Gabe Johnson Takes Over (16 page)

Kailey is small.

I sat down next to RC III. Gore sat down next to Kailey. Gore dwarfed her. Gore could crush her like a mosquito. Kailey pulled back her hood and nodded at me.

“Yeah,” I said. “Hi, there.”

“I'm the worst best friend you've ever had,” Kailey said.

“We're not friends,” I said.

“No,” Kailey said. She started tearing up. “We're best friends. We've always been best friends.”

“You two?” Gore said, shaking her head. “How?”

Kailey didn't address Gore. She spoke straight to me. “I get pushed around by my mom. I get pushed around by Janessa. I'm so tired of it. I'm so tired of all of these people, Gabe. Oh, my God. I don't want to take your band away.” She started swallowing hard, trying to talk through these little cries. “I want to be in your band.”

I really don't think she wants to be in the band, but that's pretty sweet of her to say.

She took a deep breath. “Okay. I also don't want that crappy lady getting paid,” Kailey said. “Ms. Clark is my mom's college friend and she's worse than my mom, even more stupid and mean.”

“Big Boobs?” I asked.

Kailey nodded.

“Kailey would like to get your money back,” RC III said. “You've been talking about breaking into that pop machine.”

“I was joking.”

“This is no joke, dude,” RC III said. “We can go into the school and do that. I can get you inside.”

“I have a key and codes to the pop machine,” Kailey nodded.

“What? I don't think that's a good idea,” Gore said. “That's breaking and entering. That's, like, jail time, okay?”

No matter what she's said, hear this right now: Gore didn't do crap, sir. Nothing. She didn't even go up to the school with us. She'd better not be telling anybody that she's some criminal because she's not.

Anyway, Kailey was all about me.

“RC III can let us in. Chandra, you can be in the car or whatever,” Kailey said. “But I just want to do this with Gabe.”

“You do?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Oh, no. You two?” Gore said.

“We can use the Force,” Kailey said.

I nodded. I whispered, “We were Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia when we were kids.”

“Oh,” Gore said. She sort of deflated, but Gore has nothing to worry about, you know? Gore is—Gore is the best.

“Baba Obi is dead though,” Kailey said.

“I'm very sorry to hear that,” I said. “Baba was a good dog.”

“You dudes are weird,” RC III said.

It was a terrible plan, sir. A suicide mission, you know? There's no way we were just going to waltz into the school at midnight and take that money and leave without anyone knowing about it eventually. Coaches know RC III has a key. And in what way could we return the money to dorks and geeks and fat asses? Would we just put the money in baggies and drop it off in mailboxes? We couldn't give it back to the band either. An anonymous donation of a large sum, maybe half in quarters? No way. And anyway, Shaver was fired and the school had gotten rid of us already. The band couldn't even use the money!

For whatever reason, I didn't care. I was pretty moved by Kailey. She'd decided to blow up her life and stick it to her mom, which is pretty cool (yeah, crazy and dumb…but cool). I mean, she really put herself at risk, you know? She was stealing from her own family, not just from the stupid dance squad.

I guess crazy crap at the Kaus home finally pushed her over the edge this spring. Her mom is more psycho than ever. Her dad has been living in the Cities most of the time. (I didn't know that until yesterday.)

And I
was
in a rage about the band program. I'm so sorry we did this now because I know Ms. Feagan is on the case. Grandpa said she stopped by the house last night to see me. (That's when Dad found out I'd taken off.) But yesterday…Kailey and the band suspension? It was too much. I wanted revenge.

Anyway, we decided Kailey and RC III would pick me up from Gore's at 10:15. I'd go in with Kailey and take the money from the machine. Then they'd drop me and the cash off at Cub Foods just in case we were being followed. (We didn't want the cops to follow RC III back to Gore's and get her in trouble. Apparently, she's here though, right? So she did get in trouble.) Gore would pick me up at 11:15 somewhere around Cub if we weren't already arrested. From there, I'd redistribute the money back to band kids and Geekers.

Great plan. Yeah.

