Witless Wonder, Part II

Kevin walked quickly to his Jaguar XF Convertible, hopping into the drivers seat. He started the car quickly, glancing into Chad's window. He saw Chad take a swig of wine. Kevin shook his head with a smile and roared down the road, taking a sharp left onto the main road. He drove the path to school, where he had seen the movers van over the past weekend. He hoped he was right. As he drove up the street, he saw the car he was looking for. There, parked high in a driveway, was a navy Cadillac Escalade. Before Kevin could rethink his reckless decision, he whipped into the driveway, tires squealing. He jumped out of the car and slammed the door, a devious grin on his face. The bottom of his black and white pinstripe dress shirt blew in all directions in the breeze along with his hair. He stepped up a few steps to the front door and rapped twice. He heard footsteps, clumsy and tired sounding. "Yellow." he heard a voice say before the door flung open. There was Bryan, a goofy grin on his face, hair wet at his shoulders. Kevin gave his sweetest smile before pulling back his fist and swinging straight at Bryan. His eyes grew wide and he ducked quickly as Kevin's knuckles slammed into the brick wall. "DUDE?!" Bryan yelled, looking up at Kevin. Kevin's foot hit Bryan squarely on the shin, and Bryan's but hit the ground. Kevin towered over him, the devious grin back on his face. "Hey, buddy." Kevin said, grabbing a fistful of Bryan's hair. Bryan looked flabbergasted as he stumbled to his feet. Then his violet blue eyes turned dark and angry. He pulled back a fist, but Kevin caught it before it went anywhere. "I have a proposition for you,” he whispered in Bryan's ear. Kevin held one of Bryan's fists in his own, and had his other hand buried in Bryan's hair. Bryan had a clean shot, but he was intrigued. "I don't trust you, you don't trust me. We aren't too good together. But I need your help." he said, still whispering in Bryan's ear. Bryan shut his mouth and listened.

Chad saw Kevin glance at him as he set the wine bottle back down, and put a bit of a sad smile on his lips. He had no clue what was about to happen to Bryan, and he was a bit worried. After downing about half the bottle of some kind or another of expensive foreign wine, Chad sighed and set the bottle down for a final time before he started to walk up the flight of stairs. As he walked, a trail of crimson dots followed him, standing out on the clean, ivory colored carpet. The nearer and nearer he got to the top, the quicker his heart beat, and he gripped the wooden banister so tightly that he almost couldn't slide his hand any higher. When he reached the top stair, he could see Al's oak door looming ahead, straight down the hall. He didn't want to. He really didn't want to, but he had to. So with yet another sigh, he slowly walked down the hall until he was standing right in front of his brother’s door. Then Chad wrapped his long, shaking fingers around the sparkling brass know and started to turn it. Thoughts rushed through his head as to what he was going to say. 'Oh, hey Al! Kevin just slapped me because he found out that last night after my party, I drugged this dude, Bryan, and then I did him! Oh, and a twist, is that earlier that day, Kevin punched him in the face because he kissed his girlfriend!' Yeah, like that help. Chad sighed, and opened the door.

Kevin finally released Bryan, and Bryan took a careful step back. "I don't know what you want, but hurry up and say it before I call the cops." he said, even though he knew he wouldn't. This kid was just so... off his rocker or something. Bryan couldn't place it. Kevin shook his hand where it hit the wall and flipped his hair out of his eyes. "Here's the deal. I'm having a little problem at school." Bryan held up a hand to stop him. "First, why did that require punching me?" Kevin took a threatening step forward. "Because I want you to know that you shouldn't screw with me. You think I'm an easy match, but I'm not. So if you screw around on me or my girls, I won't be afraid to hit you harder." Kevin snarled, eyes sparking. Bryan saw the seriousness in Kevin's eyes and didn't say anything else, although his eyes darkened in anger. He didn't have to take this. He could just shut the door right now. But he didn't. Kevin glanced behind him towards the street, the cold wind ruffling his shirt. "There’s a problem at school that I think you can help me with." Kevin said, popping his knuckles. Bryan gave him a suspicious glance. "What’s it about?" he asked. Kevin scowled. "His name is Anthony Greg Walker." Kevin said, the scowl plastered on his face from even mentioning the name. Bryan cocked his head. "Who is that?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. Kevin rolled his eyes. "I guess some people call him a bully. I just call him annoying as hell. And he's planning something. A party. And at that party, he's inviting all the juniors like us, and is planning on a huge prank." All this was new to Bryan, and didn’t seem that important at all. Why did he care about the rest of the freshmen? But the seriousness in Kevin's stare told him he would find out soon enough. "Listen, I know this sounds weird to you, but I have a plan to stop the party. Sadly, though, I need your help, Chad's help, and a couple dozen pounds of fireworks." Okay, so it wasn't quiet as important as Bryan had though, but heck would it be funny! "Why do you need me?" Bryan asked, confused. "Because, you're the new kid and nobody would expect it. You wanna make a name for yourself, don’t you?" Kevin asked. Bryan shrugged. "Okay then. But just so you know, if you do anything to screw this up, all the blame goes on you." Kevin started threateningly into Bryan's eyes. Bryan understood, and already the adrenaline was pumping. "Where and when?" he asked, leaning against the wall. "Next Friday at 11. Him and all his friends will be setting up for the party. He'll never expect a thing." With that, Kevin turned on his heels and walked down the steps, pausing a few seconds to see a faded red Corvette parked in the driveway. He caught a glimpse of Chad in the front seat, surveying the whole scene with wide eyes. Kevin through him a mysterious smile then looked back up at Bryan. Kevin quickly ran two fingers over his lips and sealed them. Bryan nodded, looking a little confused but trustworthy enough. Kevin waved once at Chad, then hopped in his car and sped away, tires squealing on the pavement. Next stop, Katy's house

