Amateur Hour

Guy

They arrived at the school, with time to spare, before curfew, so Guy didn’t have to badge them in, at the door. He chose a side entry, to a shorter corridor which led to one of the lesser common areas.

The students referred to it as “Rome”, because it could be accessed by hallways leading to both dormitory wings, two doors that led outside, and a grand hallway, that went out into the main body of the school. In sum, most, if not all roads led to it.

Guy was explaining this bit of trivia to Kayla, as he escorted her to the predesignated meeting spot, where Franklin would be waiting, but he had a feeling it was going in one ear, and out the other. She hid her nervousness well enough, but he could sense her tension.

“What do I do, if it’s not me?” she asked, as he steered her toward their rendezvous.

“Simple. My classroom door is unlocked. You hole up there, and sit tight. Shouldn’t be more than an hour.”

“How do I find that?”

“You go out into the main corridor — it’s obvious which one it is, you’ll see. Then you take your third right. My room is two doors down, on the right. Has my name on it, and ‘Spanish’. You can’t miss it. Lock the door behind you, and do what you do, for the next hour or so.”

“Do what I do.”

“Yeah. Crack my computer password; surf the net. Prowl through my desk drawers, and watch videos, with the headset, you’ll find there,” he teased, in a dry tone. “Only, don’t mess with the spider. She’s getting ready to molt, and she’s touchy.”

Her tiny smirk told him he’d hit the right note, with the badinage.

“If it is you, on the other hand, lean into the nervousness. You’re supposed to be nervous and suspicious, if a tiny bit hopeful. Just be you. You don’t chatter, or make idle conversation, I’ve noticed.”

“Got it.”

“There’s Franklin. He’s a nice kid.”

Guy led her into the common area, and made the introductions, then remembered her tie, when he noticed it, still dangling, around her neck.

“Gimme,” he said, pointing to it. Kayla handed it over, and he looped it around his own neck and began to tie it, with unthinking precision. “What’s your plan, Franklin? Think he or she will show, before curfew? If not, you’re going to have to fade, somewhere where you won’t be seen, and snag whoever it is, coming out of the dorm.”

“I think she’s already here.” He raised his chin in the direction of a tallish girl, with blonde hair, who was slumped in a chair, across the room. She held a book, but didn’t seem to have much interest in it, and kept checking her watch. “Her name is Bonnie Corcoran. We have culinary arts, together.”

“I don’t look anything like her,” Kayla frowned.

“Probably doesn’t matter,” Guy shrugged. He loosened the tie, pulled the loop over his head, and handed it to Kayla. She dropped it over her own head, tucked it under her collar, and drew the knot up.
“I’d say it definitely doesn’t,” Franklin added. Some of the staff, who aren’t teachers, have a way of looking right through you. Should we corral her now, Guy, or wait until everyone is cleared out of here, for the night?”

“How well does she know you? Will she trust you, right away?”

“We’re friendly, enough.”

“Go with your gut, then.”

“Now, you trust my gut?”

“Don’t bust my chops, kid,” Guy grinned, a little. “I gotta run. Oh, by the way — if Kayla’s the one to go, you head over to my classroom. Door’s unlocked. In the bottom right drawer, you’ll find your next assignment. You’ll like it.”

***

Franklin

Guy walked away, breaking into a trot, when he was out of casual sight. Franklin studied the new girl, Guy’s associate, trying not to stare. His first impression was that she had huge eyes. His second, was that she was a bit unsettled, by being left alone. His third, that he’d seen her, before.

Finally, she turned her attention to him, with a little frown creasing her forehead. “She doesn’t know me, from Adam,” she said, nodding slightly, in Bonnie’s direction. “You’ll have to take the lead, with her.”

“Okay. Think we should sit a while? Wait and see if any dude comes bumbling in, looking like he’s between a shit and a sweat?”

Kayla nodded, and followed him, to a small sofa.

“Were you at New Canaan?” he asked.

“For about ten seconds.”

“That’s it, then. I thought you looked familiar. You were one of their hokey baloney Honors students. So was I,” he added, when her face started to wax defensive. “Dumb jock enforcer series.”

