THE CUCKOO'S EGG
by Galen Hardesty
Chapter Seventeen
THE RAT WITH A HUNDRED FACES
~*~
Jane and Daria set their trays down across from Jodie's and Mack's. Jodie looked up and said, "Hi, Daria, how's the legal battle going?"
Daria seated herself on the immobile bench with as little awkwardness as she could manage. "Well, Drake's insurance company has appealed. The suit against the drug company could take years, but Mom thinks it'll make me a millionaire before I'm through college. Which would make her one too, of course."
"Wow. Really?"
"I'll believe it when I roll in it. But at the least, it's a big case and a very big case that Mom's brought to the firm. They ought to be enough to get her that partnership."
"If she's as good then as she was this last time, I believe it," Jodie said. "I'm so glad the Drake case was televised. We videotaped the whole thing, and we're going to transfer it to DVD-R, once I figure out how. My mom even enjoyed watching your mom. And we all enjoy watching you."
"Oh, come on. Pull the other one." Daria demurred.
"No, really. I particularly love the part where you're being cross- examined, and you make that famous lawyer look foolish. You were great!"
Daria couldn't help smiling at that memory. She looked down at her plate and tried to force her spork into one of the cafeteria's seemingly bulletproof chicken nuggets. "Well, he asked for it. Apparently a lot of people have seen that part. I've gotten scholarship offers from Vale and Flintston if I want to study law, and they mention the trial."
"That's wonderful, Daria. Are you going to accept?"
"My first impulse was not to, because I want to be a writer. But the more I learn about writing, the more I realize that almost all writers have another source of income, even the so-called 'successful' ones. And many writers who can support themselves by their writing alone are writing about some field that they have expertise in. There are a lot of books, articles, and columns written about the law and laws and court cases. A lot of TV and movie scripts, too. And that's before you even mention politics. An aspiring writer could do worse than study law, and a scholarship to the Vale school of Law isn't to be turned down lightly. I'll have to think about it." Daria sighed, laid down her spork, and picked up the nugget with her fingers. "How are those other kids who went off Drake's prescriptions?"
Jodie thought a minute. "Well, Tiffany is a totally different person. She's doing much better in all her classes. She was pretty cranky for a week or so, and she still doesn't take any crap from anybody, but she's a lot more interesting now."
Daria smiled. "Yeah, I noticed. She's more like I remember her from when I first moved here. Quinn said she bit Sandi's head off, and Sandi's been walking on eggs around her ever since."
Jodie continued, "Karen got depressed, and went back on something. She seems to be doing some better. Cindy doesn't seem any different. Most of the kids I know of who came off Ritalin have stayed off it."
"That's great," Daria said. "I'm glad some good has come of that awful day." She shuddered as she sporked a rubbery tomato wedge.
"What about Upchuck?" Jane asked Daria. "As I recall, you swore a blood oath of terrible revenge against him."
Daria replied, "Yeah, and I was plotting it. But I wanted to have the revenge fit the crime. I wanted it to be something along the lines of violating his privacy, the way he violated mine when he followed me and recorded my ravings at the mall, and then sold the recording to Sick Sad World and gave the transcript to the Lowdown."
"Sounds good. So what did you come up with? Don't even try to tell us you couldn't think of anything," Jane leered nastily.
"Well, I did think of something. you know those little locker assignment slips we get the first day of the school year with the locker number and combination on them? I thought of making one or more of those on my printer with Upchuck's name, locker number, and combination, and leaving them where someone who'd probably get into his locker would find them.
"But then my damn conscience got to bothering me. See, much as I dislike what he did, we were in a public place. I was declaiming to a crowd. I had no legitimate expectation of privacy. Upchuck does, for whatever's in his locker. So I finally decided that, as sleazy and rotten as what he did seemed to me, I really couldn't justify giving out his locker combination."
"Shoot. I'd have gone ahead and done it," said Jane. "If I could get his combination, that its." Jodie nodded in agreement. "But I guess that's easier said than done, huh?"
"It didn't seem to be. I just watched him open his locker three times and I had it. I even printed up a little slip that looks just like the ones they hand out. It's in my pocket here." Daria reached into her jacket pocket and felt around, then, frowning slightly, she reached into the other jacket pocket. Her hand came out empty. "Hm. I'm sure I put it in this pocket."
Daria noticed that the others' attention was on several girls who had entered the cafeteria and seemed to be looking for someone. Now that it had come to her attention, she recalled having seen a couple of cheerleaders come through a few minutes before, also searching for someone.
