3.
Edmonds Park was a large field on the east side of the school. Sports teams used it as a general playing area for most of the sports at school. The field was one of the ways off the school grounds, although it was most probably the hardest exit of the four or five ways to leave. Mick and Frank knew these grounds well. Once a while ago, Mick and Frank were running late for school and to avoid detection by the school teachers, they entered via Edmonds Park. Mick reasoned that because their uniforms were green, the grass would give them camouflage. Of course, this didn’t work and they got in trouble. If Tyler’s plans were bad then Mick’s plans were terrible.
Mick and Frank were standing by the tall fence that separated the rest of the school from the field. This was where they were supposed to meet Tyler and Jones. They were ten minutes late. Frank was worried. He had a bad feeling about this from the very beginning. If Jones got in trouble with his mother, then he would never forgive himself. Although, his own mother was twice as scary. He supposed that everyone thought their mother was scary.
“What’s keeping them?” Frank asked Mick.
Mick shrugged his shoulders and said nothing. He just leaned back against the fence.
“You think they got caught?”
He continued to lean on the fence, offering no decent amount of input. It was beginning to annoy Frank, but he couldn’t blame Mick. He didn’t have the answers that he wanted. He didn’t know the answers to those questions. Speculation was the game being played here and it was a game that Frank didn’t like playing very much at all. The guilt was eating him like a cancer. The cancer that had taken his grandmother’s friend. That had been a long, long time ago, but sometimes the memories of those events came back to him like a horse lost in the woods.
“I suppose there’s a chance they did get caught,” Frank mused as he looked down to the real estate sign lying on the ground. “The teachers are not stupid.”
“Sometimes they are,” Mick replied. “I fool them from time to time. Stupid teachers.”
Mick had very little respect for authority. Everyone at school knew that and some of the teachers knew this especially well. Frank chose not to think about that or the consequences for Mick. Frank was 15, old enough to know that school wouldn’t be forever and they would have to enter the real world at some point. He chose not to think about that as well. Frank sometimes thought about things excessively. It was his curse. Sometimes it made him sad.
“Hey team!”
Frank and Mick turned around behind the fence to see Jones and Tyler approaching them with their bikes. It would seem that Frank had worried for nothing.
“You get it?” Mick asked as he picked up the sign.
Tyler nodded. “Yeah, we got it.”
“So, where exactly are we heading?” Frank asked Tyler, trying to hide the relief from his face.
“24 Horucrax Street,” Tyler said as he leaned his bike against the fence and examined the sign. “Not bad, guys. Where did you find this?”
“In St. Martins,” Mick replied. “Time’s getting on. Shall we get this over with?”
Tyler nodded. “Why of course!” he said as the excitement crept into his voice. “I love this part. We got everything we need!”
“You okay?” Frank asked Jones. Jones nodded, but Frank could tell that Tyler had been hard on him. His body posture was flat, shoulders hunched, head down. Jones really didn’t have the heart for this little escapade anymore. The worst part was Frank was getting excited about this as well. He couldn’t and wouldn’t back out of this. He wanted his vendetta, his payback on the worst teacher at the school, and boy was he going to get it.
They got to Horucrax Street within half an hour. Frank looked at his watch and saw that it was now half past five.
“Hey man, it's getting late. Who’s going to see this sign before Calson or his wife take it down?” Frank asked Tyler.
Tyler considered this and smiled. “Good thinking, Frank! I knew there was a reason that I kept you around . We’ll come by before school and put up the sign up after he goes to work.”
Frank nodded. That was the best idea. A good prank is one that is done correctly. Sometimes Tyler forgot the most important details, but then again the most important details make a prank boring. If they had gone ahead and put the sign on his lawn right now, then they would’ve seen the annoyance on his face first hand, which would’ve been rather enjoyable, but that would’ve been a minor annoyance. A good vendetta is one that stacks the deck as much as you can against your opponent.
“Mick, you take the sign home for the night. Make sure Ken doesn’t find it,” Tyler said.
Ken was Mick’s dad and not the greatest guy on the planet, if you asked Frank, who had never met the man. So you had to question the negative nature he had for Mick’s dad.
“I’ll hide it in the kennel,” Mick said.
“No, not in the kennel! That’s the dog’s sleeping pad!” Tyler moaned. He liked Mick’s dog and often said that the dog was the best member of the family. “Just hide it in the garage or something. Do I have to think of everything?”
