The Psychopath Maker

Chapter Fourteen

 The walk to the boy's gym was just as awkward. Each of them walked at their own pace. Troy sped walked through the sidewalks of practically empty campus while Benny lagged behind holding firm to the rear. Isabeth stayed in the middle as Benny's words held her mind hostage; Pigs eat their own. She no longer saw the academic buildings she passed by. All she saw was pigs making a feast out of Dr. Fulton. Arms chewed. Legs minced. Face masticated. Her rapist was no longer a man that could menace her but chow for an animal that could be stewed on served to her for dinner.

       Isabeth couldn't stop playing with her hair even when they reached the Boy's Gym. She stopped in front of the metal blue door, letting it slowly close behind Troy. She watched her friends through the rectangular window. Malachi, out of his uniform sat in the bleachers with his head in his hands. Mya sat directly behind him as they both watched Faith and Lucas gyrate on the basketball court to the fast pace music.

     "You and I have different meanings of socially deviant." Benny nudged Isabeth's arm.

      Isabeth stopped twirling her hair around her finger. "What did you have in mind?"

    "Not mutilation and torture if that's what you think." He glanced at her then shifted his attention back to the gym.

     Isabeth grabbed his arm, "I didn't mean it like that." He looked down at her hand warming his bare skin and she quickly let him go. "I just..." she looked down at her feet. "Never mind." Isabeth shook away her thoughts and open the gym door.

     They entered the gym just as Malachi jumped to his feet. "This is...not a party." He looked back at Maya, who had the face of someone that finished an hour of watching paint dry. "This is just two jackasses dancing!" He shouted loud enough so Faith and Lucas could hear.

      "What did you expect?" Troy dropped down his backpack. "It was Faith's idea." He undid his uniform tie.

     "Fuck you, Troy!" Faith shifted Lucas's sliding hand away from her hips back up to her waist. "Isa, come!" She waved for Isabeth, who was still standing by the gym doors. "You too!" She gestured to Benny.

Isabeth inhaled deeply pushing away the images of Dr. Fulton's corpse being devoured then took measured steps deeper into the gym. She could feel Benny occupying her shadow and it weirdly calmed her.

     Kevin's back was turned to the happenings around him until he chucked the basketball into the hoop. The ball swooshed through the net and he turned around with his arms raised in the air and a smile cast on his face. A smile that fell like a rock once his eyes settled on Benny.

      "Psycho!" Kevin yelled like a madman. "What the hell are you doing here?" Kevin stomped across the court with cheeks that rivaled fire.

     "Isabeth invited me." Benny stopped walking.

     Isabeth tried to detour Kevin's journey by stepping in front of him. " He's cool." She told her friend since childhood.

      "The girl he killed probably said the same thing." Kevin shoved Isabeth's hands away from him. "Don't let your hormones get you killed."

      "My hormones?" Isabeth shoved Kevin. "My hormones are fine."

     Kevin huffed then walked around her.

     "I'm not here to start trouble." Benny insisted staring into Kevin's wild eyes.

    "Then get the hell out of my gym!" Kevin screamed drizzling droplets of spit onto Benny's pale face. "Go back to the crazy house where you belong!"

     Benny rubbed the spit off his face with the sleeves of his uniform shirt. He tried not too but his embarrassed, misty eyes swiveled over to Malachi.

      "Kevin!" Malachi yelled with the fury of a hundred rivers. Troy picked up his bag while Maya held her stomach. "Shut the hell up!" Malachi ran down the bleacher steps. "You're the one acting crazy! Let the boy be!"

       Kevin flicked his middle finger at Malachi before stepping into Benny's personal space. "You're not going to leave after I told you to?" She sniffed like a mad dog. "Well...then."

      The tension in the gym was pliable so Lucas turned off his speaker and followed Maya out the gym with great haste.

     Troy slipped into the sliver of space between Benny and Kevin, "Leave him alone." He pleaded, trying to hold off Kevin.

      Kevin pushed Troy sending him gliding across the polished hardwood floor. He snatched Benny by the collar of his shirt and began pulling him toward the door like a ragdoll. Benny's suede shoes provided him no traction at all. He slipped to the ground like an amateur gliding over ice.

    Isabeth screamed for Kevin to stop but she knew not to get involved when boys were fighting. She learned that the hard way when she received a punch to the arm during a riff between Kevin and Blake over a foul in a Miami Heat game.

     Benny furiously tried to grab his shirt out of Kevin's hand but his frail hands were no match for his attacker's muscular grasp. Kevin's sweat dripped onto Benny's blue uniform shirt like raindrops. Benny closed his eyes trying to avoid the sight of his humiliation. His bare lower back skidded against the floor.

      Unlike Troy's earlier attempt, Malachi didn't try to hold Kevin back. Instead, he drew back his clenched fist then thrashed it into Kevin's high-cheek bone. The impact of Malachi's fist halted the bullying boy. Kevin's hand released Benny's shirt as his body smacked to the floor. Benny heard the thud of the body as his own thing body stopped moving. He slowly opened his eyes. He rose to his feet like a newborn doe.

      "I'm sorry." Isabeth articulated witnessing the tears swelling in Benny's eyes.

      Benny didn't say a word. He went with the first instinct swirling through his body. He ran. His slick shoes caused him to slip once more as he reached the metal door. Benny snatched the door open running out of the gym feeling mentally anguished.

     Benny ran from the building, only stopping on the sidewalk to catch his breath and gather his emotions.

     "That's what happens when you show up in places you don't belong, Benjamin." A voice dictated in the dark.

     Benny turned around squinting before his eyes caught sight of the figure leaning against the tree. He always had trouble seeing at night but he could easily pinpoint the person standing before him.

     "Like you... Lucas?" Benny drug out the boy's name. Benny let the tear roll down his flustered cheek. He endured the rumors, snickers, and alienation. But he never physically felt the hate that his peers had for him. Faith's shrill laughter cutting through the dead of night prompted Benny to furiously move his feet. Lucas on the other hand, stepped deeper into the darkness watching as the crew strolled by him. 

What is Lucas up to? Good or Bad?