The homework

About the author:

I am 13 and tall.

Chapter 1

“What do you mean band is canceled?”

Before I could get an answer from the janitor blocking the door to the band room, Principle Baker got over the loudspeaker. “I’m sure you all are wondering why band has been canceled. Due to personal reasons, Mr. Porterfield had to resign. He said he would miss you all and wishes he could of had a chance to say goodbye.”

“You got your answer kid?” snarked the janitor sarcastically.

I stood there for a second, pondering why Mr. Porterfield would leave. He seemed to enjoy teaching and had no reason to leave at least that I could think of.

“You got your answer,” repeated the janitor who’s name tag read Phillip, “now get.”

“Sorry Phillip” I said.

As I turned to walk off I felt the cold crusty hand of Philip grasp my wrist and pull me back towards him. He put his face uncomfortably close to mine and whispered so quietly it was as if he was telling me the nuclear launch codes in a room full of russians.

“How in heck do you know my name?” asked Philip

I felt scared to talk, there was something about Philip that terrified me to my core. I just couldn't seem to figure out what it was. Although I was scared, I managed to get up my courage enough to say, “It was on your name tag.”

Philip looked down at his name tag. “Shit,” he said under his breath but loud enough for me to here. He quickly scanned the hallway almost like he was checking to see if anyone had seen our encounter, than he peeled off his nametag crumpled it up, stuffed it in his pocket, and than ran off like he was fleeing a crime scene.

Chapter 2

I knocked on the door to Sal's office. Sal was my best friend besides my Uncle Jeremy, and yes, I know it’s sad that both of my best friends are adults and one of them is related to me. It's just kids my age are so stupid and sure maybe that's not the best mindset to have in life but it's what I truly believe.

“What a pleasant surprise,” said Sal with a smile only he could have. “What's going on Sam the man?”

“Not much,” I said even though that wasn't true. Lets just say I’m not the best there ever was when it comes to talking to people but with Sal, it's a totally different dynamic. I talk and he listens. He talks, and I sometimes listen. It really depends on the sort of day I'm having. The point is we’re there for each other no matter what. Sal seemed to be in some sort of a rush. He was running around his office shuffling books and printing papers out. Sal is the head janitor at our school and I was hoping he could tell me a thing of to about Phillip.

I asked, “Hey, so what's up with Phillip?” Sal’s facial expression changed from a smile to a frown to dead stair. “Excuse me?” said Sal questioningly.

“You know, the new Janitor” I said.

“Sam, you aren’t making any sense and I have to get going there is a staff meeting tonight and I need to help set up chairs.”

I found it odd that Sal had blown me off like that but I didn't think much of it. Sal was quirky in a good way and he occasionally forgot things it and it wouldn't be the first time he didn't remember something. “Can I help?” I asked Sal.

“Sure but I have to go,” Sal said as he walked out of the office.

I wanted answers and helping Sal seemed like the best way of getting them. I turned to leave the office. That's when I saw it, a bright beam of mid-afternoon sun shone through the window of Sals office and into his trash can. Sitting on top of the stacks of old paper apple cors and banana peels was a small crumpled pink piece of paper. I picked it up. It read name tag, below that it read, write name here, and below that it read “Philip.” Sal must know Philip’s name tag was in the trash can in SAL’S fricken office.

Chapter 3

I entered the cafeteria where I found Sal setting up plastic folding chairs. I didn't say anything and just got right to the task at hand. We worked in silence for a while, not saying a word. Time passed fast it was getting late but I had plenty of questions. I broke the silence with a kind but firm tone “Sal, who is Philip?”

Sal took a second then said, “Sam I simply don’t know what your talking about.” I couldn't believe it, I was either crazy or Sal was covering up some shit! Frustrated with him I turned and walked out of the school and hopped on to my bike.

I road around for a while before getting home. I live in a cookie cutter house in a suburb in the great state of Florida where the grass is always cut to just a certain height. You're not allowed to own pets and everything is perfect all of the time.

