Bad Juju (25 page)

At the end of the day, Candy packed up her things, excited to enjoy the rest of the sunshine.  As she strolled down the long hallway, she saw Henry and Brittany socializing.  She wished the poor boy would just give up on her.

Move on.  Take the stairs on this side of the hallway.
  She heard Brittany raise her voice a few times. 
Who gives a shit.  Get in your car and go
,
Candy told herself
.

Brittany’s face looked like she was on the verge of tears.  Candy slowed her gait.  There were other students sprinkled throughout the hall, but they all seemed in a hurry to pack up and go home. 
Follow their lead.
  Ignoring her inner voice,
Candy
moved in closer. 

Brittany had been crying.  Henry seemed distant and cold. 
Wait a minute…the love of his life is crying and he’s not trying to comfort her?
 
Even more intrigued, Candy sized up
Henry’s body language
.  The boy appeared to be
repulsed.  Candy disregarded the center stairwell and approached.  She could now hear bits and pieces of their conversation.

“Brittany, it’s over.  My mom thinks you’re a slut.  I don’t want to get in trouble,” Henry said, not realizing Candy was only a dozen yards away.  She ducked into an inserted entryway of a nearby classroom and continued to eavesdrop.

“But I love you!  What we have is special!  Did I do something wrong?  Whatever it is, I’ll change,” Brittany begged.

What?  Am I hearing things?
 
Candy
was in shock
.

“You’re my first.  I’ll always remember you, but we need to cool off.  I’ll be away the whole summer anyway.  Goodbye.”  Henry walked off in the opposite direction of where Candy was standing.  She carefully emerged from the entryway.  Henry was gone.  Brittany stood alone, sobbing. 

Go home and pretend you never heard any of this.
 
Her need to help outweighed all logic.
 
She looked at Brittany and asked,
“You okay?”

“No, I’m not okay!  Henry Novak is the biggest asshole at Freemont High!  I hate him!”
Brittany
yelled, and then stomped away.

Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned
,
Candy recollected. 
Another
shitstorm
to swim through. 
With only twelve school days left, Candy
tried not to be overly c
oncerned.

Chapter
29

Minutes passed by like hours as
Rio
cried in agony while slumped on the decking floor of his balcony.  Crying became monotonous.  With
all of his might, Rio
got up, wiped his tears, and collected the broken pieces of things he had smashed that landed in his backyard.  His shoulder burned with pain.  He winced with each piece of glass, plastic, metal, and other debris he picked up.  But he was determined to clear the evidence of his temper tantrum before his parents came home.

While he put the shattered remnants in a garbage bag, he thought about Brittany’s and Henry’s alleged affair
, trying
to make some sense of it. 
Rio
didn’t just get dumped.  She went out of her way to rip his heart into a million little pieces.  That bitch declared war.

Rio
filled up the bag and placed it on the bottom of the trash bin.  He went into the garage and admired his new car.  He turned sixteen the week prior and easily passed the driver’s test.  Because of his unacceptable behavior and troubles at school,
Rio’s
dad refused to get
Rio
a birthday present.  His mother, however, insisted on buying him a car.  They went to several dealerships until
Rio
decided on a Dodge Charger.  His dad was outraged.  His mother compromised by prohibiting him from driving it until his suspension was finished. 

Per his mother’s persuasion,
Rio
received his car keys on Friday
, the last day of his suspension
.  His car was now free for him to drive wh
enever he wanted. 
First destination was a big party on the other side of town. 
Friday night
he picked up Bart before it turned dark.  They drove to Madison
DiAngelo
’s
house which backed into a golf club.

“This car is bad-ass!  You lucky shit!” Bart exclaimed.  “I’m honored to be the first person to ride in it.”

“
Yeah
, it’s sweet alright.
  As is yours, my brother.
” 
Rio
turned into the golf club community of extravagant homes.

“Does Brittany know you’re driving?  About your hot car?” Bart questioned.

“No, or at least not from me.  We’re over,”
Rio
stated.

“She might be at
Maddie’s
.  This party’s got a lot of PR over the school.  Someone posted directions on Facebook,” Bart said.

“Don’t care if she comes.  Besides, you’re hooking me up with Sierra, right?  She’s sexy.  Got that long, red hair and hard little body,”
Rio
said.  Bart nodded and turned u
p the volume of the stereo. 
Katy Perry’s
Teenage Dream
blared through the speakers.

They pulled onto Madison’s street and park
ed
several houses down
at the first empty spot
.  The night was early and several students already were there.  Bart and
Rio
knew the pretty blonde hostess, but not very well.  She was a year ahead of them and hung in older circles.

Her home was a colossal pile of bricks and stacked stones. 
Rio
and Bart smiled as they parked.  Other students loitered in the front yard and pointed to the back where the party took place.

They walked through the fence and admired the large, secluded tract with an endless hardscape and in
-
ground pool.  By the back door, a mini-stage was set up with a D.J. jamming hit songs in between running karaoke mixes.  A keg sat only feet away with a small line of thirsty students waiting to refill their red plastic cups.  That wasn’t the only keg.  Two others were situated in different parts of the immense yard.  Although Madison had neighbors, the lot was too big for them to be bothered by the noise.

The vast kidney
-
shaped pool took up half of the yard.  It featured a diving board, bridge, and waterfall.  Off to the side was an in
-
ground Jacuzzi.  A few students were enjoying a soak.  Only
two students
were swimming.

