Sons of Mayhem 1

Chapter 23

He placed his other hand on to the steering wheel and held his wrist out in front of my face, twisting it slowly. I read the words out loud as I deciphered the cursive on his thick wrist. “Love All. Trust Few. Do harm to none.”

“It’s fucking bullshit, right?”

I think it sounds nice. “Where is it from?”

Lucy opened her mouth for the first time since we’d got in the truck. “Shakespeare.” She looked at Jase for confirmation.

“Yeah. But it’s fucking bullshit. ‘Love all’? Am I supposed to love the fuckhead who whacked Brodie? ‘Do harm to none?’ Am I just going to turn the other cheek? Fuck that shit.”

“Fuck that shit.” Lucy repeated in agreement as she turned her head back to the window. There was a dull thump as she rested her head back against it. She didn’t speak again the rest of the trip.

“I guess.” They’ve got a point. Sometimes you’ve got to do harm, right? Even if it’s just a little bit. Like those meth heads yesterday. I remembered standing over them, feeling the power we had over them, willing Jase to push down harder with his boot as they squirmed.

I pulled my feet up onto the bench-seat and hugged my legs with my arms. “So what’s going to happen? Do you think the police will catch whoever did it?”

“The police won’t do shit.”

“No?”

“No. Sometimes in life you have to settle things yourself. Especially if you’re people like me, like us.” Am I part of that, ‘us’?

“So what’s going to happen?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Don’t you trust me? How could you, I guess. We only met yesterday. Who am I to you?

“Sorry. Just, y’know. I hope you get whoever did it.”

He didn’t reply and we spent most of the rest of the journey in silence. It wasn’t an awkward silence, but it wasn’t quite comfortable either. I hugged my legs tightly and squeezed my eyes shut.

I found myself lost in my thoughts. Dark, dangerous thoughts. I imagined things I’d never imagined before, never even imagined imagining before. A vision flashed across my mind unbidden. I saw Jase standing and grinning triumphant. But the grin was maniacal. In his left hand was a knife, a big combat knife, and his right hand was a severed head which he clutched by the hair. The head’s mouth was open in a voiceless scream and the eyes were rolled back so only the whites were showing.

I gasped loudly.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I dozed off.”

The vision hung in the back of my mind. Do it. Do it Jase, get those fuckers who murdered your friend.

The journey only took half an hour, but it felt much longer. He drove the pickup to the front of our dorm, ignoring the prominent “No Parking” sign. We all got out of the truck, and walked up to the front door, one of us on either side of Jase.

He placed a hand on the bare skin of my lower back, guiding me forward. It felt good. His other arm was wrapped protectively around Lucy’s shoulder. I punched in my code to unlock the door and we walked in. A bookish looking sophomore saw us and gulped, before hurriedly turning his head away.

I frowned for a moment. Then I realized. Lucy and I were dressed up like sluts, our makeup was all over our faces, and last night wasn’t even Halloween. And I couldn’t give a fuck. Run away little boy.