After a forty-five minutes drive, the driver pulls up at a local gas station in the middle of nowhere.
The old riggedy convenience store can barely stand next to its only tired-looking gas pump.
A stray Labrador runs in circles chasing its tail whilst an old mechanic naps in his hammock, a torn cowboy hat covering his face from the sunshine.
"I need to take a leak." the driver informs Jordan
"Me too, me too, me too." A wave of hands pops up.
"Alright, off you all go, but be quick! We don't want to be stuck in further traffic up ahead."
The kids trip over each other to jump off the bus. The driver runs off to the back of the gas station, trying to open the toilet door, but it's locked. He holds his crotch and runs towards the old mechanic.
"Excuse me sir, we're buying gas, could we please have the key to the toilet? Our kids are desperate for a leak."
The old man sneezes, spits on the floor next to the driver's feet, and continues on with his nap, completely ignoring him.
The driver gives out a frustrated growl and runs inside the shop. He brushes away a huge spider web and coughs loudly. The shop looks as though a dust ball had exploded inside. Expired canned food fills the top shelf. Two skinny rats fight over the remains of a stale box of wheat cereal. The driver looks behind the till, lifts shuffled papers but nothing. He can't locate the keys.
"It's here! I found it! It's here!" shouts Paul
The driver dashes out of the shop and sees the boys pointing toward the old man, who is seemingly still resting despite their shouting.
The driver scratches his head in confusion. "Now, how the heck am I supposed to get that?" The driver stares at the old man's leg. A large piece of rusted metal was attached to the old man's
foot. The driver bends down to examine the leg and notice a weird, long metallic gap between the ankle and the top of his foot. Once he realizes what he is looking at, he shoots back up. " "Oh no, I'm not doing that."
"But sir! We really need to go!"
"Use the bushes, ain't no one watching you."
"Sir, come on."
He turns to the kids, his lips pressed into a thin line until he relents. "Ugh, fine!" He says, turning back to the old man - and squatting in front of his leg. He points back at the children. "If it leaks, you're cleaning up the mess." The children all enthusiastically nod, sincere looks on their faces, as they watch the driver hesitantly extend his arm out. He grabs a hold of the back of the old man's foot, tugs at it, and unlocks the prosthetic leg instantly. His relief at having done so without the man waking up is immediately interrupted by noises of disgust and shock behind him.
"Eww, sir! That's disgusting!" Shout the boys
"You've killed him!" gasps Sean
He turns around to look at the kids, his mouth agape in confusion and annoyance. His eyes narrow as he looks at each of the grossed-out kids. "How can I kill him by removing his foot, you moron."
"Well, he's not moving. That's not normal." one kid replies confidently.
The driver stares at the kid. Just before he is about to reply, he realizes how ridiculous it would be to argue with children who think he just ended this man's life. He closes his eyes and lets out a deep breath. He shakes his head as he stands up. "The only thing that's not normal is this man attaching the toilet key to his fake foot. Now, let's use the toilet quickly and get out of here."
The driver and the boys run to the back. He opens the door and gags at the horrific site. The urinal is grimy green, there is spewing sewage water bubbling onto the floor and walls, and the toilet stalls' doors are swinging off their hinges. There's no toilet paper of course. The blocked sink is full of seething water as a brown substance trickles out of the tap. The stench is like a cocktail of sweaty teens' sports socks mixed with 2012's Christmas leftovers.
The driver is the first to take a rapid leak in the urinal but before he quickly dashes toward the door.
"Sir! You're not washing your hands?" asks Paul
"Are you out of your mind? My hands would be dirtier after they've been washed with this sewage water! I'll wash my hands when we get to the Mansion. Now, hurry up! I'll be waiting on the bus."
He ducks out, and now Tobby and Paul are next. They quickly use the urinals and try to head out, but Logan stands in their way. He has a smile on his freckled face, but cruelty in his light blue eyes.
"Ain't you going to wipe your butt?"
Tobby tries to make himself look taller to show Logan he wasn't going to be the intimidating one, but Logan was still a whole head taller than him. "First of all there's no toilet paper, and secondly, you heard what the driver said." He took a step forward, his head craning up further. "Now, move out of my way."
Logan is unphased and insistent as he pushes Tobby who bumps into Sean. "Not so fast, little man. Look – there's a roll of toilet paper at the bottom of the toilet bowl. Now," Danny says with a shove, "Pick it up, you need it."
Tobby recovered from his stumble backwards, looking between the boys and the disgusting, soggy mess that used to be toilet paper behind him. "What? Are you guys crazy?"
