Death of a Pharaoh by Unknown Read Free Book Online

classmates.
    Later that night,
the mystery blonde bombshell performed a live striptease in front of a webcam,
all the way down to his hairy butt and everything else. The football team lost
every game for the rest of the season. Several of the players transferred out
of the school district. A few remained in denial and swore it had been a real
chick all along. The principal didn’t have a clue what to do with Alex. If he
expelled every student who went down on star athletes, there wouldn’t be a
cheerleading squad. Three months’ worth of detention might at least protect him
from revenge seekers.
    We couldn’t have
been more different as a group and I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some
tension between us at first. Still we faced almost three months together in the
library every afternoon for two hours. We needed each other not to go crazy
with boredom. By the end of four weeks, we bonded and for the first time in my
life, I found a group of friends. All of us had gotten into trouble for taking
justice into our own hands, some of us with more or less imagination. We were
outcasts from the rest of the student body and by the time our sentences
finished we were best buddies. I think Tony and I grew the closest. I knew all
of his terrible secrets and the real meaning behind the tattoos. If I ever
found myself in a desperate situation, I’d want him to have my back.

Chapter Five
    Thoth took a break from his reading. It created a complex picture of a
strong-willed teenager who sometimes exhibited a lack of judgment. His respect
and compassion for those in a weaker position were commendable and it would
engender sympathy on the Council. There was still no word from Timbuktu
regarding the transfer of powers, so Lord Thoth went back to his review of
Nkosana’s dream file.

    After I turned sixteen, I became more comfortable with my powers and
was even able to block out some of the traffic to make life more manageable. I
was super conscious of the need to respect the privacy of my friends since they
had no idea I had access to their most intimate memories. It didn’t seem fair
to intrude uninvited, especially in Tony’s case. He had suffered unspeakable
horrors as a small boy. His stepfather used to beat him with a stick and put
cigarettes out on his skin. When the creep needed money to pay off a debt, he
sold Tony to a syndicate that organized illegal brawls between young boys;
fights that often resulted in the death of the loser.
    Only eight years
old at the time, he was big for his age and he fought well. His tattoos
actually immortalized the faces of champions he managed to beat; most of them
in battles to the death or irreparable brain damage. He had nine faces across
his back and shoulders, all boys eleven and twelve years old. Tony didn’t feel
bad when they died. It was either them or him. Strange as it sounded, Tony
never cried. He lost his virginity at twelve; a gift from his promoter. He
spent his time between bouts living in cheap hotels with booze, drugs and
prostitutes as his only company.
    One night they
arrived in a small town near Zacatecas for a big fight. He entered the
makeshift ring first. When his opponent walked in, Tony almost fell over in
shock. He couldn’t have been more than 9 years old and had the face of an
angel. So skinny, he knew they had kidnapped him off the street with the
promise of some food and money. Tony couldn’t fight him and the boy was too
scared to defend himself. They danced around while he cuffed his opponent
lightly a few times until the crowd became impatient.
    “Mátele,” his
promoter yelled, “kill him!” He wanted blood.
    But Tony had had
enough; the carnage was over for him. The crowd almost rioted and his promoter
gave him a beating with a metal rod before he locked both of them in a shed
behind the hotel while he decided what to do with them. The boy’s name was
Manuel and he was an orphan. He had survived until now stealing food and
robbing tourists. He