Chapter 18 – The Baton
Three junior high kids stood surrounded by a dozen of their peers. Each member of the trio held a piece of law enforcement gear. One kid wore a helmet, another a shield and the third, an arm guard. Interrupting and overlapping each other, they breathlessly told their story in a braid.
"Oh, Man! Striker went nuts with the baton, just WHAM, WHAM, WHAM!" Todd was wearing the much-to-large arm-guard, as he mimed striking someone with a baton, it bounced on his forearm.
"Oh, Damn!! Look, look!" one of the kids pointed at the spots of blood that freckled the riot shield.
Mike, who held the shield, continued with the story, "And then, remember, give that kid the…" Mike gestured as if he were handing someone something. "And it was all dripping." He explained with more body language than words, but his meaning was clear, the baton had been covered with gore. "And he just, Bam, bam, bam! Here you go." Mike mimed the rapping the baton on the ground. "Goddamn insane!”
Despite their obvious confusion, the audience appeared utterly entranced.
Across the district, Dante listened to a similar story.
"Shit, I think that kid still has the baton," Jason explained.
"You're telling me that a murder weapon is floating around in the possession of a ten year old?" Dante asked.
"I would say the 9 is more important.”
"I thought you said he didn't shoot anyone?”
"Not yet, I mean, almost, but he didn't. He shot at a guy, but he missed. Get this, fucking hysterical, asshole striker is holding the gat to the back of the pig's head and," Jason mimes firing a gun, pivoting his hand ninety degrees, his index finger going from a horizontal to vertical adjustment. "He fucking missed. I mean, how do you fucking miss from this fucking close?”
"So he didn't shoot anyone?”
"Like I said, not yet.”
Dante shook his head in frustration. "Not yet, not at all. He's cooled off by now. He's thinking now. He's got a heater. No need to be reckless. He's not shooting people now. He's thinking! The baton is what he used, that's what we want. You said he left it with the boy? Geoff, her brother?”
"They said that's who he was. He was swinging it on the string. He was with that girl, Sky." Jason sounded pleased with himself.
Dante was not as entertained. "Get me that fucking baton! Don't let me see you again unless you have it, you fucking idiot! Are you a Devil or did you join the goddamn hippies?” Dante was furious. “Yama, go with him," he ordered.
Yama rolled his eyes, but walked from the block with Jason.
"Is he serious?" Jason asked.
"You heard what he did to Mongo?" Yama asked.
"Yeah," Jason answered. "I heard.”
"Well I was there, man. Believe that shit. Whatever he wants. I'm giving that fool whatever he wants.”
Knowing the older members of the fist were in the library for the Light-9 council meeting, Jason and Yama fearlessly stalked their dorms, searching for Geoff and Sky.
The younger kids mostly tried to avoid the intimidating devils.
Jason cornered a middle school kid, Wilson. "Where's Sky?”
"Who?”
Jason punched him in the stomach. The younger boy collapsed to his knees. "Funny guy," Jason said. He kneed Wilson in the mouth, splitting his lip. Wil stifled a cry and Jason let him slide to the floor.
Yama leaned against a locker, content to let Jason do the heavy lifting.
"Where's Sky?" Jason yelled. "Who else doesn't wanna tell me?" He advanced on the next closest kid, Lenny.
"No! No! I don't know! She's not here!" Lenny fled Jason's reach.
Jason moved toward Ben, a portly orphan with no hope of escape, "You don't know where she is either, fatty?”
Ben cried out in terror and threw up his hands. "They went to the pits! They went to the pits!" he stammered.
"To the pits, huh?" Jason replied, cockily standing taller.
Ben darted away from the angry Devil. "I don't know anything! Don't ask me!”
Lenny, much smaller then Ben, didn't hesitate to smack him. "You just told them everything, you pussy-asshole.”
Sky and Geoff walked into the dorm, not twenty feet away.
Everyone froze and stared.
Ben hit Lenny back.
"Ow," Lenny yelled.
"I was messing with them," Ben explained.
"Hey, Bitch!" Jason yelled, ignoring the bickering kids.
"Hey, Asshole," Sky replied, recognizing Yama and Jason as members of Carver’s hierarchy, the devils. She turned to confront Jason, giving Geoff as much of a shield as possible.
Geoff slipped behind her.
"Run," Sky said over her shoulder.
"Where is it?" Jason demanded.
"Go fuck yourself," Sky answered.
Geoff backed away but didn't run, as he’d been told.
"We'll see who fucks who." Jason walked toward her.
Sky tried to kick him, but he caught her foot and threw her to the side.
Geoff pulled the baton from behind his back. "Looking for this?" Geoff turned on the electrified weapon.
"Are you smart enough to just give that to me, or do you want to try your luck?”
"Where do you want it?" Geoff asked.
Jason took a couple steps forward.
Geoff raised the baton.
Jason hesitated with only a small gap between them.
Geoff had watched his sister and he’d watched the other kids. Those who hesitated got hit.
He ran forward and smacked Jason across the head.
Jason stumbled after the electric blast. The rather devastating shock-smack combination seemed to take some of the fight out of him.
"You still want it?" Geoff jabbed him in the ribs, knocking him from his feet.
Jason dragged himself away from Geoff and the baton.
Yama stepped forward from his place against the wall and walked toward Sky and Geoff. The devil glanced over to Sky and nodded politely.
Geoff, his ego bolstered by Jason's easy defeat, saw his opportunity and charged Yama as well.
The older boy was ready. Without even really looking at Geoff, he effortlessly evaded the boy’s short strikes and jabs. When he was ready, Yama turned from Sky and kicked the weapon from Geoff’s hands.
The baton spun across the room and bounced off the wall. Geoff rubbed his stinging hands and backed away.
Yama stood in the way, preventing him from pursuing the weapon.
Jason struggled to his feet and lumbered after the baton.
Wilson, still angry over the split lip and punch to the guts, sprinted over to the weapon, scooped it up, and fled from the dorm.
Jason cursed him, but after his recent shock, could do little else.
Yama turned away from Geoff to sprint after Wilson. He was so fast, Sky feared he would catch Wilson before he even got clear of the dorm.
Sky, Geoff and the other kids followed, a procession of orphans chasing after Wilson, Yama and the baton.
Once outside, Wilson had turned to the right, sprinting for a nearby bridge, while Yama accelerated to close the gap. Wilson cleared a hedge and turned hard left. Yama adjusted his course to close ground faster.
Yet, before the infamous devil could catch the younger orphan, Sky crashed into him, dragging and wrestling him to the soft athletic field. Yama’s turn had brought him into line with the girl and she made the sacrifice he clearly hadn’t anticipated. If he’d stayed on Wilson’s track, she couldn’t have reached him, but the boy was no slouch and Yama probably wouldn’t have caught him. He wrestled with Sky, trying to escape her, but Sky noticed that he didn't try too hard. She had wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding him to the ground.
From their place on the field, the entwined Yama and Sky watched Wilson reach the bridge and hurl the baton into the empty air.
Yama stopped struggling and Sky released her hold. He got to his feet and offered his hand to help her up.
Sky took it
. He gently helped her to her feet.
The kids gathered around them, waiting to see what might happen next.
Yama looked at Sky for a long time; at the end, he smiled but said nothing. Finally he turned and walked from the athletic complex toward the Bolt, leaving the shocked and stammering Jason to make his own way back.