Shepherd's Crook - 16. Chapter 16

Taking the stairs two at a time with Tanner on his heels, Gibby raced down to the kitchen to find his dad pouring a cup of coffee. Jonathan’s hair was still wet from his morning shower. His heavy eyes looked tired and he couldn’t hide the dark purple rims that were underneath.

Jonathan yawned as he stirred a small amount of milk into his waiting cup and blew on the steaming liquid before taking a drink. His eyes rolled back in the joy of his early morning delight. “Ahhh,” Jonathan smiled taking another sip.

“I’m glad you’re up early because I’ll be taking you to school this morning, but you’ll have to ride the bus home this afternoon. I checked the schedule and bus number forty-one will drop you off at the end of the street.” Jonathan said before draining the rest of his cup.

Gibby stopped digging around in the cabinet, searching for his favorite box of cereal. He froze. Shoulders bristling with the thought of being chauffeured around by his dad or the big yellow school bus, neither thought was very appealing. “What? Why?” Gibby shook his head trying to understand what Jonathan had just told him. “Just because some asshat got himself splattered all over the road, that’s no reason for you to punish me.”

“Hey!” Tanner shouted from where he was sitting on a stool at the end of the breakfast bar.

With Jonathan standing behind Gibby, the teenager stole a glance at Tanner and playfully stuck his tongue out at him.

“I’m not punishing you, so don’t give me a hard time about this, Gib,” Jonathan told him while pouring his second cup of coffee into an insulated travel mug.

“But Dad,” Gibby’s protest was cut short.

“Don’t, ‘But Dad,’ me. I talked with Officer Blackfeather yesterday and they are classifying the Mitchell kid’s death as a homicide and until they find out what really happened to him, I don’t want you riding your bike around town, end of discussion.” His tone left no room for argument. Jonathan was very overprotective when it came to his son.

“Do they know what happened to him?” Gibby asked as he turned to face his father.

Tanner suddenly sat up straighter, waiting for any information about his case.

Jonathan shook his head and frowned. “I don’t know all the details, but when Dr. Warner and I examined the boy’s body, there were wood splinters in the back of his head.”

“Wood…like from a baseball bat?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Jonathan took another sip of his coffee and rubbed his hands over his tired, blood-shot eyes. “Maybe, they’re checking every lead, but as far as I can tell, it looks like whatever did kill that boy, it wasn’t a car.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Gibby’s mind raced. “Well, what about after school? Can I ride my bike to the library after I get home?”

“No,” Jonathan said, shaking his head, “I don’t want you out on the street alone.”

“C’mon, Gibby think. If you can’t get out of the house, how the hell are we supposed to get the evidence over to the police station?” Tanner kept his voice low while he whispered as if Jonathan could hear him.

Gibby scrambled to come up with a plan. “What if I ride the bus into town after school?” One of Jonathan’s dark eyebrows rose, as he listened to Gibby’s request. “That way I can still go to the library. I can just hang out there until you pick me up after work.”

The Police Station was less than two blocks away from the library. Gibby and Tanner could quickly slip over there after school and be back to the library before anyone knew the difference.

Jonathan considered Gibby’s suggestion, before nodding his head. It was a reasonable request. “I don’t see why not. Just make sure you call me as soon as you get there so I know that you’re safe.”

“Oh, you’re sexy when you’re sneaky,” Tanner growled behind Gibby.

“Thank you,” Gibby said as he tried to hide the blush that crept across his cheeks.

***

As the morning bell rang, Ms. Stein asked her students to take their seats. A group of girls milled around Amanda before settling into their desks. Gibby’s mouth dropped open when he heard the tail end of their conversation, Amanda was organizing classmates to speak at Tanner’s school memorial service next week.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Gibby snapped, glaring at her as he walked past to his seat. When Amanda noticed him looking at her, she had the nerve to wink at him.

“That bitch--”

Tanner appeared at his desk. “Don’t antagonize her, babe,” He quickly warned Gibby, “Just keep your head down and try to fly below her radar.” Tanner almost begged Gibby to not cause a scene. Amanda was out of control and unpredictable. The last thing they needed was her getting suspicious that Gibby knew the truth.

Gibby growled under his breath. Just as he was opening his mouth to let loose a string of profanity, Ms. Stein rapped her ruler on her wooden desk, silencing the room.

Tanner let out a pensive sigh, thankful for the interruption.

“It would seem that the School Board is now disagreeing with the advice given by their own grief counselors. Why bother to bring in experts to help the students, if they are only going to change their minds if someone challenges their advice?” Ms. Stein fanned herself with the official blue paper issued by the Board. Her face flushed red as she continued talking to her students without her normal friendly smile.

