Mr. Stratton looked sternly at the boy in front of him, and shook his head.  “Do you have any idea how serious this is B.J.?”

        “Yessir,” the boy mumbled, never lifting his eyes from the floor.

        “I’m not sure you do.”  Mr. Stratton told him.  “Sergeant Molinson is willing to let you turn yourself in, rather than coming down here to get you.  However, he is only giving you until four o’clock.  That gives you half an hour.” He sighed. “I’ve already called your father and grandmother.  They’ll meet you at the police station.”

        “Yessir.”  B.J.’s voice was barely audible.

        Jim stepped forward and dropped a hand on B.J.’s shoulder.  “We’ll make sure he gets there, Principal Stratton.”  Mr. Stratton nodded, and returned to his office, leaving the teens alone in the empty office lobby.

        “Let’s go,”Jim said to B.J. “Dan and I will walk you to the police station, and Brian and Mart will drive the girls down to meet us.”

        “No!”  B.J. shook off Jim’s hand.  “I’ll go, I promise.  But if Derek sees me with you two, he’ll know.  If he knows, he’ll kill me, and then he’ll disappear!”

        “Dan?”  Jim asked. “Will you tell him that’s not going to happen?”

        “Can’t.”  Dan shrugged.  “I’d like to, but he’s right.  If Derek knows B.J.’s turned, he’ll come after him, and then...” Dan shrugged again.  “They’ll be gone until the heat is off, and then they’ll try again.”

        “You aren’t helping.” Jim said, his face flushing.

        “I’m just being honest,” Dan countered.  “You want to stop Derek, you’re going to need a better plan than having the kid turn himself in and set the cops on Derek.  That one sucks!”

        Jim felt his temper start to rise.  “I didn’t hear anything better coming out of your mouth.”

        “Yes, you did.”  Dan crossed his arms over his chest.  “I suggested we think about it for another day.”

        Trixie moved to interrupt.  “Guys, the clock is ticking...” she began.

        “Not now, Trix,” Jim said curtly, “Just be quiet until we figure this out.”  Trixie stepped back, her blue eyes furious.

        “Another day would have given us time to explore our options,” Dan was saying.

        “We agreed that we need to act now,” Jim retorted.

        “You agreed.  I didn’t.”  Dan was as unmovable as Jim.

        “I’ll go.”  Josie’s voice interrupted the disagreement before it could further escalate.

        “What?”  Jim and Dan chorused, turning to face her.

        “I said that I will go.  To the police station with B.J.” Josie faced Jim and Dan, her hands on her hips.  “I’m anonymous, and I’m a girl.  I’ll go with him, and you guys can either follow us or stay here and fight it out.  We now have eighteen minutes.  You decide. C’mon, B.J.”  With those words, Josie spun around and headed out the door, pushing B.J. ahead of her.

        Jim and Dan watched them leave, mouths agape.  Trixie shook her head in disgust.  “She’s right, you know,” she said, moving toward the door.

        “Where do you think you’re going, Trix?”  Jim asked.

        “I’m going with Josie.”  Trixie glared frostily at Jim.  “I could use the fresh air.  Lord knows the testosterone levels in here are out of control.”

        Trixie marched out the door, leaving Jim and Dan staring after her.  Mart bit his lip and averted his eyes.  Brian looked helplessly at Honey, who couldn’t meet his gaze.  It was Diana who broke the uncomfortable silence.  “Well,” she declared.  “I suppose we should follow them.  We can’t just let them go alone, can we?”

        When Trixie caught up with Josie and B.J. at the flag pole, she was still angry.  “Wait up!” she called.

        “They let you out?” Josie asked sarcastically.

        “They don’t get to decide,” Trixie fumed.  “I can’t believe Jim told me to be quiet.”

        “Dan’s right.”  B.J. stopped walking.  “This isn’t going to work.  I can’t...this...I...” he began to wheeze, fumbling in his jacket pocket for his inhaler.

