Vengeful King

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Nate

After school we sat in the sunroom at Kent's house. Abby was shopping with Bonnie. It was good that it was only us guys for this conversation. She was one of us, but girls were usually a little squeamish about doing what was necessary. She would find out what was going on sooner or later, of course, but if we discussed what to do with Samantha Wilson, it was better if she didn't get in the way.

"What are the chances that she didn't run to her dad?" Seth asked.

"Slim," I replied grimly. "I think it's pretty certain she ratted us out."

"The question is, how much did she overhear? Maybe she didn't hear about the drugs," Gregory objected. "A fight doesn't really get us in trouble. Especially, if there's no victim. Samantha doesn't know who Skinner is or what school he goes to. And no victim, no crime."

"Well, we'll find out tomorrow," Ian objected. "I'm sure her daddy will call us into the office. Then we'll see what we're accused of." He turned to me. "And like you said. It's her word against ours."

"For now, don't tell Abby anything until we know what we're dealing with," I turned to Kent.

Kent frowned.

"Abby and I are always honest with each other," he said, less than thrilled with my order.

"I'm not saying you should lie to her," I retorted. "Just that you're not saying anything for now. At least there's a slight chance the girl hasn't snitched on us. And if that's the case, then no one needs to know about the incident."

Kent grumbled, but he nodded.

"Okay. In case the worst happens, and she told her daddy everything, including the drugs, what do we do with the girl?" Seth wanted to know.

"Punish her," Gregory grumbled.

"If she snitched on us, then of course she'll be punished. Snitching is a mortal sin at our school. We can't let that pass. But I will handle it," I declared.

"If we touch her, her daddy will have our asses," Ian pointed out.

"You're right. We need to make sure she keeps her mouth shut," said Gregory.

"Anybody have any ideas?" I asked.

"We need leverage," Gregory explained with a sadistic glint in his eye. He was enjoying this a little too much.

"Okay. What kind of leverage?" I asked.

"How about one of us seduces her and we film it?" suggested Seth. "Then we can blackmail her with the video."

"And you volunteer?" quipped Kent with a smirk.

"No," I determined. "That would take too long. A girl like her, you'd have to work for weeks or months before she'd open her legs. I wouldn't be surprised if she was still a virgin."

"You're probably right," Seth agreed. "What can we do then?"

"We need something on her daddy," Gregory objected. A grin came to his lips. "How about we send one of the girls to his office? s*x with a minor could land him in jail. I doubt the little rat would let that happen. With leverage like that, she'll do anything to avoid us pissing down Daddy's leg."

"I like your way of thinking, Dawg," I said with a grin. "Bonnie could take that on. She seduces him and we film it."

"And how are we going to film it, pray tell?" Ian wanted to know. "We can't hide in the office."

"No, we install the cameras before we send Bonnie to him," Gregory said. "Leave that to me. I've got the perfect equipment for that."

"Good, then we have a plan. But first we'll wait and see what happens tomorrow," I concluded the meeting. "Maybe we'll be wrong, and the girl kept her mouth shut."

I had Economics in the first class. Mrs. Pratt was babbling something about inflation. Yawn. My eyes wandered out the window. It was cold today, but the sky was so blue that it almost hurt to look at it. My mind wandered to Principal Wilson's daughter. So far we didn't know if she ratted us out, but I was pretty sure she hadn't kept her mouth shut. Her clothes alone showed what type of girl she was. Self-righteous. Adhering to all the rules. Moralizer. Boring. She was a plain Jane. A little Mouse. But – with some makeup and more revealing clothes, she wouldn't look too bad with her curves. Curves that...

Whoa! Now where did that come from? That chick is anything but sexy. Not my type. f**k. It's about time I got some action when a plain Jane like Samantha Wilson makes me think of s*x. What's next? Me jerking off, thinking of little plain Jane? I shook my head. No, definitely not.

A knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts. Mrs. Pratt stopped in her boring monologue, which no one was following, anyway.

"Yes!" she called, and the door opened.

Miss Wayne, the new secretary, poked her head into the room and looked around until her gaze lingered on me. Great! I knew it. The little mouse had told Daddy, and now I was being called into the principal's office.

"Mister Porter. Mister Wilson would like to see you in his office."

I suppressed a frustrated groan and put on a cool mask as I gathered my things and rose from my chair. I heard murmurs from my classmates as they speculated about why I had been called into Wilson's office. With our old principal, we’d had everything under control. Under his rule, the KINGS had a fool's license at Sinners High. But Wilson seemed determined to prove his power here by taking a hard line. It could take a while to restore order to our advantage. But if we were smart about it, this little plain Jane could help us do just that. If we put Gregory's idea into practice, we would force little Miss goodie two shoes to do our bidding. I grinned as I followed Miss Wayne through the school. Outside the door to Wilson's office, she stopped and knocked.