Kayla’s face relaxed, into a rueful smile. “Snoopy tattletale,” she said, offering her hand, as if in self introduction.

Franklin grinned, and shook it.

“Why do you think it’s her?” she asked, without looking at Bonnie.

“Been watching. She’s normally pretty chill. Tonight, she looks like she’s… Waiting for the dentist, or something worse.”

“I thought the bait was attractive. Extra credits and any looming problems, wiped clean.”

“It is, except — well, it’s a deal with the devil. This place isn’t New Canaan. Your peers? You can trust them, even if you don’t personally know them. Teachers? Most of them are cool. No hidden agenda. A teacher’s pet, might get ribbed, a little. But, office staff?” He paused, to release a heavy breath. “You don’t trust them, ever. And, you don’t want to be seen making any deals with them. It’s a kind of treason.”

“So, she’s going through hell, right now.”

“Yeah.”

“Is there a penalty, for treason?”

“She’d be outcast, at least, for a while. It almost never happens, but there’s one guy here, they tell me, no one’s spoken to, for a month.”

“It’s thinning out, in here. You sure it’s not that guy, over there?”

Franklin grinned. “That’s my bro, Dale. I brought him, in case it’s a guy who’s desperate enough to resist.”

“No disrespect, but, he’s not very intimidating.”

“No, but he’s very logical. We don’t solve many things with fists, here. We left that, behind, in the Outskirts.”

Dale, seeing her glance, rose, to approach them.

“Traffic’s only going one way, now,” he observed. “It’s fifteen minutes until we have to be in the dorm.”

He gave Franklin a questioning look.

“You might as well head on back. She just got up, to pace. If Kayla and I… Sorry — Kayla, Dale. Dale, Kayla — Guy’s associate. Anyway,” he continued, as the others exchanged nods, “if we catch her now, she’ll have time to hustle back to her own dorm, before anyone notices she’s missing.”

“What about you?”

“Dunno. Say I’m in the can, with diarrhea, or something. If anyone asks later, I turned in, early.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t look so worried, man. I’ll be along. Guy can badge the dorm door, to get me back in. I’ll knock a couple of times, on your door, when I’m back.”

“All right. ‘Night, then. Nice to meet you, Kayla.”

“Same,” she nodded.

“Let’s hit her up, now, while she’s off, by herself,” Franklin suggested, seeing that Bonnie had drifted off to a dim little spot, where she appeared to have dropped anchor.

“Got a minute, Bonnie?” He asked, when they were close enough.

“Not really, no. I was just getting ready to head off, for the night.”

“Look. We know what’s up. Better than you do, maybe. We’re here, to help.”

“If you know, you know I’m helping myself. And, I’m not taking any lectures from you, Franklin!”

“No lectures. I get it. You’re doing good, and getting nowhere. But, this is a trap, Bonnie. Hermann’s trying to trap you.”

“Who is she, Franklin?” Bonnie demanded, glaring in Kayla’s direction. “I don’t know her. The greens, know our own.”

“You’re right,” Kayla spoke up. “I’m not a green; I’m not a student. Hell, I’m not even a kid. I’m a grown ass woman, and I’m here, to take your place, in this.”

“Let her, Bon. You’re no worse off, if you do.”

“And, what will you do?” she demanded, near tears. “What will you do, Franklin?”

“Nothing. You haven’t broken our rules, just because you thought about it. You just go to bed, Bonnie. Everything will be fine, tomorrow.”

She drew a harsh, shaky breath, and released it, slowly.

“I guess they can’t be any worse,” she said, at last. “All right. Thank you,” she added to Kayla. It was a reluctant thanks, but better than nothing. “Your ride will be here, in…” she looked at her watch, her hand shaking. “Three minutes. Here—“ she pulled the card, in its green envelope, out of her blazer pocket. “You might need this. It says to bring it.”

“Thanks,” Kayla said. “Anything else, I need to know?”

“No. You won’t be able to leave the building, at this hour, without a card key. The driver will come in, for you.”

“Thank you. Get some rest, Bonnie.”

Franklin walked Kayla as far as the hallway that led to Ramirez’s classroom. He didn’t dare get too close to the main common area, lest he be seen.

