Chapter 21

"Tony, I've been looking for you all over."

I looked up from the book I was reading. "Kelly, what the hell are you doing here?"

It was the end of third period, and Allie had just left. I was sitting in Mrs. Wayne's classroom waiting for the bell for lunch. Thursday's menu was sloppy joes.

"I snuck over. I needed to talk to you." The middle school was only a few blocks from the high school, but she was lucky that nobody spotted her.

"Wait here," I said. "Even when the bell rings."

I grabbed the book I'd been reading and my math book and headed for my locker, hoping that Mr. Parker didn't spot me. Any other teacher wouldn't say a word, but with Parker it would take twenty minutes to convince him that tutoring Allie was legitimate and that her teachers and my teachers all knew about it.

I made it to my locker and put my books away. I was starting back when the bell rang. Unfortunately, Mrs. Wayne's room was upstream from the cafeteria. Doors flew open and kids streamed into the hall, all heading the opposite direction. At times like this, it was hard to believe there was only six hundred students in the school.

I finally got back to the class. Kelly was waiting. I took her by the hand and led her toward the back doors.

"What's she doing here?" A voice asked as we stepped outside. Kenny and three of his gang were sitting on the half-wall just outside the door, smoking.

I felt Kelly squeeze my hand. "Didn't you hear, she got promoted. She's in our grade now. Hell, she'll probably graduate years before you do.

Kenny surged to his feet, his fists coming part way up.

"Last time, you sucker punched me," he said in a low voice.

"Yep, I did," I agreed.

Kenny looked surprised that I just stood there watching.

"There are four of us."

"Your counting is getting better."

Kenny took another step toward me. "You don't think you can take all of us, do you?"

I looked around. Kenny was about a half-inch shorter than I was, but maybe ten pounds heavier. While he wasn't an athlete, it wasn't fat. Will Jennings, who wanted everyone to call him Rocky, stood six foot and looked like a wall. And was almost as smart. Benny Schroeder was small and didn't matter much. Bobby Hayes, Kenny's best friend, was almost his twin. He'd tried out for football but quit after three days.

"Nope, I can't take all of you. Of course, at practice this afternoon, they'll probably want to know where my bruises came from."

I took a few seconds, but Kenny figured out just how far his little gang would get against some of the football team. "You're not worth it," he said, turning his back on me.

"Probably not," I agreed. Kelly and I started walking toward the baseball field. I led Kelly past the stands, onto the field, then out the gate in the outfield into the woods behind it.

She giggled. "You trying to get me alone?"

"I wish," I said with a very real sigh. "I'm trying to get you back to school before you get busted."

"But I need to talk to you."

"What's stopping you?"

"Oh."

"So what's so important that you skipped out of school?"

"Peter."

"Peter?" I hadn't seen Kelly's other brother in weeks. He was a good kid but stayed mostly by himself. He was a bit of a nerd. I wondered if I could set him up with Traci. He should be safe. I had to think for a second. Peter was older than Kelly but younger than Mikee, so he was an eighth grader. "What about Peter?"

"He got beat up."

I didn't see. I mean, getting beat up is no fun, but it happens. It was part of life in the American school system. Hell, probably the Japanese and French school systems, too.

"Again!" she added.

"Again?"

She nodded. "Five times since school started."

This was the fourth week of school. Five beatings in four weeks was a bit much, even for a tough school, which the middle school wasn't.

"What's going on?"

"There's a guy. He doesn't like Peter."

"I guess."

"He also wants Peter to do his homework and give him money. He's exhorting a lot of kids."

"Extorting," I corrected automatically. "What's Peter done about it?"

"Nothing."

We came out of the woods onto a quiet residential street. I turned down the sidewalk. "Has he told anybody?"

"Are you kidding?"

Sadly, getting beat up once a week was better than getting a rep for running to mommy or a teacher.

"He told me to keep my nose out of it."

I grinned. Which she obviously was doing.

"Mikee and I talked about it, and we thought you could help. We were going to talk to you this weekend, but..."

"But he got beat up again, and you decided to cut class." She nodded. "Who's class are you ditching anyway?"

"Mr. Hallowell's."

That was something. I could probably square it with him. "So who's the guy?"

"Tony Gleason."

Damn! Some kid with my name was terrorizing the school. "What's he do after school? Tony, I mean?"

"He usually hangs around the bleachers at the football field for a while, then walks home."

