Fall in May

~16~ Pride goeth before the Fall

"From hell's heart, I stab at thee. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee." ~ Khan (para-quoting Mellville's Moby D*ck)  

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I take my T-shirt from Lee's hand and wipe the water out of my eyes. Lee's of course, has no idea what any of this is bullshit is about. Hell, he's just happy he got an A on Chad's pride. I accept a hearty knuckle bump from a clearly pleased Sporka and a wan smile from Abrams.

"I'm hitting the showers, don't forget to get the money, Sporka." I instruct him on the ancient art of loan sharking. "If they don't have the money today, tell them to bring it tomorrow, plus five percent interest. Five percent jumps to ten at the end of the week. You got all that?"

"Oh yeah, I am all over that like Lee's second sister." Sporka is all grins and double chins as he laughs his best boisterous belly laugh yet.

"Good, and don't try to find me at lunch. I'll find you if I feel like it." Primarily because I don't want some Sophomore smacking him around for passing Go without a pass. "If not, then just hold on to the money until tomorrow."

"No problemo." Sporka grins like there is no tomorrow. "All will be done as you have commanded, Satan gang leader."  

"Right." I roll my eyes and start stomping towards the showers.

I am not even ten steps across the pool deck towards the locker room and already the bullshit begins. Chad is staring at me with twitchy eyes like I just killed his firstborn. I can see that he wants to say something smart or at least smartassed to me. But every time he starts to open his mouth, his eyes twitch to my ink and some part of his primal lizard brain is screaming at him to shut the hell up before I kill him.  

"Darren, over here!" Brad is now yelling at me from across the pool, waving me over to where he and Buzzy are standing on the opposite bleachers. Old Buzzard is cockeyed down at his timer and staring back up at me with the most interesting expression. So I don't even bother looking back in his direction as I walk towards the showers followed by Acosta and Polanski right on my heels.

"What the hell was that Dean?" Polanski immediately starts in on me for kicking his ass in the pool. 

"Was that a fish kick?" Acosta jumps in. "Holy shit man, how did you learn how to do that?" 

"From the internet." I drone in passing.

"Can you show me how to do that kick?" Acosta is practically begging me.

"Not gonna happen." I wave him off. "Go ask Buzz Off or Chad'n'Brad, they're your coaches. Leave me out of it."

"Hey, there's no reason we can't be cool guy...." Polanski moves to grab my arm and I turn hard on him. I easily twist his wrist off me and back on itself, until I see the pain flash in his face.

"Don't ever touch me again, you little bitch-boy." I intone coldly stepping in on him. "Not unless you want to get your ass handed to you sideways out of the water as well. You got me, Freshmeat? Or do I need to carve that into your skin with a rusty razor, so you don't ever forget?"

"Sorry..."  Both Polanski and Acosta immediately back away, shaking their sorry hands at me.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." I snort in the local custom and keep on stomping my way back to the lockers. The only thought pounding through my thick head now is,"flock, flock, flock me! Why I am so stupid!"

I grab my shower gear and hit the hot showers to scrub the scent of chlorine out of my skin before lunch with May. As the poor freshmeat begin to drift in for their first communal shower, almost every kid looks like he just woke up in an OZ like prison rape nightmare. It seems pretty clear to me that except for my new swim team, all the freshmen have decided that I am not cool at all ...but in fact"scary as shit".  So they all avoid looking directly at me like the plague now, which I must say is probably better for everyone considering.