“Good luck, Snoopy Tattletale,” he said, offering his hand.

“You, too, Dumb Jock,” she smiled, taking it.

He watched her go, for a moment, then turned to pick up his next assignment, hoping it wasn’t the promised ‘juicy’ Spanish homework. The thought made him grin.

In Guy’s classroom, inside the drawer specified, he found a long slim box, full of neatly folded new ties. Black and blue stripe. With them was a note:

“If you’ve made it this far, you’re off my shit list. Take two for yourself. You know what to do with the rest. ¡Buen trabajo, Teniente! P.S. I gave you a dictionary. Look it up! — Guy”

Kayla

The driver introduced herself, smilingly, as Carrie Mitchum, when Kayla handed over the invitation, without a word.

“Bonnie Corcoran,” she muttered.

“Good to meet you, Bonnie. Shall we?” she indicated the doors with a sweeping gesture that was a little too grand.

Kayla proceeded her, down the short wide stretch to the doors, through them, and climbed into the passenger side of the waiting cart.

“Dr. Hermann is so pleased that you’ll be taking part in this outreach, to the incoming students. You must be doing well, yourself, to have been selected.”

“Fairly well, I guess. I’m trying.”

“Well, maybe it’s the ‘try’ that struck her. You know, as well as anyone, how difficult it is, just to get to the City.”

“Yeah. It’s hard.”

“You nervous, Honey?”

“A little, I guess.”

“Well, there’s nothing, at all to be nervous about. You’ll be trained, by the Dean, herself, starting tonight, to counsel some of the… less promising students, coming in.”

In the cool darkness, Kayla raised an eyebrow. Really? This was the Dean’s pitch?

“Wouldn’t better students be more qualified?” She couldn’t help herself. She had to ask.

“Dr. Hermann believes in keeping it real. They’re struggling. You’ve struggled. But you made it. And, it’s been worth it, hasn’t it? No more worries about earning financial credits. Freedom to roam the City, buy little things you want to have. Then, there are the friends you’ve made…”

Kayla tuned out the noise, at this point. She half longed for Guy, who might be annoying, but at least couldn’t be accused of being Chatty Cathy.

They rolled along the main ‘road’ past the little shops, shuttered, for the night. Past a girls’ and women’s park, dark and quiet. The main boys’ and men’s park was still awash in light, though deserted. She interrupted Carrie’s patter, to ask why.

“It was a lecture night, I suppose. The lights haven’t timed out, yet.”

They swung abruptly away from the park, to travel down a narrow side road, that seemed to stretch forever, into the maw of the desert.

“It’s so remote,” Kayla mused.

“It’s close to the Suburbs. A bit of a hike, on foot, I agree. But nothing a motivated student can’t conquer.”

“After a backbreaking day’s work, and a long walk home, first”, she thought. “Sure, Carrie. Sure.” Who would buy this pitch? No one, that’s who. Prior victims probably hadn’t dared ask the question, aloud.

When they pulled up to the shed, Ted was already there. The sight of him was reassuring. It helped, also, to know that Guy was coiled in the shallow bed, under the dark canvas tarp.

**

Dr. Hermann

Joyce Hermann didn’t care for the dark. She didn’t exactly fear it, she told herself, but she didn’t worship starlit skies, or the otherworldly landscape of the desert, at night. The shed was necessarily remote, however, and after the dark drive, illuminated only by the lights of the electric cart, it was a haven of light. She had seen to that.

The wait for her sister’s arrival, with the next subject, was never long (Carrie had only made that mistake, once), but ‘Joy’ refused to spend it, waiting in the dark. Thus, it was, that she was waiting inside the building, with the door carefully propped open, when Ted Billie arrived.

Seeing his lights, she rose to greet him, stashing her door prop chair inside the door, opposite the side of the removal cart. His name died, on her lips, in a flutter of confusion. Billie wasn’t alone. He’d brought his dog.

The animal hopped out of the cart, waiting for her master to catch up, then followed him onto the low porch in a perfect off-leash ‘heel’. More lights cut the night, as Carrie approached, with the subject student. Impeccable timing, Hermann thought, with approval. She and Ted watched them exit the cart.

