CP&BC

Chapter 3: Banana and Lime Cake

School had ended hours ago, and I had stayed back to finish my shift. I managed to avoid most students during the day. As the janitor, some students stopped to ask me for directions. Some noticed how young I looked, but respectfully didn't make mention of it. Some others, with a death wish I suppose, attempted to insult or mock me. I kept myself calm and controlled, as I had done since I started here. Students only acted like this on the first day. After today, the weight of college and work would make them depressed enough to not notice me.

5:00 pm

I locked the door to the Janitor's room, grabbed my bag where my dirty uniform resided, and walked out towards the laundry place near school. I sensed looks on me as I walked on the street. I turned around and saw the same students that had mocked me earlier today. I picked up my pace. I wanted to get out of school property as fast as I could. Tricking them into thinking I was cowardly running away was the perfect bait to bring them to a secluded area. I passed by the laundry place and dropped off my clothes. The alley behind the laundromat was the perfect change of scenery I needed to commit my deed. They had been following me even inside the laundromat. Now, in the dead-end of the alley, one of them stepped forward with an air of superiority.

"Hey, Janitor? Wasn't it? Or do you actually have a name?" A red-headed boy asks with a smug smirk.

"Ha! Maybe a title, what about... Master of Dirt?" A second boy, probably a few years younger, stepped forward and rested his elbow on his friend's shoulder. The boys in the back laughed at their ridiculous jokes. Ah, they must be the "leaders". As I faced them, I quickly did a short analysis of each of them. In the end, my conclusion was clear. This was just another one of those High School bully gangs that had somehow managed to move to college, yet hadn't reached maturity. Therefore, they still thought and acted like they were hot shit.

But, they, unfortunately, had to meet me, and I, for one, thought that they were nothing but absolute garbage. And as Janitor, it was my duty to take out the trash.

I smirked, and my action only angered the redhead. He stepped closer until we were face to face. In a swift motion, he gave me a jab right to my rib cage. I lost balance for a second and curled down halfway. His friends followed his example. As I laid on the floor, I noticed how they were now in the shadows that covered the alley.

Poor fools had fallen like mice in a cheese trap. No, more like rats, mice were a bit more tolerable. I grabbed the leader's foot, he brushed off the action, considering it a plea for mercy.

BAM! CRACK!

A long-haired girl was taking the last of her loads out of the dryer. She held another bag, cleaned and fresh from a recent wash. She said her goodbyes to the store employee, promising to be on time for her next shift the day after. The clerk kicked her out, tired of her excuses, nevertheless, chuckled at the girl's pouting face.

Once outside the laundry place, the young girl began walking towards the alley. Most people took the opposite direction and didn't mind the natural-looking alley. The girl licked a popsicle while getting closer to the alley. Commotion is an understatement for the noise coming from within the clandestine area. She stopped at the entrance and ducked as a school bag came flying towards her. Her ears shot up, and she stepped to the side, just in time for a horde of college students to come out running from the darkness. Several bruises decorated them, and blood trailed down their faces. She counted them.

1...2...3...4...5...?

She waited for a second until two figures emerged from the alley, one a tall brunette boy with a few bruises here and there. The most detrimental areas being his torso and arms. He dragged an unconscious redhead with him. The appearance of the other boys was a beauty compared to the fool's current state. His right eye had begun to swell and the back of his head was slightly bleeding. His clothes were stained with blood from where the blood emanating from his head had sprinkled. Unconscious, bleeding, and most probably with several broken bones. But, he was still breathing, so nothing too atrocious had happened. The brunette boy looked at her with an ear-to-ear smile.