Chapter Twenty-One Taylor
Chapter Twenty-One
Taylor
I could hardly breathe. I’d been beaten and knocked unconscious, and when I managed to open my eyes, they just started at it again.
Julian stood there leaning against the principal’s desk, watching with satisfaction as his two attack dogs tried to kill me. But I wasn’t dead yet. Why hadn’t they just finished me off with a bullet to the head?
As I thought this, I looked over at the body of Principal Harrison. His eyes were open wide, lifeless, witness to the whole school descending into horror.
“When you joined in that day as everybody was beating me up, I swore to myself I’d kill you,” Julian said, interrupting my frantic thoughts—thoughts that were growing cloudier as pain crept into every inch of my body.
“You cool kids think you have the right to do or say anything you want.
Your teachers tweak your grades because God forbid you get kicked off the team!
The principal overlooks your bullshit. The other students treat you like gods.
And why? Because you can throw a fucking ball into a basket?
“Ever since I started school, I was always the best in my class: straight A’s. I thought people would admire and respect me for it, but no. Let me tell you a little story about how everybody treated Julian.”
As he said this, he bent over and grabbed me by the hair, forcing me to look into his eyes. I didn’t say anything. I just listened. That was all I could do.
“You know what they used to do to me when I was ten and I was the smartest kid at school? They’d pick me up,” he continued, “and stuff my head in a toilet. Go on, try to imagine that, Taylor. The smell of shit in your hair, feeling it in your nose, in your mouth. Not being able to breathe, needing to throw up, and they just keep dunking you in over and over…”
I closed my eyes and asked myself how I could feel pity for him, despite my hatred for everything he’d done.
“It’s no picnic,” he said, “but I learned my lesson. I transferred schools, I let my grades suffer, let myself slip to getting B’s and C’s.
I noticed that if you fuck up sometimes, people start liking you better.
They ask you to be part of their cliques, they laugh about your shitty grades, thinking you’re so cool for not caring.
That wasn’t easy for me, believe it or not.
Have you ever tried failing an exam on purpose?
“I figured out another thing: If I worked on my body and joined sports teams, the girls noticed. If you can hit that six-foot mark, grow some muscles, get a six-pack, they smile at you, give you the eye, invite you to parties. Who cares about a guy’s brains when you can have a dickhead with a cool haircut and muscles? ”
He let my head drop and continued walking around the room, spouting off. I had no interest in his monologue because yeah, sure, I got it. He’d had a hard time, so what? It didn’t justify killing innocent people.
“I’ve always been an observer; I like to watch people.
I like to analyze their intentions, their actions, their dreams, see what makes them tick.
And I realized if you understand people, you can get what you want.
It opens doors for you, you know? Not that it was easy—I must have gone through five schools before I managed to figure out what I had to do to fit in.
And then I found myself here at Carsville with you all, and I had to rethink everything again.
Take you, Taylor. You’re the captain of the basketball team, you’re going out with the hottest girl at school, you get good grades, and fuck, you’re even headed to Harvard.
I haven’t seen anyone stuffing your head in the toilet for getting straight A’s. ”
He laughed and paused for a moment. “You changed my whole perspective. You got me to look at things differently. You made me want to be like you. And all of a sudden, there I was, just another dumbass trying to copy the popular guy. In what universe does it make sense that I would want to be anything like you?”
With no warning, he kicked me in the chest, knocking the breath out of me. “Oh, I’m sorry, Taylor. Did that hurt? I guess you reap what you sow, as the saying goes.”
He kicked me again, and I wondered how much longer my body could hold out.
“Why don’t we just off this loser?” one of his henchmen asked, a guy I think I’d heard Julian refer to as Rapper.
“Good question,” Julian responded, nudging my head with his foot.
I didn’t have the strength to fight back.
I’d already given it a shot, fighting tooth and nail when they nabbed me crossing the main hallway by the stairs, but now there was no point—not when it was three against one, and not with a gun to my head.
“You know why I haven’t killed you, Taylor? ”
I didn’t answer him, and in the silence, I heard noise from outside. We looked toward the door, and Julian answered his own question: “Here it comes. This is why I haven’t killed you yet.”
“Let him go, Jules,” Thiago shouted. My brother’s voice momentarily made me forget how much pain I was in, but the feeling didn’t last long, not long at all. Because I knew exactly what would come next.
