Corruption

Chapter 1

"Oh crap," I muttered as I pulled the car over next to the park on my way home from school. The guys were all sitting there around their stupid truck. Some were leaning against the hood, trying to act tough, and others were standing in the bed of the truck, flagging me down, and occasionally lifting up their shirts. Before I get out of the car, I zip my hoodie up to my neck. I step out, already pissed off and make my way over to the boys, who were whistling idiotically. I stomped right up to Simon, the ringleader of this pathetic group of perverts and slackers. "Let me through," I demand as calmly as I possibly can in a situation like this, with eight boys leering at me like I'm their next meal.

"Now why would I do a silly think like that," Simon drawled. He rolled that stupid little cigarette over his tongue, took a deep breath, and blew the smoke right in my face. I close my eyes, trying to control myself from pummeling him right then and there in front of all his friends. I could, but I wasn't going to. That would be dumb. Their truck was blocking the narrow, and unfortunately, the only road to take back to my house. I couldn't get past.

I hold my breath until the smoke disappears, and then let out a steady breath. I glare at Simon and the way he looks at me, like he thinks I'm just a helpless little girl, makes something in me snap. Before I can reason with myself, my hand rears back, balls into a fist, and goes straight for his jaw. I made a solid hit, and he crumpled to the ground like a puppet. There was a moment of stunned silence from everyone around, until Simon yelled, "Get her!" I took off running at a full sprint straight into the park. It had been overcast all day and had just started to rain, so it was abandoned.

Great. No witnesses. I muttered to myself as I made my way to a thick, tall oak tree. I arrived at the base, and didn't hesitate before I started climbing up. I had made good time, and was a good distance ahead of the rest of the guys. When I was a safe distance up the tree, I perched on a strong, overhanging branch and swung my feet lazily. The boys all crowded around the base of the tree, Simon trotting up behind the rest of them, holding his jaw and staring up at me with pure hatred in his eyes.

"Why don't you come down here so we can fight like civilized people!" Jack teased. Jack was the strongest of all of them, and had the biggest temper. No way in hell was I getting down from that tree.

"Nah, I'm good. Hey, for a change, you girls should try terrorizing people who can't beat you up and then outrun you." I was pushing my luck, but I felt I had to take their egos down a couple notches. Jack clenched his fists, took a running start, jumped up and grabbed one of the lower hanging branches. But his momentum and weight worked against him, the branch snapped, and then he, too, was on the ground because of me. They all just stood there, not knowing exactly what to do. I guess Simon had told them all to wait me out, because they all just stayed there, whistling at me and telling me what they would do to me when I got down. I wasn't too thrilled with this, and some of the things they were saying genuinely scared me, but I knew that these idiots didn't have the balls to go through with any of that stuff. I decided to show them that I wasn't going anywhere any time soon. I leaned against the trunk and crossed my legs and arms, tilting my head back to make it look like I was dozing off. After about twenty minutes, they all decided they'd "get" me later. I have to say, I wasn't looking forward to later. I was not going to climb down right away, because I'm sure they just went back to their car to wait for me there, where at least it was dry. I was soaked all the way through my hoodie and t-shirt underneath. I knew I would be here for a while, so I closed my eyes and tried to relax, willing my fingers to release their death grip on my forearms. Next thing I knew, I was fast asleep, drifting off to places where there weren't creepy guys in trucks threatening to break your face.

I woke up to angry voices below me. At first, I thought the boys were back, but I realized that the voices were deeper, and they were yelling at each other; not me. I carefully repositioned myself in the tree, so I can see the men below, but was still hidden by the leaves.

"We had a deal! You can't back out now, you coward!" one man was shouting. He was tall and had black hair that came to his neck. The man looked like he could snap a person in half with two fingers. I would not want to be on his bad side, and apparently, this other guy was.

"You know what, screw you and your deals!" This man was noticeably older than the other and was balding. He kept his hands firmly in his pockets, while the other man was waving his all about in a flurry of movement.

"I can't believe you! We have to go through with this! You know what they'll do if you refuse." The tall one was getting a little frantic. I couldn't believe this was going down right in front of me. What were they even talking about? Was this some drug deal or something? Why does it involve more than just the two of them? Who were "they" and why was he so scared of them?

"Just do it yourself. You know you can." Baldy looked frustrated with his angry partner.

"That's not the point! If you walk out on this, they will kill you! You know too much! Then they'll kill me." Now, instead of the man looking angry, he looked like he was about to pass out of fear. There was silence. I had a strong feeling I shouldn't be listening to this. But what was I supposed to do!? I was stuck in a tree! There was this long moment of silence while the both of them contemplated their predicament. I tried not to breathe too hard, fearing they'd hear me.

"This is too much to ask for. I'm sorry, but I'm not doing it. Stealing is one thing, but murder is another. This is crazy." Baldy shook his head sadly. "I feel sorry for you. I wish neither one of us had gotten mixed up in this." The tall man's face had gone very calm all of a sudden. So calm it was scary, given the situation.

"No. This will not happen." That's all he said. That's all he said before he pulled a gun from a holster on his side, pointed the gun straight at the other guy's head, and pulled the trigger. There was a brief flash, followed closely behind by a loud BANG, and the next thing I knew, the bald one had collapsed in a heap in the grass.