Reaper's Lullaby

Lucas: Already Causing Trouble

"He who angers you conquers you."
-Elizabeth Kenny

Lucas returned to school that Wednesday with a singular focus: confronting Matty. Nora had told him about the ten extra pills, and he knew something wasn't right. If those were just freebies given out of the goodness of Matty's brother's heart then he was unlike any dealer out there. What kind of a street hustler openly bled money to be nice to the fiends that leeched off him?

Lucas found Matty out near the bus loop, the bright morning cool and dry.

"Lucas! You're alive, buddy!" Matty said happily, but his smile faltered when he saw Lucas's face.

"We need to talk. Privately," Lucas said, nodding at an empty corner where the courtyard met the edge of the cafeteria.

Matty followed him wordlessly. Once they were out of earshot of everyone else, Lucas gathered his courage and spoke. "You better tell me straight up what you've been giving Nora."

"Oxy," Matty said innocently.

"Bullshit. Oxys are fifty bucks a pill. You're gonna sit back and tell me your brother gave up hundreds of dollars because he's a nice guy? If you don't tell me the fucking truth I'm going straight to Principal Phillips."

"Oh you wanna be a little snitch, huh? I'm so scared," Matty said mockingly, which just made Lucas's anger even more volatile. Already the black rage had started to seep into the corners of his vision like sand in an hourglass. How much time before he snapped? He never knew anymore.

"Matty, I'm warning you. You could go to jail. Your brother too. All it'll take is ten minutes of me being a snitch. So yeah, you should be scared, prick," Lucas said.

For the first time, Matty did look scared. "Okay, but I need your word that if I tell you, you won't snitch."

"You have my word," Lucas said grudgingly.

Matty lowered his voice and moved closer. "Okay, my brother calls it baiting. We don't have enough Oxy to meet demand. Because of that they don't rake in the cash, so when someone requests them, we add heroin to the mix. My brother does that to get people addicted quick so they come back for more. Nobody spends money like a junkie. Plus, baiting builds trust. Who you gonna get your dope from now? Some scum dealer or my brother, who's done you a real solid?"

"That's dirty as fuck! You gave us heroin when we asked for Oxy!" Lucas said, clenching his hands into tight fists.

"Hey, you got the five Oxy you paid for, bro. Fair and square. Five Oxy, five heroin. Then I gave Nora ten heroin on Monday. You junkie motherfuckers couldn't even tell the difference so don't bitch at me!"

"You gave my girlfriend the most addictive substance on the planet! She could've overdosed!" Lucas shouted, shoving Matty against the wall.

"I had to! You know who my brother works for? They'd take me out if I don't play the game right so FUCK OFF! You're just pissed because your junkie father overdosed!"

At that, Lucas blacked out. All he remembered later was throwing the first punch. He had no idea what happened in those next few moments of blind rage, but when he came back to himself, he was being pulled off of Matty by the strong hands of the school resource officer, his fists wet with blood.

"You're okay. Calm down, Lucas," the officer said in his deep voice as Lucas struggled to free himself and get at Matty again.

"YOU BITCH! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Lucas shouted at Matty.

"Breathe, Lucas. Just breathe," the officer said calmly.

Matty's nose and lip were bleeding heavily, and he glared at Lucas as the officer dragged him away to the office.