The Big Splash (24 page)

“Over here!” It was Katie, holding the door to the janitor's closet open. I ran inside. She shut the door behind us. The catcalls and cheers in the hallway continued, but were muffled by the thick closet door. It took me a minute, but I found the light switch and flicked it on. I reluctantly put Liz down.

“You okay?” I asked, my heart still beating in a Morse code rhythm.

“I think so. Did anyone see?”

“No. I think we made it.”

Liz started crying a little. “I thought it was over for me. I thought I was in the Outs. I thought—” She cried a little harder.

“Sssshhh.” I pulled her close. She buried her head in my chest and sobbed.

“I'm sorry, Liz … for the accusation … for a lot of things.”

Liz stopped crying and looked up at me. “I think you more than made up for it,” she said through her sniffles. She hugged me tight again.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, but multiply it by forever and it still wouldn't have been long enough. Someone knocked on the door, ending the moment, reminding me that there were other people in the world. “Yeah?” I barked.

“It's Kevin,” came the muffled voice from the other side. “Liz, hang tight. Jimmy Mac is getting you some sweatpants.”

“Thanks,” I called back.

“You sound different, Liz.”

“This whole experience has changed me,” I said.

“Yeah, hey, tell Matt to get the hell out of there and leave my sister alone,” he said. He almost pulled it off without laughing.

I turned to Liz. “I should leave.”

She nodded. “You're going to talk to Vinny now, aren't you?”

“He's my client.”

“I'm going with you.”

“With those wet pants? Not a good idea.”

She rolled her eyes. “After I change.”

“Still not a good idea. Listen, Chess Club, I know you're tough and all—”

She shot me a look that shut me up. “You have some things to say to him? So do I.”

“You'll have to wait your turn.”

“Fine. I'll be right behind you in line.”

“Not today.”

“Wait for me, Matt. Please. We'll go together.”

“Okay,” I said. “You bet.” I could tell she didn't believe me. That's okay. I was lying.

I slipped out, closing the door behind me. Kevin was leaning against the wall to the right of the door, guarding it so nobody else would go in. “Matt.”

“Kevin.”

“Where is everybody?”

“Lunch. Didn't you hear the bell ring?”

“I guess not. That door is pretty thick.”

“Mm-hmm. Right.” He smiled as if he didn't quite believe me.

“What happened to the fight?”

“Katie let it go on for a while, until she was sure you got away. Then she swooped in and broke it up.”

“Who won?”

“Neither of them. They're both gonna get a five-day vacation. Jenny's the only one who looks like she's been in a fight, though.”

“Yeah?”

“Shiner and a fat lip. Nothing major. She deserved more.”

“Katie'll see to that.”

“Yeah.” He paused. “Matt, thanks for … you know … “

“I didn't do it for you.”

“Yeah, I know. But I benefited, so thanks.”

“Okay.” There was an awkward silence. “I have to go,” I said finally.

“Vinny knew about this, didn't he?” Kevin asked.

“Of course he knew. What happens around here that he doesn't know about?”

“And he was going to let me take the fall.”

“That's one way to look at it.”

“Is there another way?”

“Not that I can tell.”

Just then, Mac came running over, a pair of black sweatpants in his hand. “Hey guys. Here.” He held the
sweats out to Kevin. “They should fit her.”

Kevin held them up and snickered. They wouldn't have fit on Kevin's arms, let alone his legs. “Good thing these are for my little sister.”

“So what? I'm petite,” Mac said. “If you're just gonna have a laugh at my expense, I'll take 'em back.”

“No. You're right. Sorry.” Kevin knocked on the door. It cracked open a couple of inches. “Special delivery.” He shoved the pants in then shut the door.

“Listen,” I said, “I have to go before Liz comes out.”

“How come?”

“She thinks it's a good idea to come with me.”

“It isn't?”

“She's already too involved in this as it is.”

Kevin shrugged. “If you say so.”

“You want me to come?” Mac asked.

“No thanks, Jimmy. I've got to do this alone.” He looked relieved, as if his brain was angry at his mouth for making the suggestion. I started walking away. “See you around, guys.”

“Hey, Matt,” Kevin said. I stopped. “Be careful.”

“I always am. It hasn't made a difference yet.”

cafeteria was in full lunchtime swing, but I wasn't hungry. I was there to check in with Vinny, my other client, the one who hadn't tried to shoot me with a squirt gun … yet. I approached his table in the back of the caf. The same two bodyguards from before blocked my path.

“Routine weapons check,” the one on the right said, repeating his stock line.

“Let me guess,” I said to the guard on the left, “just doing your job?”

The guard on the left froze. I had stolen his line, and now he wasn't sure what to do. “Yeah.”

“You boys need a better act,” I said. “This one's a little stale.” I kicked the guard to my left in the shin, hard. His eyes bugged out of his head, and he gave me a little “Ah!” When he reached down to grab his shin, I grabbed his hair and pulled down. His forehead connected to my knee. His head wasn't that tough, only as hard as a cinderblock. The guard on the right lumbered toward me. He looked confused, his tongue hanging out of his open mouth, as if he had just tasted something new and unpleasant. I slapped the bottom of his chin, snapping his jaw shut, catching his tongue like a mouse in a trap. He started jumping around, yelping in pain. The kid whose shin I kicked was still hunched over, holding his forehead. I grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it up and over his head, immobilizing his arms. I got behind him and gave him a healthy kick in the butt. He went flying forward and crashed into his buddy, whose hands were covering his mouth in a vain attempt to make the pain in his tongue go away. They fell to the floor in a groaning heap. “Still needs a little work,” I said, “but it's an improvement.”

