The Convenience of Lies (6 page)

I start swimming around in circles. The boys realize I have resurfaced and start scanning my face for my response. From how quickly they have stopped laughing, I can tell their consciences' are getting the better of them. It almost feels like they want me to be mad. They are hoping I will berate them for throwing me in the pool. I decide to take a different route. I act above it all, like I don't care they threw me into the pool.

And, as it turns out, I don't need to berate them anyway. Shane's mother comes out of the house and sees me nonchalantly swimming around in circles in the pool.

“What did you boys do!?!?” she shrieks.

“They threw me in the pool,” I say, relishing the moment.

“How could you guys do that!” She sends them a glare. “Come, get out of the pool sweetie. I'll dry your clothes off for you.”

“Shane, Cody, you two need to apologize. How can you do that to your guest, Shane?” She's ranting at this point, which I feel is better coming from her than from me. The boys are getting disciplined the way they should, and I'm not wasting any breath. “I'll get you some dry clothes to wear while I put your wet ones in the dryer,” Shane's mother says before stomping into the house to collect them.

“You know, I do feel kind of bad about that, Mackenzie,” Cody tells me, looking at me with pleading eyes over his glasses, his eyebrows furrowed with concern.

I just give him this look like, “Yeah, you know you shouldn't have done it,” and stomp indignantly out of the backyard, chin held high like I'm above it all, relishing every moment.

He calls himself the King of Crime, or King, for short. He likes to scheme how to get away with “Misconducts,” as he puts it lightly. This is how he shows his creativity. The more people involved, the more of a challenge it is to figure out how to get away with it. He likes to instruct other people in his art. The last time he got to plan an upscale Misconduct was a few months ago when school was still in session….

It is the night before the nation-wide standardized testing is going to start at the high school, and King wants to interfere. The school deserves it after giving him their constant restrictions and rules, and nothing useful for many years. He is proud of himself for coming up with the best way to cause disturbance, and recruits three people to help him.

It is 1:00 am, and the school is deserted. He says, “Watch me, I'll show you how to jump the gate.” King puts one foot on a half-wall, grabs the bars, and pulls himself up. He is already close enough to the top to swing his leg over. King smirks as he thinks about how stupid the school is for not putting any kind of spikes at the top, making this all the easier. It's like the school is inviting him in. He swings his other leg around and jumps down, landing like a cat on the ground.

The three recruits watch King with baited breath. They give out a whoop of approval when he lands. King loves the attention but will never let the recruits know. And so he says, “SHHH,” really loudly while giving the recruits a sharp glare. They shut up instantly. “Hand me the bag,” he tells them, referring to a bag containing super glue and several cans of black spray paint he lifted from Home Depot a few hours ago.

Once a recruit has passed the bag through the gate, and all three recruits have made it over, King separates out the supplies and nods at them. “You know what to do; you have one hour.” The group splits up, tromping off in different directions.

This is the moment King has been waiting for. First, he marches right over to his least favorite teacher's door, Mrs. Falks. He points the super-glue at the door handle and squirts a healthy amount into the keyhole. That door will not open in the morning. Then he gets out the spray paint and draws a large penis along the wall of Mrs. Falks' classroom. For the final touch, he writes, “FAT FUCK FALKS” on the wall next to her door. He steps back grinning, admiring his work.

King checks the time. It has already been ten minutes. He grabs the super glue and methodically moves around his pod of classrooms, generously squirting super glue into each of the doorknobs. This is the most important part of the job, for it will cause the most havoc tomorrow since the school will be on its tight Test Schedule, and nobody will be able to get into the classrooms. He has twenty minutes left, and he has glued shut all of the door knobs in his assigned area. Now King starts the fun part, the spray paint. He draws swastikas and penises throughout the area. Occasionally he pauses by a teacher's door and adds embellishments like “KLAUBER IS A BITCH” or “CROUGER IS CRAZY.”

Once the hour is up, he returns to the meeting spot. His three recruits show up one-by-one. Fifteen minutes have gone by when the last one arrives, his face flushed from adrenaline and excitement. “You're LATE!” King spits at him. The recruit's face falls when he sees the anger in King's eyes.

“
Come on! Let's get out of here before anyone spots us!” King asserts, already marching away from the school. As the recruits run to catch up with him, King's face lights up with a smirk. He's imagining the havoc, pain, and confusion that will be entertaining him all day tomorrow. Now that his plan panned out without any hiccups, he gets to just sit back and enjoy the show.

