If Not For You

Chapter 42

The next day at school everyone was talking about Killer's suv.  Somehow through the night somebody keyed the words "dickhead" and "asshole" into the paint, severely dented the body, and smashed all the windows.  When his parents came home later and saw the damage they called the cops and filed a police report.  What the cops couldn't figure out was how Killer had been home at the time but he stated that he had not heard his vehicle being demolished.   Killer told the cops that he was watching a movie in his room and must have had the volume too loud.  When the cops asked him what movie he was watching it took him almost a full minute to answer their question.  The nearest neighbors were down the road enough that they couldn't have heard anything.  When the cops asked Killer flat out who had done it Killer told them that he didn't have any idea who it could've been.

Ben, Paul, and Jax knew that Killer knew who had done it.  Ben and Jax held Killer back while Paul destroyed his precious suv.  Paul was satisfied that he finally got to take out his aggression and Killer was satisfied that Paul was beating on his vehicle and not on him.  Once Paul was done they promised Killer that it was over.  That as long as he continued to keep his distance from Jenna, they would keep their distance from him.  They knew that he could've told the cops it was them.  They knew that their threat was worthless if Killer didn't buy into it.  They knew that any further retaliation they dished out would obviously come back to them if Killer ratted them out to the cops.  They knew though that he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.  Killer was afraid of what they could do to him.  He was more afraid of what they were capable of than he was confident the police could protect him from them.

At lunch Joe brought up Killer's suv.  "Man I drove past Killer's house this morning you should have seen it.  It was totally destroyed."

"Dude that kid is an asshole.  The suspect list is probably as long as the freakin' football field."  Jax responded.  Both Paul and Ben looked at each other and smirked.

Paul spoke up.  "That kid is such a dickhead it would be quicker to make a list of people it couldn't be."  This time Jax, Ben, and Paul all muffled their laughter.

Across the cafeteria Jenna noticed Killer and Paul exchanging glances and Killer quickly looked away.  By the way they were acting Lena and Jenna were suspicious that the boys were involved but they decided to leave it alone.  The less they knew the better.  Whether it was their boys getting even for Jenna or somebody else's friends getting even for them, Killer deserved it.  Maybe this would be enough for him to take a step back and re-evaluate his life.  But knowing him most likely not.  "So what's up for this weekend?"  Joe looked around the table waiting for any response.

"Let's go camping."  Paul suggested and the girls groaned.

"I hate camping."  Lena whined.  "Why don't you guys do a macho thing and go camping, just the guys."  She turned to Jenna and practically squealed.  "We can have a girls weekend, manis, pedi's, gorge on ice cream, and have a Ryan Gosling movie marathon."

"No way."  Paul protested.  "This year is going to be over soon enough and we will all be going our separate ways.  So everyone has to go."  He looked directly at Lena.  "No excuses."

Jenna shrugged.  "I'm not going anywhere next year.  I will be right here...in this very cafeteria...still in high school."

"Yeah I'm not going anywhere next year either.  I can't even afford community college.  I'll be a townie for life."  Ben added.

Jenna leaned over and kissed Ben. When he pulled away she stated, “but you’re the hottest townie, Benny!”

Paul slammed his fist on the table making the silverware rattle.  As soon as he got everyone's attention he smiled wide.  "Everyone is going this weekend.  No excuses," he repeated.