Five Times Revenge Read online

  “Thanks.”

  The two of them walked into the school through the classroom entrance with Perk leading the way to the hallway bathroom.

  “You’re right,” Adam said, glancing around. “This place has gotten worse since the last time I was here.”

  “I know.” Perk pushed open the boys’ bathroom. “Hey, Tommy? It’s Perk. Adam’s here, too.”

  Nothing.

  Perk looked back at Adam, but he was picking at the peeling paint on the walls.

  “Tommy?”

  Silence.

  He stepped in and checked under the stalls. Weird.

  “Did we miss him somehow?”

  “We couldn’t have,” Perk said. He let the door close behind him. “We would have passed each other in the hall.”

  He sighed. Short. To the point. Concise. Planned out. Routine. That was how Perk kept everything. That was how he liked it. Tommy went to the bathroom and added a glitch to the system. Perk would just fix it.

  He headed back down the hallway to Tommy’s classroom. Propping open the door was a red brick, and though the room was dark, Perk stuck his head inside. “Tommy?”

  Again, nothing.

  “Tommy?” Adam echoed. “Do you think he’s hiding from us?”

  Perk shook his head and peered down the hallway. “No way. This is his favorite part of the day. He only hides when he has to get a haircut or my mom makes homemade pizza which, thankfully, isn’t that often.”

  “Where should we look?”

  There was the sound of high heels, and Mrs. Pell came around the corner and walked toward them. “Hi, boys,” she said. “Sorry, I got tied up with Principal Parmar and his son. They just left.” She sighed and looked around. “Where’s Tommy?”

  “He wasn’t in the bathroom and he isn’t in here,” Perk said. He felt his breath shorten. “We were going to check the other rooms.”

  “What? Where could he have gone? That isn’t like him.” Mrs. Pell turned on her heel. “I’ll check down by the office. Adam, check by the picnic tables—just go out the side door of my classroom. And Perk, you go down by the gym.”

  Seeing Mrs. Pell’s panic flipped Perk’s heart inside his chest, up and over and around. If his skin were see-through plastic, his stomach and heart and liver would look like a washing machine, everything churning and spinning.

  “He could be anywhere.” Perk glanced up and down the hallway again as if Tommy would be strolling toward them. The churning inside him threatened to bring his lunch up.

  “Hey,” Adam said, grabbing onto his shirt. Perk looked at him. “We’ll find him.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  They’d find him. They had to. He couldn’t have gone far. They’d look everywhere and then they’d find him.

  Every passing minute felt like an hour. Perk checked the gym, the other bathrooms, and the art and music room and was about to call his parents and the police when he heard a noise coming from behind a door labeled “Utility Room.”

  He put his ear up against it. “Tommy?”

  The crying grew louder and Perk pulled on the doorknob.

  Locked.

  “Tommy, it’s me, Perk. It’s okay. Just give me a second while I go find the key.” He dashed down the hallway and yelled for Mrs. Pell, who came running, along with two other teachers Perk didn’t know. “He’s locked in the maintenance room.”

  A minute later, the door opened and Tommy fell into Perk’s arms crying, snot and spit streaking his face, his round cheeks flushed a deep red. His pants were wet, and a sign was taped to his back that said, “Kick me, I’m retarded.”

  “Sorry, Perk,” he sobbed. “I’m sorry. I don’t know where my friends went. I’m sorry. Don’t be mad. Don’t be mad. I’m sorry.”

  “What happened, Tommy?” Mrs. Pell said. She put one hand on his shoulder and the other on Perk’s.

  “It’s okay, Tommy,” Perk heard himself say. He ripped the paper from his brother’s backpack and crumpled it in his fist, tighter and tighter until he felt his nails digging into his skin. Perk hadn’t cried since the fourth grade, but now his eyes stung with relief mixed with boiling anger. Who were these so-called friends?

  Adam was suddenly there, and Tommy released Perk and hugged Adam. “Oh man, Tommy, are we ever glad to see you. What happened?”

