Tails from the Fastlane, Ch. 4
((Oh, jeeze... Sorry the fourth installment here took so long, things have been pretty fucked up around here as of late. There's a chance everything that's been going on has weighed my shoulders down to the point of this story beginning to suck, but what the hell... I can't stop now, can I? XD WARNING. Excessive violence and...mature...stuff ahead. No yiffing this time, sorry. ;_; But worry not, chapter five is going to be chock full of it, so stay tuned!))
Tails from the Fastlane, Chapter Four
By Buster Williamson
The early morning sun was just peeking out as the morning rush hour of students poured into the parking lot of Fusetown High School. Troy looked over to Michael, who'd been silently sitting in the passenger seat of his busted up Camaro for most of the ride across town there. The gecko suddenly perked his head up as they entered the school grounds.
"Hey, thanks for giving me a lift..." he said, glancing over to the orange bat quickly before returning his gaze outside the window.
Troy shrugged. "It's no problem." He put his cigarette out before any of the faculty would see him, then proceeded to pull into his parking space in the distant end of the underclassmen lot. With a groan, he dragged himself out of the car and reached into the back seat, grabbing his backpack and heaving it over his shoulder. "God, please let today go by fast..." he muttered under his breath.
The two walked to the stairway by the gymnasium, where Adrik, Preston, and Skyler were sitting on the steps looking over a guitar magazine. The white fox looked up and met Troy with a grin. "Hey, you didn't tell me Kawa Tzu's rhythm guitarist is fucking hot!" Skyler turned the magazine around to show them, pointing to a picture of a shirtless silver jackal with his arms crossed.
"I was reading that!" The raccoon turned the magazine back around and continued following along the article beneath the picture.
Preston chuckled, smiling over to the bat and gecko. "Sorry about them, they're a little caught up." The black jackal stood up and walked over to join the two.
"Um... So, is the garage jamming still on tonight?" Michael asked, his scaly green tail batting against the back of his leg.
"Of course. You plan on coming too?"
The gecko nodded, then looked over to Troy, who nodded as well.
"These tabs don't tell you shit..." blurted out Adrik, still looking through the magazine.
Troy laughed. "They would if you'd learn to read them."
The raccoon rolled his eyes and continued to read. Skyler patted his friend on the back and shook his head.
"Michael!" shouted a duet of deep voices at once. Two twin pumas with soft, gold fur approached the gecko from behind, each grabbing one of his shoulders. The one to his left spoke up. "We've been looking for you everywhere, why aren't you with the rest of the team this morning?"
He shrugged. "I quit."
The two pumas' eyes went wide. Troy and Preston glanced nervously to each other, feeling a bit awkward now.
"What!? Aw man, don't let those assholes get to you." said the puma to his right.
The other one nodded. "Yeah, we heard about what happened last night..."
"Sorry guys, I can't deal with it anymore. Besides, football isn't even my thing..."
The felines looked to each other. "Then what is?"
"Maybe boxing." the gecko said with a grin. He turned to the rest of his new friends who'd been patiently listening. "Ah, guys, these are the Cruiser brothers, Chase and Dax."
The pumas just sort of nodded a greeting to them, then turned back to the gecko. "Do whatever pleases you, man. Just keep in shape, 'kay bro?" said Dax, the slightly darker one to his left.
"Of course. You two take care, and give the rest of the guys my regards."
The gold twins chuckled to one another, then turned and walked off to join the rest of their friends in the commons area.
Adrik looked up from his magazine with his eyebrows arched. "That was weird... I get a feeling they don't like us."
Michael chuckled, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it, they warm up after a while."
The bell rang, and the five furs tapped fists as they once again ran their separate directions to get to homeroom on time.
After three hours of two very boring classes, Adrik, Preston, and Skyler found each other and headed off towards the cafeteria together. The raccoon was still caught up in his magazine as they walked down the hall, leaving Preston and Skyler to shoot the breeze for a few moments.
The jackal turned to Skyler and grinned. "I'm telling you, smoking pot is not as bad as everyone says it is. I mean, I don't feel the urge to rob a liquor store to get more or anything."
"Maybe not, but that doesn't make it good. I hope it's not going to become an everyday thing for you two..." said the fox, shuffling his books tucked securely beneath his arm.
"Oh please, alcohol is way worse and more addictive than marijuana. Besides, as I recall, you were passed the hell out while we were just sitting back chilling."
Adrik sniggered. "We've so been through this. Why can't we just drop it?"