It was already 6:00 p.m. by the time I got home. At 6:01, It struck me that I had a huge assignment due the next day and that I had left the papers necessary for said assignment in my locker. Now most kids would have no idea what to do in this situation. That's because most kids are stupid. But not me. Since, I had adult friends, one of whom works at the school, I happen to know that there was a staff meeting on this particular night and that I would be able to retrieve my homework no problemo.

“Uncle I’m home!” I yelled.

“Sup Sam, did you finish your assignment?” asked my uncle, calling down from upstairs.

“About that, I, uh, left it in my locker!” I hollered up.

“You left it in your locker?” he said, walking down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“Yes but don't worry, there is a staff meeting tonight and Sal will be there to let me in,” I said, reassuring Uncle Jeremy that I could get it done in time.

“Okay whatever you say dude,” he said. “Hey, I’m ordering pizza, pepperoni okay?”

“Sure,” I said. My Uncle Jeremy is by far the coolest guy I know. He has been taking care of me for almost a year now since my parents have been gone on a business trip. They will be back next Friday night so I’m pretty excited for that. Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents and all but they are so strict. Uncle Jeremy takes a more laid back approach to parenting that I like way more.

“See you in a bit,” I said, as I headed out the door.

“K, but Sam don’t take to long the pizza will be cold!” he shouted from the kitchen as I closed the door behind me. I peddled on the sidewalk through my neighborhood toward the school.

I pulled up to the school at around 6:45. The sun had officially set and the mosquitos were out. I go to a relatively new school, it was built soon after I was born and has grades 6th through 8th. It’s a brick building with a blue roof and a sign that reads, “Home of the Ostriches.” I don’t play sports but even I have to admit, it’s a pretty shitty school mascot.

The parking lot smelled of palm trees and the air was humid. I tried to open the front doors to the school but they were locked. I knocked loudly but to no avail. I wasn't worried though, I knew how to get on to the roof and from there I could use the catwalks above the cafeteria to get to my locker.

I walked behind the school to where the dumpsters are. “Ah shit!” Climbing on top of the dumpster was “my bully,” Eric. I don’t even know why I bother calling him my bully, it's like he tries to be mean but he’s just bad at it. That doesn't change the fact that he is my least favorite kid at school and he pisses me off. I don’t know if it's the way he smells or if it’s his excessive use of the word bitch, but I hate him all the same. We are the same height but I am lanky. He, on the other hand, is built like a tank so he could theoretically lay my ass out, that is, if he could catch me. Eric has asthma and can’t yell more then a few sentences without taking a breath of his inhaler. So it's really not his fault he’s bad at bullying.

“Hey Eric,” I said trying to be cool but if it sounded awkward.

Eric spun around “SUP bitch” he said, jumping down off the dumpster and walking toward me. He smelled just as bad as ever. Today was a mix of mothballs and Old Spice. Eric was wearing a pink Gap t-shirt with a white dad hat turned backwards and Adidas flip flops. I myself was rocking a red polo with a blue zip up Nike sweatshirt on over it and khaki cargo shorts with teal crocs and socks. “So bitch,” Eric said emphasis on the bitch. “Why are you here, bitch?”

“I, uh, forgot my homework in my locker and I'm trying to get it.”

Eric looked at me almost like he was trying tell if I was lying. “Same here bitch,” he said.

Eric and I tiptoed on the catwalks above the cafeteria. Below us the staff meeting was getting underway with Principle Baker giving some speech. We opened up one of the ceiling tiles above the locker area and jumped down. I felt like a nerdy ninja on a top secret homework related mission.