        “Breathe, B.J.,” Trixie said.  “You’ve got all of us on your side.”  She grinned a little.  “We might fight among ourselves, but we stand together when we need to.”

        “That’s right, kiddo,”  Josie agreed.  “Let’s just get the bad part over with, and then I’ll figure out how to spin the story and make you a hero.”

        “Like that’ll ever happen.” B.J. was breathing a little easier, and he  began moving again. “I’m never gonna be a hero, just a coward and an idiot.”

        “You might be surprised at the power of the pen,” Josie told him.  “Especially my pen.”  They turned the corner onto Main Street, and she glanced at her watch.  “We’ve got ten minutes to go three blocks.  Think we can make it before Molinson sends out reinforcements?”

        “No.”

        The voice came from directly behind them.  Startled, both Trixie and Josie turned around.  B.J. froze in his tracks.  There, in living color, stood a blond boy in a black leather jacket and dark brown leather cowboy boots.

        “Going somewhere, Benno?”

        Slowly, B.J. turned around to face the speaker.  Shrugging, he said, “Just out for a walk, Derek.”

        “I see you brought some friends.”  Derek looked both Trixie and Josie up and down.  “Cute.  Hey girls, let’s party.”

        “Drop dead, loser.”  Josie told him.

        “Ooh, a smart mouth.”  Derek moved closer.  “I know how to fix that.”

        “Don’t you touch her!”  Trixie shouted.  “Just leave us alone.”

        “Can’t do that, sweet cheeks,” Derek said in a mockingly insincere tone.  “See, I get the feeling that little Benny here has been talking out of turn.  I can’t have that, now, can I?  So you and me, we’re gonna have a little pow-wow, see what you know.”

        “We don’t know anything,” Trixie told him, her heart racing.  “In fact, we don’t even know who this Benny fellow is.  We were just headed to the library to do homework with our friend B.J. here.  So why don’t you just walk away?”

        “I’ll walk away, sweetie, but you will be walking with me.”

        “Dream on,” Trixie retorted.  “I’m not going anywhere with you.  None of us are.  You can’t make us.”

        “Wanna bet?”  Derek signaled with his hand, and three other black jacket clad thugs appeared out of the nearest alley way. “I say we can.”

        Trixie shot a look at Josie.  Josie shook her head ever so slightly. Stall, Trixie told herself, give the Bob-Whites time to catch up with us.

        “Why on earth would you want us?” she asked.

        “Because you’re with Benny, and Benny and me has business.”  Derek sneered.

        “They aren’t a part of this,” B.J. said suddenly.  “They really were just going to the library with me.  I...I need help with my English assignment.”

        “Sure, Benno.  English.”  Derek shook his head.  “You squealed to Mangan, didn’t you?”

        “No.”  B.J. stood firm.  “I’ve seen him, but he hasn’t seen me.  I’m invisible.”

        “Then why are you with his friends?”  Derek asked.  Seeing surprise on B.J.’s face, he continued, “Oh, did you think I wouldn’t recognize the nosey blonde?  She’s responsible for us losing half our guys.”  He chucked Trixie under her chin.  “Ain’t you, sweet cheeks?”

        Trixie jerked away from Derek’s hand, only to be grabbed by one of his goons and dragged off the street.  Struggling against her captor, she saw Josie suffering the same fate, while B.J. walked behind, prodded along by Derek.  Being manhandled down a series of alleys was less than fun, but Trixie concentrated on two things: remembering the route, and praying that someone had seen them snatched off the street.

        “Where did they go?”  Mart asked, as the station wagon turned the corner.

        “I don’t know,” Brian responded, pulling the car over to the side of the street.  “They were there a minute ago...”

        Dan and Jim, sitting in the backseat with Honey between them as a buffer, exchanged a look.

        “Don’t say it,” Jim warned.

        “I won’t,” Dan replied, darkly.  “But you have to admit, I did.”

        Jim’s face turned red, but he pushed his ire aside.  “Okay, fine,” he said.  “You were right.  So what do we do now?”

