Retribution

Chapter Four

At four twenty, I left the classroom to wait outside the school. Josh was picking me up at four-thirty, but knowing him, he'd probably be somewhat early. I decided to sit by the flagpole, pulled out my sketchbook, and started to doodle. Just as I was getting into the mood of my drawings, the book was yanked from my hands.

"What're drawing?" Chauncey asked, peering at my sketches without my permission. In my head I told him to go away, aloud I said, "Nothing."

"Sure looks like something." He sat next to me. Being in his presence made me extremely uncomfortable. Was it because he was a senior?

I decided it was because he was a jerk.

Chauncey flipped through my sketches as I glared at the ground. It wasn't that I didn't want to say anything, it was that I couldn't find the courage to say something. As you can tell, I've never been good at standing up for myself. Which was okay when I was younger, when I had Josh by my side.

But now I was alone.

All too occupied with my own thoughts, I barely noticed Josh walking up to me. Quickly, he gave Chauncey a once over and asked, "Who are you?" Chauncey's head snapped up, retorting, "I could ask you the same."

"Name's Josh. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get my sister home."

Chauncey grumbled as I stood, and looked about ready to go postal when Josh snatched my sketchbook out of his meaty hands.

As Josh and I walked over to the car, he asked, "Was he bothering you?"

"I guess so," I said with a nonchalant shrug. I was used to people picking on me. It's just what happens when you aren't self reliant.

"Did he do anything to you?"

"Just forget it," I said with a sigh. It wasn't worth it. "He's just your run of the mill jerkface."

He snorted.

---

I had Josh drop me off at the nearby park. He decided to go home. The park was a nice place to do homework, mostly because there wasn't a raging drunk stumbling around or cigarette smoke choking you.

Though, I couldn't lie, the park didn't always feel safe. I never liked being here when it was dark out, because who knows what kind of whacko would be roaming around. Whenever I decided to visit, I made sure to keep my cellphone close by. Periodically I would send off texts to Josh, letting him know that I was alive.

He was the only person I ever texted.

Pulling out my schoolbooks and anything else I needed, I started first on the worksheets I had been given. They weren't difficult, so I deemed them as busy work. Anything to get our wee little brains started for the rest of the school year. It was quite ridiculous in my mind. If they wanted to get our thought process in gear, why not start a lesson and actually teach us something.

But that'd be just plain silly for the American education system to do.

It really didn't take long for me to get everything finished. Half an hour at the most. Yet, I didn't want to go home. The reason obvious.

Of course, you can't always get what you want.

Right when I pulled out my sketchbook and pencils, 

my phone started to buzz. Not a single time, but continuous short bursts of little vibrations. I glanced at the caller ID and arched an eyebrow. The Boss was calling me.

But why?

    When I answered, his gritty voice barked, “You need to get here. Now.” I couldn’t even say anything before he hung up.