Chapter 3: Judas Hangs
1163 Words
The driver noticed right away that Todd was acting strange. He glanced at him through the rearview mirror and said, "Young master, why are you so quiet today? Is everything copacetic?"
“Everything is fine.” Todd shrugged. “Eve has been acting a little strange around me. That’s all…”
The driver laughed and offered Todd a bottle of pills. “Put one of these in her drink,” he said. “Then she will do whatever you ask.
Todd smiled. Everything was happening as it had the first time, and he knew that this knowledge would give him a major advantage. In his past life, he had accepted the pills, but when he put them in her drink, she had refused it. It was as if she had a sixth sense about it. Then, when he got home, things had gone bad, and when he thought about it later, he was ashamed. He could not believe that he had ever considered raping his best friend.
In this new life, Todd was determined to be a better person. He took the pills, though. He did not want the driver to think that he suspected anything.
When Todd arrived at the school, he got out of the car and walked towards the campus. There were still fifteen minutes before classes, so most of the students were milling about outside. A few of his buddies saw him, and they greeted him by name. He went over to 'hang.’ It was hard to act as if everything was business as usual, though, when he knew that they were all a bunch of Judas’s.
After chatting for a few minutes, Todd noticed that Zachery was playing basketball with a few of the other boys, and he went to join them. When they saw them, they paused their game and greeted him. They were full of smiles, and if Todd had not known better, he would have thought that they were his friends, loyal to the end. They will pay for what they did to me – Todd thought – Everyone will pay!
Todd waved to Zachery from the edge of the basketball court and shouted, “Zachery, come here!”
Zachery pretended not to hear him. He knew that this would be the last day before everything changed, but he did not think he could carry on this façade for one minute longer.
"Zachery!” Todd shouted again. “Come here, please!"
Zachery still didn't acknowledge him, and people began to give him dirty looks. One of the other players nudged him and said, “The boss wants you. Quit acting like a Jackass and go over there!”
Zachary scowled and walked over to Todd. “What do you want, boss? Can’t you see that I am playing ball? And we only have a few minutes before we have to go inside.
"Are you deaf?" Todd asked.
"What?" Zachery asked. He was already annoyed, and Todd’s question made him angry.
"Damn it!” Todd snarled. “You are you deaf!!!" He looked at Zachery and said, "Your dad is my dad's dog, and you are my dog. Since you are my dog, it is about time that you started acting like it. Do you understand?"
"What are you talking about?" Zachery frowned.
Todd looked at him and sneered.
What is going on here? – Zachery worried. Todd was making him uneasy, and the last thing that he wanted to do was ruin his father’s carefully laid plan. Finally, he took a deep breath to calm himself down, counted backward from ten, and said, “I'm sorry, brother. I didn't hear you calling me. Honestly. What’s up?"
Todd was more than a little surprised by Zachery’s change in attitude. "I am very upset,” he admitted. “And I just wanted to ask you something. Do you like sweet tofu or salty tofu?”
"I usually eat salty..." Zachery was surprised by the question.
"How can you eat salty food?” Todd shouted. “I can't bear it!” He called two other boys over and said, “Beat him! I only eat sweet tofu!”
Everyone was stunned, and nobody could figure out why Todd was so upset. Zachery was also stunned. He thought - I like to eat salty tofu, but so what? That is no reason to beat someone up.
Todd looked at the two boys and his eyes practically bulged out of their sockets. “What are you waiting for?” he shouted. “Beat him! Then I will know where your loyalties lay!” After saying this, he crossed his arms and stood by.
The boys looked from Zachery to Todd. They were both their friends, but Todd’s family had more money. Thus, they considered themselves to be Todd’s dogs. Still, they hesitated. There was something going on here that they did not understand, and they were afraid of doing the wrong thing. If they only knew why Todd was coming after his oldest friend, it would make sense…
Finally, one of the boys looked at Zachery and said, “I'm sorry, brother. I dare not disobey one of Todd’s orders."
Todd smiled and said, “Thank you for stepping up. You are a good man. Since you were the first to volunteer, give him a good hard punch in the gut, and your reward will be ten thousand dollars.”
The boy grinned. “Not a problem,” he said, and he punched Zachery so hard that he keeled over and began to gag.
“Very good.” Todd chuckled.
One of the other boys stepped up. He turned to Todd and said, “Brother, I am sorry that I didn’t step forward first. I admit that I was nervous, but now I am ready to prove my loyalty.”
Todd nodded and said, “Very well; grab his hair, pull his head back, and punch him in the face. Your reward will be nine thousand dollars.”
The rest of the group realized that the rewards were on a sliding scale, and they all lifted their hands to offer their services.
Todd watched from two meters away. His arms were crossed, and he felt like a Caesar officiating over the Gladiator Games in Ancient Rome. The thought made him giddy.
The rest of the students had formed a circle around the boys, and they reminded me of the fire sequence from Lord of the Flies, where the kids danced around the fire, shouting, “Kill the pig! Cut her throat! Spill the blood!” he remembered how they had sharpened their sticks at both ends. It was complete madness, and he liked it.
Finally, he lifted his hands and shouted, “Olly olly oxen free!” and all of the students cheered.
- Writer
