Murder1

Part One: The New Kid

It was 11:55. Five more minutes until recess. Suzanne nervously stared at the clock behind Ms. Crabtree's desk. "Someone's gonna die today," AudreyHorne had whispered in her ear at he beginning of class. Audrey was the biggest gossip in school. Usually her rumors were lies, but once in a great while the gossip was true. Suzanne knew something was going to go down on the playground at recess. She could smell it in the air. TheDeuce sat a few desks across from Suz. Suz saw him looking evilly over his shoulder at the new kid, who sat near the back of the class. The new kid, whose name just happened to be TheNewKid, had transferred over from PS 666 a few weeks back. He didn't talk much and hadn't made many friends. However, TheNewKid had made several enemies in his short time at Benjamin Franklin Washington Jefferson Lincoln Junior High, including TheDeuce, the most feared bully in school. Blowfish, who sat behind TheDeuce, passed TheNewKid a note. TheNewKid read it, made a horrible face, then crumpled up the note. Suzanne saw the whole thing. She was just dying to know what Blowfish had wrote.
      "Ms. Crabtree! Ms. Crabtree! Blowfish is passing notes!" Geena suddenly exclaimed, always the tattle tail.
       Ms. Crabtree grabbed her trusted ruler and whacked it hard against the side of her desk. "Bring me that note, new kid!"
       TheNewKid was about to get up from his desk and give Ms. Crabtree the note, but Blowfish sprinted from his seat and grabbed the note from his hands. Blowfish popped the crumpled letter in his mouth and started chewing.
       "What note?" Blowfish asked, his mouth full.
       Ms. Crabtree was just about to give Blowfish a good whacking with her ruler, when the recess bell rang.
     "Saved by the bell!" Blowfish yelled and dashed for the playground.
      Recess started off calm and usually quiet. Suzanne, the most popular girl in school, hung out with her gang of the other popular girls over at the monkey bars. This group of elite groovy chicks call themselves The Girl Gang. The members include, bold and brassy Ms. Biyach, gossip queen AudreyHorne, Meep (who suffers from A.D.D.), the cute and loveable Sweet One:), rich girl Sugaree, and the sassy Ms. Sass.
      "Did you guys see the way TheDeuce was looking at the new kid in class?" Suz asked the girls,
      "Yeah,"Ms. Biyach answered, "TheDeuce hates TheNewKid."
      "I heard TheNewKid has a secret girlfriend." AudreyHorne chimed in.
     Ms. Sass threw her head back and laughed. "Where do you get all your information, Audrey? Outer space?"
       Audrey smiled mischievously and replied, "Sometimes."
      Suddenly, there was the sound of yelling over at the swing set. The girls looked around to see the commotion. TheDeuce and his band of thugs were harassing TheNewKid. This gang was known as The Tainted Taints. Members include TheDeuce's right hand man Clot, the fat and ugly skank Zhora, the gross and uncontrollable Tom Green, Axlotl (the real brains behind the gang) and drug dealing Tiama. TheDeuce and Clot were pushing TheNewKid back and forth between them.
      "What did the letter say?" TheDeuce shouted in TheNewKid's face. "Blowfish your boyfriend now? Was it a loooove letter?"
       "Go to hell!" TheNewKid shot back, pushing TheDeuce away.
       "Yeah, where is he anyway?" Clot smirked. "Your little boy toy cheating on you already?"
       TheNewKid smiled and replied, "Yeah. With your father."
      The fight was on. TheDeuce and his boys pounced on TheNewKid, knocking him to the ground. Suzanne couldn't just sit back and watch this spectacle unfold before her eyes. She had to get The Tainted Taints off him. "Let's get 'em, girls!" Suzanne shouted, leading The Girl Gang over to the swing sets.
      "Get off him!" Meep demanding, kicking Clot in his knee pit, making him fall face first in the dirt.
      The Taints backed off TheNewKid and turned to face The Girls. Suzanne could see the rage in TheDeuce's eyes.
      "Stay out of this, Suzanne." he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "This doesn't concern you."
      "It damn sure does!" Suz retorted. "What I don't understand is why such a self proclaimed 'bad ass' gang would want to pick on just one little geeky kid. You afraid to take us on, Deuce? Afraid to get your ass beat?"
     TheNewKid, seeing The Taints were distracted by The Girl Gang, took off running. He zipped behind the gym and out of sight. TheDeuce was furious.
      Suzannne! You let him get away!"
     The Tainted Taints and The Girl Gang spat hateful words at one another and there were a few scratches, but before any real fight could begin, the five minute warning bell rang. The children slowly made their way back to their classes.
     As soon as Suzanne got back to Ms. Crabtree's class, she knew something was wrong. The second bell rung. Both TheNewKid's and Blowfish's desk were empty. They never returned from recess. Geena, the constant tattler, was about to report this to Ms. Crabtree, when the Principal's voice came over the over head intercom.
     "Children, I have bad news," he said, his voice shaking. "TheNewKid was found brutally murdered behind the gym during recess. Someone shoved ten lollipops down his throat and choked him to death. All classes are canceled for the day. You may all go home..... and grieve."
     An eerie silence hung over the classroom. SweetOne:) put her head down on her desk and began to cry. Geena pouted, wishing she knew who the murderer was so she could tattle on them. Suzanne saw TheDeuce pass an all-too-knowing glance toward Clot.
     "I told you someone would die, "AudreyHorne whispered to Suzanne. For once Audrey had been right. Someone, maybe even someone in their class, killed that poor, innocent boy. The murderer could be anyone. Everyone was on the playground at recess. Almost everyone hated TheNewKid. So, who killed him? And where the hell was Blowfish? Suzanne didn't know the answers to these questions, but she swore to herself that she would unmask TheNewKid's murderer.
      "I'll find out who killed him," Suzanne thought to herself. "Even if it's the last thing I ever do."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Next Time on Murder on the Playground: Detective Rod Hill takes on the case. Both Blowfish and the note he wrote to TheNewKid resurface. Suzanne finds help in Silent Bob.