"YES!" it sounded sharply from inside. Wilson had a voice like a drill sergeant. I wouldn't be surprised if he had been in the military.

Miss Wayne opened the door and gestured for me to enter. I winked at her and she blushed. My grin widened. I entered the office. Kent and Ian were already present. I stood next to them in front of Wilson's desk. There were plenty of chairs in the room, but it seemed Wilson thought to intimidate us by forcing us to stand.

"We're still waiting for the rest of your – gang," he said, sliding his gaze over us.

Ian yawned, and Kent chuckled.

"Was that necessary to get me out of Economics?" I asked. "Mrs. Pratt had just given such an interesting lecture."

Ian snorted, and I poked him in the side.

"Sorry," he whispered, chuckling. "Interesting lecture, huh?"

The door opened, and Gregory and Seth came into the room. Gregory stood at my side, while Seth stood next to Kent at the other end. The KINGS were complete. Wilson eyed us hard. Man, if he thought he could intimidate us, he was sorely mistaken.

"So-so. So that's it, the infamous KINGS of this school," Wilson said, rising from his chair. He propped his arms on the desk and leaned forward. "You think you have something to say at my school? Is that it? You think I can't handle a bunch of little wannabe-gangbangers like you?"

Gregory growled beside me and cracked his knuckles. Uh-oh. Wilson was about to make acquaintance with the dungeon in the Iwanow mansion. I doubted the i***t knew whom he was looking at when he looked at Gregory. My friend might look like a normal student, but his family was anything but normal. Messing with the Bratva was suicide.

"Why did you call us?" I asked, bored. "To show us what a tough guy you are?"

"You know perfectly well what I called you into my office for," Wilson growled.

"Sorry, Mister Wilson, but we don’t have the faintest idea," Kent interjected. "Perhaps you'd like to enlighten us?"

Wilson was getting really angry now. He was as red in the face as a damn lobster. I wouldn't be surprised if steam came out of his ears. I suppressed a laugh at the notion.

"It has come to my attention that you guys are dealing drugs at my school! And you beat up another boy on school grounds."

"Those are tough accusations, Mister Wilson," I said calmly. "Do you have any evidence of that?"

"I have a witness."

"A witness. There are five of us. And we say we don't deal drugs, nor did we beat anyone up. You only have ONE witness? That's five against one. Our word against your witness’ word. You don't have anything on us."

Wilson grew even angrier. White spots appeared on his broad neck. He looked like he was going to jump over the desk and come at us at any moment. I almost wished he would. What would be better than the principal assaulting an innocent student? That would cost him his job, and our problem with the asshole would be over. But unfortunately, the fucker didn't do us the favor. He straightened up again and looked at us, hatred blazing in his eyes.

"You won't get away with it so easily. I'll get you sooner or later. Count on it!" A nasty grin appeared on his face. "Until then. Detention for the rest of the week."

Sam

All day I kept looking over my shoulder for fear the KINGS would lurk somewhere. I shouldn't have betrayed them. They would take revenge on me, I was sure of it. Why hadn't I kept my mouth shut? What business was it of mine that these assholes were selling drugs at the school? Didn't they do that at every school? If someone wanted drugs, they got them. If they didn't get it here at school, they’d get it on the street. I couldn't stop that from happening. So why had I had to get involved again and tell Daddy about it? All I wanted to do was get through school and then go to college. Keeping a low profile in order to have my peace. Betraying the undisputed rulers of the school was anything but low profile. Damn. I'd only been at the school since yesterday and I'd already managed to turn the elite against me.

Great achievement, Sam. That's got to be a new record.

The bell ringing at the end of class snapped me out of my thoughts. Hastily, I packed up my things. This was my last lesson for the day. I would hurry home and pray I didn't run into any of the KINGS. I had somehow managed to avoid them all day. Fortunately, they were seniors, and I was a junior. Thus, we didn't have the same classes, and I didn't have to worry about finding one of the KINGS in my class. At lunchtime, I’d gone home instead of to the cafeteria.

I looked around nervously again as I left the classroom and stepped into the hallway. It was teeming with students. Good. It was less likely that one of the KINGS would recognize me in the crowd. I hurried through the hallways to the back exit. When I stepped out into the open and there were no KINGS in sight, I breathed a sigh of relief. But I didn’t fool myself. I wouldn’t be able to avoid them forever. Sooner or later I would run into one of them. And if they were really out to get me, they would find me. I had no illusions about that. But for today, I seemed to have escaped worse. The little house where I lived with Dad promised safety. I ran the last few steps and fumbled my key out of my pocket with shaky fingers. It took me three tries to get the damn key into the keyhole. My nerves were shot. Damn it. I had to get a grip on myself. I wouldn't make it through the rest of the school year if I wasn't strong. And then I had another year as a senior coming up. At least the KINGS would be gone by then.

