Enslaving Alice

"If you could pinpoint the exact moment your mental barriers broke, would you stick a plaster over the hole... or let the crazy seep out?" Dylan whispered.

Caleb moved his ear away from the wooden door and turned to Dylan, taking in the lad's wide eyes and crazed smile. Last Tuesday the school had assigned him to Caleb after he transferred, probably hoping the boy's intelligent politeness and 'stand-up behaviour' would rub off onto Caleb. So far, all Caleb had picked up were tips on better methods to hide his delinquency.

The pair huddled on the floor outside the teacher's office, listening to the teachers discussing his family. It was all Caleb could do not to burst in there and bust-up their smug little faces. If Dylan hadn't been there, he might have.

As he rocked back and forth, doing his best to suppress the urge, he felt Dylan's hand over his own, staying him. "If you storm in, they win."

Caleb, although his instincts were screaming at him to rage, knew Dylan was right. He steadied his ragged breathing and put his ear back to the door, trying to figure out which of those vile witches was the one causing trouble for his family.

"Those poor children," he faintly heard one of them sigh. She sounded old, so Caleb figured it was Mrs Rodgers. "If they had a decent start in life, maybe the oldest wouldn't be in prison right now."

"I blame their junkie of a Mum," a brassy, high pitch voice agreed. "I've reported that woman to the social so many times, but do they ever listen?"

"Miss Simmons," Caleb hissed through gritted teeth. "I knew it."

He shifted away from the door, having gathered the intel he needed. Dylan followed suit, having no interest of his own in the teacher's natterings.

"That bitch," Caleb seethed.

"Calm down," Dylan advised gently, placing his hands on Caleb's upper arms. He looked into Caleb's eyes with such intensity that Caleb let out a small giggle, despite his foul mood. "You've had dealings with this woman before?"

"Hmm," Caleb nodded. "She's one of those upper-middle-class snobs who thinks her kids are too good to hang around with my scumbag family, but I've seen her precious son snorting coke off the mirror in my living room."

"Okay," Dylan said, dropping his hands and pacing the corridor. Caleb knew from experience what this meant. He was formulating a plan.

Caleb leaned back against the lockers and let him do his thing. The kid was smart. Book-smart, as opposed to street-smart. Yet, his smarts did lend over to the world of crime.

"Miss Simmons' son... is he clean now your brother is out of the picture?"

"Yeah, right," Caleb snorted. "He's been buying drugs off me since Wayne went down. Imagine if Miss Simmons knew about that, she'd blow her top."

"Where are you? On the supply chain, I mean?"

"Just a runner," Caleb shrugged. "I buy off a bloke called Scotty."

He watched Dylan's face darken as the cogs turned. Somehow, he knew what the lad was thinking.

"Don't go getting any ideas of grandeur. This bloke also deals guns, and we're just a couple of school kids," Caleb warned.

"Oh, please. Like any of these criminal types are a match for me," Dylan teased with a smile.

Caleb could never tell if he was being serious or joking. He had to be joking about his, surely. He couldn't genuinely be considering going head-to-head with bonafide criminals. Even putting the obvious danger aside, what would be the point? There were easier ways for smart guys like Dylan to earn money. Just last week he'd made thousands in bitcoin transactions.

"Can we just focus on Miss Simmons?" Caleb pleaded. "I need to take that bitch down."

"Oh, Caleb, Caleb, Caleb," Dylan smiled, draping an arm around his shoulders. "I'm way ahead of you."

As they continued down the corridor, making their way to the exit, Caleb shook himself free from Dylan's arm.

"Aww, are you scared of looking gay?" Dylan teased.

"No," Caleb scoffed. "But I do like getting laid."

"What about those?" Dylan said through the side of his mouth. Caleb followed his gaze to the group of girls gathered just outside the girls' toilet. Why they always met in such an unfortunate place, Caleb would never understand, but at least it didn't give off the faint but unmistakable whiff of urine like the boys' toilets.

"Those are the popular girls," Caleb rolled his eyes.

Kassie Henderson, Alice Ryder and Carla Deacon. The queen bitches of the school.

Alice's brother, Eddison, was also a customer of Wayne's, and like Miss Simmons, she blamed Wayne for her brother's addiction. Wayne, though, had a different theory about the origin of Eddison's addiction, and the cause was closer to home.

In most cases, the cause of addiction was traceable to some trauma or damage, or so Dylan had explained, but then, Dylan was obsessed with the effects of past trauma.