The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander Read Free Book Online

avoids them altogether. Joe caught his breath while I looked out into the street. I didn’t see any sign of Vince. Joe’s house was only a few blocks from where it had all happened, so Vince should have been there by now.
    “What happened, Joe?” I asked again, trying not to sound as panicked as I felt.
    “Well, the other three came right after me first and Vince ran. I think Barnaby wanted revenge, because basically the two high schoolers held me down while Barnaby pounded me like a punching bag. But then Vince came back. He shouted at them to get their attention and then he started making fun of them. He really let them have it, too. It was pretty funny. Anyways, one of the high schoolers went after Vince and that’s the last I saw of him. But he saved my butt, because once it was down to just two, I was able to fend them off pretty easily. After I got a few punches in, the chickens took off just like Willis did this morning,” Joe finished. That sounded like Vince; he was basically the least glamorous hero that ever existed.
    “We should go look for him,” I said.
    “I’m sure he’s okay, Mac. He had a decent head start.”
    I nodded. And we needed to wait there because that’s our protocol if we get split up in a pinch. But it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. Just sitting there while Vince was possibly in danger was basically torture.
    We waited for almost ten minutes, but it seemed like ten days. I was starting to get so worried that I thought I might cry, which would have been embarrassing. I kept picturing the horrible things those high school kids might’ve been doing to Vince right at that very moment. All the while Vince would probably be trying to make jokes, too.
    Finally, Vince showed up. He came walking casually into the backyard from the street. He looked okay, as far as I could tell.
    “What took you?” I asked. Though, really, I didn’t care. I was just relieved he’d made it back in one piece.
    “I just wanted to make sure it was all clear. Are you okay?” he asked.
    I nodded.
    “Thanks for helping me out, Vince,” Joe said.
    “What happened? Didn’t he get you?” I asked Vince.
    He shook his head and laughed.
    “It was close, but I got away. When he came after me, I ran faster than I ever have before. He chased me all the way down to Pete’s house. He was going to catch me, too, but I knew that if I got to Pete’s house his mom would be outside gardening. And I knew that he wouldn’t dare touch me with some lady watching.”
    Pete’s mom was obsessed with her garden. One time we were over at his house playing baseball in the street and the ball landed in her garden. She screamed at us and then picked the ball up and threw it on the roof. She was kind of crazy.
    “So she was outside, then?” I asked.
    “Is the Pope Catholic?”
    “I don’t know, is he?”
    “Yeah. My grandma always says the Pope is Gouda, but I think that’s a cheese and not a religion,” Vince said while grinning. “Did you get Fred home okay?”
    “Yeah, the little kid actually saved me.”
    “You were saved by a third grader,” Joe said.
    Vince laughed.
    “Whatever,” I said. “What matters is that this is bigger than just Fred now. We’re in for a fight. A dirty one.”
    Joe and Vince nodded.
    This was nowhere close to being worth twenty bucks. But I had a reputation to uphold. And Fred needed my help. He had saved me back there. Not many third graders would have had the courage to do that.
    Tomorrow we had to start thinking about ourselves. We would get revenge for what they had done to Joe and for the attack this morning. We obviously had more to worry about than just protecting Fred now. Or even just protecting ourselves. The whole school was at risk. Staples was dangerous, and he wasn’t going to just shut down his operation on his own.
    Besides, what else did I expect? I couldn’t just keep protecting Fred forever. Eventually I’d run out of money. Eventually more kids would come to me