        “Brian, you and Mart take the girls and go get Molinson.”  Dan spoke as he unfastened his seatbelt and opened the door.  “Tell him that the Cowhands took Josie, Trixie, and B.J., and that they’re probably holed up somewhere on Hawthorne. South Hawthorne.”

        “Where are you going?”  Brian demanded.

        “We’re going to find them.”  Jim opened his own door.

        “Wait a minute!”  Brian yelled, as the doors closed.  He was too late.  Jim and Dan had already disappeared down the street.

        “I hate it when they do that,” Brian mumbled, as he put the car in gear and accelerated toward the police station.

        “Do you have any idea where we’re going?”  Jim asked, as he dogged Dan’s footsteps.

        Dan didn’t stop, nor did he turn around.  “I have an idea,” he said over his shoulder, “I just hope I’m right.”

        “Do you want to share?”  Jim sounded exasperated.

        Dan stopped so suddenly, Jim nearly ran up his back.  “There’s an abandoned duplex on the south end of Hawthorne.”  Dan turned and faced Jim.  “Molinson said his men rousted some of the gang on Hawthorne.  Trixie saw someone last Monday.  I left practice early Tuesday and went...hunting.”

        “Hunting?”  Jim asked.

        “Yeah.  Scum hunting.”  Dan grimaced.  “I caught sight of a guy I used to know--Lurch.  I followed him, and he ended up at that falling down rat hole.  I watched a while from across the street.  There was a lot of traffic in and out.”

        “Drugs?”

        “Probably.” Dan looked away.  “Okay, most definitely.”

        “Why didn’t you say something?”  Jim asked incredulously.  “You should have told the police immediately.”

        “I couldn’t,” Dan stated, as he started moving again.  “I shouldn’t have been there in the first place.”

        Trixie and Josie found themselves yanked through a filthy kitchen, and shoved roughly into a dingy, dimly lit room smelling strongly of chemicals and rotting garbage.   The goon known as Derek pointed at a sagging sofa, and both girls were tossed toward it, the stained fabric tearing as their bodies landed in an unceremonious heap.

        B.J. scurried over to help the girls untangle themselves.  “You don’t have to be so rough, Derek,” he yelled.  “They haven’t done anything to you!”

        Derek scowled.  “What?  So now you’re gonna get all tough guy on me, Benny-boy?  Sit down and shut your trap, before I shut it for you!”

        For a moment, Trixie thought that B.J. was going to swing at Derek, but as Derek took a step toward the smaller boy, B.J. backed down, joining the two girls on the sofa.

        “Exactly what do you hope to accomplish by kidnapping us like this?”  Josie’s voice rang out clear and strong.

        “Huh?”  Derek appeared confused by the question.

        “I asked why you chose to kidnap us,” Josie repeated slowly, enunciating her words.  “I can’t figure out what you want with us.”

        “Oh, la di dah!” Derek mocked.  He curled his lip at Josie.  “I don’t want you at all, sister.  But I’m betting that Mangan does.  Rumor has it he was with you at the dance, and I seen for myself how attached he is to Miss Snoop, here.”

        “So, all of this,” Josie gestured around the room with her hand,  “the drugs, B.J., kidnapping us, all of this, just to get at Dan?”

        “Revenge is the name of the game, sweet cakes.  Manny took from us, he betrayed his brothers.  I’m here to make him pay.”  Derek grinned at the girls, his face pulled into a snarl.  “You two are here to help me.”  He turned his attention to Trixie, who glared back at him.  “I was planning on bringing that curly topped brat brother of yours along, ‘cause he makes a mean peanut butter sandwich, but I think you’ll do just fine.”

        Trixie gasped at the thought of Bobby in the hands of this creep.  She struggled for words, and was struck with inspiration straight from Mart.  “You are an utterly and completely reprehensible fragment of human refuse.”

        “Huh?” 