He still chuckles as he thinks back on this months later. The school had to start the testing an hour late as a locksmith broke into the classrooms. Meanwhile, the students milled around looking at his work, and certain teachers stormed off, taking “sick days.” All everyone was thinking and talking about was King's creation.

I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me. My heart has frozen. I can't believe what I just read on AIM.

Alicia suddenly strikes back into my memory like lightening. I had forgotten about her. I read the words again slowly; they are like fire etching into the back of my retina, burning all the way down to my chest. It's like looking at a bad car accident; it's so horrible, I can't take my eyes off it. After a moment that feels like eternity, I decide what I want to ask,

Scott doesn't realize that I am boiling with envy.

I can't believe that Ramon didn't make me his girlfriend. I thought for sure that I was next in line. And so, I am certain that if I talk to Alicia, I will probably do the best I can to break them up. Even though I know this is what I would do, I also see that this plan will probably backfire on me if Ramon finds out what I did.

This is too much. Alicia is acting like perfect bait, asking about the topic which I would use to break them up with, and I am certain that if Alicia has any dignity she will realize that Ramon isn't the guy for her.

Scott tells me, and I get to work messaging Alicia

I can't believe I am talking to this girl who has won the prize I have been seeking for the past several months like she is an equal who I can trust and confide in. I'm treating her like a comrade at arms. She has no idea that my sole intent is to tell her the truth about all the worst things I know about Ramon so that she will break up with him.

I find it peculiar that the first thing this girl wants to know about her new boyfriend is everything about his last relationship. That's not what would be top on my priority list.

Before I go spilling the beans, I want to be sure I believe this girl really wants my information.

It's almost too hard to believe that Alicia is walking right into the conversation I wanted to have with her so easily and quickly. She is so eager; it reminds me of children swarming onto brightly colored candies that have just exploded from a piñata.

It is imperative that Alicia agrees to this so that I am protected.

After getting Alicia's word, I decide to trust it, and I also figure I have a golden ticket to their break up.

I relish at how bad I have just made Ramon sound. Surely Alicia won't find this news alluring.

I feel my eyebrows rise as I read this question. Surely Alicia would know at least this much about Ramon.

This is looking better for me every second. My chest is swelling with pride, seeing that I know Ramon better than his girlfriend does. Obviously, I am the better match for him.

I feel giddy excitement from how thoroughly Alicia seems to be lapping up my every word. My plan is working! Pretty soon Ramon is going to be back on the market. And then, he will realize that I'm the girl for him.

I genuinely believe that couples should work out differences together. They should share with each other their darkest secrets. Getting it from a third party means that Alicia will have a skewed point of view, and it is also going behind his back. I have given her enough info that she should be clued in on what goes on in Ramon's life, and can draw her own conclusions after talking to him. Perhaps if this happens, their breakup will make more sense to Ramon.

It is clear that Alicia isn't going to let me off the hook on this one, and also that Alicia already doesn't trust Ramon. With that being the case, there's really no chance this relationship will work, and so it doesn't really matter if she talks to me or him. At this point, getting her out of the picture will be a shoe-in, and I feel it's genuinely for the better. Unlike Alicia, I trust Ramon, so I am better for him.

That was quick and easy. But seeing her write that, I feel a sudden chill run down my spine. This could have terrible consequences for me if Ramon finds out I'm the one who gave Alicia all this information.

Even though I don't want to see Ramon and Alicia together, I was positive that Alicia would at least talk to Ramon about everything I told her instead of jump to conclusions.

I think about that, and realize how right she could be. Or maybe I'm feeling spiteful because Ramon made her his girlfriend rather than me.

I realize I have painted Ramon as a monster for Alicia. On paper, he looks like a horrible person. And this is what I have told her. But in person, Ramon is alluring, attractive, intelligent, and loyal.

She signs off, and I go numb. I had trusted Alicia to keep our conversation secret, that as girls, we have a bond to look out for each other, and she has just thrown that all away. My one and only request of her to get my information was to keep it between us. And she didn't even have the decency to respect that.

Now I realize I deserve Ramon more than Alicia did anyway. I know him better and I trust him. But now… now that Alicia's going to tell him I talked a lot of shit about him, it looks like our chances of getting together are going to be slim to none. I think I have just lost a friend, and a potential lover.