I thought for a while as we got to the backside of the school grounds. We cut across the football field and headed for the back of the gym. "Okay, I've got two jobs for you. One, I want you to tell several people the story of my fight with Peter King. Remind them that he was a high school football player, and I put him in the hospital. Don't be blunt, just tell it like a good story. You know, something like, 'Did you ever hear about the time when that high school kid tried to beat up Tony Sims?' See if you can tell six or seven people."

"Okay," she said unsurely.

"Then I want you to tell Peter to go talk to the guy after school, at the bleachers. Make sure it's after school and at the bleachers. Tell Peter to stand up to him and tell him he's had enough."

"Stand up to the bully, and he'll back down? This isn't 'Leave it to Beaver' or the 'Andy Griffith Show' or something. He'll kill Peter."

"He won't kill Peter. I'll take care of it. Don't tell Peter why."

"Okay," she agreed without much conviction. Hell, without any conviction.

"Now, you get in there." I pointed at the door to the girls' locker room. "Go to your next class, just like normal. I'll see if I can square things with Mr. Hallowell." She nodded and walked away. At the door she looked back, looking uncertain. I smiled as certainly as I could.

She went in.

Now I had to see two people, then get back to my school, before I had to square things with a bunch of my teachers.

"Tony, I've been looking for you," Robbie said as I walked into class sixth period. I'd gotten back about halfway through fifth period. Mr. Walker gave me a hard look, but didn't say anything.

"What can I do for you red?"

Robbie looked surprised. "You know, a boy called me red once. It was in the fifth grade." She smiled evilly. "He was able to eat solid foods again before sixth."

"Point taken. So what do you need copper top?"

For a second, I thought Robbie was really going to punch me.

"Ignore him," Tami said from beside me. "He's been in a good mood since he got to journalism late."

Robbie nodded.

"And he won't tell me why," Tami added.

"Not your business."

Tami glared. Robbie looked from one to the other of us, then shrugged.

"I talked to Mr. Calloway, and he'll let us use his classroom. Our first rehearsal is tonight from seven to nine."

"That's great," I said. The school, to be fair, was letting each production company use the stage one night a week and a classroom the rest of the time. "But I can't make it."

"Why not?" Tami and Robbie asked together.

"Got a prior commitment."

"He was gone last night too," Tami said to Robbie.

"Think he's fooling around?" Robbie asked.

"Not a chance," Tami said firmly. "He really wants to live until February twelfth."

"You have to be there," Robbie said to me.

"Can't."

"Why?"

"It's personal."

"We could replace you," she threatened.

"Do what you got to do." I walked to the front of the class where Mr. Branson was sitting at his desk.

"Coach?" He looked up from marking his grade book just as the last bell rang. "I just wanted to let you know, I'm going to miss practice tonight."

"Why?"

Deja vu. "Personal business."

"Unless it's a doctors or dentists appointment, you need to be there."

You know, I was getting damned tired of people telling me what I had to do. And assuming that I didn't have my own priorities.

"If it was your hotshot, Mike Reed, you'd smile and nod."

The coach looked surprised. "I don't treat him any differently than anyone else on the team."

"Uh hun," I said nodding. "I can see that. I just wanted you to know that I won't be there tonight." I turned and took a step toward my desk in the front row, between Tami and Robbie.

"Sims, I don't think you have the right attitude."

I got to my desk and slid in, facing him again. "I don't know anything about my attitude, though you're not the first to question it. I just know that this afternoon, there's something more important than football. If that's so bad, fire me."

Branson started to respond, then realized that the whole class was watching. He cleared his throat and stepped to the blackboard. "Yesterday we talked about the role of the International Monetary Fund in world economics. Today..."

As I watched him lecture I could feel Tami's eyes boring into one side of my head, and Robbie's the other. I was so tired of confrontation, but, unfortunately, I wasn't done yet.

"Tony, I want to talk to you."

Tony Gleason looked over his shoulder and saw Peter walking up to him. "So talk."

Peter swallowed hard. "I've, uh, I've had all I'm going to take."

"Really?" Gleason had been sitting on the bottom of the bleachers. Now he swung around to look up at Peter.

From my vantage point next to the snack shack, I could see that Gleason was almost my size, which meant he would tower over Peter by at least four inches.

"Really. We're going to finish it today. I'm not doing your homework. And I'm not giving you any more money. And if you want to hit me..."