We were making our way across the catwalk when Eric tapped my shoulder and pointed down to the cafeteria. Mr. Jacobs, my social studies teacher, was surrounded by most of the schools staff, the police chief, Sal, and fricking Philip. Eric and I watched curiously. I thought it might be some weird team building exercise but Mr. Jacobs looked scared for some reason and attempted to leave the circle only to be pushed down by Mr. Reynolds the gym teacher. Mr. Jacobs was now on his knees crying and begging.

“The fuck!” Eric said, under his breath.

I had no idea what was going on and neither did Eric. Sal walked up to Mr. Jacobs and pulled out a fucking machete and made a home for it in Mr. Jacobs’ face. I went to scream but Eric covered my mouth just in time. I looked over at him, he was taking a nervous puff from his inhaler.

Mr Jacobs was crying and blood was gushing out of his forehead. I had never seen something so awful in my life. He began to crawl away. Sal followed him and pulled the machete out of Mr. Jacobs’ head. Mr. Jacobs let out a blood curdling scream that was cut short when Sal lodged the machete back in Mr. Jakobs chest. “Holy fucking shit.” Eric whispered he practically crying and breathing fast into his inhaler. I couldn't fathom why Sal, my best friend, would kill someone, especially a teacher.

Chapter 4

That night I couldn't sleep, the memory of Sal killing Mr. Jacobs was to fresh and the more I thought about, the more I wondered. What if Mr. Jacobs wasn't the only one? What if Mr. Porterfield didn't “quit”? What if Sal killed him too. In fact, it seemed like a teacher left every month and they were all replaced with weird teachers that would wear confederate t-shirts and only seem to want to teach us about the greatness of Robert E. Lee. That's when it hit me, I asked myself, “What if Sal was running some sort of alt right murder cult?” I couldn't go to the cops because the police chief is in the cult. I couldn't to my uncle because, as nice as he is, he would never believe me. I thought about what to do for what seemed like hours. I eventually decided on a slightly more dangerous plan. I knew there would be a staff meeting next Friday. I was going to go get video proof of what they were doing and then show it to the state police.

I walked into school on Monday just in time to here Principle Baker’s grand announcement. “Due to personal reasons Mr. Jacobs had to quit. He is sorry he couldn't say goodbye and he says he misses you all very much.”

I walked into social studies half expecting to see Mr. Jacobs but then I remembered that my ex best friend Sal stabbed his face with a machete. I took my regular seat next to Eric, normally I would be subjected to bullying but not today, today was different. Because Eric and I knew something no one else did, we had seen things no one else had. In a way this brought us closer together. Don't get me wrong, I still hate Eric. I just hate him less then I did last Friday.

Class had officially started when Principle Baker and Philip entered the classroom. I knew exactly what was going on. They were replacing Mr. Jacobs with Philip. I wanted to say something. I just wasn't sure what. “Hello students this is your new teacher Gary Dietrich, or as you will call him Mr. Dietrich.”

“Noo” I said, interrupting Principle Baker. I was standing at the back of the room. Philip looked at me. I could tell he remembered who I was. “His name is actually Philip.” The class looked back at Philip. He was glaring at me but when he realised the whole class was staring at him, his expression changed back into a smile.

“That's quite enough Sam,” said Principle Baker.” His expression was cold and grim.

“No, it’s ok, Sam here seems to be the class clown,” said Philip, with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes..

I sat back down and Principle Baker left the room. “So why don’t we start with some introductions. My name is Gary Dietrich, not Philip.” Philip said looking at me. “I’m sure you all heard about the rallies in Charlottesville last summer. Fun fact, I was there.”

“How can anything about Charlottesville be a fun fact?” said Ryan, who is the actual class clown.

“What's your name son,” said Philip.

“Ryan,” said Ryan with his hands behind his head and a smug look on his face.

“Well Ryan, imagine this, one day your parents wake up without a son and everybody in town forgets you. Why? Because I killed you!” Ryan gulped and looked like he was going to cry. “Just kidding, but you do have detention.” Philip resumed his story as if nothing had happened even though everyone in the room was quiet shook. “Would anyone like to guess why I was in Charlottesville?”

