Dauntless High School

Chapter 48

Here's the new chapter... everyone please enjoy and have a safe & happy holiday season!

FOUR

School today was great. Peter didn't even show up, and I know it was because he was so embarrassed at being laughed out of the party when the tent in his pants made his "situation" clear. True to her word, Lynn showed me the video from after I left the party last night. Peter still had to walk by half the school leaving that house, and everyone saw. The best part was the comment that Tris made in the background of the video, making it clear to anyone nearby that there was good reason the tent in his pants wasn't any larger. I was torn between wanting to high five her, and feeling sick at the reminder that she would know exactly how well-endowed he is not.

My evening will not be as pleasant. It's Wednesday, the night I have my weekly dinner with Marcus. I always go straight to Tris's house after the dinner, but tonight I don't even have that to look forward to as I am still avoiding being alone with her. We did steal a few kisses in a hidden corner of the school earlier today, but I kept it short and more chaste than usual. I don't need to stoke my desire for her any more than what I am already feeling. We just have the championship game left on Friday night. I can't wait for these playoffs to be over. I miss her.

Tonight Marcus has asked me to meet him in an odd location. I had put the address into the GPS on my phone before I left the school after football practice. I followed the instructions exactly, but as I drive down the abandoned streets, I wonder if there was a miscommunication somewhere along the way. This industrial area is not a part of town I would expect Marcus to frequent. Most of the streetlights are burnt out, trash has collected in the street gutters, and many of the old buildings appear to be abandoned.

I pull up the hood on my sweatshirt to shield me from the rain and hop out of my car. Shielding my eyes with my hand, I survey the area, looking for the man I'd rather avoid. Soon I spot him. My father stands half a block away and across the street, the flickering street light above him reflecting off his umbrella.. I look both ways and dash across the street.

Marcus begins to lead me down an alley. It smells like rotting garbage and somewhere down the way, a neon sign reflects red light onto the brick wall opposite. I don't feel safe with Marcus under the best of circumstances, and anything could happen in a place like this. My heart beats in my throat and a shiver runs down my spine.

"We will be meeting with a few of my associates tonight. I trust you know what is expected of you, Tobias?" Marcus hisses. I can't even swallow.

"Yes sir," I croak. I have a million questions in my mind about who these people are and what he means by "associates," and why on earth he would want me to meet with them too. But I don't ask any of them. I don't say another word.

We reach a black door with chipping paint next to the red neon sign, which reads "otty's." It's supposed to say "Scotty's" but half of it is burned out. Marcus pulls the door open and greets a giant of a man with a bald head. He must be the bouncer, and he seems to know who my father is because we pass without a question, although this appears to be a bar and it has to be obvious that I am not of age.

Marcus's "associates" are already here. Two middle-aged guys sit at the table on the far wall, both of them facing the bar's entrance. I know they are the men we are here to see by the way they notice me and Marcus. They go back to their conversation but I just know that they are watching us. With their close cropped hair and the way they hold themselves, I would peg them for cops. But they can't be, or they would have busted me by now. I am a 17-year-old kid in a bar, after all.