Old Danny Gaptooth

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

". . . us about the proton, Terobe."

I blinked and the image of Old Danny Gap tooth lying lifeless in his coffin disappeared, instead, stood an angry man.

"Care to tell us what you were day dreaming about, Terobe?"

I raised a brow and shook my head. Someone behind me gave a little laugh. I didn't need to turn round to know the whole class was staring at me.

Mr. Right, unlike his name should have been called Mr. Wrong. Everything about him was just that – Wrong. It looked like the law of gravity didn't apply to his hair; it stuck up at every corner, making him look like he had just rolled out of bed. The worst of it is he had no hair in the middle of his head. His clothes were baggy and unironed, coupled with the gaze he laid on me; he looked like a mad professor.

He leaned close and I could smell the fumes of whatever he had stuck in his mouth as breakfast. I tried not to gag as I backed away from him as far as I could on my seat.

"I'll give you another chance, Terobe, how many protons are there?"

Without giving it a thought, I sniggered and replied. "How many bottles of gel do you think it would take to use on your hair and make it stick?" I leaned forward then, and tweaked a stray strand peeking from the top of his head. "For real this time?"

The whole class erupted in uncontrolled laughter.

Mr. Wrong's face went as red as a tomato and I felt bad, but then it disappeared as soon as he raised a pudgy finger at me and screamed. "DETENTION!"

I laughed in his face, picked up my bag and got up. "Screw you," then I walked to the door. There, I turned. "Heads up, Mr. Wrong, I suggest you remove your jacket before you step away from your desk.

As I turned to walk off, I heard the rip of cloth, followed by excited laughter from my classmates and I shook my head as a ghost of a smile slipped onto my lips. "They never take my advice."

As I walked through the hallway, head down, hood in place, I was glad no one was about, seeing as they were all in class. My mind was on one thing only – Old Danny gap tooth.

I recalled what happened at the funeral. I'd sat at the back making sure no one saw me. I honestly didn't know what prompted me to go, I mean I never really liked the man. He was pompous and all, but he didn't deserve the fate dished out to him.

Everyone had been somber as they gave a little speech about him. When it got to the turn of the sheriff, he said he would definitely find the people who killed him, because old Danny had installed cameras a week before his death and it came in handy.

He and a team of other sheriffs from out of town had watched the playback and seen how three young men, all masked, had entered his house. Probably because they didn't want to be noticed by old Danny. He said Danny had been counting lots of money when they broke in. One of them had stood by the door, while the other began tying Old Danny to the chair he was sitting on. The last person was the one holding the gun.

He'd pointed it at Old Danny and began asking questions. The playback did not have any audio, but he said they could clearly see old Danny laughing in the face of the one holding the gun.

I would have done the exact same thing.

I mean, who uses a gun in Maclaud? It's unheard of.

Unless –

I stopped short as the thought flashed through my head.

It was someone from out of town.

I continued walking as another question popped into my head.

How did they know to go to the person with the money? It's not like people in Maclaud had money in abundance.

The answer wasn't far behind.

It had to have been someone from Maclaud who knew the exact day old Danny was going to receive money from the harvesters.

That means –

I stopped walking when I realized I'd passed my locker, so I walked two steps back, my thoughts still on Old Danny's murderers.

It means someone from Maclaud gave them the info about Old Danny.

I remember the Sheriff had also said the guy holding the gun struck up an argument about something and a struggle took place between him and Old Danny.

The gun must have gone off because even though the camera didn't produce any sound during playback, Old Danny stopped struggling and suddenly slumped to the side.

I was so wrapped in my thoughts I didn't see where I was going, I bumped into a wall.

That's funny. I don't remember any wall being erected in the middle of the school hallway.

For a few seconds I saw stars, and then it all cleared, then I saw something lying flat on the floor.

Not something. Someone – a human, no, dwarf. Actually, it was a girl. A short girl.

It came out of my mouth before I could even stop myself. "What the f. . ." but before I could finish, she cut me a look that shut me up fast.

"Better watch where you're going next time, or else . . ." The statement hung in the air threateningly.

