Monday: I Just Need To Stay Out Of Trouble

Alex sat in the corner of the crowded classroom and did what most boys his age did. He drifted in and out of a daydream-like trance as the teacher discussed something about math...or maybe science.

Alex pulled out one of his comic books, giving up on trying to listen to whatever this was.

'At least Mom and Dad didn't think to check for my stash in between my textbooks!' he thought to himself as he stared at the page which depicted Captain America punching Hitler in the jaw. Alex noticed the awkward angle that Captain America was punching for the first time.

'He should turn his hand at a straighter angle. If he hits the chin in a weird way like that, he'll be lucky if he doesn't break his hand!' he thought, taking note of the fact that despite rereading the comic several dozen times, he had never noticed the awkward punch before.

'I guess the training with Sherri must be ruining my sense of disbelief...' he sighed in his mind, again taking note of his strange use of words.

'Well, it is true. Punching is way harder than TV and comics make it seem...but those guys have super powers, so they can hit however they want,' he reasoned as a textbook flew at his head.

Quickly and without knowing what he was doing, Alex dodged the projectile as it slammed into the wall behind him. The class in unison turned to face the source and Alex glanced over to see Ivan snickering in the corner, having found his new victim.

• • •

"Alex, you haven't even been back for a full day and already you are causing a distraction in class!" Mr. Travis spoke, trying to make his voice sound deeper.

"But Mr. Travis--" Alex started, but he knew mentioning Ivan's name would be a waste of time. He recalled the shift in tone the class took when he tried to explain to the teacher that Ivan was the cause of the disturbance. The whole class, and even the teacher, broke eye contact with both Ivan and Alex and awkwardly looked at the floor.

'I guess Mr. Travis has been keeping Ivan safe for a while...'

"Now you are reading this trash in class!" Mr. Travis scowled, pulling the small stack of comics out of Alex's backpack.

"But Mr. Travis, you love comics! You always brag about your collection!" Alex argued.

"Comics are for children, Alex, you need to grow up!" Mr. Travis huffed, tossing the comics in the trash.

"I'm six..." Alex crossed his arms over his chest defiantly, clearly seeing the irony in that comment.

"And for that you can study in detention this week to make up for lessons you missed," Mr. Travis responded with snarkiness.

Alex promptly left the office without another word.

'I was going to skip recess anyway. If it is half as bad as the rest of the school then I'm not sure I want to participate anyway...'

• • •

The class was quiet as Alex walked in and took his usual seat in the back of the room. The teacher, a nice older male name Mr. Rodriguez, sat nervously, reading the paper as the clock above him read 2:15. Alex sat for a few minutes, wondering how he could pass the hour with no comic books to entertain himself with.

Around 2:20, which was easily considered the longest five minutes of his life, Alex decided to take Mr. Travis' advice and actually study.

'I wonder what it would be like to go back to the Civil War with our current weapons...' he thought to himself and when the clock struck 2:30, a timer hidden in the classroom went off, sending Mr. Rodriguez into a fit of panic.

Alex, a bit confused, looked up to see one of Ivan's friends, one called Randy, stand up and walk over to the timer hidden under the teacher's chair.

After the alarm was turned off, Randy snatched the paper from the old man's shaking hands.

"Your work here is done, gramps! Now, beat it! Unless you wanna be the first event this afternoon..." Randy smirked as he began taking off his school uniform.

Mr. Rodriguez ran out of the room quicker than anybody had ever seen him move in twenty years of teaching.

"Good, now that the stiff is gone we can get to it!" Randy said, taking off his shirt to reveal a gruesome cross shaped scar across his muscular chest and stomach.

Before Alex could process the craziness that was taking place in front of him, his desk, as well as all the others, were being pushed around Randy to make a amateur fighting ring.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Randy's Rowdy Ruthless Ruleless Rumble!" Randy announced with his little chest puffed out as Alex looked on in horror.

'Randy's...Ruthless...Ripped...Ricecake...? What?!' Alex thought as two of the more troubled kids took their places in the ring and took their shirts off.

The look of the two eight year olds, shirtless and wearing khakis about to fight, would have been funny and maybe a little cute had Alex not saw the two trade blows, spitting blood and teeth like they were watermelon seeds and attacking each other like animals.

Alex realized that this new version of his school, the one under Ivan and Mr. Travis' tyrannical power was not a safe place to be.