I looked, I couldn’t avoid looking. Tak Lee, local asshole and bastard leader of a crew of assholes, slumped sideways on the seat across the aisle, as dirty as the pig he resembled. His fleshy mouth drooped open, lower lip skewed enough to reveal several missing teeth and a string of graying drool threatened to stain the pitted and scarred vinyl of Chalkville Transit Bus #9.

It would be so easy, especially with my pitching prowess, to toss one of the sticky, lint-covered vinyl scabs that I’d dug up from the seat beneath me. I could just see the dime-sized scrap landing directly at the back of his throat, jolting him awake, coughing and scratching, fighting to breathe. His eyes would bulge and he’d look around, pleading wordlessly for help. But the senior citizens, lost in their own gray fogs, wouldn’t notice, and when his eyes would meet mine I’d tilt my head in my best do-I-know-you look and go back to counting the dried gum blobs and snot rockets wallpapering the seat back in front of me.

Tak would jerk upright, trying to signal the driver, but Old Mackey would either yell at him to sit his ass down or jerk the wheel enough to force him back to his seat. Tak’s not made many friends on our commute. Maybe a spark of intelligence would finally gain some warmth in his coal-dark soul and Tak would throw himself desperately against the seat, hoping to force the obstruction out. But that sticky vinyl is impossible to dislodge, and he’d slowly turn purple, then blue, then fade to a yellowy-gray-white as the spark of life returned to its maker.

“What a lovely picture,” Kiki purred, “let’s start painting.”

“No!” I banged my head against the dirty window, hoping the jolt would disrupt the images. “Shut up.”

My outburst wasn’t loud enough to disturb Tak, but the middle-aged woman sitting in front of him tightened her shoulders, craning her neck toward the front of the bus, ready to spring up the second Old Mackey called her stop.

Dammit, I needed to be more careful, I couldn’t afford to get kicked off this bus too. Julia had already warned me, her parental card was getting full and she wasn’t about to sign up for a new one.

“Julia. She’s such a bitch. Six more months and we’ll be free of her too.”

“Kiki,” I murmured, “cut it out or I won’t talk to you for the rest of the day.”

Kiki subsided, and I crossed my fingers that the threat would work to keep her quiet.

“Chalkville High comin’ up, git up if you’re getting off,” shouted Old Mackey. “I got a schedule to keep, can’t be waitin’ all day.”

I lurched to my feet, pulling on my backpack. Tak didn’t move. If I had a scrap of care, I might give him a shove with my foot, but those feelings had long been consigned to the compost pile of life.

I stepped off the bus just in time to avoid the doors clipping my heels. The front lawn was strangely crowded, but I immediately spotted my team, huddling around the shredded, lone oak in the CHS courtyard. Most schools would have removed it from the premises, but considering it was a prime teaching tool for our limited science curriculum, it was spared the merciful death it deserved.

“Jay, what’s up?” I called as I crossed the lawn. What was going on? Why were they hanging out in the yard? I wasn’t early, was I? Usually I had a few spare minutes to make it to homeroom before the tardy bell rang. And why did it look like some of them had been crying?

“Gah, you won’t believe it, dude!” Jay’s wild hair practically vibrated with excitement.

“What? Somebody win the lottery?”

“If only, right? Nah, even better,” Jay squealed, as a couple of the girls gasped, “Tak Lee’s dead, got capped last night. Think it was a drug deal done wrong.”

I quickly cupped my hands to my face, pantomiming shock. Whispering, and hoping that the angry screeching from the other girls ranting at Jay’s delight would cover my voice, I asked, “Kiki, did you know about this? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“How would I have known? Do you think I travel in the same circles as his sort would? If he’s recently passed through, he probably ended up at Hecate’s gate, or Aamon’s. Not in my hood.” I could hear the sniff of disdain in her voice.

“Sorry.”

“Pfft, I don’t know why you’re sorry, dude, I think you’d be celebrating.” Jay rolled her eyes at the rest of the team. “Don’t be a hippo-crit like these bitches.”

Before I could respond, teachers started shouting, herding us towards the main doors and trying to regain control. No, I wasn’t a hippo-crit. I didn’t care whether Tak had been stabbed, shot, or coded himself. My only concern was whether he’d be looking to hook up with me. I already had one dead enemy haunting my days and nights. Two would be overkill.