Shortly after the girls had left, Upchuck entered. He had the look of someone who is looking out for people who are looking for someone. He proceeded at a brisk walk down an aisle toward a door on the opposite side, looking all around him. As he neared the door, three cheerleaders, including Bittany, came in the way he had entered. A girl stood up and pointed, and Brittany cried, "There he is!" and the cheerleaders set off after him. Upchuck broke into a run and disappeared through the door.
Jodie held up a hand as Brittany rushed by. "What's going on?" she asked.
Brittany paused. "That rat! You wouldn't believe what he was doing! He was putting the faces of Lawndale High girls on dirty pictures off the Internet! I think he was even selling them to guys! Ooooh! When we catch him." and she ran out the way Upchuck had gone.
They watched some other girls run past, blood in their eyes. "I guess as long as it's only girls after him, he'll eventually escape," Jane surmised. "I'm pretty sure I'm the only female here who can run him down, and I haven't finished my double fudgy cookie yet."
Just then, Upchuck ran past again from another direction. Hot on his heels were two members of the Lions backfield, egged on by two cheerleaders. "Oooh," said Daria, "That doesn't look good for Upchuck." Her thoughtful expression turned worried. "I'm going to walk by his locker, and maybe down the hall a ways, and make sure there aren't any of those pictures scattered around."
The other three watched her go. Jodie cocked an eyebrow. "Fell out of her pocket. Right. Like Kevin's jockstrap accidentally got tangled around his neck."
"I dunno. It could have happened like that. Daria usually owns up to the stuff she does," Jane observed, meditatively chewing her cookie.
"What do you think, Mack?" Jodie asked.
"Seems there's no way to know for sure," Mack smiled thoughtfully. "I'll just note that as things stand now, she gets credit for the clever revenge scheme but maintains plausible deniability about executing it, maybe even to herself. Maybe that's the way she wants to leave it." He rose and picked up his tray. "I think I'll go see if there are any homicides I can prevent, or something."
"Make that 'just barely prevent,'" Jane called after him. "Don't get in a rush. You wouldn't want to get a cramp."
La la LA la la.
Well, that's it. I hope you enjoyed it, those of you who hung on till the end. Thanks for all the props and encouragement. Now I need a few cold- hearted, ruthless beta readers. Please email me if interested, stating your favorite flavor of file.
LS
by Galen Hardesty
Chapter Seventeen
THE RAT WITH A HUNDRED FACES
~*~
Jane and Daria set their trays down across from Jodie's and Mack's. Jodie looked up and said, "Hi, Daria, how's the legal battle going?"
Daria seated herself on the immobile bench with as little awkwardness as she could manage. "Well, Drake's insurance company has appealed. The suit against the drug company could take years, but Mom thinks it'll make me a millionaire before I'm through college. Which would make her one too, of course."
"Wow. Really?"
"I'll believe it when I roll in it. But at the least, it's a big case and a very big case that Mom's brought to the firm. They ought to be enough to get her that partnership."
"If she's as good then as she was this last time, I believe it," Jodie said. "I'm so glad the Drake case was televised. We videotaped the whole thing, and we're going to transfer it to DVD-R, once I figure out how. My mom even enjoyed watching your mom. And we all enjoy watching you."
"Oh, come on. Pull the other one." Daria demurred.
"No, really. I particularly love the part where you're being cross- examined, and you make that famous lawyer look foolish. You were great!"
Daria couldn't help smiling at that memory. She looked down at her plate and tried to force her spork into one of the cafeteria's seemingly bulletproof chicken nuggets. "Well, he asked for it. Apparently a lot of people have seen that part. I've gotten scholarship offers from Vale and Flintston if I want to study law, and they mention the trial."
"That's wonderful, Daria. Are you going to accept?"
"My first impulse was not to, because I want to be a writer. But the more I learn about writing, the more I realize that almost all writers have another source of income, even the so-called 'successful' ones. And many writers who can support themselves by their writing alone are writing about some field that they have expertise in. There are a lot of books, articles, and columns written about the law and laws and court cases. A lot of TV and movie scripts, too. And that's before you even mention politics. An aspiring writer could do worse than study law, and a scholarship to the Vale school of Law isn't to be turned down lightly. I'll have to think about it." Daria sighed, laid down her spork, and picked up the nugget with her fingers. "How are those other kids who went off Drake's prescriptions?"
Jodie thought a minute. "Well, Tiffany is a totally different person. She's doing much better in all her classes. She was pretty cranky for a week or so, and she still doesn't take any crap from anybody, but she's a lot more interesting now."