Chad waited a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the dim light of the room before stepping into it and sighing. "Al." he said softly, "I'm sorry you had to see that." Then he shook his head, as all the memories flashed through his head as he thought of what to say to his brother. "I know you might not want to listen to me, but it's important." After he didn't hear any sort of response, he started to look around the room. When his search was fruitless, he started to worry, but kept a calm demeanor. Rushing down the flight of stairs, he grabbed his set of keys off of the key ring he hung them on and was out of the door in a flash.

Then he stopped, standing barefoot on the gravel driveway, so he could clear his mind and think. 'Where would he be?' he thought, but then he remembered his brother's new 'best friend', Austin. Bryan's brother. He would have to go to Bryan's house. Then he kicked the gravel, resulting in getting a few jagged scrapes on his bare feet. With a sigh, he walked over to his car and slowly opened the door before getting in. 'Okay, I just need to find out where Bryan lives.' Then he drove his car down the driveway, and followed the path to Al's school. Once he got there, he traced the steps that Bryan had taken to get home, hoping he would arrive at the same destination.

After driving for a short while, he saw a house perched on a hill that looked out over the spanning expanse of midnight colored lake. In the driveway of the beautiful house, were several cars, and among them was a dark blue Escalade. As he drove up the steep drive way and brought the car to a halt, he saw Kevin wave at him, and turn his head to face the tall front door of the house. Standing in the doorway, was Bryan, his hair damp and sticking to the sides of his head. He wore only a pair of green flannel pants, and had a white towel slung around his neck. Drawing in a deep breath, Chad prepared himself for the encounter with the blond.

Opening the door, he stepped out on his injured feet and slowly made his way up the cobblestone path, limping with every step he took. When he finally got to the front door, and saw Bryan standing right there in front of him, his mouth went dry, and he knitted his dark, perfectly shaped eyebrows, as a sheepish smile played on his lips. "Hi..." he said quietly, looking down at his bare, bleeding feet. "I know this may be a bit awkward, but I need your help." his voice got quieter until the other boy could barely hear him.

After standing there for a few long seconds, fidgeting, Bryan sighed, and shrugged his bare shoulders. “Fine. I guess I can help you.” Then he started walking into the house, past unopened boxes, piles of random items stacked upon furniture, and packing material. Chad followed him through the labyrinth of cardboard and plastic, until they came to what was seemingly the only room in the house that had everything in their proper places.

The room was fairly large, with a high ceiling, intricate crown molding, and wall-to-wall hardwood floors. A tall, curved archway led into the amazing room. Opposite the entrance, was a beautiful brick fireplace, with a dark mahogany mantle, and a wrought-iron grate that sat in front of a pile of old ashes. Placed high on the east wall, were several windows, and slanting beams of glittering sunlight cut through the air of the unlit room, and illuminated the dust floating carelessly in the air. Beneath the row of windows, was a set of glass paned French doors that led to a deck that faced the lakeshore, and a large backyard. The walls were a color set somewhere between rust, and chocolate brown, and the floors were just a few shades lighter.

As Chad entered the room, he couldn’t help but to keep looking around, as if mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the room. It took him until Bryan had called his names a good four or five times to realize that he was supposed to go and sit on one of the black leather sofas, that had a blue sheen to it. “Oh…” he said as he walked forward and sat across from Bryan on a soft black recliner. Then he watched as the other boy propped his feet up on the glass topped, wooden coffee table. “Now,” He started, running his fingers through his quickly drying hair, to get it out of his vision “what exactly is it that you need?”

Chad sighed once again, and then he spoke. “Well, I’m looking for a little boy, and I think I might find him here.” The look on Bryan’s face was priceless. His eyes were bugging out, and his jaw hanging open. “W-what?” he almost yelled, pulling his feet off of the table, and standing up quickly. “If you’re thinking about my brother, then you got another thing comin’ buddy!” Then Chad frantically waved his hands around and also stood up. “Wait wait wait!” he said quickly, as to avoid possibly being hurt. “That’s not what I meant to say!”