  Tommy swiped his arm across his nose. He let go of Adam and then hugged Mrs. Pell and the other teachers in turn. “My friends said that we could play hide-and-seek together. One told me to hide in here. I did, but then I couldn’t get out and …”

  While Tommy continued, Perk passed the sign to Adam, his pulse pattering in his chest, anger rushing through his veins so hard and thick and powerful that he wished there was something nearby that he could punch.

  Or someone.

  Adam read the note quickly, his face whitening. Mrs. Pell must’ve been looking over Adam’s shoulder because she grabbed the paper from his hand. “What is this?” she said, her voice growing shrill as she read it again. “Who wrote this?” She passed it to one of the other teachers. “Oh, Tommy …”

  Then, as quickly as the expression crossed Adam’s face it was gone, and he threw his arm around Tommy. “Come on. Why don’t we all go to the restaurant and have some ice cream?”

  Tommy sniffled again. “Really? Can we, Perk? Adam’s restaurant is my favorite. I think we should. I love ice cream. With lots of whipped cream, because I love whipped cream. It’s my very, very favorite.”

  “Yeah, sure. Can I take my brother home now, Mrs. Pell?”

  “Your parents need to know what happened,” she said. “Tommy has a spare set of clothes in his cubby. He can change into those while I call them.”

  Perk nodded and picked up Tommy’s backpack, then he and Adam walked down the hall to the bathroom, Tommy in between them.

  While Tommy changed, Adam looked over at Perk. “Don’t worry,” he said quietly. “We’ll find out who it was. We’ll make them pay.”

  Perk nodded and swiped at his eyes.

  They walked to Bakers’ Place—the restaurant that Adam’s parents owned and operated—and sat down in Tommy’s favorite spot, the booth by the second window, so that he could look out at the birds that lived in the oak tree out front.

  Adam stood and headed toward the kitchen. “I have to check in with my parents. I’ll be back. Three sundaes?”

  Tommy smiled. “With lots of whipped cream!”

  “Please,” Perk prompted.

  “Please,” Tommy mimicked.

  A few minutes later, Adam walked over with a tray and set down three ice cream sundaes, one with a tower of whipped cream and a thick line of it edged around the bowl. “Here you go,” he said, taking a seat.

  Just then, a spitball hit Adam on the ear. Hill Parmar sat with a pack of his friends and his dad at a table a little ways off. “Hey, Baker, how about some service over here?” Hill called. Principal Parmar chuckled and shook his head.

  But Perk didn’t feel bad for Adam.

  You didn’t feel bad for Adam. Ever. If anyone should feel bad for someone it was Hill, because Adam would take care of him.

  Eventually.

  Tommy looked up from his ice cream. He waved at Hill and his friend. “Hey! Hi! Remember me? Tommy. I’m Tommy.”

  Hill looked over at Tommy and, though it was subtle, Perk watched Hill’s eyes widen for a moment and then shift away. Perk knew. Perk met Adam’s eyes. Adam knew, too.

  Tommy knocked Perk with his elbow. “Those are my friends, Perk. My new friends.”

  He continued on, even though Perk knew the rest of the story. “Where did you guys go? You’re good hiders. I got locked in a room but my brother found me. I can’t ever do something like that again. Ever. Right, Perk?”

  Hill shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “That’s my son”—Mr. Parmar smiled—“making friends wherever he goes.”

  Perk started to stand, but Adam grabbed his arm. “Not yet.”

/>   Perk nodded, unclenching his fist. He was right.

  As they stood up to leave a little while later, Perk held out the piece of paper so that Hill and Mr. Parmar could read the blue permanent marker. “I bet the handwriting will be pretty easy to match. And lucky for me, my parents are lawyers.”

  Mr. Parmar grabbed Perk’s arm and smiled so wide that Perk noticed how gray his teeth were. “I’m sure this is just a big mistake, Perkins, right?” He reached for the piece of paper.

  Perk jerked his arm away and tucked the paper into his back pocket.

  He smiled back.

  He didn’t like taking revenge, usually.

  But everyone has their exceptions.

  CHAPTER 3

  Adam

  Adam sat down with his brown-paper-bag lunch and waited for Perk to find him in the cafeteria.

