Spare The Rod: Part II

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A cold wind blew across the campus at 9:51pm and Mikey shivered. He was jogging across campus, and the crunching of dead leaves under his feet was a sound that usually calmed him, but tonight his nerves felt on edge. Part of his mind still couldn't believe Biff had actually destroyed most of his semester’s notes for no reason at all apart from the need to be cruel and destructive. Cruel and destructive was Biff down to a 'T', but even for Biff it was a bit much.

 

"Crunch" said a dead leaf under Mikey's running shoe as he pushed on. All around was darkness and Mikey was totally invisible to all except for when he passed under a lamp on the path. Then, with his reappearance in the world around him, a thought reentered into his head, one that he'd pushed away each time but with greater difficulty on each attempt. "Get him" the thought said, "teach him a lesson".

 

The cold, biting air created a stabbing sensation in Mikey's lungs as he took an especially deep breath and pushed the thought down into his subconscious again. It passed into the darkness, just as Mikey did as he moved further down the path. It was good to be alone on the campus when these impulses came to him, he wouldn't want the others to see him wrestling with self-control. He had his image to think about. He had notes to re-do and catch up. But he also had a grievance against Biff. Mikey glanced at his watch. He was meant to jog for nine more minutes, but if he stopped early, he'd have the time to have it out with Biff. Which was more important to Mikey at that point in his life: nine minutes of cardiovascular fitness or settling the score with Biff to his satisfaction? Mikey slowly let his breath out and looked left and right before jogging off the path.

 

**

 

"What does the directions on the packet say?" Tony asked anxiously from the stove while Kevin looked at the back of the sauce bottle.

 

"Just says cook for ten to fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally" he said, setting the bottle back down on the table.

 

"I'm not so sure about this cooking thing, Kevin.." Tony begun, nervously keeping an eye on the pot on the stove.

 

"You're the clumsiest guy known to man, sure" Kevin replied laconically, "but you're going to have to do this kind of thing if you want to get on in the world, Tony, and I always won't be here to offer advice. Look, it's just pasta, it's not going to explode"

 

"It...mightn't" Tony said, running the scenario through in his head and feeding his paranoia.

 

"Look, you boil the water, add the pasta, stir it and when it's done you drain it and add sauce.. and then.. you have a Meal" Kevin said, finishing grandly.

 

"Really? So, I don't have to.. uh.. heat the sauce? Or bake the-"

 

"No no, the pasta's hot enough to warm the sauce. I picked spaghetti because it's really simple. Now, when you're with Cindy you're going to be a whole lot more nervous, but the procedure's the same. That's why we're using the first floor kitchen instead of the one on our floor, I don't want anything messing with your head on the trial run. If this goes well, well.. you just might make this for her someday. That'll be great, right?"

 

"Sure. Yes. I mean, okay. Sure" Tony said. "Sorry, what were you saying?" he asked bashfully. "I was so into this I wasn't really listening".

 

Kevin smiled and handed the bottle to Tony. "I'm going into the lounge now to watch some TV, so you're going to be on your own, Pierre. Give a yell if anything catches fire, and stir the pot once every two minutes so the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom. It's.." Kevin paused to look at his watch, "9:53 now, and you have to cook it for at least ten minutes, so I'll be back at 10:03. Got it?"

 

"Uh, sure" Tony said, knitting his brows together in concentration. "I can manage this".

 

"Attaboy" Kevin said, walking into the lounge. He'd always had it in mind to teach Tony a few basic dishes to cook for a date, the simple kind that even Tony couldn't mess up while his palms were sweating and he was panicking about what colour tie to wear, but he wasn't planning on doing it so soon. Still, with the scare Cindy had had from Biff earlier in the day, it was good to see Tony have a few words with her to show his concern, and given how those few words soon became a lengthy discussion, dinner dates, even informal ones, couldn't be too far away. Kevin clicked the TV on and sat back on the sofa. It was good to be watching a TV again even if it wasn't his own, he reflected bitterly, as he scowled at the neon glow.

 

**

 

Lisa finished the last page of ‘Waiting For Godot’ and closed the book before setting it on her bedside table as the clock there ticked over to 9:54. "It's a terrible thing" she said to herself, "to live waiting for something that you never know if it will come or not". She was alone, but Lisa had a flair for the dramatic. She looked at the door and shuddered. She'd heard the tyres on Biff's Ferrari squeal a few minutes ago as he drove off to the corner-store to get some alcohol and girlie-mags, and maybe his mood would be a little better when he returned. Maybe. Oh, come on, Lisa, you think Biff's going to be MORE rational after he's had a few drinks? He's going to-

 

The door suddenly opened and Lisa gave a yelp of surprise. "What's wrong?" Cindy asked concernedly, peering around it.

 

"Sorry" Lisa said, "I thought you were.. someone else"

 

"Oh" Cindy said. "Oh" she repeated, more gravely. "Lisa, don't worry about that, I'm sure he was just talking garbage like usual. If not, well.. we can take care of ourselves, you know"

 

"Yeah" said Lisa, unconvinced. Cindy walked across the room and gave her a hug.