“The Board believes that it is in the best interest of our students to put off all tests, quizzes, and projects for…” She scanned the paper, as if she hadn’t committed every outrageous word to memory from the moment she found the letter in her mailbox this morning. “…for the rest of this month. I guess keeping students engaged and their minds busy is not as important as appeasing the whiny complaints of a few individuals.” Ms. Stein glared right at Amanda.

Nobody needed a special announcement to the class to know that Amanda Grady had run straight to her daddy, moaning about Ms. Stein’s pop quiz. As the older woman and teenage girl locked eyes, Gibby was glad when he saw Amanda look away first. He liked Ms. Stein and didn’t want to see her back down from Satan-in-a-mini-skirt.

“So…there will be a test on the first of the month. It will include the first four chapters--”

“But we’re not even halfway through chapter three, yet.” Amanda protested.

“Well then, Ms. Grady, I suggest that you should start reading, right now, shouldn’t you,” Ms. Stein cocked an eyebrow, daring the girl to object to her announcement.

“Excuse me,” Gibby raised his hand and waited for the teacher to call on him.

Ms. Stein glared at the top of Amanda’s head for a second longer before clearing her throat. “Yes, Mr. Robinson?”

“I don’t know if you have covered this before, but,” Gibby looked over at Amanda. He wanted to see her reaction when he finished his question, “What is Shepherd’s Crook’s policy on cheating?”

“Gibby!” Tanner shouted.

“What?” Amanda’s head snapped up, her blue eyes wide, as the color drained from her pink cheeks.

“Shit,” Mike and Ethan squawked together. They both spun around in their seats to glare at Gibby like the rest of his classmates.

Ms. Stein gave him a quizzical glance before smiling. “Well, Mr. Robinson, Shepherd’s Crook has a strict No-Cheating Policy. Any students found cheating will be immediately suspended, why do you ask?”

Gibby shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Amanda, “No particular reason. I just heard a rumor, that’s all.”

Before the other students could get in an uproar, wanting to know what was going on, Ms. Stein got her class back under control.

Amanda bore holes into Gibby as she continued to glare at him from across the room for the rest of the class.

“What is wrong with you?” Tanner yelled at Gibby when the bell finally rang.

As soon as class was over, Gibby gathered up his belongings and tried to race out of the room, but Ms. Stein called his name before he could make it into the freedom of the crowded hallway.

“Gibby, can I have a word with you?” She asked.

It would be rude to pretend as if he hadn’t heard her. Ethan and Mike were both standing in the doorway looking back at him. The lure of the hallway suddenly didn’t look as appealing as it did a few moments ago.

“Sure,” Gibby faked a smile as he stepped closer to her desk.

Once the last student had left, Ms. Stein lowered her voice. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”

Gibby nodded his head, afraid that if he opened his mouth, he would spill the beans about Amanda and her friend’s little cheating club. He wanted to tell someone, but he thought that it should be Officer Blackfeather that he told first. Ms. Stein frowned as she watched Gibby nervously shuffle from one foot to the other.

“Alright,” She said when he refused to open up, “Go on before you’re late for your next class.”

***

“What was that about, freak?” Amanda growled as she leaned over and slapped the book out of Gibby’s hands. He jumped out of his seat to face her.

He had been hiding in the library for weeks without any incidents. Amanda knew that he was spending his lunch break in the dusty library stacks, since she saw him there the afternoon she was screaming at Tanner for wanting to quit their little ‘club.’ Gibby snickered to himself. He wondered how many kids would be willing to sign up for a new extracurricular activity at Shepherd’s Crook…The Cheaters Club.

“Well?” Amanda demanded.

Gibby faked his most innocent look, “I’m sorry Amanda, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling.

Her face grew redder as she glared at him. Tanner had disappeared right before the lunch bell. Gibby wished he was here because Tanner knew the evil bitch a lot better than he did. Tanner knew all of the girl’s deep dark secrets. There had to be a lot more buried than cheating on grades and right now, all Gibby wanted to do was rattle her cage until her biggest secret was revealed.

“You’re not fooling anyone, Robinson--”

“Neither are you, bitch!” Gibby growled between his clenched teeth.

Amanda’s eyes grew bigger and darker. The pupils spread until barely any color was visible. It shocked Gibby, but he didn’t move. He stiffened his shoulder as he stood his ground and returned the girl’s icy stare. It was the second time today Amanda had conceded when she glanced away first. Seeing her back down was a rush and Gibby wanted to shout his triumph, but the librarian was still lurking around somewhere in between the bookshelves.

“This is not over,” Amanda snarled, stepping away from him.

Gibby nodded his head and agreed, “Nope, not by a long shot.”

They can try to keep me down but they can't!  I'm not going to give up something that I love to do.  Writing is my life.  I won't give up. They can have my paper and pencil when they pry it from my cold dead hands (jeez, I hope it never come to that   )
Well, as promised, a new chapter.  So let me know what you think.  Thanks for reading and reviewing and supporting me.  You guys and gals are awesome!!!
KC