  Every day the two of them sat at a different lunch table. Sometimes with the jocks, other times with the geeks, and every once and a while with a crowd of girls. Today Adam sat against the far wall with the learning enrichment crowd, who were taking turns rifling through a computer gaming magazine.

  Even though they were best friends, they hardly ever saw each other until lunch. After that, however, they had every class together. They’d made sure of that at the beginning of the school year, just like they always did.

  Hacking into the school system and arranging their classes how they liked and with who they liked wasn’t hard. Making sure that they didn’t make it too obvious was the tricky part.

  But worth it.

  Hill’s table at the side of the cafeteria burst into laughter and squeals. Adam looked over to see William Bubert bending over to pick up his glasses. Who knew how many pairs Hill had ruined this year.

  Adam looked away.

  No, he shouldn’t look away. Not after what happened to Tommy. Adam stood and started for the table, but William Bubert was already scurrying away, walking on his toes just like he’d done when they were in kindergarten. William hadn’t changed and neither had Hill.

  Adam sat back down and pushed his lunch away.

  It wasn’t hard to stand up for himself or for Perk or for Tommy. It wasn’t something that he had to try at or even think about. It just was.

  Sure, there were times when he’d help someone get out of a locker or help a kid gather up the books and papers and pencils that Hill had tossed onto the floor. But most of the time, it was easier to look away.

  But this, right here, was the last time.

  He and Perk had to come up with some way to get Mr. Parmar and Hill back.

  Something they’d never forget. Something that would make up for all the times that Hill and Parmar had stepped, trampled, and steamrollered over someone else.

  “So?” Perk said, startling Adam out of his thoughts.

  “Hey.”

  Perk plopped down at the table and opened a bag of vinegar chips, stuffing a small handful in his mouth. “You have any ideas? You probably already have a plan figured out, right?”

  That was one of the things that Adam liked about Perk. Ever since they were in second grade and Adam had printed off pictures of cockroaches on the school computer during inside recess, Perk had been ready to jump headfirst into whatever Adam had cooked up. He had stepped right in, grabbed a pair of scissors, and cut out each bug with precision, then scooped half of them up. Without a word between them, the two had taken turns with the hall pass, sneaking down to the lunchroom where they placed the paper cockroaches on the cafeteria lunch tables while the school cook was busy with the mushy green beans and lumpy gravy.

  They’d smiled at each other after the initial scream and had been best friends ever since. Adam wasn’t even sure if they’d ever talked about the prank afterward. They hadn’t needed to.

  “So?” Perk crunched down on another chip.

  How could he eat those things? But then again, Perk was like a garbage can—you put anything in front of him—on a plate or wrapped in packaging—and he’d eat it. Adam looked down at his own lunch, leftover food from the restaurant. He didn’t mind it most of the time, and not really even now, but remembering what happened yesterday with Tommy soured his stomach. He scooped up a glob of reheated mashed potatoes, then set down his fork. “Nothing certain yet. Lots of ideas. But this has to be big.”

  “Agreed. The biggest yet.”

  Adam nodded. “We’re going to need five or six, including us.”

  “Six?” Perk laughed, shaking his head, then licking the vinegar residue off his fingers. “You’re crazy. It’s a lot to ask from kids who aren’t used to pulling this kind of stuff.”

  Adam leaned in. Of course, he had wanted it to just be he and Perk. They knew each other and they trusted each other. “Yeah, but doing something huge, just you and me? I’m not sure we can pull it off. It needs to be planned to perfection, and that means more help.”

  “And if we get caught? More people means more risk.”

  “You’re right—whoever we ask needs to know the risks. That’s why we need people who’ve had run-ins with Hill and his father. And then we need to make sure that whoever agrees keeps everything zipped. If we can guarantee those two things, I don’t see any reason why we can’t find our crew by this weekend.” He took a bite of lukewarm mashed potatoes and swallowed. They went down his throat like glue. “What do you think?”

  Perk scrunched up a cellophane wrapper and tossed it at the nearby trash can. It bounced in. “Let’s look at some school records.”