“Because you protesting against the KKK?” asked Kelly, who is possibly the biggest teachers’ pet of all time.

“Well no.” said Philip. “I am actually an active member of the KKK, but don’t worry I’m a good guy.” The kids in my classes mouths dropped in Horror. Saying you are a good guy but also an active member of the KKK, is like saying you’re a Star Wars fan without seeing a single movie.

When I got home that day I packed my backpack with supplies for Friday. In the bag I put five fart bombs, a paintball gun, two granola bars, and, of course, the camera. That Friday I wasn't really focused on school. I had an agenda that I needed to complete for the mission to be a success. First, I had to recruit Eric in case I needed backup. Second, well, actually, that's it.

“Hey Eric,” I said, once again trying to sound cool but falling just a bit short.”

“Hey bitch,” said Eric, “I was going to come back later to get proof of what they are doing here, and I was hoping I could get some backup,” I explained.

“Hell no!” said Eric looking frightened, “What if we get caught? Just, just be like logical bitch. It's too risky.”

I was surprised, actually, because I thought Eric had it in him. “Ok, but if you change your mind meet me in the parking lot at 7:00 pm,” I said.

“No thanks,” said Eric as he walked off.

Chapter 5

I stared at my watch. Eric had one more minute to show before I would go in myself. I use to like looking at the school but not anymore, now the school scared me. I walked behind the school and jumped on top of the dumpster and then on to the roof. It was now 7:05 and there was still no sign of Eric. I tiptoed onto the catwalk and found a good spot to film from. Down in the cafeteria was Philip, Principle Baker, Mr. Reynolds and Sal. There is probably less people here this week I thought to myself.

My train of thought was interrupted when Mrs. Davis the school librarian walked in. I got out my camera and started filming. They surely wouldn't kill her but the more I thought about it the surer I became that they would kill her. I couldn't sit by while another person got killed. I got up and yelled “Mrs. Davis Run they’re going to kill you.” But it was too late. Sal took out his machete and stabbed Mrs Davis in the stomach. I ran across the ceiling tiles, I knew there was a way out by the gym and I had to get there before anyone else did. I ran into the gym only to be met by Mr. Reynolds. I dashed into his office and locked the door quickly behind me.

Mr. Reynolds was banging on the door, “Come on Sam open the door!” I needed a place to hide but the only one I saw was a closet in the back of the room. The closer I got to the door the more it stunk. I opened the door and backed in. I turned on the light and behind me were what seemed like ten dead bodies. I had no choice I closed the door turned off the light and made myself at home under the bodies. It smelled terrible. I couldn’t stand it but it was better than getting caught. I heard Mr. Reynolds knock down his office door and walk in to the room. I heard his footsteps as he walked towards the door. I peeped through a crack in the bodies, where I could see him looking around. He turned to leave but was hit out of nowhere with a baseball bat. It was Eric! I got out from under the pile of bodies. Eric and I both barfed all over the floor but after we felt immediately better.

“Let’s go!” yelled Eric.

“Yeah definitely!” I said.

We burst out of the gym doors but outside waiting for us was a police car and in it was the police chief.

“Other way!” I yelled turning back.

“Why?” asked Eric.

“No time!” I yelled.

We ran back through the gym doors and toward the cafeteria. We heard gunshots and a bullet grazed by my shoulder. I couldn’t believe we were being shot at. It was scary but cool at the same time. When we got back to the cafeteria we were immediately cornered by Philip, Principle Baker, Sal and eventually the police chief.

“Hey Sal” I said.

“Yeah?” said Sal.

“Um, are you going to kill us?” I asked.

“I think we have to at this point Sam the man.”

“OK, how come you killed our teachers?”

But before Sal could answer he, and the rest of his cult friends were hit in the neck by sleep darts. They fell to the floor and standing behind them were my parents. I forgot that they were getting back today.