This choice: You'll do it your own way • Go Back...Chapter #38The Solo(ish) Act by: rugal b.   "I thought I'd find you here," says a voice from behind you.
You ignore it.
You're down at the community center grunting as you give the heavy bag hard shot after hard shot. Simple jab repetitions have long given way to harder punches. You throw a few shots, bob, throw another, slip as the bag comes back and throw a quick uppercut. More bobbing, slipping and fancy footwork. More jabs and crosses, quick one-two combos. Eventually, feeling yourself hit your limit, you give one last big punch and call it a day.
"What do you think" you finally say after taking a moment to catch your breath. "Add a little muay thai training in there?"
"The thought never crossed my mind. But you'd know that wouldn't you," the voice replies. It's a voice you easily recognize.
"So I'm guessing you've got everything worked you," you ask as you turn to see Dane Matthias. You'd expect a harder, more frustrated look from him but his face is surprisingly neutral.
"To an extent," he calmly replies as he walks up to you. He gets close and you tense up as you get ready for the possibility of having to lay him out at any second. But he simply looks you up and down, examining and scrutinizing every detail before, seemingly satisfied, he backs off. "Pretty amazing," he says. "If my head wasn't on straight I'd have been fooled myself."
"Paulina never suspected anything was up," you tell him.
"Paulina," he thinks. "Last thing I remember before waking up like this is talking to one of her friends. So is that who you are?"
"Maybe," you reply in as dull a tone as possible.
"Alright so are you this asshole," she asks gesturing at herself.
There's a tone of familiarity in the way she says "asshole" that takes you by surprise. "What if I am," you challenge.
He eyes you for a moment and once again you instinctively tense up. But he lets out a small laugh and shakes his head. "It doesn't matter I guess. I don't know who you are but you must be an even bigger fuck up if you think being the county's biggest fuck up is an improvement," she says.
"Yeah probably," you say in a rather defeated manner. "I fuck up and each fuck up is worse than the previous one and somehow I got myself right back where I started."
"You implied you talked to Paulina so I'm guessing it's related to that," he asks.
"Karen's love life is causing problems for the team," you respond.
Dane's eyes go wide at that. "Karen," he asks in a shocked, almost stupefied manner. But the look disappears and he looks at you with a renewed seriousness. "You and I are going to have a talk. You're going to tell me exactly what the fuck is even happening. Everything. From the very beginning. We clear?"
Even if it's Lucy running things Dane should, in no manner, be a physical match for you. But you don't want to get on his bad side so you simply give an affirmative. "Crystal," you answer.
"Good. Hochstetter Park, then," he informs you as he walks off. "I'll see you there Lucilla."
Once he's out of sight you turn and give a final little parting shot to the heavy bag. Lucy really, really hates her proper name.
* * * * *
"Son of a bitch," Dane curses loudly in frustration. "I told her to stay as far away from him as possible. Fucking Karen, god dammit!"
"It's not like she's the one seeking him out though," you say as you're leaned against a tree. "She's not exactly hard to find. Especially playing on a team."
"I know, I know. But," he paces nervously and finally stomps a foot. "It's bullshit! I worked so hard to get her away from him and that piece of shit is going to go and ruin everything for her."
"Maybe, maybe not," you say calmly. "I've got your instincts but just to hear it from you what does your gut tell you?"
"Probably that she wouldn't do anything," he says after a moment's thought. "But I don't know for sure."
"You should probably trust your instincts then," you reassure him.
"What about your instincts," he shoots back. "You gonna join up with Paulina?"
"What would you do," you respond turning the question back on him.
"No," he answers. It's a firm response delivered with no hesitation. "I know she'd feel better but she doesn't need me fucking around on her team. She wants to keep her past and her present separate and I want to respect that. It's too much shit if I'm there."
"And that's what I'm gonna tell her. It's gonna disappoint her but..."
"She'll understand," Dane finishes your thought. "But you're not giving up on it right?"
"Not unless you want me to," you tell him. "If you wanna take it up then be my guest. I'll hop somewhere else."
"To who, one of my girls," she asks derisively. "You've fucked up enough from what you told me. You nearly ruined Evie's life because you're a fucking idiot coward and I'll be damned if I let you ruin anyone else's." He then approaches you and this time does get in your face. His gaze is hard and deathly serious. "Jump around though. Doesn't matter if it's one of my girls or Mickie or whoever. Do it and when I find you you'll wish it was Black who'd gotten his hands on you."
You don't need her mind to tell you that the former Lucy means everything she just said. "I agree with you," you finally tell him. "But you're fine where you are?"
"I can handle it," he replies. "More importantly if I put you back here you're gonna run and we already established what happens if you do."
"So I got myself into this mess and I'm the one who's going to have to clean it up," you muse.
"More or less but," he pauses and shifts a bit. "This involves Karen and Paulina. Lexi and Johanna too if Riley wants to be persistent. They're not part of the gang anymore but I'm not abandoning them so you're doing it with my help."
Alexis Greer and Johanna Bergstrom are the other ex-members who made their way over to the girl's JV basketball team.
"Couldn't be happier then," you say with actual relief. Even if you can perfectly pull off being Lucy the real deal radiates that commanding presence even under the mask of Dane Matthias and it's far better to keep her as an ally than running and risking making her an enemy.
"Glad to hear it," he replies though his voice doesn't imply it. "So does your dipshit buddy know where you are?"
"Soon enough," you simply reply.
He grunts at that. "Once we get this shit with Riley squared away we'll pay him a visit and put everything back to normal." The glare he shoots you says as much as the follow up sentence. "Don't need either of you, or anyone, messing around with this garbage."
* * * * *
Your walk through the halls of Westside high can't help but give you a big head. Flanked by Mickie and a few other girls it's like the parting of the Red Sea as people clear out of your way. Being Gordon had that same kind of effect. It's easy to see how a bully develops or how one might get that reputation. Power's a very intoxicating thing and you can't help but benignly milk it for all it's worth.
As you turn left to head to C-wing Evie crosses your path. She looks at you, her face frozen as if she's forgotten who's under Lucy's face, but you give her just the slightest smile, her face lights up and she hurries on.
Once you reach Kowalski's room you take your usual seat next to Paulina. She's giving you a hopeful look. So hopeful, in fact, that it's going to feel bad to dash her hopes.
"No," you say before she can even greet you. "I thought about it, really thought about it, and decided it's not gonna work."
"Oh," is all she can pathetically mutter as her face falls.
"I'm still gonna help you, Paulina. I promised you that much," you say reassuringly as you try to ease the blow. "I'm just gonna do it my own way. Besides it's gonna cause too many problems if I'm on the team and I'd rather not mess with what you have going on."
She grumbles at that but seems to accept it. However she leans in close and her voice is much lower. "If you're going to do anything then you need to do it fast," she tells you.
"Something happen?"
Paulina looks downwards. "I talked to Karen last night. I guess Dylan showed up as she was leaving the gym. He talked her up real big and told her how much he'd changed," she says.
"Fuck," you mutter.
"I guess he flashed her some cash too to show that he was serious about, you know, his activities," she says. "He says he wants to treat her out to a nice little dinner or something tomorrow."
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck," you continue to mutter. "She's not going to accept is she?"
"I don't know, she was going back and forth," Paulina says. "Please, if you see her at all talk to her. She'll listen to you."
It'd be the easiest thing to do of course. While Lucy's rarely there she does share Biology with Karen so telling her to meet with you later wouldn't be hard. But Lucy's emotions are boiling over at hearing that and, by extension, so are your own. She's fired up and wants to deal with the little slimeball directly and you very much want to give her the chance to let loose.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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