Right before we left, Kailey asked Gore to sit at another table. They leaned in and Kailey spoke. RC III said, “Kailey needs to say a few things to her.” When they got up, they hugged. Pretty crazy, sir. They've had a lot of bad blood, Gore threatening to murder Kailey and all. It's better, except for the fact we're locked in a police station.

Before we left, Kailey hugged me around my neck really hard, whispered “I'm sorry. I'm sorry” in my ear. She smells awesome, Mr. Rodriguez.

Sure. Yeah. On the ride home. While she was driving. Gore asked me really quietly while she was staring at the road in front of her. “Do you love Kailey Kaus, Gabe?”

I just turned to her without thinking and said, “I'm in love. But she's not the one I love, Chandra Wettlinger.”

She blushed. I probably did too. Am I blushing right now?

Yeah, my face is hot, man.

Gore also said, “Kailey is different. She's a good person. She isn't what she looks like.”

“Neither is RC III,” I said.

“Neither are you,” Gore said.

“What about you?” I asked.

“No, you're all different, but I'm what I look like,” Gore said.

“I've seen you disco dance,” I told her.

“Oh…yeah. I'm a little different.”

You know what, Mr. Rodriguez? The world is pretty complicated. We can't take anything for granted. My goth girlfriend is a great disco dancer and she's also really good at selling donuts. What other surprises are out there?

Okay. Gore and I hung out at her place.

Dad didn't call me until 10 p.m., after Ms. Feagan left the house. Of course, I didn't answer. RC III and Kailey picked me up right after he called.

No, her dad wasn't around. He was back in the Cities.

I printed the pop machine break-in instructions from the Internet at Gore's place. I hoped to take the fall, you know? I didn't want Kailey or RC III getting in trouble for my war. What do I have to lose? I'd already lost Mom, Dad, Justin, band. Might as well get locked up in juvie.
Maybe
juvie
has
a
band
program and I can practice my shiny trombone in peace.

It's true. I do have stuff to lose now. It also occurred to me this morning that the break-in was more Kailey's war than mine.

Right before Kailey and RC III showed, Gore ran upstairs and came back with a
V
for
Vendetta
mask. You know what I'm talking about?

Yeah. Guy Fawkes! Right!

“This is one of my prized possessions from middle school,” Gore said. She handed me the mask. “Wear it well.”

“Oh, I don't know,” I said, staring down at it. “I don't think so.”

“Please, Gabe. Will you at least try not to get caught? I just found you.”

“Yeah. I guess,” I said. I guess we knew the break-in was a dumb idea.

“Good.” She kissed my cheek. She smells great too, sir, like lemonade and fall at the same time. Really different from Kailey's hair products. She whispered, “See you in an hour.”

RC III and Kailey pulled into the driveway.

When I climbed in the car, Kailey said, “What's that?”

“Vendetta?” I said.

“No, dude,” RC III said. “If somehow we get videotaped, they'll see that mask and think one of your Geeker computer dudes is the thief. No masks. If we get caught, we get caught and we tell the story of why we did it.”

“Yeah? Why exactly
are
you doing this?” I asked.

“Pops always tells me not to get too fond of the benefits of this crap system,” RC III said. “Guess I'm not too fond of the crap system generally.”

I didn't know what to say to that, sir. But I liked it. Gave me courage.

“Okay. Even if I wore a mask, they'd recognize my body,” I said. “No masks. We'll go naked as the day we were born.”

“Keep your pants on, man,” RC III giggled.

We drove through town in silence. Kailey reached over the seat and we sort of shook hands, held hands for a couple seconds.

RC III dropped Kailey and me off on the street in front of the school. We ran along the dark edge of the parking lot toward the west door—the one RC III's key opens. Before she opened the door, Kailey turned to me. “Sorry I've been a bitch,” she said.

“No, no…you're pretty cool,” I said.

“Uh-huh. Not really. But now I'm with the leader of the rebellion.”

“Yeah?”

“Gabe Skywalker,” Kailey said. Then she smiled like she did when we were little kids in her driveway. She looked like that little girl, sir. She looked like my Leia with her blond cinnamon bun hair.

No, she didn't have cinnamon bun hair. I could just see it. Picture what it was. The moon lit up her amazing face. She reached up and touched my cheek. She nodded. She swallowed really hard. She said, “I'm really sorry I went to the dark side.”