“Impressive,” Vinny said.

“Yeah?” I grabbed him by the collar and lifted him out of his seat. “Wait 'til you see act two.”

He calmly raised his juice box to his mouth and took a sip. “Hello, Matthew. Here for your payment?”

“Yeah. That and more. You hung me out to dry, Vinny, and I can't say I'm happy about it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jenny was the forger and you knew it. When you found out she was responsible for the Nikki hit, you rolled over and played dumb.”

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Vinny took another nonchalant sip from his juice box. I knocked it out of his hands. It hit the wall with a dull thump, leaving a purple blotch that looked like modern art.

“I guess I'm not thirsty,” he said.

“There was no downside for you. If I fell for the Kevin/Melanie story, Jenny stayed in the background, Kevin got one more black mark on his record, and you'd get to have a nice laugh at the Kondos' expense. If I uncovered the truth, Jenny would become notorious, your new Nikki Fingers. Maybe she's not as skilled with the squirter, but she's pretty damn good with a pen.”

“So many scenarios,” he said, “all unsubstantiated.”

“All you had to do was give up on Nikki. She was
already out of your organization, so you didn't care. You had no use for her anymore anyway, right?”

The playful light went out of his eyes. “I'll always care about Nikki. Jenny's guilty, not me.”

“Oh, so when she comes back from suspension, you're going to put her in the Outs, right?”

“I've never put anyone in the Outs.”

“No, of course not. Especially when they've got a skill you find useful.”

“Careful, Matthew,” he said.

“Why? You keep saying you're harmless. Why should I be careful?”

“You're right,” he said, a malevolent smile spreading across his face. “You shouldn't be careful at all.”

“What happened to you?” I asked, ignoring his threat. “What happened to the kid who knew what it was like to get picked on?”

Vinny's smile disappeared. “Oh, he's still here.”

“Bull. All I see is a former doormat who's obsessed with power. Loyalty and honor are only words you throw around in order to get other kids to do what you want. When you're finished with them, you throw them to the curb, like so much garbage.”

I had pushed the right button. His face flushed red, his eyes bulged out, and I thought steam was going to come out of his ears. “You don't know anything about me,” he said through gritted teeth.

“I know enough to make me si—”

Two strong hands came out of nowhere and yanked me off of Vinny. It was Brian, Vinny's former and disgraced bodyguard, the kid the size of Australia, the kid looking to get back into Vinny's good graces. He held me off the floor as if I were weightless. “Ask Brian here about my loyalty,” Vinny said as he straightened out his rumpled collar. “Although I suspect he already gave you his answer.” Vinny put his face an inch from mine, grabbing my cheeks so my mouth puckered. “You know nothing about me,” he growled. “Nothing. But I'm going to teach you.” He let go of my face, reached into his pocket and pulled out twenty dollars. He put the bill in my shirt pocket. “Lesson number one: I always pay my debts, monetary or otherwise. Are you keeping up with me?”

“You mind starting over? I wasn't listening.”

Vinny didn't smile, but he did nod. Brian punched me in the stomach. I would have crumpled to the floor, but
Brian was kind enough to hold me up. “Lesson number two—”

“Always watch your back,” someone said behind Brian. Suddenly, Brian's grip on me loosened. My feet hit the floor, followed closely by my butt. Liz ran over to me.

“Matt, are you okay?”

I held my stomach, which had taken its fair share of abuse over the past week. I nodded yes instead of saying it, afraid that if I opened my mouth I'd hurl. I turned to see Brian wincing, someone's hand pinching the nerve in his shoulder.

“Kevin?” Vinny asked.

“Hey, Vin,” Kevin said, poking his head out from behind Brian's enormous body, his hand still clamped on the nerve. “I have a couple of things I have to discuss with you, after Matt, of course.”

“Matt and I were just finishing up,” Vinny said.

“Yeah, it looked that way.”

“Gah …,” Brian squawked, his body twisting in pain

“Oh, I'm sorry Brian. Was I hurting you?” Kevin let go of the nerve. Brian finally exhaled. He held his aching shoulder as if it were going to fall off.

I looked around. Kevin had a lazy smile on his face.
Vinny looked like he could've been in someone's garden, discussing the weather. Liz and I seemed to be the only ones who noticed that we were surrounded by Vinny's guards. All of them were holding soakers at the ready, but they looked unsure. There was something going on between Kevin and Vinny, something that might explode at any moment. But the guards had spent as much time protecting Kevin as they had Vinny, and if things escalated between them, nobody had any idea what to do.

“So, what were you two talking about, Matt?” Kevin asked.

“Not much. You know, this and that. The whole Jenny business.”

“Right, right. Did you hear, Vinny? Somehow I got accused of the whole thing.”

“You're kidding.”

“No. Do you believe it?” Kevin's eyes were firmly locked onto Vinny's. Neither one of them blinked. My eyes dried out just looking at them. “Matt here figured the whole thing out. Cleared me. I guess I owe him a little.”