A Forth Excerpt from Ne'er Do Well

Chapter 4

“How much further?”
“It’s only another four blocks. We’ll be there soon.”

Steve and Jerry were on their way to the Association’s home-base. Jerry had been persistent in his persuasive maneuvers and had finally succeeded in convincing Steve to come. It was not long after that Jerry stopped moving
“I thought you said four blocks. This is only two.”
Jerry made a ‘Shush’ noise and placed a couple of fingers in front of his mouth. He whispered
“We’re here.”

They were standing in front of a seemingly empty lot, but, on closer inspection, a small shed sat in the middle of the insignificant, white field. At this point, Steve knew that the association was serious business. He could tell that they knew how to stay under the radar. Jerry walked forward to the white moon bathed field and motioned Steve to follow. Steve followed.

When they arrived at the abandoned, wooden shed, Steve noticed something of interest: The doors were unguarded and the entire structure was close to falling apart. Much to Steve’s surprise, Jerry went around the shed and lifted a rather large barrel and placed it aside. Underneath, a simple piece of grass, untouched by the white blanket that covered nearly all of the field. Jerry lifted the grass, obviously fake, and revealed a coppery, rusted door of sorts. The door looked nonfunctional and ancient to him. Jerry knocked on the door twice, pricked his finger with a needle and proceeded to place it in a hole conveniently located on the door. “Did you get your tetanus shot?” Steve giggled silently to himself and gained no response. Then, the door slowly creaked open, creating an unbearable noise similar to the sound of nails screeching on a chalk board. It had reminded him of the unbearable lashings he had received in grade school when he had played hooky. What was he doing, you ask? Fishing. Steve was an excellent fisher and could perhaps make a business out of the sport. This moment was, to him, like fishing. He sat and waited, patiently, for something grand, something marvelous to pop up and surprise him.

After three more inner grates opened, Jerry pulled out a rope and a lighter and descended down the deep, almost humid hole. Perhaps it was in some way connected to the sewers. Steve bent over and took a whiff before starting his descension. Yep. The aromatic, sweet, tingling smell of urine. It was an unbearable scent that had caused him to place his hand over his nostrils. He then realized that he needed both hands to climb down the rope. He sighed, took the rope in both hands, and began lowering himself. When he finally reached the bottom, there was Jerry, wagging his tail in anxious anticipation. The man was patiently awaiting his master, his tongue practically hanging out of his mouth. In this case, of course, the roles are reversed, but we can play along, can we not?

In the chamber was nothing of particularly noteworthy example except perhaps a stone wall, a few barrels, and the lack thereof of any outside light. I suppose this is why Jerry carried a lighter in with him. And as our heroes journeyed inside the dark corridor, Steve’s mind began to wander off…

“Where have you been? It is already 1:20 and class is almost over!”
“I went fishing.”
“Fishing? Again? You do know that I’m going to have to increase the lashings, do you not?”
“Yes.”

Steve was lost in the past. He was experiencing a moment when he arrived at school late. The schools in Ne’er-do-well were ‘protected’ by metal fences that were erected in order to keep ‘potential threats’ out of the learning environment. Cameras were positioned at various locations such as around the main building and in hidden spots on the playground. Yes, they were even placed in bathrooms. At the top of the two-story building were two large antennae which were to be used in the event of an ‘extreme emergency’. Usually the only time they used it was for the children who misbehaved and were to be sent to the higher-ups. In addition to all of this, the school had strict standards to be adhered to at all times. The boys and girls were to line up in the morning and sing the allegiance to their country and their ‘god’. The pledge was to take place at 7:15 every morning. Steve felt the pledge to be unbearably mundane and felt it much easier to sit during the pledge. He was punished accordingly. At Clark Dale Elementary, students were expected and even forced to become a piece of the larger whole.
“I would say… about twenty.”
Steve grinned and responded
“How about fifteen? It will make your life much easier when I arrive on time. What say you?”
The boy had been rather silver-tongued for his age. The man smiled
“I am feeling generous today.”
His grin widened
“I will give you twenty-one.”
But to no avail. The boy frowned, aware of his rapidly impending doom. He figured he could avoid it with a few choice words of humility
“Yes sir.” Once again, to no avail.