On the other side of the yard
,
multi-leveled brick and flagstone patio groupings held coordinating loveseats, lounges, and ottomans.  Bart saw his girlfriend, Kathleen O’Malley, drinking beer by the outdoor fireplace.  She sat with Sierra Sinclair
,
Chad Newman, Corey
Lattinger
, and Jack Hoffman, some of Freemont’s varsity baseball players
.  Kathleen waved them over.

Rio
and Bart grabbed themselves a beer and sat down.  They set their
cups
down in a
flower box
jammed with perennials,
indifferently
smashing some of the flowers.  A
flower vase
cur
rently being used as an ashtray
sat on the coffee table.

“Hey guys. 
Rio
, my man, nice to see you out and about,” said Chad, the varsity star pitcher.  “We could have used you this season.”

“Hi all.  Yea
h
, well, next year,”
Rio
replied.  He didn’t much care for the cocky junior.
 

“So you’re back on Monday?” Chad asked.

“Yes.  And I’m not talking to anyone.  My folks are so pissed at me…”
Rio
said with a smile.

“Hey Chad, you
gotta
see
Rio’s
new ride.  Charger.  Black with
yellow
pin striping
.  Got it after he passed his D.L. test,” Bart bragged. 
Rio
knew Cha
d wasn’t Bart’s favorite either, but hung out with the boy during baseball season. 

“Last week?  Wow, I’m impressed.  You smack your woman around, get suspended, and then get your mommy and daddy to buy you a new car. 
Unfucking
believable!” Chad exclaimed, partially slurring.

Rio
nodded, slightly annoyed, but tried not to show his feelings.

“I love Chargers.  Maybe you could give me a ride in it later,” asked Sierra demurely.  She moved over to the bamboo loveseat where
Rio
was sitting.  He thought she looked sexy with her wild red hair and halter top.

They drank some more beers and talked about baseball and summer vacation with Kathleen and Sierra mesmerized by their every word.  Sierra draped her short, muscular legs over
Rio
’s lap as if they were an item.  She was clearly buzzed.  He found her clingy, but played along.  She would serve as an adequate vessel to empty his load into later on in the evening.

Once the baseball talk dwindled, Chad and his two followers staggered up from their seats.  “This party’s out of control!  Damn!  Look at all of these fucking people!  We’re
gonna
see who’s here.  Later,” Chad said as he, Jack, and Corey left their group.

Their exit was code for ‘we’re
gonna
find some girls to screw.’  Chad wasn’t as good looking as
Rio
or even Bart, but he got himself plenty of pussy because of his superstar status.

Bart and
Rio
eyed up the pool on the other side of the yard.  The beer was making
Rio
horny.  He put his hand up Sierra’s jean
skort
and poked his fingers into her vagina.  He could feel the rough lace of her panties and became aroused.

“Do you want to go swimming?”
Rio
whispered in her ear and then licked around the
lobe
.

Sierra giggled and coyly answered, “Didn’t bring a suit.”

She was very receptive to
Rio
’s fingers.

“Your top is like a bikini.  And I know you’re wearing panties,”
Rio
persuaded.  He cupped her small breast and kissed her lips for further encouragement.

“I don’t know,” she whined.

Rio
looked at Bart, pleading for extra pressure.

“
Rio
, I’ll go swimming with you.  Me and Kathleen will go.  She’s wearing her suit under her clothes,” Bart said.

Chad, Corey, and Jack quickly met some girls who wanted to go swimming.  Chad carried a large tray of
Jello
shots and waved.  “C’mon you guys!  Have a shot and dive in!”  Chad took off his shirt and shorts and jumped into the water.  His cli
que
of friends soon followed.  “It’s warm!” Chad yelled from inside of the pool.

“I’m going!” Bart declared.  He ran to the keg and filled a plastic pitcher up with beer and then headed over to the pool. 
Rio
and the girls joined him.  They each downed a shot from Chad’s tray and then chugged a beer Bart refilled.

Chad swam up to the edge of the pool where they were standing.  “Guess who else is here?  Brittany!  And she’s wasted, crying her ass off about Henry Novak
that
retarded freshman who beat you up a few months ago!  Fucking hilarious!  I knew it was him she was banging in the tower!”

“Shut up!” shrieked
Rio
, enraged at Chad for bringing up the drama.

“
Rio
, chill.  He’s drunk,” Bart warned as he held him from jumping into the pool and starting a fight.

“
Didn’t know you were so touchy,”
Chad said while laughing.  He, his new slut, and the rest of his crowd swam over to the bridge and the waterfall on the other side of the pool.

“Let it go!” Bart pleaded.  “Let’s have some fun.  The pool is
gy-normous
!  Plenty of room for us.  We can swim on this side, away from Chad and everyone else.  They’re all hanging out by the waterfall.  Girls, are you ready for a dip?” 

Kathleen and Sierra nodded and downed another shot.  Kathleen disrobed, revealing her yellow string bikini, and Sierra took off her
skort
, wearing just her halter top and panties. 
Rio
gulped down another shot, and then they all jumped into the pool.  About a dozen other students were on the other side, hanging onto a floating table with cup holders.  Th
at
side of the pool backed up to the golf course and was more private, but
Rio
liked the emptiness of the part of the pool they were in.  Bart and Kathleen floated towards the rest of the crowd, leaving
Rio
alone with Sierra.