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mouth proved that he knew exactly
what he was doing.
    “Yeah, that’s what it means.” And I
began walking home with them again, experiencing the embarrassment every time they
continued on without me.
    Kevin
    Shit, he was good. I didn’t know if
I liked that or despised him for it. He was quick and had balls. He was never stupid
enough to call me right out, but enough to let me know he wasn’t going to sit back
and take my shit. I think I admired him because it would be all that much more satisfying
to see him break.
    I was curious about what he’d been doing
after school. I knew damn well he hadn’t been in trouble, but I wasn’t overly concerned.
When pressed, he gave in to what I wanted, but I was curious as to what buttons
I could push with him. His eyes were a dead giveaway, but I’d tried several times
to get to the bottom of that shit, and he was like a goddamn fortress. All locked
up and shit. Like all of them, he worried about being cool and that was working,
but it wouldn’t work forever. I couldn’t quite get him to show me his weakness.
It infuriated the fuck outta me. I’d wanted a challenge, and I’d gotten one.
    One thing I’d noticed was his annoying
habit of being nice to everyone, even people who didn’t owe him the time of day.
While it wasn’t the gem I was looking for, I was itching to get him to crack just
a little and not pull off his quick responses so easily. On the first day he started
walking home with us again, I spotted Beth walking by herself. A plain girl without
any of her friends around, she was the perfect target.
    “Hey, Beth?” She turned and eyed me
suspiciously. “My buddy Saint Ricky here wants to fuck you.”
    “What? Hey! That’s not true,” Rick stammered
out quickly, then, noticing Beth’s hurt expression, he said, “I mean, it’s not…”
Then he pulled his quick recovery shit and shut up. I was going to have to push
him.
    “Well, hell, if he won’t, I will. Why
don’t you come over later and I’ll fuck ya.”
    She rolled her eyes, turned her back
on me and kept walking. Normally, I wouldn’t let her get away with this, but my
target was Rick, not Beth. Everyone was laughing.
    “Seriously, Kevin, have some respect,”
he spat at me just as I’d hoped. I’d found one of his buttons. It seemed Rick was
a bit of a gentleman. A soft heart would be easy to exploit.
    “What exactly is respect, Saint Ricky?”
I slipped into a very calm place in my mind and carefully weighed every word I spoke.
This was his first big lesson, and I had to leave an impression. “Because, the way
you are talking to me is not very respectful.”
    “Seriously, what’s your problem?”
    “Well, look who has grown some balls,”
I said as I walked towards him.
    “Listen, no disrespect. I don’t want
any problems, but come on, you shouldn’t talk to her like that.” I heard a collective
deep breath taken by the guys. They knew what was coming. They had all witnessed
it before.
    “Well, look who is quite the gentleman,”
I said, advancing on him, and for a brief second I saw a shadow of fear cross his
face. He was good at hiding his shit.
    “Okay, I’m sorry. It’s just, well, she’s
a girl.”
    “And you think that makes it okay to
disrespect me?” I took a few more steps forward, and he backed up.
    “Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything
by it.” His sense of self-preservation was spot on. His instinct told him he was
in trouble, and he was listening and trying to get out of it. Well played.
    “I know you did not mean anything by
it,” I smiled, “but…” I slammed my shoulder against his chest and shoved him. A
second later, I slammed my fist against his jaw and watched his eyes haze over.
I tightened my fingers around his throat and my voice came calm and low, just loud
enough for everyone to hear. “But,” I paused for effect, “I do not appreciate being
told when I should and should not say something. Got it?” He failed to respond