This choice: Wait and see what happens • Go Back...Chapter #37Team Assignments by: Seuzz   Since you don't know what Patterson intends, or when he intends to do it, you decide it's better to wait and see what develops.
So you've got Joe's mask with you on Monday when you show up at school, but you're feeling edgy. You jump when Caleb pokes you in the back at your locker before first period. "Don't sneak up on me like that," you say.
He cocks a skeptical eyebrow and glances around the crowded, noisy hallway. "Yeah, I had use mad ninja skillz to get close. Anyway, I didn't hear from you this weekend."
"I was busy. You?"
"Frantic. I was in two places all weekend long." He pauses in a way that seems meaningful. "How's your latest project?"
"Done. I'll find out this afternoon what my next one is."
"Is there a club meeting after school?" That's Tilley, stepping out of the crowd.
Unfortunately for him, he's not alone. Before you can warn him, Seth Javits steps out of the same crowd and throws a big arm around his neck. "Club meeting? What kind of club would have you as a member?" Keith chokes, and Javits grins. "Been a long time since we've hung out, Tilley." He drags your hapless friend off.
You stare after them, and can't help wondering: Is that the real Javits? He doesn't go after Keith every day, and it would be a funny--but horrible--coincidence if Seth decided to make today a "special day" for Keith after your teammate had to spend all weekend with his doppelganger.
You turn back to your locker, and find Caleb staring evenly at you. "What?" you ask in irritation.
"Nothing, I guess," he says in a tone that suggests the opposite of "nothing." "Kinda funny he left you alone."
"Yeah, real funny. Maybe I'll draw a webcomic about it," you retort.
* * * * *
The sequel--and explanation--comes at lunch. You're off in a corner with Caleb, bitching about a pop vocabulary quiz, when Keith stalks up. "Here's that fucking mask," he yells, and hurls the item in question at Caleb's head. "Go fuck yourself with it!"
Caleb curses as it bounces off his shoulder. "Keep those things out of sight," you yell at Keith. "What's your problem?"
He grabs you by the arm and tries pulling you away. "Come on, let's get out of here. I don't wanna hang around that asshole."
"The fuck did I do?" Caleb cries. He's recovered the mask and is shoving it into his bag while glaring at Keith.
You do a small double take, for you've just noticed that Keith has what looks like a roll of cotton shoved up his nose. "Did you guys get in a fight?" you exclaim.
"Kind of," he says, and leans around you to flip Caleb the bird. "That's for you," he snarls. "And if you're not you, you can pass it along to yourself!"
"Are you on crack?" you cry.
He puts his arm in yours and drags you along in a fury. "That's not Caleb," he growls. "It's a fucking golem."
"What are you babbling about?"
"It's not Caleb! Did you forget how to speak English?"
"Are you saying it's Patterson?" You swivel around to look at Caleb, who is looking very upset as he gazes after you.
"No. Or, I dunno, maybe. It was Caleb who grabbed me in the hall this morning before class. I know, it looked like Javits, but it was Caleb wearing the Javits mask."
"He came to school as Javits?! Is he nuts? Or are you nuts? How do you know?"
"Because he pulled me into the bathroom and gave me a long talk. He's up at the senior level now." You blink. "Yeah, he finished his last job on Saturday, and now he's a senior asshole like Patterson and Black. They got rid of Javits somehow--turned him into a golem, it sounds like--and now Caleb is running around being Seth Javits." His lips peel back in a snarl. "And he gave me a new job."
"Did you get Yumi yesterday?"
"No I didn't get Yumi yesterday," he sneers back in a mocking tone. "They changed my job, made me get a copy of Nurse Shaffer. That's who's in the mask."
You are now feeling utterly bewildered. "How did you get Nurse Shaffer?"
"With this." He points to his nose. "Caleb gave it to me, along with a blank mask, and I took them both to the nurse's office. So yeah, I'm not feeling real friendly toward Johansson at the moment."
