Allwebco Web Templates · Build your own toolbar · Site Building Articles · Audio, Fonts, Clipart
powered by
bravenet.com
|
|
The four guys stood back in the clearing in the forest north of the campus. Cecil Metus threw his signature hat on the ground and stomped on it, first with one foot but then with both, making it completely soiled and useless. The scowl on his face had turned deadly. The three who had resolutely followed him for so long, Jason Volgende, Brad Aanhang, and Antony Seurata, backed out of slugging range, exchanging nervous glances.
"I'll never wear it again; I'm not the champion."
"You're still the champion," said Jason, taking another step back. He was the skinniest of the three and obviously the most nervous of being hit, but still fiercely loyal.
"Yeah," said Brad nervously. "One fight doesn't make a loss. It takes at least two or three." Brad was larger in a fleshy sort of way and foolishly didn't think to step back when he spoke.
Cecil looked at them with a scalding stare, spitting in their direction and hitting Brad. "He didn't just beat me, he beat me good."
"He cheated," said Antony carefully, looking afraid that Cecil might start at him also.
The other two quickly agreed. "Yeah, he cheated." Brad had backed up to join Jason, so that only Antony was left facing him.
Cecil shot a disdainful glare at him, "What? How do you know?"
Now it was Antony's turn to back up. Jason and Brad also looked at him. "Yeah, how do you know?"
"Isn't it obvious? Because he lost. He's the champion. He couldn't have lost unless Todd cheated."
Jason and Brad thought this was a great answer and started nodding furiously in agreement until Cecil started yelling.
"HE WON. I'M NOT THE CHAMPION. CAN'T YOU SEE THAT I'M BEATEN? I'M RUINED! I'LL NEVER BE ANYTHING EVER AGAIN! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT?"
Antony, being the smartest of the three, was the first to run, but Jason and Brad were close behind him. They ran through the thick of the forest and didn't stop until they'd reached the safety of the North Dormitory Tower. Back in the clearing, however, Cecil turned around a saw a thick trunk of a tree in his face.
"I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE AGAIN."
He swung, and his fist connected with the trunk with a sickening thud. Then he turned, head drooping over his slumping shoulders, and walked calmly back towards the campus. He kept walking past the place where he should have turned to enter the north dormitory tower, past the cafeteria between the two towers, and into the medical clinic on the eastern side of the dormitory towers.
"You've broken your hand," said the medical attendant on duty. "We'll have to put it in a cast for a few weeks."
It was after the attendant had left the room that Cecil looked up and spoke quietly to walls, his face no longer scowling.
"He did cheat. That's how he won. Todd cheated."
Narration provided by Howard Douglas, based on discussions with Antony Seurata.
bravenet.com