The white fox sighed. "Fine, consider it dropped. Just take it easy though, okay?"
Preston patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, dude."
The three were almost to the doors of the lunchroom when they heard a snarl from behind them. Skyler fell forward with a forceful shove to his back, dropping his books and scattering his papers everywhere. The raccoon and jackal bolted around to find that Brock and his usual cronies had been following them.
"I told you fuckers it wasn't over, didn't I!?" growled the rottweiler.
Students began oooh-ing and crowding around as Preston fixed a cold glare in his dark eyes, looking up to the larger male. "Why can't you leave us alone? What have any of us done to you that was so cruel to make you act like this?"
A teacher passing by completely ignored them and shakily walked to the other set of doors across the room. Brock tightened his fists. "Shut up and fight..."
Adrik bit his lip, but could no longer restrain himself. "All you want to do is make a scene in front of your macho asshole jock buddies, go start shit somewhere else!"
Preston put a hand on the raccoon's chest, then slowly turned and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek there in front of everyone, provoking an outburst of laughter and rude comments from all around. "Go help Skyler get his stuff together and take him to the library..."
The raccoon reluctantly obliged, grabbing Skyler's arm and pulling him up, gathering a few of the books under his arm as he walked off with him back down the hall.
Brock moved in closer to Preston, his hot, putrid breath hitting the jackal's nose. "So, what the fuck you gonna' do, faggot?"
Preston narrowed his eyes. "Well, for starters..."
Without warning, the jackal lashed his head forward into the rottweiler's muzzle, knocking him back slightly. The larger male attempted to pull himself together quickly and return the head butt with a swing of his massive fist, bringing the hardened bones of his knuckles crashing against Preston's nose. The jackal nearly fell over, but caught himself and swiftly lunged towards Brock with a head rush of adrenaline, driving all of his weight into his foe's chest and tackling him to the ground.
The two struggled on the floor for a few moments, but it was Preston that wound up pinning the masculine jock, and without hesitation unleashed a relentless onslaught of punches across Brock's face. Blood splattered across the white tiles on the floor, and though the other canine's body had gone limp beneath his weight, he didn't stop. Preston delivered one hit after another until the other male's dark furred face was matted and dripping with the crimson fluid, much to the enjoyment of all the onlookers. The other students who'd gathered around were going wild, and just about everyone who was on the first lunch shift was now watching.
"Stop!" yelled an elderly voice as a frail, old badger in a brown suit pushed his way through the crowd. It was the principal. Preston ignored him and continued on, making the mess bigger as a few of the students scampered off. The campus police officer tore his way through the wall of students and yanked the jackal off of the unconscious Brock, restraining him as the school nurse soon came running to the scene with a medical kit.
"You're coming with me..." said the stout leopard wearing a black cop uniform, escorting Preston outside to his squad car parked in the staff lot. Students cheered him on and waved as he was taken out the doors, then ran off in groups into the lunch room to avoid being questioned by the old badger who was still roaming about, huffing and muttering incoherently. The jackal sat in the back of the cop car with a smug grin across his lips, still pumped up from the fight. He watched the officer walk off to check up on his unfortunate opponent, then relaxed his head back and closed his eyes.
"It's times like these I wish I had a motherfucking theme song..." he said to himself, wiping away a small drip of blood from his nostrils.
After school had let out, Skyler and Adrik headed over to their jackal friend's house first thing. The coon approached the front door of the small suburban house and knocked three times, then leaned up and looked through the window. The door suddenly opened.
"Hey kids, Preston's back in his room. He's not feeling too well though." said a much larger black jackal, dressed in a pair of jeans and a white basketball jersey.
"Okay..." The raccoon forced a smile. "I really didn't want things to get so out of hand today, it's just that big--"
"I know, Adrik. Believe me, I've heard all about it... From Preston, the teachers, the police..."
The coon gulped, nodding and walking into the house as a gust of cool air hit him, followed by Skyler. The two eased Preston's door open and walked in, finding him hunched over the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. The jackal looked up at the two and quirked a brow. "Oh, what's up guys?"
Adrik shrugged, taking a seat on the bed next to him and putting an arm around the jackal's neck. "Just came to make sure you're okay."
Preston scritched his forehead. "I guess... my head still hurts a little, but it's going away."
"Still feel like drumming tonight?" The raccoon grinned.
"Sure, why not?"
"'Cause we need to practice." Skyler winked, leaning up against the frame of the doorway with a smile.