I didn't need to be told I wasn't her favourite person at that moment.

She jumped up, scooped her books in one hand and stomped away, and I followed her with my eyes until a hand fell on my shoulder. I jumped, but stopped before I could let out the scream trying to escape my lips.

Varag stepped in front of me. "You're jumpy today, everything okay?"

"What are you doing here?" My voice came out sharply.

"Just because I'm no longer a student doesn't mean I can't come whenever I want to." He lifted a brow.

I didn't have a reply to that. Remembering the girl I bumped into, I bent to the side on the lookout for her, but she was already rounding the corner.

Everything about her was short; she couldn't have been up to five feet. Her hair was black and page boy short. It was only her legs that were long and slim. I smiled as I recalled how slim and toned they'd looked from the little I'd seen in the boots she had on. Her image was crystal clear in my mind.

I realized Varag's hand was still on my shoulder, and it was increasing in pressure. "What are you looking at?"

He turned round to look, but the girl had already gone out of sight. Seeing nothing, he turned back to look at me. "There's news, we need to go." And he walked off.

I shrugged on my backpack and followed him, but stopped a few paces and looked back, but as expected, she had disappeared from sight.

The memory of her remained with me. It was strange, because I didn't understand what was so great about her.

Then it struck me.

How could someone so small have such a big attitude?

Varag was strangely quiet all through our walk home. Once we got to the Den, he turned and looked at me as if to say something, but I felt myself being shoved roughly to the ground and some foul- smelling sack shoved over my head.

Confusion and anger uncoiled inside of me. How dare Varag do this to me? What was he trying to do?

The sack was forcefully removed from my head and bright rays of light pierced my eyes so I had to shut them.

"HEY, TEROBE, THIS WAY!" I opened my eyes and looked in the direction of the voice. A flash went off in my face, followed by laughter. This was even more confusing to me.

There were people everywhere, some were dancing, but they all held red plastic cups. That's when I heard it – loud music.

It dawned on me they were having a party.

I stood from the crouched position I was in and walked through the tightly-packed room. Most of them were females. Some of them I recognized from around town, others I didn't.

Then I saw him. Ureo. He was standing at a corner with a girl that looked vaguely familiar. I walked purposefully to him, anger building up inside of me. He had vanished without a trace since his outburst and now he'd turned up, smiling like he didn't let loose on me a while ago. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?" And turning around, I swung my hand at everyone. "AND WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING HERE? WHY IS THERE A PARTY TAKING PLACE ON THE MORNING OF A SCHOOL DAY?"

The girl beside Ureo looked scared at first but quickly regained her composure as she turned to address him. "I thought you said he'd be cool with this."

I turned to her. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?" I remember who she was - a freshman at Maclaud high school.

Varag drew me aside before she could reply me. "Terobe, lighten up. Ureo set up this party for you; he's just trying to say sorry for the other day, don't be so hard on him." Varag still had his hand on mine. I guess he was scared I would have a go at Ureo.

I noticed the music had stopped and all eyes were on me. Varag tugged on my arm to catch my attention. "We normally throw parties on school days, what's so strange about that?"

He was right, although something inside of me did not like it.

I was changing and it confused the hell out of me.

Picking a bottle of what I knew to be one of Varag's potent mixtures, I walked out in a daze. Someone called me but it sounded like it was far away.

I kept walking, clutching the bottle in my right hand like a lifeline. I didn't know where my feet led me to. It wasn't until I noticed the ground beneath had a wet sound as I stepped on it, that I realized where I was.

The marshlands.

I wanted to turn round and walk away, but something anchored my feet, not letting me move.

I felt frozen. Stuck in place. My legs were so weak, they began to shake. Not seeing any other option, I slumped to the muddy ground and lifted the bottle to my lips, but it was empty.

I didn't even remember drinking from it.

I threw it to the ground and curled like a baby as wetness seeped into my clothes.

Within seconds, I was out like a light.

A/N

Poor Terobe. He's having guilt pangs and feeling like he doesn't belong.

Can anyone put a name to that?

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