Chapter 6

Caleb found Danny's front door left slightly ajar. He was poised to knock regardless—it was the polite thing to do after all—until he overheard his name spoken in vain.

It was his ex, Lisa, slagging him off loudly to whoever else was in the room. Creeping around the door while indicating for Dylan to shush, he found it was Ahmed and Danny listening to her rant.

"Honestly babe, he's not even got a big dick and he was crappy in bed," she exclaimed to Ahmed—her current boyfriend. "He never even made me cum once."

After Caleb stopped calling her, Lisa had gotten really pissy, then started dating Ahmed in a blatant attempt to make him jealous. It went without saying that her underhanded plan had tanked. Caleb didn't give a single crap who she dated, though he did feel bad for Ahmed, who seemed to genuinely care for the slut.

"So, I guess that massive wet stain you left on my sheets was because you pissed yourself?" Caleb asked, making all three of them jump.

"Eww, that's minging," Dylan commented, screwing up his face. 

"And I've never claimed to have a big dick," Caleb added. "I'm happy with my very average penis."

He smiled to himself as Lisa squirmed, face turning so red it matched her crappy dye job. 

"I just wanna know when it's my turn," Danny cried, cutting through the tension. "I mean, first Caleb, now Ahmed. It has to be my turn soon, right?"

Caleb couldn't help but laugh as Danny jumped onto the sofa, straddling Lisa and air humping the horrified girl.

"No way, you've got no chance," she shrieked, trying to shield herself from his advances with her weak, girly arms.

Ahmed burst into laughter too. They were accustomed to this sort of behaviour from Danny. The kid was loud, irritating and had no filter, but his mum was always away, leaving his house free for parties. Plus, he was amusing to be around, sort of.

"Did you really cut someone's fingers off?" Lisa asked. It was a desperate attempt to change the subject, but he let her have it.

"What do you think?" he smirked, not lying, and at the same time, not grassing up Dylan.

"What did he say?" she asked, leaning forward with wide eyes, waiting to hear the gory details.

"What do you think he said?" Caleb asked, rolling his eyes.

"Please, I beg you, don't hurt me!" Dylan cried, falling to his knees and grabbing at Caleb's leg in a not-very-accurate mock re-enactment.

"Quit it, man," Caleb frowned down at him, trying to pull his leg out of Dylan's grasp. He couldn’t seem to shake him off. "You're stronger than you look."

"This is what Alice is going to do when she finds out her brother is next on the hit list," Dylan declared, smiling up at him.

Caleb shook his head. He couldn't picture Alice apologising at all, let alone on her knees. She was one of those stuck-up, prissy rich girls who thought she was too good to use even the most basic of manners.

"I don't even want an apology from her," Caleb huffed. "The stupid bitch."

It was a lie. An apology would be nice if it were genuine and heartfelt. But if not, he'd happily make do with the satisfaction of revenge.

"Her mate fancies you something rotten, you know?" Ahmed said to Dylan.

"Oh, Titsy McGee?" Dylan asked, referring to Krissie. She did have quite the pair on her.

"I overheard her say she wanted to eat your ass," Ahmed confirmed.

Dylan let out a small, startled laugh. "What the fuck? Seriously?"

"Honest to God," Ahmed nodded.

"But like... who has eating ass as their go-to?" Dylan laughed. "It wouldn't exactly be my first option on the sexual menu, if you get me?"

"You should totally sit on that bitches face," Lisa chimed in. "It might make her shut her trap for a change."

"Come on, let's get on with this project," Danny sighed. He never had much patience for Lisa’s bitching rants about other girls.

For the first time, Caleb noticed the diorama sitting on the table. It was supposed to represent some Shakespeare shit, but it looked more like something a five-year-old had hashed together as a make-shift dolls house. 

Caleb watched for a minute as Danny struggled to cut out a figure before grabbing the scissors from his hands.

"Ahh, Caleb with scissors," Danny cried, jumping away with theatrical flair.

"Hah! Caleb with anything," Ahmed joined in and laughed.

"Just... Caleb!" Danny continued.

All of them burst into laughter at Caleb's expense, but he didn't mind. The fact they found his psychotic tendencies hilarious as opposed to terrifying was probably a good thing.

