Devil on the Rooftop [Book 1]

Chapter 36 - Khaleel

Hino made a new group chat, excluding Zander, and shared the address for Riverway High. Any other day, Hino would have come for the ride, but we couldn't risk him getting into another fight. So, he stayed back to help us get more information on Dobberman and his family. His parents were high on the social ladder, as board members of Shutterlock and Gin Studio, two big media companies. Their connections were impressive but nothing compared to what my old man had in his back pocket. Mr. and Mrs. Dobberman had tried to get the demerit off their son's record but the school board couldn't allow it. All prestigious academies tied to Jackheights refused to enroll Neal, which left him no other option but Riverway High.

The bush-league public school was not far from Jackheights. Its website said it proudly enrolled over four hundred students, which sounded like a blatant lie to me. There was no way a building that small could handle that many degenerates. Let alone Neal Dobberman. That fucker got off easy. If it were up to me, he would be six feet under, castrated, and with a bullet in his head.

In order to fit in with the public dress code, we had to change out of our Jackheights uniforms. That didn't seem to help our cause though, because they could still tell we didn't belong. That's how small the shit-hole was. We made our rounds inside the dirty foyer, judging the poor quality of the floors, windows, doors, and lockers.

"It's a fucking dump," I said, as a herd of angry faces brushed by my shoulders. Loyal grabbed the back of my sweater and strategically got in front of me. An angry looking girl with rainbow hair and pale skin eyed the Rolex Loyal wore. I urged him to tuck away his shiny belongings unless he wanted to get robbed, or worse jumped.

It took us a good twenty minutes to check the two floors for our target but he didn't seem to be anywhere. Thankfully, a student teacher who was volunteering to help the less fortunate, gave us the tip we needed. Patrick, Dobberman's cousin, apparently liked to loiter behind school grounds with his smoker friends. We hurried down and true to the student teacher's words, we found the scheming punk dealing weed and edibles to his peers by the basketball court. Loyal rushed over, scaring most of the sleazy buyers away.

Two dull faces were unfazed by the interruption until I glared at them to fuck off.

Loyal grabbed Patrick by the neck and shoved him against the chained fence surrounding the court. "Where is he?" he snarled.

Patrick tried to fight back but his strength was mediocre compared to his attacker. I wanted to intervene. I wanted to take Loyal's place, but I knew better than to get in my friend's way when he got physical. This was exactly why I never went after Dobberman for a pay up. Loyal wasn't the only one who had unresolved issues with him—Zander was also waiting to exact revenge.

"Where is he?" Loyal repeated.

Patrick spoke through gritted teeth. "I don't know what you're talking about—"

"Is Neal at Riverway?" Loyal changed his tactic. If he couldn't bully Patrick into talking then he was going to force the truth out of him.

"Who knows," Patrick replied, chocking. His backpack dropped to the ground as he squirmed to get out of his attacker's grasp.

"Did he go home?"

Patrick's brows twitched. "I don't know."

My friend applied more pressure. Patrick winced and grunted through the pain. "Did he go to Jackheights?" Loyal asked.

The pot-head couldn't speak anymore. The pressure points Loyal was hitting were slowly putting our target to sleep.

"He isn't going to be useful if he passes out," I reminded my friend.

Loyal dropped Patrick next to his backpack and clicked his tongue in irritation. "Did he go to Jackheights?"

"I don't know anything!" came the aggressive reply. "You private school pricks must be crazy if you think laying hands on me is going to go unpunished!"

Loyal dropped on his feet and gaped at his target. "Is he making another move on my sister?"

I moved in and forced Patrick on his feet. "We're not here to hurt this kid," I said, looking over my shoulder. Loyal was losing it and we couldn't afford to waste that energy on a nobody. "We're not here to exact revenge on bystanders, so cool it."

Loyal took a slow breath and suppressed his frustration. He knew I was right. There was no point assuming anything about Dobberman. It must be hard for Loyal to compartmentalize things at the moment but he had to get his shit together. I watched him pick up the backpack and rummage through it.

Patrick struggled in my grasp. "Keep your hands off the merchandise!" he yelled.

"Shut your mouth, you fucking junkie," I said, scaring him into submission.

"It's not in here," Loyal told me. He chucked the open bag across the court, letting the merchandise scatter. We ignored Patrick when he cursed us out.

"Check his pockets for a phone," Loyal added. "We don't need him telling anyone about our visit."