Page 127 of Dirty Roulette
“Shut the fuck up Coach!” Brody snaps, crossing his arms. “Maybe if this fucker gets his head out of his ass we could actually score a touchdown!” He points his finger at me as he laughs. The cocky smile showcases his enjoyment of the show I’m putting on the stage. “Explain to us what the hell that was out there!” His voice ricochets off the tile walls. It’s written all over his face. There is not a care in the world if we win or not. The devil is in the look of his eyes. He wants me to face-plant in the mud.
“You’re the fucking problem. You fucking hazed me and half of these guys for the last four years!” I storm forward shoving him against the lockers with a loud clang. Done. My knuckles turn white. The locker room turns eerily silent, and it makes my skin prickle. It’s only the hum of the fluorescent lights flickering overhead.
“You think you can just keep showing me up in front of everyone!” Brody pushes me back. My heart hammers.
I point a finger at him. “You’ve had an ego since day one! You want eyes focused on you and your fucking dad’s wallet does it for you!” The spit is flying out of my mouth. “Admit it, I was always competitionand you know damn well I had a better chance of being drafted than you!”
“What the fuck are you talking about Crab?” One of the linemen uses a hand to tell me to cut it. But I’ve already decapitated my head off and rage is all that is left. If I’m going to drown, all of them are sinking with me.
Coach cocks his head, his brows narrow as his eyes dart back and forth. “What the hell are y’all talking about?”
“Tell him Brody! Tell Coach about Dirty Roulette!” Brody dips his head to the side as I yell it out, he’s licking his lips. His fists clenched at his sides. “Tell him how every year you forced Cheer Phi to steal booze for you! How you blackmailed us. How you post videos of the team fucking those girls from behind! Tell him how you raped my sister and forced me to retract my statement! You posted videos of my girlfriend online for her to be harassed! My moments with her aren’t for your entertainment, but for me and her alone! I’m not leaving her, I don’t give a shit if I never touch a ball again!You’re a bastard!”
All hell breaks loose. Brody’s fist comes flying to my face, I barely have time to duck. His punch lands on the lockers behind me with a loud thud. The vibrations ran down my back. I swing back, my fist connecting with his jaw. A shockwave radiates through my arm, the scars on my knuckles splitting open, bleeding again.
Brody recovers faster than I expected and tackles me to the ground. We hit the floor with a heavy thump and the air is knocked out of my lungs. We roll around, fists flying, grunts and curses fill the air. The metallic taste of blood floods my mouth and he pins me to the floor. Knuckles strike into my lips and each punch makes the world go black. I ram a knee into his groin guard until it’s knocked out of place, and I ram right into his balls. I get a split second to push him off and I scramble to my feet.
He stands up just as fast, wiping blood from his nose. “You’re going to regret this,” he growls.
“I got nothing left to lose, you little bitch!”
He lunges at me.
Chapter fifty
Payton
ONE. I breathe out of my mouth. TWO. I zip up the uniform jacket. THREE. I throw the lanyard over my head. I’m still wearing my cheer skirt. I’m a master of disguise.Not. There are so many people with drinks, hot dogs, and popcorn. Employees are selling ice cold beers.
I ignore theemployees onlysign and make a break for it, running up a flight of stairs passing people wearing headphones carrying electrical equipment. I’m supposed to meet up with Mr. Clorox at the control panel. He said he’d be here, and I’m praying to baby Jesus he managed to slip through.
I’m sweating, it’s skating down my face, but I have to look like I belong here. I reach a set of double doors and pull on the handle, realizing it’s locked.Shit. I giggle and look around the people buzzing about, pretending I’m just stupid. But no one notices.
This is the door that I have to swipe with the security card. I take the lanyard and run it across the box contraption and it blinks red. Icurse under my breath and press the card against it again and the green light blinks while the door unlocks.
The second I open the door, a dumpy security officer storms down the hallway talking through the radio. There are still a ton of people around, some are even drinking energy drinks and chatting next to people they walk with.
“Copy that. CCTV on this level is down too, over.” Static rustles over the radio while the security officer squints up at the cameras above us; trying to blend in, I walk in his direction as my heart races in my chest. The control panel is this way. There is no other hallway, and I’m scared he’ll recognize me from my cat fight with Brittni. If he does, I’m done for. My palms turn clammy. I can’t see his face, so I silently pray a Hail Mary that he doesn’t see mine.
“I’ve tried everything, I’m going to have to reset the entire system, over,” the voice on the other end of the radio replies.
The security officer leans into the radio. “How long is that gonna take? Over.”
“I’m running more tests. Could be electrical. I’ll let you know. Over and out.”
The security officer turns to me, and my eyes widen like a deer in headlights. It’s Mr. Clorox. It’s like a mic dropped. It's him. He wobbles down the hallway wearing a security uniform. How he managed to snag one, I don’t question. Flubber sways back and forth with each step he takes.
“We got about ten minutes before he figures out someone hacked their main security system,” he says while he waddles down the hallway.
“Wait what?” I stroll right next to him, with my hands wrapped around my waist.
“The cameras are down – you don’t have much time.”
I make another left with Mr. Clorox, knowing the control panel is down this hall at the very end on the right. I’m only a few feet away from the room, and I can see the door swinging open. A man I barely get a glimpse at rushes out the door with a radio glued to his hand as he storms down the hallway.
The door is left wide open, and I’m standing in front of the control panel with several monitors, volume control gadgets, and random flickering lights. I run a hand over my face, thinking it’s a dream and I need to just wake up. I take a steadying breath. All I have to do is plug in that flash drive while Noah sings his heart out.
“Here.” Mr. Clorox digs around in his pocket like it’s a Mary Poppins bag and he pulls out a red flash drive. “Plug this into the computer, and it will do the rest.” He puckers his lips, and what looks like cottage cheese cakes at the creases of his mouth.