As he was fixing up the mess of a project, Caleb heard the notification bell from his messenger chiming about a new message.

"Who can that be?" he muttered to himself. "Everyone who messages me is here."

He felt his lips turn up into an involuntary smile as he spotted it was Alice trying to add him.

He clicked to accept her 'friend request'.

"Well, well, well," he muttered to himself. "It didn't take long."

As soon as he accepted he could see the little message appear 'Alice is typing.'

She must have typed, deleted and retyped a few times, as it took far too long for her to spell out the words that finally appeared.

"Can I talk to you?"

When Caleb didn't reply, she added, "Please?"

"Okay... so talk." Caleb prompted in reply.

After another round of frantic typing and editing, she finally replied, "In person?"

"Oh my!" Dylan cried, looking over his shoulder. "She's already made contact?"

"Hmm, she wants to meet me... in person," Caleb said, making a face at Dylan.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Dylan asked, practically pushing him out of the doorway. "Remember what I told you, okay?"

"Okay," Caleb sighed, thinking back to the instructions Dylan had given in his 'master manipulator' workshop. "I'll do my best."

He didn't think it was going to work how Dylan hoped. Being the giant sap he was, he'd probably just cave in and forgive her.

'No,' he told himself. 'You aren't going to let her get away with being such a massive bitch.'

"Meet me by the co-op," He messaged.

Most people used the co-op as a meeting point because it was situated roughly in the centre of town, it sold cigarettes and was just opposite the park. These factors had turned the humble little convenience store into the town's favourite meeting point.

When he arrived, she was already sitting on the bench out front, smoking a cigarette.

Most of her hair and face were tucked away underneath a woolly hat and knitted scarf, but what did show was tuning pink with cold. She sniffed and wiped at her nose as he appeared, looking up with fearful eyes.

"Well?" he grunted.

"Do you want one?" she asked, offering her pack of ciggies.

Caleb shrugged and accepted, taking a seat beside her as he lit it up. He had his own in his pocket but wasn't about to turn down a freebie.

The pair sat in silence as the smoked, under the fluorescent light of the sign. 

'Is she going to say anything or what?' he wondered.

As if reading his mind, she turned to him and asked, "Can my brother have some more time to pay you back?"

'Blunt and to the point,' Caleb though, surprised by her candour.

"I think he's had long enough, don't you?" Caleb asked.

"True," she said, nodding as she took another puff on her cigarette. "But we both know he doesn't have that kind of money to hand."

"That doesn't sound like a me problem," Caleb sneered at her. It was one of his new favourite sayings. One he'd picked up from Dylan.

"You're not going to hurt him, are you?" Alice asked, eyes wide and pleading.

Caleb didn't answer. 

"Caleb?" she pressed. "You won't hurt him?"

She said the words forcefully as if willing them to be true. Something about her tone annoyed him, as though she could dictate what he was going to do.

"If he gets what he owes by Friday I won't," Caleb shrugged, flashing her his coldest half-smile.

"But I just told you, he has no money," Alice argued. "There is literally no chance we can get a grand together by Friday."

Caleb shrugged.

"And he only owed six hundred, so why are you asking for a grand?"

Now she was really pissing him off. Questioning his math and in such an indignant tone of voice. Who did this bitch think she was?

"No, Alice, he owed my brother the six hundred. He's had more drugs and money off me on the promise that he'd pay me back when he sold his motorbike, which he did sell and guess what?"

"He didn't pay you?" Alice asked quietly.

"No, he didn't, and the grand isn't including those pills I gave you. Plus, I haven't added any interest at all, which I think is pretty decent of me, considering how much the loan sharks charge. And they do more than cut off fingers if you're late paying."

"Okay, I didn't realise that," she uttered, looking down at her feet.

"Our brothers are friends," she said after a short pause. "I don't see why we can't just sort this out like adults."

Caleb laughed to himself and stood up. He was partly satisfied to find out he was right about Alice, and partially annoyed at her inability to say she was sorry.

She called out to him as he walked away but didn't bother to chase after him. 

Fuck her.

And fuck Dylan's plan too. 

If he wasn't going to get his way, he'd make sure nobody else did either.