“There are a couple of different ways this could go.” AJ clicked open his knife, raising an eyebrow at the five sweating teenagers around him. They stood in a bare kitchen with a wood table shoved against the only wall with a window. Equipment scattered the surfaces. “Someone tells me what went wrong with the drop or you’ll each gain a new story to tell.”
“AJ, that ain’t fair.” Weezel chewed on his lip with his eyes focused on the knife that AJ cleaned his fingernails with as the other guys stared on. “How were we supposed to know ‘bout the triple drop if nobody told us?”
AJ started to whittle his thumb nail to a point with the blade. He sniffled. A couple of the guys took a few steps back, waiting to see what their gangly leader would do. AJ threw the blade at the wall, where it stuck. The teens nearest the humming blade, jerked as if they too had been hit by the flying metal. Eyes shifted to the doorway behind AJ as though they were gauging how they might escape or silently calling for help.
“If you followed directions, it wouldn’t have been a problem.” AJ breathed the words quietly as he stalked over to his knife and yanked it from the wall. “Now we’re gonna lose face with Teka.”
He ran his thumb over the edge, pushing the metal into his finger. Blood slid down the sides of the knife. AJ didn’t even wince. He looked from his thumb to the group surrounding him. “These guys will ruin your chance in this town. It’s no game.”
The silence held. AJ glared at Weezel who blinked rapidly as a sweat droplet fell in his eye. The rest of the guys stood statue still.
Bells tinkled towards the kitchen, and a cool breeze blew through the room of boys. A short woman with a string of bells tied around her ankle and gold hoops hanging from her ears bustled into the room. “Sorry, boys, the air conditioning man took longer than I thought he would. Did you finish module seven’s experiment that ya’ll were supposed to be working on?”
The boys kept their heads down. AJ stuck his bleeding thumb in his mouth, shut his knife, and slid it into his pocket, shifting to the back of the group. Weezel wiped his hand across his forehead. “Ms. Teka, the dropper did a triple drop at the last second so we overdosed the solution.”
What About You?
Do you like surprise endings? Did you see this ending coming?
The ending took me completely by surprise!!
I’m so glad that the ending surprised you. It was tricky to write in a way that would hopefully be believable!