The man grabbed the boy’s wrists and bound them in ropes attached to two wooden planks. The devices were very popular at Clark Dale, two per class, and were set about five feet off of the ground. In addition, small buckets were set underneath the devices. The man then retrieved a rather large whip from his desk drawer. It was so large that it was probably the only object in the entire drawer. As procedure dictates, the man pulled the boy’s trousers to his ankles and removed his underpants. The boy’s rear was on display to the entirety of the class. The man hoisted the instrument above his head slowly, gathering strength and then, swung forwards with utmost dexterity and speed! Whoop! Snap! With each and every hit a scream could be heard throughout the halls and a cackle which increased in pitch at each successive blow. The boy’s legs were soaked in blood after only 10 lashes. The man continued, swifter than ever with a force that would only be comparable to almighty Zeus’ terrorizing bolts of lightning. Afterwards, the man took a deep breath. A feeling of accomplishment and power rushed through his mind instantly. At the same time, his very soul elevated to heavenly (or hellish) heights, while the student’s legs shook with fear. As custom in Ne’er-do-wellian schools, the students were left to soak in the despair and regret of their actions and were usually left to starve and relieve themselves until the end of the school day. Of course, all of this was done in the company of the entire class. Even when the children had behaved, he still chose a ‘Lucky Contestant’ to witness his fury. Most of the class watched with cold indifference, their frozen stares penetrating the souls of those who were chosen to suffer. The stares were like hammers that drove stuck-up nails back to where they belong.

“Hey! You coming?”
“Oh… yes.” Steve continued onward at a hasted pace and in almost an instant, a beam of light had broken the darkness. They were almost there.

They reached a metal, barred door which featured pass-card verification devices. Even so, the place was almost completely unguarded. Once again, the security was lacking.
“Why is no one standing guard?”
“Just wait.”
Jerry inserted his card and opened the door. When Steve entered he saw a room, but not just any room. No, it was beautiful. It had long hand-woven rugs, imported. The ceilings held exquisite chandeliers, which reflected a thousand golden sparkles across the ceiling. The walls were covered in light neutral beige and the halls had expensive paintings and pottery. Steve had not seen art like this in a very long time, because art was rarely viewed in Ne’er-do-well.

When they passed a couple doors, they reached the only open door and noticed something marvelous. A whole group of people book-licking! He became so excited that he almost ran in and jumped for joy. He was halted by the fact that it would be rude to interrupt one who is book licking. Jerry had somehow disappeared while Steve was gawking at the intellectuals, so Steve began searching for him. About three doors down he saw more people that were doing things he had never seen before. Some were hitting balls with a long stick on some type of green table, while others sat in front of a television holding small, round devices with buttons. Everyone seemed to be having a grand time and even Jerry was enjoying a game of hit-the-ball-with-a-stick. Steve ran enthusiastically to Jerry
“What is that you are doing? It looks… fun.”
“Oh, yes. This is pool.”
“Pool? It does not look like you could swim in that.”
“It’s different than that. Here. Take a swing.” Jerry handed a stick to Steve.
“Hold it like so… and then.”
BAM! In a quick moment the ball went flying across the room, bounced off the walls and missed nearly two people.
“Oh. I can see why this room has fewer decorations than the other rooms.”
“Yeah… This is Gary. He’s also in communications. He works under me.”
“Hello.”
“Hello.”
 After the greeting, Gary leans over and whispers something in Jerry’s ear
“Oh, yes. I almost forgot. I will. Yes.” Jerry then turns his attention to Steve
“We are going to see the boss now. I’m sure that you will like him.”
Steve chuckles. “Will I?”

Jerry led Steve through another, shorter corridor until they reached a reinforced metal door with a slightly crooked note. The note read ‘BOSS’.
Jerry pointed at the door “This is it.”
“You don’t say?”
            Jerry then proceeded to knock on the metal door until a man came out of the room. The man was wearing a heather gray business suit and slacks, a hat, and… clown shoes? He had a fair complexion, rosy pink cheeks, and a large grin stretched across his face. He outstretched his hand to Steve, who grabbed the hand, feeling accepted and welcome
“Happy to have you aboard, Steve. You got quite the fine catch this time, Jerry.”
 “What is your name?”
“It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”