The Pink Sneakers Club: Sometime Around Midnight. Christian Bertoni

friend, “Kenny you too!!!”

      “Ooohh mommy’s here!” Jackson retorted, “hey Randi wanna grab something of mine and pull!” he said laughing.

      “Dude your so bad!” one of his other friends said.

      “What’s in the bag?!?!!” I shouted.

      Jackson said. “Bitch says what?”

      “Nice.” They fist bumped.

      Kaye walked over to Jackson, pulled out the telescopic nightstick and whacked him behind the knee with it, “bitch says, what’s in the bag dickhead!”

      One of his friends ran towards Kaye. “Hey! What’s your problem you dike!?!?!”

      I pulled out my telescopic nightstick and slammed him in the chest. “Be a good boy!” I shouted to him.

      He laid on the ground moaning and groaning. “Ah my chest! Damn bitch!” The other guy decided against making his move towards us. Smart guy.

      Natalie raced over to the trash bag, grabbed it before they could get to it and opened it, “Randi? I think we found who killed Mrs. Myers cat!” She pulled out a small black puppy that had the top of its skull crushed. Just like Mrs. Myers cat. I looked at the dog and noticed its tags: Smokee. Property of Gilda Mundson.

      “That’s the Mundson’s dog?” I looked over at Jackson, “you killed their dog?”

      “Oh my God!” Caren shouted. “What did you do you psycho?”

      “Watch who you’re call a psycho blondie!” he shouted.

      Caren shouted back. "I may be blonde with a great body but I'm pretty . . . and smart.”

      We all waited for her to finish her sentence.

      She looked at everyone, “what? That’s it.”

      Natalie held the small dog in her lap. Deirdre walked over to her and knelt down, “it looks like the dog’s been dead a short while. Rigor mortis hasn’t set in yet.”

      I looked at Jackson wide-eyed, “Why?”

      “What?”

      “You killed the Mundson’s dog and your grandmother’s cat.”

      “What’re you talking about?”

      “You heard me.”

      “No way!!! Grams would kill me if I touched that cat.”

      “What about this dog?” Caren asked.

      “I found it. I was gonna bring it here to throw it away.”

      “Yeah, we didn’t kill nothin’.” One of Jackson’s friends said.

      “You’re lying.” Kaye said still hovering over Jackson.

      “Hey! I ain’t lyin’. Swear on my Gram Gram’s cat.” Jackson laughed as he massaged the back of his leg.

      “Dude! Nice one!” Again one of his idiot friends barked.

      “So what are you doing with the dog?” I asked.

      “Just havin’ some fun. Dog’s dead, but I swear I didn’t kill it. Or my Grams stupid cat.”

      “So you admit you didn’t like the cat?” Deirdre said.

      Jackson stood up, “ain’t no secret. I hated that damn cat and she hated me! Now gimme back my stuff.”

      “Really? This is going back to the Mundson’s, Jackson. You’re not keeping it. Okay guys let’s go.” I said.

      Jackson stood up, “you bitches think just cause you got some kinda medal that makes you special? Guess what? You ain’t! This ain’t over yet! Hear me, Randi!?! It ain’t over!”

      After we left the quarry I took Smokee back to Mrs. Mundson. There was the usual crying and trying to understand why this happened and who would want to kill a poor defenseless dog.

      “Gilda will be so sad. Thank you girls for finding her dog. I guess when Gilda gets home from work we’ll talk about funeral arrangements. She so loved this dog.”

      She shut the door and we left. Let me tell you a little about Gilda Mundson or as I like to call her the slut of our street. That’s all I got. I know it’s not very original, but that’s what she is. She has slept with just about everyone on this street and half of the student body when she was in high school and now. She’s a party girl. Our little Paris Hilton without the money. I know she’s slept with Jackson several times, which is kinda ironic considering he may have been the one who killed her dog.

      Don’t get me wrong, Gilda’s not ugly just . . . skanky.

      Okay, so where are we? Here are the facts, as we know it right now. I know it’s a bit early but my dad always said make sure you check your facts repeatedly. So, lets see . . . facts, facts, facts . . . okay, um Mrs. Myers cat was killed. The Mundson’s dog was also killed. By whom? Whom? Or Who? I never get that right. Anyways, Jackson Davis is our most likely suspect. He claims he didn’t do it, but how many criminals lie? All of them. (tee hee hee) That’s my little joke. Okay so . . . well I guess that’s pretty much all I got. Not much I know but it’ll have to do. The question is, now what? Well, it’s getting late the girls have all gone home and tomorrow is another day.

      I was getting ready to go watch a little T.V. when someone knocked on my door. “Come in.” It was Jaime. “What do you want?” I asked.

      He shut the door, “you owe me an apology.”

      I turned my chair to face him. “For what?”

      He put his hands on his hips. “You embarrassed me in front of my friends.”

      “Let’s get something straight, Jackson isn’t your friend. You aren’t allowed at the quarry and I’m not going to apologize.”

      “Hey, you owe me.”

      “How so?”

      “I saved you from dad. Remember when you were on the roof?”

      “And I saved you from mom. What do you think she’d have done if she knew you went to the quarry after she’s told you repeatedly not to go? As far as I’m concerned we’re even.”

      “You suck!”

      “Get out now before I pound you!”

      He slammed the door on his way out. Brothers. Am I right?

      I went downstairs, my mom and dad were in the living room watching T.V., “hey what was all that shouting about?” my mom asked.

      “Oh you know. Jaime being Jaime.” I brushed it off. “Anyways, what’re you guys watching?”

      “The news, why?” My dad asked.

      “Oh nothing.” I started to sit down when the doorbell rang but not just once, over and over and over again. And to top it off they were also banging on the door.

      “Raaaannndddiiii! Randi!!!” It was a girl’s voice screaming my name.

      “I’m coming!” I shouted back and ran over to the front door. I could see through the glass it was Deirdre. That’s odd? I opened the door, “what’s up?” Deirdre was out of breath and crying. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?” I figured either she’d gotten into another fight with her mom or something happened to Ben. She had gotten pretty attached to him in such a short time. “Deirdre what’s wrong? Is it Ben?”

      “N-n-no. M-my house, help me I think th-there’s

      somebody in it.”

      Natalie

      Chapter 4

      I