“I did too, just in a different way,” I said. “Are you ready for this?”

She blinked. Turned. Pulled RC III's key out of her pocket, stuck it in the lock, and we were in.

We cruised up over the gym through the weight room. Then down the side stairs and out the door that opens into the cafeteria. The only light came from the machine, sir. It cast a bright halo around itself. We slowed and shuffled around the edge of the tables in the dark. We got to the machine. Kailey popped this bike lock–style key into it, turned it, and the front panel came open. Then she plugged a code into a little keyboard. We were Luke and Leia opening a security door in the Death Star. The machine released with this suctioned sigh and the interior door opened.

“Shit,” I said. “We did it.”

“Yeah, we did,” Kailey whispered.

Of course, we're stupid as hell. We didn't have a bag to put the money in. Luckily, the change box only contained sixteen quarters.

Yeah, great luck, huh?

There were fourteen dollar bills in the dollar box.

“Oh, my God. Was this machine already robbed?” Kailey said. “This is my machine to rob! There's nothing here.”

“It's okay,” I said. “Just being in here means a lot. This is cool.”

“Screw this machine,” Kailey said. She kicked it.

“Yeah,” I said. I took two steps back and then kicked it hard.

Didn't do crap. The thing is built like an armored truck.

“Let's go,” Kailey said. She left the pop machine's door open and walked fast back toward the stairs to the weight room.

“Don't you want to lock it back up?” I called after her.

“No,” she shouted.

So I followed. I could barely keep up. Girl is light on her feet. Kailey was also significantly pissed, Mr. R., which is why I realized she's fighting her own war.

When we got out to the car, she gulped for air. Her eyes looked like bullets in the moonlight. I climbed in back. Kailey climbed into the front seat. She looked at RC III and talked fast. “They aren't supposed to empty machines this time of the month. Somebody already took the money.”

“I'm sure your dad had it emptied.”

“No!” Kailey shouted. “Couldn't happen.”

“There wasn't anything?” RC III asked.

“Eighteen bucks,” I said. “It's the gesture that counts though. That you guys would do this is huge. It's awesome. We're all good.”

“No, we're not good,” Kailey whispered. “I'm not good.” She sighed really hard.

I actually felt relieved that we didn't get a felony haul, you know?

RC III drove across town. As we neared the Cub parking lot, Kailey turned around in her seat and said, “Can I call you tomorrow? Can we talk? Do you want to hang out?”

“I'm grounded. Bad,” I said. “Maybe forever.”

“After that, we can hang out?” Kailey said. “Me, you, RC III, and Chandra?”

“Yeah. Yeah,” I nodded. “Definitely.”

“Hey, you guys, we're there. Gabe, get ready to get out,” RC III said.

RC III pulled into the back of the parking lot, slowed down. Kailey said, “I'm serious. You're Gabe Skywalker.”

I nodded. I smiled. I gave the thumbs-up. I climbed out.

I watched RC III and Kailey pull away.

The quarters jingled in my stretchy pants pocket. The fourteen dollars were crumpled in my hand. Gore wouldn't be around to get me for twenty minutes. I walked down one of the parking lot rows toward the front door of Cub. Thought I'd get a vitamin water, maybe a banana.
Maybe
buy
a
good-bye gift for Mr. Shaver? Cigarettes? Ha-ha!
I thought about Kailey wanting to hang out. I thought about how two weeks earlier, I was an ass-dancing fool. I thought about how strong my legs felt after working out for a week. I thought about how maybe I really was Gabe Skywalker, leader of the rebellion!

And then the small-town Minnekota bullshit.

A car rolled up from behind, slow. I looked over my right shoulder. Seth Sellers had his window down. He had a black eye from the Geeker beating. “Hey there, fudge balls,” he said. “Nice to see you, man.”

“Oh, shit,” I whispered. My heart accelerated.

I leaned forward. Justin was in the passenger seat. He stared straight forward. Janessa and Emily Yu were in the backseat. Janessa glared at me, her middle finger extended.

“Back at you, Janessa,” I said.