“No!” I screamed, but Julian kicked me in the face again.
The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
“Let him go,” my brother insisted again.
My eyes were practically swollen shut, but I managed to see Rapper and the other guy pointing their guns at my brother.
Why had he come back? Why would he crawl into the belly of the beast when it was almost impossible that he’d make it out alive?
Because he’d never leave you to fend for yourself, that’s why.
Julian laughed. “Why in the hell would I let him go?” He walked over to Thiago like a lion stalking his prey.
“Take me instead. I’m the one you want,” Thiago said, raising his palms to show he wouldn’t put up a fight.
“Why would I let one of you go when I can have you both?” Julian asked with a grin.
“For one simple reason,” Thiago responded. “Kate.”
Julian froze when my brother mentioned his sister’s name. Even from my position, lying on the floor, I could tell that the atmosphere had grown tense.
“Where is she?” Julian asked, balling his fists.
“Wow. I didn’t expect that reaction, I have to admit. But now I know we’re tied. I’ll trade you, your sister for my brother. And let’s be honest, Jules, the person you really want to put a bullet in is me, not Taylor.”
“What makes you so sure of that?” Julian asked in an icy tone.
“Because the girl you’re so sickly obsessed with is in love with me, and you don’t know how to deal with it.
That’s why you’re here, right? Because for once, you had everything you wanted, and you thought you had the perfect girl in your hands, and then she goes and falls in love with the very opposite of everything you were striving for.
I mean, what do I have going for me? I didn’t finish college, I don’t have a fancy job, and I was on the verge of going to jail.
When Kam fell for me, your whole world stopped making sense, because all of a sudden you had to admit that no matter what you did, no matter what your grades were or how popular you got or what team you were on, it didn’t matter, because the problem is you.
You’re the problem. There’s something wrong inside you. And there always will be.”
“Shut your mouth and tell me where Kate is,” Julian demanded, clenching his teeth. “Tell me where she is or I’ll pull the trigger right now!” He aimed the pistol directly at my head.
My brother smiled. Dammit, Thiago! I thought.
“Let Taylor go and you’ll get me and Kate. That’s the deal, take it or leave it.”
I knew his plan wouldn’t work. Julian was incapable of love. He was incapable of empathy, grief, or remorse.
“No deal, Di Bianco,” he said, taking aim at my brother’s head.
And just then, just as I thought I would see him murdered before my very eyes, we heard a boom coming from outside, and all of us jumped.
After that, everything was lightning quick.
Someone yelled, “Police!” And even though my senses were sharpened in my struggle to survive, it’s still hard today to remember exactly what happened.
There were two shots, then they entered the principal’s office. Then my life did a complete one-eighty, and everything I loved disappeared before my eyes.
My brother…
My brother lay on the ground bleeding from his head, because that evil bastard, that son of a bitch, had decided to kill himself, but first, he wanted to take my brother with him.
I dragged myself to him as best I could, despite my broken ribs, through the nonstop gunfire, desperate and out of control, but a bubble of calm seemed to form around us.
None of the three killers made it out alive, but they got what they wanted: They’d taken the lives of boys and girls, teachers and children, and they hadn’t thought twice about it.
As soon as we’d walked in the doors that morning, we were all doomed; there had been no sympathy, no mercy.
Those assholes came in and filled the halls with blood, screams, and terror—then took the easy way out.
Taking a bullet could never come close to the pain they caused.
And there I was, all alone. It would be years before I could close my eyes and get a good night’s sleep again.
It wasn’t just innocent lives they had stolen. They had stolen my big brother.
The guy who had always protected me, the boy who’d jumped the creek first to offer me a hand when I was scared to cross on my own.
The guy who had taught me to play ball, how to smoke a cigarette behind our mom’s back, and given me a high five the first time I kissed a girl.
I remember how he used to smile at me, encourage me.
He would always tell me, Taylor, once you get going, there’s no one in this world who can stop you.
He made the best macaroni and cheese I’ve ever had.
He beat me at arm wrestling a million times.
He’d gone to every one of my games to cheer me on even after he’d given up his dream of playing pro.
The guy who took over when our father disappeared, and did everything to make sure I still had a good father figure.
My brother.
Thiago.