Daria smiled. "Yeah, I noticed. She's more like I remember her from when I first moved here. Quinn said she bit Sandi's head off, and Sandi's been walking on eggs around her ever since."
Jodie continued, "Karen got depressed, and went back on something. She seems to be doing some better. Cindy doesn't seem any different. Most of the kids I know of who came off Ritalin have stayed off it."
"That's great," Daria said. "I'm glad some good has come of that awful day." She shuddered as she sporked a rubbery tomato wedge.
"What about Upchuck?" Jane asked Daria. "As I recall, you swore a blood oath of terrible revenge against him."
Daria replied, "Yeah, and I was plotting it. But I wanted to have the revenge fit the crime. I wanted it to be something along the lines of violating his privacy, the way he violated mine when he followed me and recorded my ravings at the mall, and then sold the recording to Sick Sad World and gave the transcript to the Lowdown."
"Sounds good. So what did you come up with? Don't even try to tell us you couldn't think of anything," Jane leered nastily.
"Well, I did think of something. you know those little locker assignment slips we get the first day of the school year with the locker number and combination on them? I thought of making one or more of those on my printer with Upchuck's name, locker number, and combination, and leaving them where someone who'd probably get into his locker would find them.
"But then my damn conscience got to bothering me. See, much as I dislike what he did, we were in a public place. I was declaiming to a crowd. I had no legitimate expectation of privacy. Upchuck does, for whatever's in his locker. So I finally decided that, as sleazy and rotten as what he did seemed to me, I really couldn't justify giving out his locker combination."
"Shoot. I'd have gone ahead and done it," said Jane. "If I could get his combination, that its." Jodie nodded in agreement. "But I guess that's easier said than done, huh?"
"It didn't seem to be. I just watched him open his locker three times and I had it. I even printed up a little slip that looks just like the ones they hand out. It's in my pocket here." Daria reached into her jacket pocket and felt around, then, frowning slightly, she reached into the other jacket pocket. Her hand came out empty. "Hm. I'm sure I put it in this pocket."
Daria noticed that the others' attention was on several girls who had entered the cafeteria and seemed to be looking for someone. Now that it had come to her attention, she recalled having seen a couple of cheerleaders come through a few minutes before, also searching for someone.
Shortly after the girls had left, Upchuck entered. He had the look of someone who is looking out for people who are looking for someone. He proceeded at a brisk walk down an aisle toward a door on the opposite side, looking all around him. As he neared the door, three cheerleaders, including Bittany, came in the way he had entered. A girl stood up and pointed, and Brittany cried, "There he is!" and the cheerleaders set off after him. Upchuck broke into a run and disappeared through the door.
Jodie held up a hand as Brittany rushed by. "What's going on?" she asked.
Brittany paused. "That rat! You wouldn't believe what he was doing! He was putting the faces of Lawndale High girls on dirty pictures off the Internet! I think he was even selling them to guys! Ooooh! When we catch him." and she ran out the way Upchuck had gone.
They watched some other girls run past, blood in their eyes. "I guess as long as it's only girls after him, he'll eventually escape," Jane surmised. "I'm pretty sure I'm the only female here who can run him down, and I haven't finished my double fudgy cookie yet."
Just then, Upchuck ran past again from another direction. Hot on his heels were two members of the Lions backfield, egged on by two cheerleaders. "Oooh," said Daria, "That doesn't look good for Upchuck." Her thoughtful expression turned worried. "I'm going to walk by his locker, and maybe down the hall a ways, and make sure there aren't any of those pictures scattered around."
The other three watched her go. Jodie cocked an eyebrow. "Fell out of her pocket. Right. Like Kevin's jockstrap accidentally got tangled around his neck."
"I dunno. It could have happened like that. Daria usually owns up to the stuff she does," Jane observed, meditatively chewing her cookie.
"What do you think, Mack?" Jodie asked.
"Seems there's no way to know for sure," Mack smiled thoughtfully. "I'll just note that as things stand now, she gets credit for the clever revenge scheme but maintains plausible deniability about executing it, maybe even to herself. Maybe that's the way she wants to leave it." He rose and picked up his tray. "I think I'll go see if there are any homicides I can prevent, or something."
"Make that 'just barely prevent,'" Jane called after him. "Don't get in a rush. You wouldn't want to get a cramp."
La la LA la la.
Well, that's it. I hope you enjoyed it, those of you who hung on till the end. Thanks for all the props and encouragement. Now I need a few cold- hearted, ruthless beta readers. Please email me if interested, stating your favorite flavor of file.
LS