        “She said you are a disgusting piece of garbage.”  Josie translated for the befuddled gang leader.  “I happen to concur.”  She looked Derek straight in the eye and said very slowly, “That means that I agree with her, you stupid loser.”

        Derek let loose an enraged bellow, and headed at Josie, swinging his fists.  He managed a single, hard backhand to her face, before B.J. tackled him.  Caught off-guard, Derek tumbled to the ground, B.J. on top of him.  Trixie turned immediately to Josie, who was bleeding slightly from her lip.  For a brief moment, Trixie considered grabbing Josie’s hand and running, but the presence of the three other gang members negated that possibility.

        The three Cowhands did not move to help Derek.  Instead, they stood watching as B.J. and Derek rolled across the grimy floor.  B.J. managed a couple of strong punches, drawing blood, but was soon overwhelmed by Derek’s superior size and strength.  Derek grabbed B.J. by his shirt, and thrust him hard against the wall.  “You forget who you are, Benny-boy.  Where’s your loyalty?”

        “Luke never hit a girl,” B.J. spat the words, spraying Derek with bloody spittle.  “Only a coward hits a girl.”

        “Do you see Luke anywhere around?”  Derek lowered his voice.  “Because I don’t.  Luke’s out on Riker’s Island; Mangan put him there.  He ain’t running things no more.  I am.  You need to remember that.”

        “Luke’s in prison because he couldn’t let go.”  Faced with his worst nightmare, B.J. refused to cower.  “Luke kept going where he wasn’t wanted, and he wouldn’t listen.  That’s how he got nabbed.  You’re doing the same thing, Derek, and it’s going to happen to you, too.  You can beat me up, you can even kill me; but you can’t force me back into the gang, and you can’t force Dan either.  We aren’t alone any more, not either one of us.  We don’t need the gang to belong.  If you keep this up, you’re going to lose everything.  Just like my brother did.”

        Derek dropped B.J. like a hot potato, and began to pace.  B.J. didn’t move; he just sat on the floor, staring at Derek.  Trixie cast a glance at the rest of the occupants.  The goons seemed enthralled by the soap opera playing out before them, while Josie licked at the blood on her lip, her eyes taking in every detail.  Slowly, Trixie lowered her feet to the floor, waiting for an opportunity.

        Across Hawthorne Street, Dan and Jim watched and waited.  It was agonizing. When the goon squad tossed Trixie onto the sofa, Dan held Jim back.  When Derek struck Josie, it was Jim’s turn to hold back Dan.

        “Where are the cops?”  Dan asked through gritted teeth, his eyes trained on the window.

        “I don’t know,” Jim answered tensely.  “But if that creep makes a move on Trixie or Josie again, we’re going in there, cops or not.”

        “They don’t have a lookout right now, and there are only four of them,” Dan looked at Jim hopefully.  “We can take them.”

        Jim hesitated, torn between what he wanted to do, and what he felt he should do.  He fought himself for a moment, and then suggested, “What if we move closer, you know, outside the house.  That way, we’re closer if they try anything.”

        “How long do we wait?”

        Jim looked at his watch.  “Ten minutes,” he stated.  “If Molinson doesn’t send reinforcements in ten minutes, we do it ourselves.”

        Dan nodded.  “Let’s go.”  Quietly, they slipped across the street, and into the shadows surrounding the dilapidated house.

        Derek paced in a specific pattern; ten paces toward the kitchen, six paces to the left, twenty paces back past the sofa.  When he completed one set, he turned and did the same thing in reverse.  Trixie watched him, counting his steps.  B.J. remained on the floor, his legs crossed, arms folded over his chest, while Josie watched everything as if she were committing it to memory.  The three other members of the gang melted back against the shadowy walls, watching Derek warily.

        “You can’t talk to me like that, Benny-boy,” Derek spat, as he paced.  “You’re just a stupid, know-nothing kid.  You’re a loser.  Even Luke thought so.  He only kept you around to keep your ma happy.  You’re worthless.  You’re nothing.”