True to the script, Carrie lagged just a little, allowing the student to lead the way, up the short expanse of path, to the door, drawing ever closer to her back. Yet, something seemed off. Hermann couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She turned her head to glance at Ted Billie, even as he spoke, not to her, but to the dog.

“Raven, guard—,” he commanded, in a low, no nonsense voice.

Hermann found herself blocked, just inside the shed door, by seventy black pounds of snarl and growl. The dog hadn’t seemed so big, trotting at Nina’s side.

She glanced toward Carrie, to seek help there, but for the moment, her sister was focused on her own business — withdrawing the needle, from her pocket, raising her arm for the strike. How had the blithering fool not seen the dog, yet?

There was something else going on. While the student marched determinedly, purposefully toward her, with Carrie behind, someone was moving behind Carrie!

Before Hermann could voice a warning shout, Carrie was grabbed, from behind, and slammed to the gravel, face first. The Dean took an instinctive step forward, only to hear the dog’s deepening growl.

“I wouldn’t,” Billie warned, quietly. “The next command puts you on the receiving end of some nasty bites.”

“Carrie!” Hermann shouted, witnessing the scuffle. It was that damnable Miguel Ramirez! And he had Carrie pinned and whimpering on the sharp gravel. “Carrie!” She stepped forward again, and again, was driven back to the other side of the threshold, this time by a roaring series of barks and snaps.

In a fury of frustration, Hermann lobbed a kick at the dog, and lost a shoe, for her pains. She saw Ramirez drag her sister from the gravel, by one arm, pinned at a painful angle, behind her back, and by a handful of her hair. Carrie cried out, in pain, and rage. Tiny pieces of gravel were embedded in her pretty face. The syringe that she’d been holding, clicked to the tiny stones, at her feet.

A sharp snap of fingers cut into the night, a scant two seconds, before the door closed on her. Hermann found herself, nose to nose, separated only by unbreakable glass, with the student who had proceeded Carrie up the walkway.

It was as if the dog had taken human form, at the snap of Ted Billie’s fingers.

“Bitch!” Hermann screamed. “You filthy goddamned Bitch!”

There was more, in the same vein. The impostor merely stared at her, with her unusually large eyes.

“I will kill you! I will kill you!”

“I don’t think so,” the impostor replied.

Her face disappeared, from view. It was replaced by Ramirez’s sardonically grinning mug.

“Where is she? What have you done to her, you repulsive little prick?” Hermann demanded.

“Trussed her up like the little piglet she is,” he shrugged. “Piglets get trussed. But monsters? They get slain.”

Ted Billie joined him, at the window. “Looks like a monster, to me,” he remarked. “Slay it?” he asked Guy.

“You’re the boss, Ted.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

His face moved away, to Hermann’s left.

“No… No! NOOOOO!” she screamed, as Billie’s hand hit the button, outside, with a resounding slap. Her heart was slammed with panic and adrenaline. Her screams reached insane heights, as the pump motor whined to life.

“Let me out! Let me out! Please! PLEASE! Oh God, PLEASE!”

She couldn’t breathe – She couldn’t stop breathing — pulling in odorless, deadly gas, in deep lungfuls! Her fingers began to tingle, and the sensation crept, up her arms. She staggered against a wall, too dizzy to stand, much longer. Someone was screaming — endlessly screaming. The world went dark.

***

Guy

“Not quite what we bargained for,” Guy observed, peering in at Hermann. Her breathing was slowing, settling back into a more normal rhythm.

“I’m just glad she stopped shrieking,” Kayla said. “What a racket! Speaking of…” she pointed to the button.

Ted hit it, cutting the whine of the motor. “Sorry, about that.”

They all waited, listening to it wind down, and down, until silence reclaimed the night.

“How long do you think she’ll be out?” Guy asked.

“Not much longer, I’d say. Faints only last a few minutes. You two can go on, if you want, and stash Miss Mitchum, someplace. I’ll stick around, until she comes to.”

“Sounds good. Mount up, Chica.”

Kayla followed him to the cart she’d arrived in, and got back into the passenger’s seat. Behind her, duly trussed and gagged with a clean sock, sat Carrie Mitchum, slumped and round eyed. Kayla laughed.