Danny steps forward again. He resembles a wolf now, calmly gazing upon its prey. His lip curled. "I said pick it up"
Tobby looks at Paul and realizes that fighting wasn't going to get him out of the situation as he would easily lose and Paul would never jump in to defend him. He decides to try another strategy. He relaxes and stretches a big, fat smile across his face, opening his arms as if welcoming old friends. "Come on guys, this has gotta be a joke! Hold on! I've got one you're going to love." Tobby reaches for his prank book and flicks through the pages as the boys close in.
Logan slaps Tobby's book into the filthy sink. The book quickly falls to the bottom. A bubble spits goo onto Tobby's shirt like a filthy burp. Tobby felt something bubble up inside of him, too – fury.
"Look at what you've done!" he shrieks. He tries running to the sink to save his precious book, but Sean steps in front of Tobby.
"That was nothing compared to this."
Danny uses a stick to fish out the toilet paper and throws it on Paul. It sticks to his shirt, rolls down his leg, and lands on his white trainers with an awful plop. Paul's whole outfit is ruined. His bottom lip quivers, his eyes well up clueless at what to do next. He can feel his lungs tightening. He taps his pocket for his pump but remembers he had left it on the bus as he begins to wheeze for air.
"What's wrong, Darth Vader? Having trouble breathing?"
"BOYS, HURRY UP, IT'S TIME TO GO!" a voice abruptly calls from outside. Logan takes advantage of the interruption and steps up to Tobby and Paul's faces.
"You better do as you're told on this trip." Paul flinches and covers his face. He knows what's coming next: a beatdown! Logan chuckles at the sight of the poor frightened boys and runs out of the door.
"Good luck trying to clean that up, dorks!." Danny laughs as he follows Logan out, slamming the restroom door behind him
Tobby turns to Paul, frozen in shock. "Hey – are you ok?" He kindly puts a hand on Paul's only dry shoulder, but Paul immediately shoves it off.
"Of course, I'm not ok! Look at what they've done." He shrieks, waving his arms around the stinky room.
"They were just messing around."
Paul stops his frantic freakout, staring at Tobby incredulously. "Messing around? Are you serious? That big guy threw your book in that sink!"
Tobby shrugs. "Well to be fair, my mum wanted me to get rid of it weeks ago."
"That's beside the point."
"Listen, we just have to get to know them."
"You're only saying that because it's me that got hit with that roll of faeces."
"They were just playing with you." He sounds like his mom trying to console his sister after a rough time at school. And like his mom, he can hear the lies in his voice as he says them.
Paul's nostrils flare. "Playing? That's not playing. That was a direct threat." His eyes dart side to side, a worried expression on his face. "That guy – Logan – said we better do what we're told."
"Ah... I reckon he has leadership skills and wants to exercise his ideas, make sure we help him out and all that." Tobby just wants Paul to stop whining. He is sure that Danny, Sean and Logan see how cool Tobby is and merely wanted to show off so he would later hang out with them. He just has to deal with this crybaby, and then he could stroll out and meet up with his new best friends. He's never been a cool kid at school so now is his only chance to make up for old times.
Paul reads Tobby's mind. "Tobby, just get out of my way.' Paul barges past Tobby, slamming open the door with his shoulder, and leaves with his fists clenched at his sides.
Tobby stares at the sink, shrugs at his own reflection in the greasy, dusty mirror, and steps outside. Both boys run back to the bus.
Jordan's eyes bulge when he looks at Paul. "What happened to you?"
It's the driver's turn to look. "I told you not to touch that water." He frowns his eyebrows. "Now, the whole bus is going to stink."
"It's not my fault! It was–"
"My fault" interjects Tobby. Paul turns toward Tobby, confusion and anger fighting for dominance on his face. Tobby doesn't look at him. "I slipped up on my way out and fell on Paul."
"That's right, Tobby was clumsy," shouts Logan from the back of the bus.
The driver rolls his eyes. "Just go sit down and don't touch anything or anyone. I'll turn on the AC."
"Excuse me, sir! When did you change the air conditioning filters? I can see the air vents are riddled with dust. Turning on the AC will stifle 35% of the fresh air and possibly cause Paul to have an attack!" Nicholas interjects as he points in Paul's direction. The driver just shakes his head, pulls down a lever to shut the bus' glass door, and off they go. The wheels cough up a mountain of dust, which wakes up the old man in his hammock.
"Who goes there and where's my foot?" He looks around him in panic. "Boy! Come back here with my foot."
The old man hops around on one leg as he desperately tries to chase after his Labrador, who's holding his prosthetic leg in his mouth.
The cool kids peek out the back window and burst into hysterics. Meanwhile, Lola turns to her brother. An eyebrow raises as she takes in his appearance. "What happened back there, what took you so long?" She notices his jacket pocket and doesn't see his favorite book. "And where's your prank book?"
He is suddenly jumpy and nervously laughing, further confusing Lola. "Oh that old book, got rid of it in the end, I guess those kids like to play bigger pranks than me, ha!"