 

"Everything's going to be all right" she told Lisa quietly. "I'm not going to let him harm either of us. Now lighten up!"

 

Lisa smiled. "Sure, Cindy. Uh.. incidentally.. you um.. kind of.. when was the last time you freshened up?"

 

Cindy blushed and released Lisa. "Oh, sorry" she said.

 

"It's okay, Cindy, I guess you just can't smell it, you know, being used to it.."

 

"Oh my" Cindy said, getting more embarrassed, "I'm SO sorry.."

 

"It's FINE, Cindy, man, it's not like you stink like HIM.." Lisa said, smiling gently.

 

Cindy grabbed some soap and large white bath towel before heading for the door. "I'll be quick. See you soon" she said, closing the door behind her.

 

**

 

Dani banged on door 201. "You in there, Darryl?" she asked.

 

"Uh, gimme a second" came the reply. The door then opened and Darryl, the second floor R.A. stood there. He looked Dani and Scott over briefly and smiled. "What can I do you for?"

 

"We've got a problem." Dani said, adjusting the clipboard under her arm.

 

"What kind of problem?" Darryl asked, raising an eyebrow. He wasn't usually consulted when it came to Third Floor Richter problems. He usually only found out about them when they inevitably became Second Floor Richter Problems.

 

"Biff" Scott said, plainly, and folded his arms. The watch on his left wrist displayed 9:56.

 

"Yeah," Dani said, "we uh.. we're having a bit of a problem with Biff. We think we're going to have to get rid of him"

 

"Get rid of?" Darryl said, raising his eyebrow even higher. "So why me? Fill out a transfer form"

 

"Listen, Biff doesn't listen to me, and most of the people on our floor.. no.. ALL of them.. are sick of him. We want him moved to another Hall, but you know, Richter's the last place on campus for room availability, so it's going to be difficult to find another place. The administrators also know that we don't get on with him too, so they're going to think us asking him to move is more of a problem with us than a problem with him, you know, so we want someone objective to view his room and the floor and verify the kinds of damage he's done".

 

"Oh, I see" Darryl said. "Sure, I'll look it over. Uh.. is he around?"

 

"No, he went off for a drive in his Ferrari" Scott said, "actually, I'd better go check he's not back."

 

"Good work, Scott," Dani said, patting him on the shoulder as he walked off. Just as he reached the stairwell, Cindy walked onto the floor holding a white bath towel.

 

"Hey Cindy" Scott said.

 

"Hey" Cindy said. "I'm just.. uh.. freshening up" she said, pushing open the door to the women's bathroom.

 

Scott smirked and walked into the stairwell. Cindy had a funny way of being awfully British about certain things, he reflected. She never used the 3rd floor bathroom, which was for the men, sure, but if it wasn't locked, he didn't think anyone would object to a fellow floor member of either sex using just the shower in it. Still, everyone has their own ways of doing things. Yes. Everyone has their own way of doing things. Scott scowled in the dark of the stairwell while he thought about Biff, just as everyone had thought of him all day. Everyone, he thought a third time, has their way of doing things.

 

**

 

Brad walked through the ground floor lounge, camping pack on back.

 

"I'm out of here for the weekend" he grumbled as he passed the lounge.

 

"Oh?" Kevin said, half jumping in his seat. He hadn't expected anyone to be there, and hadn't heard Brad's heavy step over the sound of the television set.

 

"Yeah" said Brad crabbily, "need some time to myself".

 

"That's a new one" Kevin said, jokingly. He wasn't overly happy himself with the way things were going, but he always made a joke when there was one there to be made. "Isn't it a bit late to be setting out?" he added, looking at his watch. It was 9:57.

 

"I'll just be local" Brad said, "I don't enjoy setting up tents in the dark, but I just need to, you know, clear my head".

 

"Know how you feel" Kevin said, "I use this to do that" he said, indicating the TV with a wave of his arm. "Of course, I prefer my own.." he finished, with a scowl.

 

"Yeah" Brad said as sympathetically as a technophobe can, and walking through the foyer, passed off into the darkness.

 

**

 

9:59 said the digital readout on Biff's Ferrari as he pulled into the parking spot out the front of Richter Hall. He climbed out with a six-pack under his arm and pushed the door shut with his free hand. He then turned the car alarm on with his key ring.

 

"Squip squip!" it said, the orange parker lights flashing twice to signify the action had been successfully completed.

 

Biff stood up to his full height. A Ferrari, more money than God, a case of beer and a dorm full of people who feared and thus respected him, he thought. Life doesn't get any better.

 

And for Biff it didn't. At that moment, an iron bar smashed the front part of his skull in, causing instant death. The bar then was rammed through the Ferrari's windshield, causing the alarm to sound.

 

"WAA WAA WAA WAA WAA!" it wailed like a furious Banshee. It would be the first and last person at Richter to mourn Biff's passing.

Off in the distance, the DeMontford clock tower chimed ten.

 

End of Part II

 

Back to Part I

Onto Part III.