So the gang agreed. They would come back at about 10am and they would load the sign on the front lawn and see what would happen. Frank told Jones not to bother as he didn’t really have the stomach to bunk first class.
Mick and Frank were standing by the tall fence that separated the rest of the school from the field. This was where they were supposed to meet Tyler and Jones. They were ten minutes late. Frank was worried. He had a bad feeling about this from the very beginning. If Jones got in trouble with his mother, then he would never forgive himself. Although, his own mother was twice as scary. He supposed that everyone thought their mother was scary.
“What’s keeping them?” Frank asked Mick.
Mick shrugged his shoulders and said nothing. He just leaned back against the fence.
“You think they got caught?”
He continued to lean on the fence, offering no decent amount of input. It was beginning to annoy Frank, but he couldn’t blame Mick. He didn’t have the answers that he wanted. He didn’t know the answers to those questions. Speculation was the game being played here and it was a game that Frank didn’t like playing very much at all. The guilt was eating him like a cancer. The cancer that had taken his grandmother’s friend. That had been a long, long time ago, but sometimes the memories of those events came back to him like a horse lost in the woods.
“I suppose there’s a chance they did get caught,” Frank mused as he looked down to the real estate sign lying on the ground. “The teachers are not stupid.”
“Sometimes they are,” Mick replied. “I fool them from time to time. Stupid teachers.”
Mick had very little respect for authority. Everyone at school knew that and some of the teachers knew this especially well. Frank chose not to think about that or the consequences for Mick. Frank was 15, old enough to know that school wouldn’t be forever and they would have to enter the real world at some point. He chose not to think about that as well. Frank sometimes thought about things excessively. It was his curse. Sometimes it made him sad.
“Hey team!”
Frank and Mick turned around behind the fence to see Jones and Tyler approaching them with their bikes. It would seem that Frank had worried for nothing.
“You get it?” Mick asked as he picked up the sign.
Tyler nodded. “Yeah, we got it.”
“So, where exactly are we heading?” Frank asked Tyler, trying to hide the relief from his face.
“24 Horucrax Street,” Tyler said as he leaned his bike against the fence and examined the sign. “Not bad, guys. Where did you find this?”
“In St. Martins,” Mick replied. “Time’s getting on. Shall we get this over with?”
Tyler nodded. “Why of course!” he said as the excitement crept into his voice. “I love this part. We got everything we need!”
“You okay?” Frank asked Jones. Jones nodded, but Frank could tell that Tyler had been hard on him. His body posture was flat, shoulders hunched, head down. Jones really didn’t have the heart for this little escapade anymore. The worst part was Frank was getting excited about this as well. He couldn’t and wouldn’t back out of this. He wanted his vendetta, his payback on the worst teacher at the school, and boy was he going to get it.
They got to Horucrax Street within half an hour. Frank looked at his watch and saw that it was now half past five.
“Hey man, it's getting late. Who’s going to see this sign before Calson or his wife take it down?” Frank asked Tyler.
Tyler considered this and smiled. “Good thinking, Frank! I knew there was a reason that I kept you around . We’ll come by before school and put up the sign up after he goes to work.”
Frank nodded. That was the best idea. A good prank is one that is done correctly. Sometimes Tyler forgot the most important details, but then again the most important details make a prank boring. If they had gone ahead and put the sign on his lawn right now, then they would’ve seen the annoyance on his face first hand, which would’ve been rather enjoyable, but that would’ve been a minor annoyance. A good vendetta is one that stacks the deck as much as you can against your opponent.
“Mick, you take the sign home for the night. Make sure Ken doesn’t find it,” Tyler said.
Ken was Mick’s dad and not the greatest guy on the planet, if you asked Frank, who had never met the man. So you had to question the negative nature he had for Mick’s dad.
“I’ll hide it in the kennel,” Mick said.
“No, not in the kennel! That’s the dog’s sleeping pad!” Tyler moaned. He liked Mick’s dog and often said that the dog was the best member of the family. “Just hide it in the garage or something. Do I have to think of everything?”
So the gang agreed. They would come back at about 10am and they would load the sign on the front lawn and see what would happen. Frank told Jones not to bother as he didn’t really have the stomach to bunk first class.
