Chapter Ninety-Five
John watched as Claire hurried away from him, wondering if he'd taken it too far. He jumped as Toby grabbed his ankle, pushing him against the lockers with his boot.
"You broke my nose you prick!" Toby shouted, pushing John over and letting him fall into the blood on the floor. "You're gonna pay for that!"
John slipped on the slick floor as he tried to get up, he kicked out as someone grabbed his wrists, a broken cry escaping him.
Dominic pushed through the crowd, Cody, Sam, and Jim on his heals. "Hey!" He caught the jocks attention away from his cousin, looking the group over. "Four to one isn't exactly a fair fight. Besides, he's still fucked up from Medusa drugging him last week. How about you pick on someone you can get a real fight out of?" He squared his shoulders, lifting his fists to protect his face. "Unless you're chicken."
The big Mexican kid who was holding John's wrists stood, rolling his shoulders as he stared Dominic down. "Half-breed." He spat, knowing that Dominic was only half Mexican. "Have you ever fought a real Mexican? Or just little mutts like you?"
Dominic growled, faking toward the kid. "No. But I've fought my share of black gangsters. And I'd say they can pack twice the punch you've got."
"Mestizo." He snapped, knowing that Dominic and John both spoke fluent Spanish.
Dominic snarled, looking the jock over. "All talk and no bite. Just like a worthless fighting dog." Dominic remembered seeing the dog fights when his dad would drag him to the betting pits. "You ever see what happens to those dogs?"
The jock shook his head, doubting that the burner had ever seen a dog fight in his life. "What happens to them?"
John shuddered at the memory of the gun going off and the dog dropping dead in the pit.
Dominic formed a gun with his hand, pointing it at the jock's head. "They get their brains blown out because they're worthless. The owner and betters can't get any cash out of them, so they're branded as a waste of space, and they get put down in the pit." He inched closer to the jock. "The blood soaks into the dirt, turning it black and the next thing you know… the dog's carcass is being torn apart by the real fighters -the ones that bring a profit."
The kid swallowed, backing down slightly at the description the burner had given him. "You're fucked up."
Dominic shrugged, knowing that he'd won without a single punch. "You tend to be a little fucked up when you've lived the life we have."
John nodded, standing taller when he saw Principal Anderson walking toward them. He knew that he'd get detention this time, but he wasn't scared of a little detention. After all, it couldn't be worse than the time that Vernon had cornered him in the supply closet and tried to get him into a fight.
"What happened here?" The Principal asked, taking in the blood on the floor and how it stained John and Toby's clothes as well as ran down their faces, and the bruises around Toby's eyes that showed his nose was broken.
Toby pointed at John, motioning to his busted nose as he spoke. "I was just trying to get my locker open and he punched me in the nose for no reason!"
John glared at him, his dark eyes like icy daggers drilling into the blond.
Principal Anderson nodded, motioning for John to follow him to his office and for Toby to take a trip to the nurse's office. "Johnathan, please come with me. Tobias, go see Miss Brown."
Toby nodded, taking off toward the nurse's office as John was taken to the Principal's.