Chapter 20 – CJ #2
The scent of shit irritated his nose. The buzzing of dozens of bees alarmed his ears—there was absolutely no other fucking way to describe that.
The sight of ants crawling everywhere nearly popped his fucking eyes out of his goddamn head.
The bitter taste of his brothers’ fuckery coated his tongue.
And the sting of one of the bees hurt his motherfucking neck.
He jerked back and tried to yank the heavy door closed.
“Are Devon and Rory in there?” Ryan asked, huffy, puffy, and sweaty. He’d run there, too.
Ryder shook his head and pointed behind him, toward the door that led to the football field. “They’re under the bleachers.”
“With Ransom, I assume?” CJ snarled.
“Yeah, C.”
“Goddamn it.” CJ stomped toward the door, glad the PE Center was all but deserted.
It was why he’d chosen that time to send a fake fucking note, instructing Rory and Devon to one of the weight rooms to record themselves lifting twenty-five-pound dumbbells until they broke out in a sweat.
A bullshit assignment that got them there.
Ryder and Ransom missed their partner-in-crime, so CJ informed them of his plans. Somehow, the miscreants convinced him to let them do his bidding while he ate lunch as an alibi.
Those two motherfuckers had planned their own retribution and used CJ to get it done. An image of Axel with his ‘men’ yesterday rose in CJ’s head.
That little motherfucker! Even hundreds of miles away, he was the architect of anarchy.
How the motherfuck had they accomplish so fucking much chaos, especially at school?
How the fuck had they gotten bees and ants…
? How had they gotten two naked assholes from the locker room to the bleachers without detection?
Every building on campus had cameras. Right? So what…?
Exactly! What? It was all a big old fat question mark.
Growling in frustration, CJ found Ransom holding Devon and Rory hostage, marching back and forth and casually swinging a steel baseball bat.
“I’d cry too if my dick was that small,” Ransom said, fucking both those naked, crying motherfuckers.
“Yeah, drones have bigger cocks,” Ryder said, walking to Ransom, and easily rejoining the hazing.
“Dicks don’t do drones much good, bro,” Ransom said woefully. “It’s a one-and done dick. Once they mate, it’s ripped from his body.” His gaze dropped to Rory and Devon’s cocks. “There’s an idea.”
“Where the fuck are their clothes?” CJ demanded, uninterested in knowing why the fuck they’d delved so deeply into the biology of bees.
“Cut up,” Ryder said.
“What?”
“Jesus Christ,” Ryan breathed.
“I didn’t fucking tell you to do that,” CJ said, annoyed. “I told you to take those motherfuckers. What the fuck are they supposed to wear?”
“Do you know when a drone comes, a human can hear him?” Ryder announced.
“Nuh uh!” Devon cried, his shoulders shaking, parts of him littered with bee stings.
“Ryan did what he did for Molly,” Devon continued. “I was just trying to protect my brother.”
“Liar!” Ransom accused, the word almost drowning out CJ’ question.
“What the fuck’s Rory’s excuse?” CJ decided he didn’t give a fuck because that motherfucker had no reason, other than being John Fuckhead Donovan’s stinking son. “Never mind. I don’t care.”
Rory sniffled, bee stings strewn on his body too. “CJ—”
“Shut up,” CJ ordered and glared at his brothers. “Suppose these two fuckheads were allergic to bee stings like Rebel is?”
Ryder frowned. “And?”
“They would’ve fucking died!” he snapped.
Ransom shrugged. “Rebel almost died, CJ. They knew about the fucking videos.”
“We didn’t then!” Rory sobbed.
“As soon as you fucking found out, you should’ve told someone,” Ryder said flatly, and contemplated Ryan. “We won’t ever forget this. We’re pissed about Rebel, but don’t think we aren’t upset over Harley, too. She was CJ’s best friend and you helped to humiliate her.”
“I’ve already apologized,” Ryan said warily.
“Fuck you,” Ransom declared. “Apologies don’t make either of them go back to the way they were before you did what you did. Apologies just make your motherfucking ass feel better.”
Ryan bowed his head. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice trembling. In the distance, the bell heralding the end of lunch blared. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“Dad apologized to me, Ryan. It didn’t make me unsee what happened to Nyx.”
“I’ll find a way to make it up to Harley and Rebel,” Ryan swore.
“What about my sister?” Rory said hoarsely.
CJ hadn’t forgotten about Mattie or Molly and how they figured into the sad equation.
“Fuck your sister, bro,” Ryder said.
CJ exchanged a glance with Ryan before they both gaped at the outlier of the Caldwell boys with his golden hair and blue eyes.
“You don’t give one fuck about my sister,” Ryder said. “Or yours. What happened to Mattie was because of your bitch ass.”
“And Uncle Johnnie’s,” Ransom added and studied Devon. “Now, how do we address you fucking with Kaia to fuck with Rebel?”