“Have you no heart?” Guy demanded, smirking.

“Sorry, Ramirez. It’s just such a joy to see her with a literal sock in it. I would have liked to have put it there. She never shuts up.”

Guy backed the cart a bit, swung it around, and headed on back to the school. The timer on the lights at the amphitheater park had finally expired, and the road was dark, for a stretch.

“You good?” he asked, eventually.

“I’m good. Ready to crack a computer, and clone it.”

“Sure you don’t want to chill a bit?”

“That’s how I chill.”

“You did good.”

“It was an easy script, and only a bit part.”

“You did good,” he repeated, firmly.

“Thanks, Ramirez. Where are we going to hold her?”

“Good question. I don’t have the keys, to much. My classroom is out, of course. There’s a little supply closet in there, but it’s too tight.”

“Huh… What does she have the keys, to? Anything without a knob, on the other side?”

“The restrooms all have push/pull doors that can be locked when they’re out of order.”

“Think she’ll give up a key?”

“I reckon she will, with the right persuasion. I made her give up her syringe. Carrie and I have an understanding. Don’t we, Carrie?”

He tipped his gaze to the rear view mirror.

***

By 2 am, it was all done. The cloning of the Dean’s computer had gone so smoothly that Kayla had looked disappointed. Paper files had been minimal, as Guy had suspected. Jess Green had been found in no place, digital or hard copy. Steph, he knew, would be relieved to hear that.

After four and a half hours of sleep, he wasn’t raring to go, but he was functional. Nina served up another fine breakfast, though she yawned a bit, over her coffee. After four and a half hours of sleep, he wasn’t raring to go, but he was functional. Nina served up another fine breakfast, though she yawned a bit, over her coffee.

“Have you thought about how you’re going to handle the parents of the survivors?” Guy asked. “I know you mean to have the eight known guilty sets of parents prosecuted. But what about the attempted murderers? What about the kids?”

“Oh, that,” Ted said, pausing to sip his coffee. “I’m going to blackmail them.”

“What?” Guy laughed, astonished.

“They’ll receive a letter to the effect that the school is now under new ownership and management. All previously paid funds will be diverted to tuition. Any remaining funds will be disbursed to the student, on graduation. I’m still hammering out the details, but that’s the gist.”

“Pretty slick.”

“What happened, after Guy and Kayla left?” Nina asked.

“Nothing much. She woke up, about fifteen minutes later. Seemed like a long time, but I suppose she might have drifted into a nap.” He flashed Guy a dry little grin. “She was pretty tired. She tried to bargain, of course. A kinder man might have been swayed.”

Guy snorted. “A stupider man, maybe.”

“Maybe. She’s still locked up, waiting for a gang of students to decide her fate.”

“That’s diabolical! Well done, sir!” Guy tipped an imaginary hat.

“Thought it was a nice touch. The anxiety probably helped keep her core temperature up. It got a little chilly out there, last night. She ranted, a little more, until I shut off the power, and the lights. Then, she screamed, some more. Scared of the dark. Who knew?”

***

Franklin

A 9 am summons, on an ordinary day, was not something anyone desired, or looked forward to — but this was no ordinary day. When the message came down, Franklin was in his World History class (if there was any class he would ever be tempted to ditch, this was the one).

There were the usual hoots and grins as in any class, when a student was called to the principal’s office. Franklin responded with a grin, and pushed an imaginary pair of glasses up on his nose, with his middle finger. He gathered his books and bag, and made tracks for the Dean’s office.

He had a moment of doubt, outside the door, but he gave himself a shake, and pushed in. Ted Billie was seated behind the Dean’s desk, looking, not like an authority, but more like a host.

“You decided the Party is evil, huh?” he referred to Franklin’s long ago essay on 1984, which he had never gotten to read, as a teacher.

“Yes sir,” Franklin grinned. Just months ago, he wouldn’t have been confident, at all, with that opinion — or any of his other opinions.

“Good call,” Ted nodded.

“You got ahold of a copy?”

“Your penmanship is still the worst I’ve ever seen, but it was a fine essay. Have a seat, Franklin. Guy will be along, soon.”