  CHAPTER 4

  Perk

  Perk waited for Adam on the school stairs nursing a bag of sour gummies, his homework balanced on his knee. He glanced up briefly as Adam’s shoe scuffed on the cement, then returned to his homework. Fractions.

  Adam dropped down beside Perk and glanced at the paper. He pointed at the problems. “Five-fifteenths or one-third, three-sevenths, and four-fifths.”

  Perk wrote down the answers and nodded his thanks. “Can’t stand fractions.”

  “My uncle builds houses and fractions are his second language.” He reached over and took a few gummies from Perk’s open bag and popped them into his mouth.

  Perk didn’t plan on a career in carpentry. He didn’t know what he wanted to do when he was older. Right now his job was school and taking care of Tommy. No, that wasn’t right. Taking care of Tommy wasn’t a job. He loved Tommy. Tommy needed him.

  Perk glanced down at his watch, then stuffed his homework in his backpack and zipped it up. After the other day, Perk wanted to be waiting at the bus stop earlier than on time. Not like it would matter much, but it made him feel better. He stood. “Tommy’s bus will be here soon. Then we have Hebrew school. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “All right,” Adam said. “You think of anyone yet?”

  Perk shrugged and started down the walkway. “Maybe a few.” He needed to do some research to see if they would really work. Plus, he was still getting used to the thought of other people joining in. But trying to get Adam off an idea once his mind was on it was like trying to get a dog to stop eating a steak dinner.

  “Nice. I have a few, too. I’ll call you tonight, yeah?”

  “Sure.”

  He was halfway down the walk when Adam called after him. “Hey, assuming we decide on our crew. Do you think you could make detention tomorrow?”

  Perk looked back and dug in his bag for a handful of sour gummies. Adam never got detention, so he probably wanted to make a statement to whomever they found, let them know what the two of them could do. He needed a diversion. Perk’s specialty. He nodded. “Tommy has his art class after school tomorrow, so yeah, I can be there.”

  “Cool. I’ll leave the window open—the first one on the right. Let’s say three-forty, twenty minutes in.”

  Perk nodded again and smiled. “How do burritos sound?”

  “Perfect.”

  Perk gave a backward wave and started toward Tommy’s bus stop.

  He’d only been waiting nine minutes when the yellow bu
s chugged to a stop, the lights blinking. Perk squinted and looked in the window where Tommy was waving frantically, a wide smile on his face. The knot of fear that had slowly gathered in his stomach released and he waved back, twisting the candy bag closed to preserve the ten red gummies.

  He always saved the red ones, Tommy’s favorite.

  But Perk’s stomach knotted back up when he remembered the one day last year when he’d waited at the bus stop with a similar bag of sour gummies in his hand. It had been a frigid, windy afternoon, and thick, wet snowflakes had started to fall. The longer Perk had stood there waiting for Tommy’s bus, freezing and wet, the more annoyed he’d gotten. He remembered thinking, Why can’t Tommy just walk home by himself for once? Seriously, their house was only two blocks away. Perk had sighed and looked into the bag of gummies that he had bought with his own money. His own money that he’d saved up.

  Just red ones had been left. Perk’s stomach had growled. For once he’d wanted to eat the whole bag himself. Just once. What was so wrong about that? Besides, Tommy had his own money.

  Tommy’s bus had chugged down the road toward him.

  And Perk had eaten them. All of them. Stuffed them into his mouth, not really taking the time to enjoy their sour sweetness. He had chewed and swallowed them down, then stuffed the empty bag in his pocket just as Tommy had stepped off the bus.

  They’d hit like a rock in his gut.

  “Did you bring me a snack?” Tommy had asked.

  The red sour gummies had already started to eat a hole to Perk’s heart. “No. Not today, Tommy. Let’s get one at home.”

  Tommy had looked confused at first. Then he’d smiled and grabbed a hold of Perk’s hand. “It’s okay, Perk. I’ll be okay until we get home.”

  And Perk had never done it again—not even when he felt like his stomach was going to implode with hunger.

  Now Tommy stumbled off the bus, his nose running a little with the cold he’d gotten the other day. “Did you bring me a snack?”