Aquaphobia

Chapter 8

[MATTHEW CAYUK]

It's been roughly one week since my last encounter with Walker Murphy, Ian Fischer, and that little wimp-punk Scott Voorhees. Whenever I don't want to see Murphy and Fischer, I always end up seeing them, but the one time I want to see them, they're nowhere to be found. This is absolutely no surprise to me, because this is simply how my life works. Whenever I want something, I never get it.

School ends for the day, and I make one last hallway search for Murphy, Fischer, or most importantly, Voorhees. Surely enough, not one of them is anywhere to be found, so instead I make way for my father's car. He picks me up from school because he doesn't want me to ride the school bus. He has absolutely no reasoning for this, just like every other decision he makes. In his eyes, belittling his son and limiting him to as little as possible is apparently enjoyable.

I open the car door and get into the front seat. I slump down and try to avoid any contact with him whatsoever.

"Why're you late, Matthew?" he asks. There's a clear-sounding anger in his voice, so I know I'm going to get it whether I answer or not.

Since I know pain is coming my way, I choose not to answer. Why subject myself to more pain than necessary? If I answer, I'll probably get hit harder. That usually happens.

"Answer me, Matthew Cayuk," he commands, now even angrier.

"I was busy," I force out.

"That's no excuse. Why are you late?"

"I was busy! I was looking for someone."

"Who were you looking for? Answer me now!"

"Some kids."

"I want names, and I want them now!"

"Walker, Ian, and Scott."

"Are they nice boys?"

"Yes."

"Are you lying?"

"No."

The rest of the ride home remains silent, save for the sound of the car pulling over and a couple of smacks. Alongside smacks are a few shouts of explicit profanity. Smacks are more or less slams in this case though, so I return home from a day of school tired and angry. It's absolutely no different than any other day.

Usually, and when I mean usually I mean every day, whenever this happens, I just go swimming or something. I live right on the edge of one of Insula's larger lakes, Lake Iaz, so I use it quite often. It's cool though, because nobody else uses the lake. People on Insula kind of hate freshwater activities, so Lake Iaz is nearly abandoned. I don't just swim anywhere in it though, because most of the outer edge is polluted with a billion fish hooks, some of which I've cut myself on. Some of the more hardcore fish hooks give out deep cuts and you bleed for a while.

On this particular day, I make my way down to the lake like always, but what I see waiting for me there gives me mixed emotions.

There's three boys all sitting on the dock, fishing in the water. The funny thing is, someone's actually fishing in Lake Iaz for once in like, forever. The funnier thing however, is that those three boys just happen to be none other than Murphy, Fischer, and Voorhees.

A part of me says: "Why do they have to be here?" but another part says: "Time to do some beating!"

Instead of jumping into the water and ignoring them, I decide to go with the latter side of my brain's decisions.

I decide I'll just sneak up from behind them and push them into the water. It sounds like quite a childish thing to do, but I have to get them somehow. Thanks to that doofus Murphy, I now have staples on my broken nose.

I'm not sure if it's enough to get revenge by just pushing them in. After all, he kind of did kick my in the face several times. Maybe I'll beat him with his own fishing pole or something.

Whatever I decide on, I have to do it quick. I walk around the perimeter of the lake. It's one of the larger lakes of Insula, but Insula isn't exactly known for big lakes. On my way to the three idiots, I notice a large rock lying nonchalantly in the dirt. It's almost as if it's asking to be picked up and thrown at three losers. As I near the three fishing halfwits, I carry the huge rock over my shoulder.

I approach them from behind, and I guess they see my shadow cast on the lake they fish in. All three of them stand on the dock with their rods casted out in front of them, but Murphy is the first to turn around.

"Blimey, if it isn't Matthew Cayuk!" he says, somewhat sardonically.

I find it ridiculous that he addresses me in such a friendly manner.

"Shut your ugly freckled face, wimp!" I shout back. The staples on my nose affect my voice and make it sound somewhat nasally since it's more closed in.

"What're you here for, Cayuk? Are you gonna see how far you can throw a rock?" Murphy laughs.

I watch Fischer and Voorhees turn around and snicker at the scene. I really hate these guys. That's when I remember the boulder I have lugged on top of my side.

Without even the tiniest smile, I lunge forward and toss the enormous rock as hard and fast as forwardly possible.

Only to my surprise, with the quickest of speed, Murphy reaches out both of his arms and catches the rock. Within half-a-second, he launches it back and it slams me right in the stomach. It hits me so hard, I fall over onto my back. Painfully.

"You muttonhead!" I pathetically shout in an attempt to verbally hurt him. I stumble back up to my feet, and quickly remember what my father said about fighting. If he can hit me as hard as he does, I can hit these fools.

"What's that? Some kind of new processed meat?" Fischer asks as he approaches the scene.

I know attempting to take on the two of them is pointless, so instead I decide to throw a curveball and go for the redhead, Voorhees.

I charge forward as fast as possible and grab him by the back of his shirt. With all the strength in my body, I grab the little weasel and throw him down to the ground. As soon as I grab him, he screams, and I'm instantly tackled by Murphy and Fischer both.

Murphy begins to speak, and his voice changes from the teasing laughing voice to the angry serious voice.

"I told you already, Matthew. Don't touch Scott! Was it not enough to break your nose? Do I have to break your arms, too?"

This comment only makes me angrier, so I shove all three of them off me in one hefty swing, and I grab Murphy. As fast as possible, I run forward and tackle him down into the lake. I hold him under the water and begin to slam his head against the dock as hard as possible. It becomes harder and harder for him to breathe as he emerges and submerges from the water repetitively.

"How do you like it now, you fatherless freak? Who's gonna save you from all your trouble now?" I laugh as I make fun of his non-existent parent.

Just as he's about to pass out from lack of oxygen, a familiar boulder slams me on the head, and I lose grip of Murphy.

My vision gets blurry for a quick second, as I try to regain my surroundings from that hard hit. As soon as it clears, all I see is a skinny pale redhead charging at me from the dock. I also see he's carrying a log that's twice the size of my rock and probably twice the weight. It looks like it's twice his own weight, and it also looks like he's about to hit me with it. Before I can even so much as lift a finger, Voorhees stops at the edge of the dock, careful not to jump in, and slams me with the log.

Right before my vision goes black, I smell blood and I hear a raspy, unconfident, stuttery voice say "Don't you ever make somebody who's lost their parents!"

————

When I finally wake up from this mess, I find myself lying not in the water, but on the dock I was beaten on. The three boys from earlier are nowhere to be found, and I can see bits of blood on my fingers from earlier. In order to keep from any more pain today, I decide to not go back into my house until midnight.

I really hate those kids.