“May I ask why I’m here, Mr. Billie?”

“Ted. We just thought you should be there. You earned it.”

The door opened at Franklin’s back to admit Guy, who took another chair.

“I have something for you,” Franklin said, waxing sober. He unzipped his backpack, to pull out a small wastebasket liner. It was full of green and yellow ties. He handed it to Guy, who regarded it, with a like sober expression, before handing it, to Ted.

“The black suits you better,” Ted said.

“Yeah. It does. I handed out the ones that went to the boys,” he told Guy. “But, I gave the ones for the girls, to Bonnie. I hope that’s all right.”

“It was a fine thing, to do. A damned fine thing. How is she, today?”

“She’s not the same person. She’s… she’s happy.”

The door opened again, and Franklin glanced over his shoulder to see a very pretty Seminole lady. He smiled a bit. Mr. Billie had done all right, for himself.

“They just rolled in, Teddy,” she said. She looked tired, and a little nervous, but there was something brave about her, too. No, Franklin thought, ‘courageous’.

***

Once the deputies had properly identified Guy, Kayla, Nina and Ted, they hesitated, at Franklin.

“Sir,” one of them asked Ted, “is this minor a witness?”

“He certainly is,” Ted replied.

“And, I’m not a minor,” Franklin added. “I turned 18, two days ago. You can verify my birth date, with the school records.”

“Beg your pardon, sir,” the deputy nodded. “I understand there are two perpetrators?” he addressed Ted again.

“One is confined in a women’s restroom, and the other in an outbuilding. Both are female and unarmed.”

“Right. We should retrieve the one in the outbuilding, first, before the sun gets high.”

***

They were a sizable party when they set out. Ted, Nina and Guy in the lead cart, followed by Kayla and Franklin, in the second, trailed by two Pima County cruisers.

“How ya doing this morning, Jock Enforcer?” Kayla asked, sliding behind the wheel.

“Not ‘Dumb Jock’?” he smiled.

“Doesn’t fit, so I slid it to the right. I’ll always be Snoopy Tattletale, though.”

“I’m good,” he answered her question. “All I had to do was chill last night, until Guy badged me back into the dorm. Dale’s cover stuck, so I just slipped right in. How about you? Was it scary?”

“A little. I like computers, better than live action.”

Franklin sighed a little. “I’m glad this crap is over, but I’m going to be sorry to see you and Guy go.”

“He’s going. I’m not going anywhere, right away.”

“No?”

“While we were waiting for the computer to copy itself, which is like watching paint dry, by the way, I talked Mr. Billie into setting up a student friendly LAN, here.”

“No shit? He’s giving us computer access?”

“Looks that way. So, I’ll be around, for a while. By the time I leave you’ll be able to shoot Guy an email, or me, if you want.”

“I’d like that.”

“Play your cards right, and I’ll teach you how to game, online.”

“I know how to game,” he protested.

“Great. I’ll give you my Discord handle.”

The sun was already starting to kindle the desert, when they pulled up to the shed. Franklin saw a movement, behind the glass of the door, but it was hard to make out a face. The party rolled to a stop, and everyone got out.

Mr. Billie took a post, well out of the way, flanked by Guy, on one side, Franklin, on the other, with Kayla to his left. There was sharp knocking, warnings, then the deputies opened the door and entered. Time seemed to spin out, forever.

He was beginning to wonder if the old battle axe had died, after all, when she emerged from the doorway, squinting at the sun. Her jaunty red tie was askew, her hair, a veritable tumbleweed, and she was cuffed from behind.

Franklin didn’t feel the mad joy he thought he would, but the quiet satisfaction was enough. As she was walked past them, she raked them all, with a venomous gaze. She even tried to spit at Ted, but lacked the saliva to pull that one off.

Ted regarded her, for a moment, his hands folded to cradle Nina’s abdomen, then he raised one of them to tug, mockingly, at the brim of his black Stetson. One of the deputies barked at her, tugging sharply on her elbow.

As she was hustled into the back of the first car, Ted’s hand drifted back down, to its original place. Nina brought hers up, to press against his. Her shield. His anchor.

The End