Crash ~Justin Bieber~

Chapter 89 ~ Run

(Randy's POV)

There's this thing we do. This lesson we teach. It's as cruel as it is effective. Tanner did it to me. Justin did it to his guys. And tonight, i'd be expected to do it Trey. To walk him into a fight that he can't handle, and seconds later, walk away.

Matt would remove all his teeth. By the time he was done with him, i'd have to peel Trey off of the snow. And then i'd return him to my parents house. Say there Justin. Here he is. Your newest and most terrified soldier.

That's the point of it all. To show someone what can happen if they fight without the group. To make Trey loyal by making him bleed. By saying remember, we let you fight alone. So listen to us, or we'll throw you in the same arena again.

It works. My God it works. But somehow i'd made it work way too soon, because with or without a battle, Trey already trusted me.

I started to think about it as we walked. Why he was so devoted to me but not Justin. And then I remembered the circumstances in which we met. The first night he was sent to hit me. Trey didn't trust me because I hurt him. Trey trusted me because I let him hurt me first.

Over the top of the hill, I could hear Matt's friends before I culd see them. Drunk, laughing, tripping over the clink of bottles. If I sent Trey up there, blood would be invovled.

"Don't do it" Quinn said softly. She knew what Justin wanted. She'd peeled me off of the cement before. She'd seen me be the student. But somehow it was worse to be the teacher. To take this kid and terrify him, for no apparent reason.

"Trey," I said.
"Randy, don't"
"Come here"

He did, but Quinn stood in front of him. "Randy, you can't"
She was crying and I hated that. Quinn cried way too much. But she didn't understand what I meant. I wasn't Tanner Reed. I wasn't Justin Bieber. I was me. Randy Green. And this was how I taught.

"Justin wants you to go up there" I told him. I let him hide behind Quinn. "To get your ass kicked. To go back to the house. And i'm not supposed to help you"
He nodded like he'd do it. Like if I gave him the word, he'd walk up there alone.

"But i'm not going to do that" I said. "Instead, i've got to do something worse, okay? And it's gonna hurt. It's got to hurt. Unless I make it... look like you did it. Justin's not going to believe you"

Quinn started to understand. It was a scar Justin wanted but it didn't have to be made by Matt. I could make it cleaner. I could make it quicker. And I could make it look legit, without any other injuries.

"You're going to hit him"
"Once," I said.

Quinn didn't say anything. I think she knew, that compared to what Matt would do, it was better if it was me.

"We're going to lie to Justin?" Trey asked. His voice was as small as Quinn's had been.

"Yeah. We're going to lie to Justin. I'll say I sent you in there. That Matt beat the shit out of you. And that you get it now"
"Get what?"
"That... that it's better to be in a group"

I didn't believe it myself. Not when I was standing here like this. Twice as tall as the kid. Twice his weight. My punch to his eye. It took effort to make my arm move.

Quinn stepped out of the way now. She shook her head at the snow. And just before I sent the first blow, I heard her cry.

"I hate him... I hate him. Justin's just as bad as Tanner,"

~*~

Walking to the groccery store with Shagqueela was difficult. Maily, because she kept stopping to pee on parked cars. She had this thing about protesting wealth, which was common in such a wealthy area, and if she saw any car with an expensive logo, she'd stop to urinate on the tyres.