Meat

A short story against mobbing.

A Surprise at Johnson High


"Dylan Mosley! Take the chilli or leave it. The vegetarian stew is out and others are waiting in the line," the stout server at the school's cafeteria grumphed. "Biologically produced meat, my foot...happy cows, gah," she added in a murmur.
By the sour lines engraved in her round face, no one had made her happy in a long time, Dylan mused. But he did not give voice to his opinion, just picked a bowl from the counter to place it on his tray, next to the chocolate milk. His glasses slipped as he pushed through the crowd towards the tables, seeking a quiet corner. So he didn't recognise Ken Vance until he almost bumped into the larger boy. Damn.
"Where do you think you are going, idiot?" Ken sneared, throwing back his head in his usual arrogant way to show off the flopping forelock of his blonde hair.
Behind him, Jenny, his cheerleader girlfriend, giggled. Other students turned around, smelling blood in the water like sharks. Dylan's heart started to drum. He felt the cursed blush creeping up his throat. He swallowed.
"The correct expression is Nerd. Idiot would be more in your line," Dylan pulled his too slim shoulders back. He was proud that he did not stutter.
"I'm not the idiot, I'm saving on my lunch money. Good of you to fetch my lunch," Ken grabbed the tray and pulled.
Dylan refused to give in, holding on. Some of the chilli spilt. But it was a short struggle. Dylan grasped when one of the other football stars roughly elbowed his back from behind. It hurt. Dylan had to grab his glasses swiftly to keep them from falling and shattering.
"Get gone to your stupid Romeo flop, frog-face. And don't you dare kiss Jenny on stage," Trent threatened, shoving Dylan in the small of his back again, harder this time.
Dylan stumbled until George pushed him back, none too gently. "Hey, Romeo. Don't bump me or you might tear your pantyhose," George snickered.
Dylan nearly panicked, surrounded by half the football team now. Again. Ken's voice cut through Dylan's painful memories of being roughed up before.
"Yum, yum...Tasty," Ken bragged, stuffing a spoonful of chilli into his mouth.
Dylan's fists balled, his nails cutting into his palm. He knew from bitter memory he had no chance against Ken, let alone against him and his friends. He'd just end up bleeding again. But he felt like a pressure cooker before the explosion, grinding his teeth.
Before Dylan could do something stupid, Ken coughed.
Dylan turned his head away from George's hateful grimace. Ken spat out. A white thing pinged onto the tray. Ken was fumbling with his sausage fingers in his mouth, feeling for more obstructions. Dylan stared. This thing was not a cow tooth. It looked...
"What the hell is that?" Ken echoed Dylan's thought. Dylan looked up at the spoon Ken was holding. A glibbery round glob on it actually showed a blue-greyish circle on the white background. A circle with a black pupil. Could it be...
Ken retched.
Dylan felt a wild laugh bubble up in his chest. Irresistible. All-consuming.
"A human eyeball! An actual human eyeball!" Dylan burst out, hysterically. "You cannibal!"
Behind Ken, Jenny started to screech. A screech that soon spread as other students found more teeth and other body parts in their lunch.


Investigations


"This is a part of the mandible, cut off by a very sharp instrument," the female tech in her white paper suit stated dryly. She was picking through the chunky remains of the chilli, dripping in a sieve in front of her.
"What, like a knife?" Police officer Thane asked hoarsely, revulsion distorting his square, ebony face.
"More like a very powerful meat grinder. Does the school have one?" The tech asked.
"No. No, they get their meat canned," Thane retched. His gaze was fixed on the cooked eyeball.
"Then I'd look at the canning company," The tech shrugged.
"Does this not bother you? A person cooked and fed to children?" Thane queried incredulously.
"No, not especially. Meat is meat. You'll get used to the bodies. Interesting puzzle here, though. Doesn't look like a whole body. If I were you, I'd have them recall the rest of this charge," the tech suggested.
Thane was happy to have an excuse to leave.


"That is enough, Sungh. I will show Mr. Thane the factory now," the grey-suited, blond man interrupted the questioning. The middle-aged employee Detective Thane had been speaking to paled.
"Yes, Mr Vance," Mr Sungh gulped.
Thane blinked. The middle-aged, balding Mr Sungh blushed and ducked away, lab-coat tails flapping, scuttling off between the rows of cardboard boxes. Interesting. Thane suspected that this engeneer had been working himself up to spilling some beans, so to say. He saw Mr Sungh disappear behind a stack of bean sacks. Thane decided he would find the helpful engineer later and continue this conversation. No sense in losing the man his job.
"Can you show me those papers? What charge number did the school use? Ah...Officer? These are just the dry goods. We import these beans from Mexico, like some of the meat. Pre-cook them, saving time for our clients. We are more hygienic, too. We strictly observe all standards. But that charge of meat has been ground and processed in Hall 2. This direction, please," the suit invited with an expansive gesture. He looked vaguely familar to Thane, but the detective could not place the official
"You will see we are operating strictly within the legal boundaries," the blond man assured.
"And you are?" Thane asked briskly. He knew that sort of officious young men, fast-track risers filled with their own importance.
"Theodore Vance-Dannings, CEO of Farmers' Delight. You are the officer leading this investigation," the suit's haughty, British accent grated on Thane's mood.
"Detective Thane, LAPD. Observing all standards? Then you sure can tell me how human remains got served to innocent children," Thane scoffed.
"Lamentably, I cannot. As you can imagine, it would have been noticed during the shifts. And Saturday night, the surveillance cameras failed. We had a system breakdown, I'm afraid," Vance-Dannings rubbed his blond hair.
"How convenient," Thane snorted.
"I would be happy if you kept your sarcasm to yourself. My own son goes to Johnson High, too. We phoned just now and I can tell you I am not happy about your questioning, nor about the shock my poor Kenny suffered. Have the children been examined?" Vance-Dannings insisted.
"My sergeant was arranging this with one of the hospitals when I left," Thane shrugged. "Dr. Brown, our forensic pathologist, phoned me. He says the risks of transmissible diseases is very low if the meat has been cooked well. Only prions and certain viruses might survive that. Creutzfeldt-Jakob, Kuru, Hepatitis, HIV, Streptococcus... The lab is testing the remains picked from the chilli. We will know in a few days whether there is any risk for the students," Thane did not mind scaring this officious buffon a little. The way the helpful Mr Sungh had paled did scream mobbing. Thane really detested those abusing power and the people dependent on them.


"Tom? I'm afraid you will have to go back to that high school again. The vpn of the hacker attack that blanked the cameras at Farmers' Delight on the night of the crime is registered there. In the school's library. I think that's an odd coincidence," Allie, the computer forensics specialist said. She plunged her cute backside on Thane's desk, crossing her shapely legs.
"Thanks, honey," Thane looked up from the paperwork. He aimed for a grateful smile. He loved Allie and her subtle way to distract him from his bad memories associated with high school. Allie knew him so well. He lifted and kissed her hand gently.
"Not at work, Tom," Allie giggled, her cream & coffee coloured skin blushing.
"Love, everybody knows we'll marry next month," Thane contradicted and let his lips wander up Allie's delicious wrist. Her scent was intoxicating, reminding Thane he was not the scrawny, spotty, black kid in a mostly white school anymore. The other officers in the room started to wolf-whistle and clap.


The Library at Johnson High