The school day went smoothly. At lunchtime, the group couldn't find Marquis, who was busy having lunch with Miss Chiedza.
Marquis was munching on Miss Chiedza's homemade cookies.
"If only you were my mother," he whispered, but she heard him. Then he continued,
"Ma'am, do you have any kids?"
Miss Chiedza looked down, then spoke,
"I had a son. Sadly, he passed away a few years ago."
"I'm so sorry, ma'am. I didn't mean to bring back that pain," he apologized and continued,
"I wish I knew my real parents," he said, looking down.
Miss Chiedza smiled.
"You remind me of him, my son. He was just like you."
Marquis couldn't help but smile. She saw her son in him. It made him feel loved.
In the girls' toilet, Ann was pressed against the wall by Nia and Chloe.
"Come on, hand it over," Nia said. Ann pulled out fifty bucks, her hand shaking as she handed it to the two girls.
"Good girl," Chloe said, walking closer to Ann. She lifted Ann's chin.
"Next time, don't make it hard on yourself. Just do what we say, and you won't get hurt."
She then pressed her lips against Ann's.
"You wouldn't want to get this pretty face hurt," she said, then she and Nia left, laughing.
Dex, Ethan, and Kareem saw Chloe and Nia walking together, laughing. They quickly headed toward them.
"What got you girls so happy?" Dex asked.
"You won't believe what happened—she kissed Ann!" Nia explained.
"Wait, what? Chloe, you really did that?" The guys were shocked.
"It's called asserting dominance," she said, laughing.
Kareem couldn't help but stare at Chloe's full lips, wanting to plant his own on hers. He swallowed hard, his mind racing with all kinds of thoughts.
"So how was it? Don't keep us waiting," Ethan asked.
"Surprisingly soft. Too soft. It was actually fun, I think I want to do it again. I felt so powerful," she said, and the group started laughing.
Dex looked at Ethan, signaling him. Ethan quickly understood. He grabbed Kareem's hand and Nia's hand and pulled them away.
"You guys have to come check out my new crib after school," he said, pulling them.
Kareem looked behind and quickly understood what Ethan was doing. He wanted to leave Dex alone with Chloe.
Dex looked back and smirked. This was what he'd been waiting for, his time to shine.
"So, Chloe, does this mean you're into girls now?" Dex asked.
"Nah, I just did it out of curiosity, to be honest."
"Good. That's good to know," he replied. Then he continued,
"You and I should hang out sometime. You know, just the two of us."
"Are you asking me out on a date?" she said, smiling, looking at him.
"Yeah, something like that," he said, scratching the back of his head, looking to the side.
"Dex, I can't—I—" Before she could finish,
"Come on, Chlo. You know I like you. After all we've been through, come on, give me a chance. Just one date, and we'll see what happens after that. Come on, please."
Chloe pondered for a few minutes, then finally agreed.
"OK, fine. But just one date."
"Yes! I promise you won't regret this," Dex said, doing a little celebration that made Chloe laugh.
Kareem watched from where he was with Nia and Ethan.
"Feeling jealous, Kareem?" Nia asked, smiling.
"Nah, I'm good. It's not like I liked her anyway. I'm out. See you guys later, I got shit to do," he said, walking away.
Ethan looked down. "Fuck, this might not end well" he thought to himself. Then he diverted his attention to Nia. He was alone with her again. He looked at her, blushing.
"How about we—"
She interrupted him instantly.
"Not happening, loser," she said, laughing, walking away.
After leaving Miss Chiedza's office, Marquis got a call. It was Tommy.
He sighed and answered.
"I'll be waiting for you, Marquis. Hope you got my money."
Marquis was silent for a while.
"Yo, you there? Marquis?"
"Yeah, I'm here. I'll be there, man. I got your money," Marquis said, then hung up the phone.
After school, the Untouchables met outside. Ethan and Nia arrived first, then Kareem, then Dex and Chloe. When Kareem saw them again, he felt a stabbing pain in his chest, but he just looked away like he didn't mind.
"Guys, it's time you check out my new crib, our new hangout spot," Ethan announced.
The group got excited.
"Let's go! We got the richest man in the world in our crew!" Dex yelled as they started walking.
Ethan quickly pulled Dex and whispered,
"So how did it go, bro? She in or out?"
"I got me a date, bro," Dex whispered back.
That statement stopped Kareem in his tracks.
"You guys go on ahead," he said, then turned around, throwing his hoodie over his head as he walked home.
"Yo, Kareem, come on, man!" Ethan yelled, to no avail. Kareem kept on walking.
"Man, fuck those guys," he thought to himself. "I feel like an outcast with them anyway."
Since he didn't want to join them, the crew decided to go without him.
"What's up with him?" Chloe asked. Nia leaned toward her and whispered,
"I think he felt some type of way seeing you with Dex."
Chloe looked back at Kareem walking away, sighed, and then continued walking.
Ethan lowered his voice into Dex's ears, "Double date, here we come." Dex smiled, giving Ethan a little bro punch.
Marquis left the school gate and looked up, defeated by life.
"What am I going to do now?"
He received a text from Tommy telling him where they would meet up.
