s in position.”
I set it above the ledge then ran out of the bathroom and around the corner, slamming into Alex in the process, good thing he caught me. It was one of those moments where your stuck staring into each others eyes and it’s like you can feel a kiss coming on but then it’s interrupted by the sound of Fang’s heels coming down the hallway with her crew.
“Closet.” I pointed and we quickly got inside of the Janitor’s closet while the crew searched the area before going in.
Alex put the phone on speaker and a roar of laughter is heard from the girls meaning that they were coming in loud and clear.
“Muhahaha.” Alex laughed.
The closet was pretty damn small so I ended up leaning against Alex while Bug leaned against one of the shelves trying not to knock things over. Alex looked over at me and smiled, guess he didn’t mind that I was practically on top of him, because of the lack of space.
There was a serious of noises like clinks and crashes before Brittany’s voice came over clearly, “Ready to report, Fang.”
“There was a glitch with administering the Numbers this morning?” Fang spoke.
Brittany cleared her throat, “The numbers were administered properly and on schedule. However before Brandon could make his escape, Nash O’Neil intervened then of course Penelope Bryte joined in and told him he was going to hell.
Fang’s laugh sent chill up my spine, “Brandon would enjoy hell. He’d kick some ass and we could expand our markets.”
“Thing is it caused a stir. And Maria’s dad was right there, and could’ve seen-” Brittany was interrupted by Maria.
“Dad’s cool, I have stuff on him. My mom would kill him if I told.”
Fang growled, “Maybe people like Penelope needs a nine.”
Brittany stuttered, “Wh-what about Na-Nash O’Neil?”
I listened closely to she what she was about to say.
“Nash O’Neil? Brandon kicks the shit out of her daily but she could defiantly go for a twenty.”
Alex glanced down at me with a sympathetic look. Bug didn’t because he already knew. I ignored the look and kept on listening.
“She’s obsessed with Bug, that’s the problem”
Brittany cut Maria off, “Girls find him attractive.”
Bug’s eyes lit up with hope.
“Do you?” Fang asked in a dark voice.
“Well, he’s…” Brittany began but Fang cut her off.
“He’s a cretin, a brain-bomb waiting to go off. The only real friend he has is Dunkelman and Nash. Dunkelman just uses him as his monkey, and Nash well she’s just a loser.”
Bug looked disappointed, Alex was in shock, and I was trying to resist either going in the bathroom and knocking someone’s head off or crying.
“He’s not attractive, Brittany. He was stillborn. He’s been in and out of institutions half his life. Bug’s killed people, wake up and smell the Starbucks.”
All of our jaws were hanging open.
“Monkey?”
“Killed people?”
“Loser.”
Fang continued on softening a bit, “Brandon’s the one for you, Britt. He’s a diamond. A diamond in the rough, okay, but a diamond none the same. By comparison, Bug’s a lump of coal. Trust me on this, okay? If you ended up with Bug he would kill you, but if you ended up with Brandon you’d have the perfect life with only one unfortunate fact of being related by marriage to Nash.”
It went silent for a minute then Brittany spoke, “Okay Fang.”
“Good. Let’s go, it stinks in here.” Fang snapped her fingers and ordered her crew out.
We exited into the hall once the Fang gang was out of sight.
“Say “Thanks, Fang, that felt really good.” Alex ordered.
“I’d be lying.” Bug’s voice was sad.
Alex rolled his eyes, “That’s the point.”
“Thank you, fang. I needed that.” Bug said and glanced over at me.
Alex looked over at me and smiled, “Have something to say about my teaching methods?”
I shrugged, “Well you do treat him like a monkey. Bug I’ll meet you for lunch, later.”
I took one more glance at Alex’s shocked face before walking down the hall to find my second period class, and hopefully sneak in before anyone realized that they were missing a person.