Troy sat on the hood of his car and crossed his arms, frowning at Michael. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
The gecko looked over his shoulder towards the school football field, then to a lone white truck parked in the lot behind the guest bleachers. "Yes. The guy's the laughing stock of the entire school now, and I'm just too nice for my own good."
As Michael headed off towards the field, he heard the door close behind him as the bat got back into his car. He didn't walk long before he found the same familiar rottweiler sitting at the top of the bleachers, his face bruised and bandaged. The gecko sat beside him and sighed.
"I told you this would happen one day."
Brock didn't respond, so the two sat there in silence for a few moments. The campus was empty now except for them and maybe the janitor, along with the occasional car that just cruised by for fun.
"You've made it through some pretty shitty times in your life, Brock. We both have. But you need to learn to deal with it like I do instead of walking around taking out your frustrations on anyone smaller than you. You've turned into a mess, what happened?"
The rottweiler reached into the pocket of his black letterman jacket and pulled out a small syringe, sniffling. "This shit... My dad put me on steroids when I started losing focus in my work outs last year... You remember, after Cassie broke up with me?"
The gecko slapped the needle out of the male's hand and stood up. "You should have told someone about this! I mean, what fuck, man!?" He glared down at the cowering canine. "When you're ready to get back on your feet, I'll help you. But you'd better change. You stand up to your fucking dad, apologize to all those kids you've harassed, and take a break from the team."
Brock nodded and tilted his head up. "Alright, Mike... I'll give it a shot... Say, you need a ride home?" The canine's voice was shaking, perhaps on the verge of crying.
Michael shook his head and smiled. "Nah, I already got one. Speaking of which, he's still waiting for me, so I'd better get going."
The rottweiler stood up, patting his old friend on the back. "You're a good reptile. Take care."
He nodded, rubbing him on the shoulder and turning to go back to the parking lot. Michael could only hope that the troubled rottweiler would take his advice this time.
The gecko opened the creaky door of the Camaro, sliding in and looking over to Troy. "Everything's fine now. You hungry?"
"Yeah, a little since I didn't feel like eating lunch today... I still don't know why you insist on pitying that asshole Brock."
Michael sighed, rubbing between his eyes with his thumb and index digits. "Because the poor guy's done nothing but get kicked around by his dad his entire life! He doesn't even shower with the rest of us after practice because of the marks all over his body... I've tried to help him before, but he just doesn't have what it takes to break his father's empowerment over him...." The gecko arched his head back and took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "Fuck it, dude. Let's just go get something to eat, then go to that kid's house."
Troy nodded slowly, saying nothing as he put the car in gear and pulled out of the student parking lot.
It was around six o' clock as Adrik, Skyler, and Preston sat on the carpeted floor of the garage, their ears still ringing from all the loud practicing. Skyler took a sip from his can of cola and cleared his throat.
"We've definitely gotten better."
Preston and Adrik nodded in agreement with the white fox. The raccoon reached into the cargo pocket of his beige pants, pulling out the same Kawa Tzu CD they'd been listening to almost a week ago.
"Whoa, you finally went out and bought it!" The jackal's large ears perked up.
Skyler grinned, eying the booklet as Adrik took it out and began flipping through the pages. "Are there any pictures of that silver jackal, Blasphemy?"
Preston laughed. "You'd buy the damned CD just to have a picture of that guy to drool over, wouldn't you?"
The white fox shrugged, grinning mischievously. "There's a chance..."
A metallic pounding noise came from the garage door, not too loud, but startling none the less. It sounded as if someone were chattering outside as well. "I got it..." said Preston, jumping up and walking over to a panel of switches on the wall and hitting one of the buttons, making the large door slowly rise up. Much to their surprise, behind the door stood a good thirty some odd furs from school, Troy and Michael standing in front of them all!
Michael smirked. "Hey, uh, Preston... You've got some fans from your fight today out here waiting to hear you jam."
Adrik and Skyler looked at each other wide eyed, shooting to their feet as they gazed over the crowd of students outside the jackal's home; canines, felines, woodland creatures, furs from all sets throughout the school including the popular and hardcore crowds.
"Holy...shit..." The black jackal could hardly believe he was awake as the large group began cheering for him, just as they'd done when he was being dragged out of school after the fight. He turned and looked to the dismayed white fox and raccoon, snapping his fingers. "You heard the gecko, let's do this!"