“I didn’t do anything!” Devon sobbed.
“Except tried to play Rebel right in front of her fucking face,” Ryder told him and smiled broadly then looked at Ransom. “Should we tell Axel, bro?”
“I was thinking Diesel,” Ransom responded.
“NO!” Rory and Devon screamed, not specifying which motherfucker they didn’t want to find out.
“I think Diesel knows,” Ryan told them. “He was right there in the room.”
“He’s planning your demise, then,” Ryder said calmly.
“Rebel wouldn’t want that,” CJ said with certainty. “You should’ve stuck to my plan.”
“CJ, bro, it’s like this. I miss the Blonde Viper,” Ryder said.
“She’s the only sister I have to terrorize, but, as Rebel, she’s so sad.
I hate seeing her like that. It’s because of them.
” He thrust his chin toward the two naked, sniveling cowards.
“You wanted revenge. It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t what these fuckheads deserve for what they did to our sister.
We can beat her to a bloody pulp. No one else can. ”
“You can’t either, you little asshole,” CJ gritted.
“If she’s the Rebel Mom had to take to California, we can’t,” Ryder said. “We don’t even want to beat her up. We just want to avenge her.”
Ransom pointed to Devon and Rory. “They are part of the reason Mom and Reb are gone again. Which means they are the entire reason Ax left. Why the fuck should we care about them? If those motherfuckers got to walk through the entire school without fucking clothes, we don’t give a fuck.
If they would’ve choked on their own spit because of allergies, we don’t care.
You shouldn’t either. They hurt Reb in a lot of ways, including watching videos of her without clothes. Fuck them.”
As much as CJ wanted Uncle Johnnie dead and felt a way about Dad’s hemming and hawing whenever he had the chance to kill that motherfucker, CJ suddenly understood. He wanted Devon and—especially—Rory to suffer, to fucking die, he just didn’t want them dead. Illogical but real.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry, CJ,” Rory said tearfully. “I never meant—”
“Shut the fuck up with that blatant fucking lie,” CJ spat, stalking to him and shoving him back. “You meant it. Otherwise, you would’ve opened your fucking mouth.”
“But you’re my best friend and—”
CJ’s punch cut Rory the fuck off. How dare that motherfucker say they were friends? “We’re barely fucking family. You betrayed me, Ryan, and the girls. You’re a fucking coward.” Furious, he punched Rory again, hoping he cracked his fucking ribs. “You’re no better than Uncle Johnnie.”
“That’s my dad.”
CJ punched Rory again and knocked him off his feet.
“Fuck you and that motherfucker. Rebel’s my sister.
Mattie and Harley are my cousins.” Ignoring Rory’s sobs, he looked at Devon, who flinched.
“You know what, fuckhead? It’s the quiet motherfuckers who are the most dangerous.
You hide behind smiles and opt for “observations”, deigning to speak only when it’s important.
But you gather information and use it to your fucking advantage.
I might not have always liked Ryan, but he was honest about being a motherfucker.
You aren’t. And you’re still fucking with Rebel. ”
CJ hadn’t known why Devon gave Jana his seat so she could sit next to Kaia on Saturday night or his attitude yesterday. He couldn’t figure out what the fuck he was missing about Devon’s behavior. He just knew it was fucked up. The truth was so much worse, though.
“If you don’t back the fuck off, I will draft Diesel to help me bury you,” he snarled, then closed the distance between them so he could whisper. “Or, maybe, I’ll choke the fuck out of you like I did Nardo and let Diesel chop you up? Would you prefer that?”
“N-n-no,” Devon said on a sob.
“Fucking pussy.”
CJ’s punch knocked Devon the fuck out. Still, he had the problem of getting those fuckheads dressed. With Marvey dead, he didn’t know who the fuck was in charge, so his consequences could range from severe to a fucking pat on the wrist.
A squeak made him turn.
He met Skye’s startled gaze. “I-I…
She was too far away to have heard what he said to Devon just now. But before? “How the fuck long have you been standing there?”
She swallowed. “I-I followed you to the PE Center.”
CJ narrowed his eyes and she swallowed again.
“I hung behind until the bell rang,” she told him. “I walked in when you punched him.” She pointed at Devon.
CJ didn’t necessarily believe that was all she saw, but since his plan had blown up in his fucking face, he needed assistance and would deal with Skye later. “Call Dad,” he said to his brothers. Both. Either. He didn’t fucking care.
“Negative, C.” Ryder sighed. “Both Dad and Diesel are busy.”
“I-I-I can call m-my dad,” Ryan pushed out.
“Fuck, fine. Wait here until he arrives. I have to get to my next class.” He wished it was Billson.
Leaving the fucking scene, CJ emerged from under the bleachers and stormed the fuck away.