        B.J. didn’t answer.  He sat perfectly still on the floor, his eyes the only moving part of his body.  It took Trixie a minute before she realized that B.J. was trying to signal her.  She turned her attention away from Derek and focused on B.J.  He kept swinging his eyes toward the kitchen, located behind him.  Trixie followed his gaze, and saw the back door; it was unguarded and slightly ajar.

        She wrinkled her nose at B.J., who nodded almost imperceptibly, and shifted his eyes to Derek, now at the point in his pacing farthest away from the sofa.  Trixie nodded slightly, showing B.J. that she understood.  She tapped Josie softly on the elbow.  Josie looked questioningly at Trixie, and the spunky blonde whispered, “Follow my lead.  Be ready to run.”

        They waited through another cycle of pacing.  Trixie saw B.J. open his right hand, holding it against his left arm.  As Derek paced away from the sofa, B.J. began counting down on his fingers.  Both girls tensed, counting along in their heads.  Five...four...three...

        Crouched outside, under the kitchen window, Dan and Jim kept their ears open, and their eyes on Jim’s watch.

        “Two minutes,” Jim whispered. “What’s the plan?”

        “The tall one is Lurch.  He’s big, but he’s slow,” Dan quickly detailed what he knew about the gang goons inside.  “I’ll take Derek and Willie, and leave Lurch and Dean for you.  I don’t know where Sandy is, but I guess we’ll worry about him later.  Ready?”

        Jim looked at his watch again, and nodded.  “Here we go,” he said.  “Five...four...three...”

        As Derek reached his pacing point farthest from the sofa, B.J.’s hand went from one finger to a fist. One...GO!

        As one, Trixie and Josie bolted towards the kitchen door.

        Derek let out an enraged bellow and gave chase, the goon squad on his heels.

        B.J. launched himself from the floor, tackling Derek around the waist, and effectively tripping the three remaining members.  Five bodies crashed to the floor in a swearing, sweating jumble.

        “Let’s go.”  Jim took one last look at his watch, and he and Dan began creeping closer to the back steps.

        Jim reached the bottom step at the exact moment that Trixie and Josie burst through the door.  He barely had time to throw open his arms before the compact body of his schoolgirl shamus hit him square in the chest, knocking Jim flat on his back.  Dan, two steps behind, acted on instinct.  He managed to grab Josie just before she tumbled down on top of Jim and Trixie.

        “Freeze!  Hands up!”

        The voice came from behind them.  Jim, still on the ground with Trixie on top of him, slowly inched his hands up over his head.  Dan let go of Josie and did the same.

        “Get them out of here, now!” Sergeant Molinson’s voice was stern and tense as he stepped up to the back steps, weapon drawn.  The three Bob-Whites and Josie found themselves hustled away from the house by two uniformed officers.  They watched anxiously from a police car, out of danger, but silently waiting.

        “Poor B.J. is still in there,” Josie whispered.

        “Yeah,” Dan replied, touching the swollen side of her face with gentle fingers.  “But whose side is he on?”

        “He’s on our side!” Trixie told him, hotly.  “B.J. talked Derek down when he went after Josie, and he figured out how to get us out of there.

        “That’s right,” Josie agreed.  “B.J. was really calm in there; once everything started, he was the only one who stayed completely clear headed.”

        “Then I owe him one,” Jim said, squeezing Trixie’s hand tightly in his. 

        The radio crackled something undecipherable, and the front door of the duplex swung open.  Four police officers appeared, each one leading a handcuffed Cowhand.

        “Where’s B.J.?” Trixie wondered aloud.  They kept their eye on the door, but nothing else happened, until a siren broke the silence, and an ambulance pulled to the curb.

        “Oh, no!” Josie breathed, trying to get out of the car, only to discover that there were no handles.  They could only watch helplessly as the paramedics wheeled out a stretcher carrying a small, very still, body.

Spring Dance 5

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Spring Dance 7

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