As I made my way inside and closed the door behind me, I breathed a sigh of relief. My heart raced. Partly from excitement and because of how I’d been running. That was the down side to being terribly unathletic. Mom had been athletic. Not that it had helped her when the cancer had slowly eaten her away. A healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle were supposed to make you stronger, healthier. My ass. All lies, if someone like Mom could get sick like that. If she were still here, she'd put me on a diet and drag me to the gym. But she wasn't here. She’d left me. Dad tried his best to be a father and mother to me, but let's face it, it was impossible. Like I would talk to my dad about things like periods or birth control. No, I’d gone through all of this on my own or asked Mr. Google about everything I needed to know. Thoughts of Mom made me depressed again. My birthday was coming up. In eight weeks I would turn seventeen. Mom died on my twelfth birthday. I hated my birthday ever since. Sniffling, I wiped away the tears that ran down my cheeks. I slung my backpack into the corner, slipped off my shoes, and hung my jacket on the hook. Then I made my way to the kitchen. I grabbed a cup of Ben & Jerry's from the freezer. After grabbing a spoon from the drawer, I went into the living room and threw myself on the couch. I turned on the TV and found a rerun of The Nanny and opened my ice cream. Ice cream was my soul food. When I was sad, there was nothing better than a cup of Ben & Jerry's.

Later that evening, after dinner, I sat on my bed and scrolled through the photos on my phone. I missed my old school. My friend Rose, and of course Paul. I left the picture gallery and pulled up my contacts. I pressed Paul's number on the list and held the phone to my ear. It rang and rang and rang. Disappointment spread inside me that he didn't answer the call. I ended the call and looked at the time display. It was nine-thirty. Perhaps he was in the shower. I decided to call Rose instead. We could exchange the latest gossip and I could tell her about my bust with the KINGS. Maybe she had some advice for me on what to do. I pressed her number, and she picked up the call on the fourth ring.

"Hey," she said, a little breathless.

"Hey," I greeted back. "You weren't already in bed, I hope. I know it's pretty late, but..."

"No, dummy!" she answered with a laugh. "I wasn't in bed. I was just in the bathroom. What's up? You sound like something happened. Spill! What got your panties in a twist?"

"It's awful here," I began with a sigh. "The kids here are terrible. The girls run around like hookers, and then there are the KINGS. They are the..."

"Come back to bed, baby," a voice sounded in the background, and I broke off mid-sentence. My heart contracted painfully. That was Paul's voice. "Come on, baby. Get your hot ass back in bed for round two. Or have I worn you out already?"

"Is that... is that – Paul with you?" I asked with dread. "Why is...?"

"Oh Sam, I'm so sorry," Rose said. "I didn't want you to find out this way. We were going to tell you sometime..."

"I've only been gone a week. How long did it take for you two to hop into bed together?"

The silence on the other end told me everything.

"Oh my god. It... it hasn't just been since I left, has it?"

"Sam... please hear me..."

"Paul cheated on me? For how long, Rose? HOW LONG?!"

"Three months," Rose replied with a sigh.

Three months. My boyfriend had been doing my best friend behind my back for three months. Could there be a greater betrayal than that? I felt sick to my stomach.

"He's a guy, Sam," Rose said, as if there were a good excuse for such a betrayal. "How long did you think you could keep him with some kisses and a little making out? He needs more than that."

"And you were all too willing to give him what he needs," I replied. "Thank you, Rose. Honestly. A great friend you are."

I had never been so disappointed as I was at that moment. My boyfriend, who I had planned a future with; and my best friend I had trusted more than anyone. I just couldn't believe it. Why? Why her, of all people? How could she do this to me?

"Sam, it has nothing to do with our..."

That's as far as she got, because I’d ended the call. Stunned, I stared ahead as I tried to process the information. Rose and Paul. Paul and Rose. And not just since I'd left. No, they’d been doing it behind my back for months. All because I didn't spread my legs right away. And all this time Paul had been so understanding. Or at least he had pretended to be. He had assured me that we could wait until I was ready. Until I decided I wanted to take the next step. Of course, he hadn't been in a hurry to get me into bed when he already had someone to take care of his needs. My emotions were all over the place. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh, cry, or scream. Or all of the above. My future had just changed drastically. I had dreamed of going to college with Paul and renting a small apartment together. Then, someday, when I was ready, I would give him my virginity. And it would be special. He would take a lot of time, be romantic about it....

NO! That is NOT how it's going to be, because it's over, you silly cow, my inner voice interjected. Face it. It’s over! Over!

A tear welled up from my eye and rolled down my cheek. I had thought I would survive the year and a half here at Sinners High by looking forward to my college experience with my boyfriend. But now all my plans had been thrown out the window.