Preston walked over to his large, pearly white drum set, settling down on his stool and twirling a pair of mahogany sticks around in his fingers, rapidly kicking the double pedals to warm up.
Adrik ran over to his knee-high amplifier, throwing the leather strap of his bright red electric guitar over his shoulder and plugging in his lead-in cable.
Skyler picked up his black Flying V electric guitar and turned on his stack amplifier, strumming it one time and adjusting the volume, the sound of the distorted effects filling the small garage room.
"Over the Rainbow!" shouted Preston, crashing a drumstick against his symbols four times to start off.
The small band suddenly broke out into a somewhat fast paced punk rock cover of 'Over the Rainbow' as the cheers from the crowd outside grew louder. Adrik, with his pick gripped tightly between his fingers, played the lead melody over the white fox's grinding power chords, the pulsating pounding rhythm of Preston's rapid drumming sending shockwaves throughout the neighborhood.
A group of the hardcore guys in the back began moshing, running in circles and shoulder ramming one another as the more clean cut furs stood back and watched in amusement. A few relatively good looking cheetah girls in the front smiled widely at them as they occasionally glanced up from their playing to see everyone's reaction, which so far had been a good one, and remained that way for quiet a while.
Shortly after dark had rolled around, everyone was tired and relaxing in Preston's front yard. Skyler found Troy standing over his gecko friend, biting his lower lip as he dabbed away a bit of blood from the poor reptile's muzzle with a folded napkin.
"I told you head banging with me was a bad idea. You sure you're alright?" The orange bat looked down to Michael with a concerned look on his face.
The gecko groaned slightly. "Ugh... I'll be fine." He looked up just in time to see Skyler about to walk away. "Oh, hey man! I didn't see you there, what's up?"
The white fox turned back around and shyly smiled to the two, waving a paw. "Oh, nothing much. Hey, I'm going to go find Chase and Dax, you two just chill for a while."
Troy laughed and brushed his fingertips over the gecko's cheek, tilting his head slightly.
"I see the way you look at me, Troy."
"...What are you talking about?" The bat arched a brow, nervously reaching for his bottled water and taking a large drink.
"I don't mind. But you know what? We're both crazy as hell, and no one is ever going to want us, so we should be together."
Troy choked on the water and hacked it up all over the floor beside him, coughing for a few moments as he grasped his chest for some sort of support, not that Michael's laughing was helping.
"Come on, it isn't THAT big of a surprise, is it?"
The orange bat gasped for air, finally catching his breath and ability to use audible words. "I-I, you... Me and you? You and me? Like, fucking? Or, no-no-no! Wait--"
"That's exactly what I mean. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?" The gecko chuckled lightly, narrowing an eye to the other male. "I'd be lying if I said you weren't the first, but I think you're a pretty cute guy. I mean, for a guy..."
"I knew it. I hit you too hard. You've lost your goddamned mind, haven't you?" Troy grinned, pulling the reptile into his arms, still somewhat unsure of what he was doing.
"Fine, we'll use that as an excuse. Take me home?" The gecko leaned over, flickering his tongue out across the side of the bat's muzzle. "Your home..."
Troy froze for a moment, trembling at the feel of the reptile's warm, moist tongue dancing over his muzzle. "Uh, s-sure... But let's at least go say bye to everyone first."
The two picked themselves up and walked outside, and upon first glance noticed a white pickup parked on the edge of the street, halfway on the curb. Brock stumbled out of the driver's side of the vehicle, all the furs that had gathered in the yard and drive stopping everything and going silent as they gazed upon the beaten down male... more beaten down than before. Fresh blood ran down the rottweiler's chin and from several gashes across his face, the male's left eye swollen shut. He was barely recognizable. Brock managed to limp to the edge of the driveway, and then collapsed there on the ground, revealing a gaping bullet hole in his back that had torn straight through the fabric of his once treasured letterman jacket.
"I... I wanted... w-wanted to change..." The rottweiler managed to enjoy a few more short breaths before going limp, his exposed flesh from a few missing patches of fur around his neck growing pale and cold. He'd never wanted to be remembered as an antagonist, and figured maybe one last stunt... one last request for a second chance from all of his friends... maybe that would redeem him after the cold metal lodged inside of him took away everything he'd ever known. Though everyone around him was thoroughly freaking out now, Brock finally laid in peace, for once not having to worry about facing up to someone else's ridiculously high standards.
((Now is your chance to tell me what you think! Keep sending those comments in. I'll love you for it.))