You look back at Caleb with a frown. Okay, it's beginning to make a little more sense, though God knows it would make no sense if you hadn't studied up on that new spell yesterday. They must have coated the inside of Caleb's mask with a golem shell, then gotten it onto Javits; and now Caleb is walking around wearing Javits's mask. "Well, don't take it out on the stupid golem," you tell Keith. "It didn't do anything to you."
"Well, I can't very well take it out on Javits," Keith retorts. "Are you gonna be an asshole when you get up to senior level?"
* * * * *
Keith tells you there isn't a "club meeting" scheduled for the afternoon, but you get a text message from Patterson telling you to "be available" after school. You linger in the school library for an hour, doing homework during those moments you're not furiously trying to anticipate what might be up. Around four-thirty, Seth Javits walks in. He grins and tilts his chin in greeting. "I guess you heard there's been a little change in the team line up," he says as he sits down.
"Yeah, and you're not popular at the moment," you reply.
That catches him short. "Tilley never could take a joke. What's your problem?"
"That you're playing that kind of joke on Tilley. Yeah, alright, he deserves it most of the time. Maybe even this time. But it ain't smart."
"I'll make it up to him. When he makes senior level I'll let him have this mask and he can have fun with Cindy. Oh my God!" He grips the edge of the table, and his lips peel back into a rictus of ecstasy.
You choke a little on the sudden, sour taste in your mouth. "So, is there some kind of meeting? Is that why you're hanging around?"
"Huh? No, I just got out of practice." Now it's his turn to grimace over something sour. "It was a bitch. I think Patterson and Black were extra hard on me because it was my first day on the team. You know what I mean. Oh, but yeah, Patterson said something about you needing to hang around."
You and he continue to talk--an odd sight, but there aren't many people in the library to notice--but eventually he takes off. The library closes, and you move into to the nearest Starbucks. Five o'clock comes, and you're getting nervous, for you will soon need to head home for supper, or call to say you won't be making it, when Patterson finally rings you up. "You know where," is all he says.
* * * * *
You try to dampen the gleam in your eye, but it's hard not to laugh. So you hide your smile by sucking on your teeth. "The fuck is so funny?" Patterson finally has to ask.
What's funny is that at the moment you are dressed up as Joe Durras; the real Joe Durras is trapped under Patterson's mask; and Patterson is done up as you. But you only shrug. "Just adrenaline, I guess." You drum your chest. "This guy's a junkie, and I'm getting a rush."
"Well, you're stepping on a nerve," he replies. "You gonna have any problem with this guy's brother?"
"No," you say. It's a lie: you are definitely going to have to do something about Frank, but you don't need to tell Patterson that. "So, you were saying I need to pick three guys--"
"Yeah, pick out three dipshits over at Eastman. Show them the masks and how they work, form a team like we have over here. But you're in charge over at Eastman, like the way I'm in charge over here." He bites the inside of his cheek. "Well, you're in charge for the time being. Just get that team set up, and set them to work making fifteen masks, like you and Johansson and Tilley have done."
"And when I'm done, I get to be a senior?"
"You get to be a senior when you've got your three junior guys picked out and copied into masks. You're kind of like a senior right now. But you've only got a week to get the team set up."
"Cool."
He peers at you closely. "Are you sure you're gonna be able to handle this? To be honest with you, Prescott, you don't impress me as the sharpest knife in the drawer, and this Durras guy--" He jerks his chin at you. "I've had beers with better heads on them."
You laugh good-naturedly. Yeah, Joe likes to play the moron. "I'll be fine. Everyone likes Joe Durras. He's a popular kid. And he's a good choice for this kind of scheme. Him and his brother are new to the school, you know, so if Joe comes in with this magic shit, it's not like someone they've known for years suddenly turns out to be a magician."
"Yeah," Patterson says slowly. And he's even slower to hand the Libra to you. Your fingers tingle as they close around it. Turns out those copies you made aren't even necessary!
* * * * *
So, Patterson has put you in charge of opening up a "franchise" at Eastman, and has even put you in for one of the two guys who could easily and totally fuck everything up. And because you'll need the book to make masks, he has given you the Libra for the next week. It would be so easy to double-cross him; and in the long-run it would be the safest thing, too.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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