"Let's meet up at the park, I hate crowded places." Marquis replied. He grabbed his backpack and headed that way.
In the meantime, Kareem was in his room, looking at the ceiling.
"What is life to me?" he asked himself and continued,
"Am I lonely?"
He tilted his head to the right, his eyes landing on the black magic book he got from the Orb, which was on his desk.
"Not trying hard enough, huh?" he said, standing up and heading towards his desk. He sat down and opened the book, and the first page was empty, but a word materialized on the page.
"Fate," he read.
He opened the next page.
Marquis arrived at the park and looked around for a few minutes, then he noticed Tommy's van. He took a deep breath and walked over to the van. He opened the front seat door next to the driver's seat and entered.
He placed his backpack down between his legs, thinking about what to say to Tommy.
"Remember, this is just the first payment; it can only buy my silence for a few months. After that, my voice will return, and I'll need more to stay silent."
After hearing that, Marquis didn't react, he didn't have money for the first payment anyway.
He was losing all hope, losing his last bit of will to live; he was finally going to be able to end his own life. His head was held down, his life flashing before his own eyes.
After leaving the van, he was going to end it all. He was thinking about his whole life.
"Take back control of your life, fears are meant to be faced, live your life how you want." A familiar voice echoed in his head.
"Okay, hand it over, the first payment" Tommy said, rubbing his hands together, grinning from ear to ear. Marquis pushed his glasses back to the bridge of his nose.
"Okay," he said, his voice low.
In Kareem's room, all the weird letters in his magic book started glowing. Then they started floating, coming out of the book into the air. He quickly stood up, amazed by them. He was spinning around, looking at them. They stopped, and he extended his hand forward, trying to reach for one of the letters.
As soon as his finger touched it, they all rushed into his forehead with him groaning in pain. They all were entering through one spot, the center of his forehead between his eyes.
Back in the van, Marquis leaned down, reaching for his backpack with his right hand. Tommy wouldn't stop grinning, he was about to be able to pay all his rent and have extra money left.
Marquis's right hand stopped inches away from the backpack, then he swung it to his right, slamming it into Tommy's neck. He kept it pressed against Tommy's neck, and before Tommy could react, he followed up with his left.
He pulled his left hand from his pocket, revealing a sharp pen. He swung it fast with a groan, stabbing Tommy in the stomach. Tommy started choking, reaching for his neck, groaning in pain. He grabbed Marquis's hand, removing it from his neck.
"Ahhh!" He groaned, throwing a punch at Marquis with his right hand.
Marquis didn't let go of the pen. He pulled it out and yelled,
"Haaaah!" Stabbing Tommy in the stomach again.
"I... I'm sorry, let me go, let me live, I won't say anything"
Tommy groaned in pain, trying to push Marquis away with his left hand while his right hand opened the door. Marquis pulled out the pen from Tommy's abdomen and slammed it deep into his neck.
"Marquis, ppwwk!" Tommy tried speaking, choking on his own blood.
Marquis pulled him back in, stopping him from getting out of the van.
At Ethan's house, Dex, Ethan, Nia, and Chloe were dancing their hearts out, playing music. While Kareem was in his room floating, the letters from his magic book were still entering his body.
In the van, Tommy grabbed the side of his neck, trying to stop the bleeding. Marquis lunged at him and slammed his door. He reclined Tommy's seat and looked at him bleeding out.
"I'm not afraid of you" he declared, sitting on top of Tommy. He pulled the pen out again and started stabbing Tommy in the chest, blood spilling everywhere with every stab and pull.
Visions of all the suffering he had gone through flashed in his mind, his anger rose, and he continued to stab.The pen tip snapped off inside Tommy's rib with a wet crunch but Marquis continued to stab.
His pen broke, leaving half of it inside Tommy. He dropped the other half and started punching, tears running down his face with every punch.
"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you all!!!" he screamed, punching Tommy.
At this point, Tommy couldn't move, he was taking his last breath, making weird groans, with blood coming out of his mouth and the holes in his body.
Marquis finally stopped, his hands shaking, and stared at Tommy's dead body, breathing heavily.
In Kareem's house, all the letters finally entered his body, and he fell to the ground on his feet. He raised his head, and the book was now floating. The star symbol on its cover absorbed the book and launched at Kareem, attaching to his forehead between his eyes. Kareem was caught by surprise and passed out.
While Dex, Ethan, Nia, and Chloe were enjoying their small party, Marquis got out of the van, his clothes drenched in blood. The cover of the night did little to cover the blood covering him from head to toe. He sat down, crying, as what he had done dawned on him. After a while, he got up, searched the car, and found a pocket knife. He took it and his backpack, then set the van on fire.
He stood frozen, his glasses reflecting the fire, as he watched Tommy's body and van burn. He turned and walked away, shocked and satisfied.
Kareem woke up, lying on the floor. He looked up at the ceiling, still lying on the floor, and touched his forehead. He could feel something diamond-shaped stuck at the center of his forehead between his eyes.
Marquis reached his house, still drenched in blood, he could see his parents inside waiting for him.
"I'm done" he declared to himself, pulling out the pocket knife he got from Tommy's car. He pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose, his right hand clutching the knife, with blood lust in his eyes, he walked in.