Chapter 5

‘You rat on me, I’ll cut your dick off. You understand? ’ Nate pushed his face close to Eric’s. Though only sixteen, the boy had dark whiskers like someone much older. He also had breath that made Eric think of dead snakes baking in the sun. ‘You understand, fag? ’

‘I’m not a fag. ’

‘Oh yeah? Coulda fooled me. ’

‘You’ve got my money. Why don’t you just leave me alone? ’

‘’Cause you’re a wimpy little fag, shitface. ’

He spat on Eric’s face, and grinned. Eric gagged at the sweet smell of the dripping saliva. With a laugh, Nate shoved him against a urinal.

‘Thanks for the loan, fag. ’ Nate left.

Still gagging, Eric hurried to a sink. He splashed water on his face, then scrubbed it with the grainy pink soap powder. After rinsing, he thought he could still smell Nate’s spit. He gagged again, and once more scoured his face.

The bathroom door swung open.

‘Prince! ’

He recognized the voice of Mr Doons, the vice principal. Quickly, he splashed water onto his face.

‘Prince, what’re you doing in here? Have you got a pass? ’

‘No sir. ’

‘What’re you doing out of class? ’

He reached for the paper towel dispenser. ‘I came in between periods, Mr Doons. ’

‘What are you, deaf? The bell rang five minutes ago. ’

‘I’m sorry. ’

‘Sorry doesn’t cut it, Prince. When’re you gonna shape up? ’

Eric rubbed his face with the rough, brown paper.

‘Answer me. ’

‘What do you want me to say? ’ he asked, his voice trembling. He swallowed. He didn’t want to cry, especially not in front of Mr Doons.

‘You’ve got a crappy attitude, Prince. ’

‘What’d I do? ’

The v. p. stabbed a blunt finger at the floor. ‘Give me thirty push-ups, Prince. ’

‘That isn’t fair. ’

‘Now. ’

Eric lowered his eyes. The tile was spattered with water – or worse. ‘The floor’s wet. ’

‘Do it! ’

‘There’s piss on the floor! ’ His voice cracked, and tears flooded his eyes.

Doons smiled. ‘It’ll do you good, Prince. ’

Eric crouched, and placed his hands on the gritty floor. The tile under his left hand was wet. Crying silently, he started doing push-ups.

‘Let’s hear it. ’

‘Three, four, five …’

‘All the way down, Prince. ’

‘Six, seven …’

‘Louder. ’

‘Eight. ’

‘I can’t hear you. ’

‘Nine, ten, eleven …’

‘Think you’re real smart, don’t you? ’

‘No. ’

‘Gonna cut class again? ’

‘No. ’

‘Gonna wise off? ’

‘No. ’

‘Gonna put another dead rat in Miss Major’s deck? ’

‘No. ’ So that was it! ‘Twenty-three. ’

‘Thought that was smart, didn’t you? ’

‘No. ’

‘Made her puke. ’

‘Twenty-eight, ’ he said, no longer crying as he remembered the way she barfed. It had served the bitch right.

‘Twenty-nine, thirty. ’ He quickly dried his eyes as he stood up.

‘That was a sick, perverted thing you did to her, Prince. ’

Eric lowered his eyes. He’d thought, at the time, that he’d been let off too easily. He decided that Miss Major was too embarrassed by the incident to tell the administration. She wouldn’t want her own part to come out.

Apparently, he’d been wrong.

She’d told some of it, at least. To Doons. Not all of it, though.

She certainly couldn’t tell the reason Eric put the rat in her desk. She wouldn’t dare.

‘Do you want to know why I did it? ’

‘’Cause you’re a sick little wise-ass. Now get to class. ’

Eric turned to the sink.

‘No time for that. Get going. And next time you step out of line, Prince, you’re gonna wish you hadn’t. ’

‘Yes, sir. ’

Eric left the bathroom. Doons followed him, a few steps behind, as he walked up the hallway. He opened the door to his English class, and entered.

Miss Bennett glanced at him. There was no malice in her eyes. She continued talking about Huck Finn.

Eric hurried to his seat. The rat had been worthwhile, if only because it got him transferred to Miss Bennett’s class. He liked her a lot. She was pretty – so pretty that he often got horny just looking at her – and she never put him down.

He watched her talk. Her blue eyes were shiny and intense. She held a paperback copy of Huckleberry Finn in one hand. Her other hand gestured, pointed to students for answers, and sometimes brushed aside the blond hair over her forehead.

Eric’s own hair hung down, tickling his right eyebrow. He wanted to push it into place, but Doons hadn’t let him wash his hands. He didn’t dare touch himself.

God, what a crud.

Doons and Nate both.

They’re probably pals.

Eric used the back of his wrist to shove the hair away. He rubbed his eyebrow.

‘Eric? ’ asked Miss Bennett.

‘What? ’

‘Do you have something to contribute? ’

‘Uh, no. ’ He blushed. ‘I was just

scratching. ’

The class laughed.

God, what a day!

When the period finally ended, he rushed to the bathroom and washed his hands. No matter how much he scrubbed, he still felt they were dirty.

He went without lunch because he had no money to buy it.

The rest of the day, his stomach felt empty and he was careful to keep his hands away from his face.

Finally, the last period ended. He walked home alone, and opened the mailbox. Quickly, he flipped through the envelopes. One neatly typed envelope was addressed to him.

Unlocking the door, he hurried into the house. He tossed the other mail onto a lamp table. With a trembling hand, he tore open his letter.

He pulled out the single sheet of paper, and unfolded it.

JOIN THE FUN

SPOOK-HOUSE HALLOWEEN PARTY!!!

THRILLS, GAMES, PRIZES, REFRESHMENTS!!!

COME IN COSTUME – BRING A FRIEND

TO THE BIGGEST, BEST

SCARIEST!!

HALLOWEEN PARTY EVER

WHEN? OCTOBER 31, 9 PM

WHERE? THE OLD SHERWOOD HOUSE

823 OAKHURST ROAD

DON’T MISS OUT!!!

⇐ Предыдущая 2 3 4 5 678 9 10 11 Следующая ⇒