DEADLY CURRICULUM
by
LSAU
Chapter 7
THE CHAPTERS
Joe
turned his collar up against the biting wind and buried his hands deeper
into his pockets. He didn't
remember it being so cold when he had been out earlier today, but then he
hadn't had to walk outside like he was doing now.
"I
had no idea that this complex was so big," Joe admitted as he
followed Jason through the maze of dingy low-rise apartment blocks.
"Yup,
that's what they call it, The Complex.
It's like a mini city in here, with its own law.
Not a place you'd want to get lost in," Jason said as they
trampled through the hardened snow that had once been white.
"How
long have you lived here?" Joe asked as he sidestepped a broken
bottle.
"Forever,"
Jason said, shrugging. "I'm
used to it. As long as you
mind your own business, you're more or less safe.
Though there are stories of people simply disappearing in
here."
Joe
frowned. "Stories only,
right? Nothing proven?"
Jason
shrugged. "Who knows?
You don't ask too many questions around here if you know what's
good for you."
They
passed a group of four, five boys in their late teens huddled together
against the cold, the glow of their cigarettes flaring eerily in the
semi-darkness. They eyed Joe
with open suspicion as the two made their way past them.
Joe returned the stares unflinchingly, his body braced for
trouble, but they were allowed to pass without incident.
Even without looking back, Joe knew the same eyes followed them
unwaveringly until they at last turned the corner.
"They
know you don't belong here," Jason explained as if guessing what was
going through his mind.
"I
gather they are not too fond of strangers around here, huh?" Joe
tried to make light of it.
Jason
shrugged once more. "Most
of them are pretty harmless, unless you provoke them.
Like I said, just keep your nose to yourself and you'll be
safe."
"That's
not exactly reassuring," Joe muttered and wondered what it would be
like to live in this dreary place with its hidden shadows and lurking
dangers seemingly ready to pounce on the uninitiated.
Jason
gave him a brief glance. "You
learn the ways of the street right from the beginning.
'Sides, I wouldn't know what it would be like to live anywhere
else." He pulled open
the battered front door of the building where they had at last stopped.
"This is home."
Joe
thought briefly of his own home, the large century-old house with its
wraparound porch, set well back from the tree-lined street, the very
picture of tranquility and safety. The
scream of a passing siren brought the harsh reality back, as did Jason's
voice.
"You
gonna come in or are you going to stand there all night?"
Joe
grinned sheepishly. "Yeah,
I'm coming."
"The
elevator is broken. We'll
have to take the stairs," Jason said as he headed down a dimly lit
hallway to an equally dingy stairwell.
"We're on the fourth floor.
Hope you're in the mood to exercise."
Joe
laughed. "Just try me.
You're looking at someone who breathes sports on a daily
basis."
As
he began climbing the stairs after the younger boy, Joe wrinkled his nose
at the smell that assaulted his senses.
Though the stairwell was relatively clear of refuse, the
unmistakable odour of garbage and urine hung heavily in the air and Joe
forced himself to take in small shallow breaths, not exactly an easy
thing to do while climbing four flights of stairs.
He was more than thankful when they at last reached the fourth
floor.
They
went down another dimly lit hallway of peeling paint and threadbare
carpet, though the air was certainly less offensive here than in the
stairwell. Jason dug a key
out of his pocket and unlocked the door to the unit at the end of the
hallway.
"Come
on in," Jason said as he closed the door behind him and flipped on
the lights.
Joe
looked about him, mildly surprised. Though
the apartment was sparsely furnished and the furnishing certainly had
seen better days, it was orderly and spotlessly kept.
He wasn't quite sure what he had been expecting.
"I'd
offer you something to drink but last time I checked, there was only
beer. The old man wouldn't
like it if we drank that."
"I
don't need anything to drink, thanks," Joe said quickly.
"Don't think my parents would approve either if I start
guzzling beer."
"The
stuff's in my room, down this way," Jason began to lead the way.
"I'd
better call my brother first and let him know to pick me up from here.
He was going to pick me up from the Center originally.
Oh great! My phone's
dead. I guess I forgot to
recharge it. Can I borrow
your phone?"
"Yeah,
there's one in the kitchen. This
way," Jason said.
"What's
the address here?" Joe asked as he began to dial Frank's cell phone
number.
"318
Frank
didn't have his phone on so Joe left a message telling his brother where
he was and where he could be picked up from.
As an added thought, he also gave Frank Jason's number in case his
brother needed to reach him. As
he hung up the phone, Joe congratulated himself for being so thorough.
Even big brother couldn't complain this time about him having
little regard to small, insignificant details, such as letting others
know of his whereabouts.
"So,
let's get started on this project of yours.
Between the two of us, I'm sure we can get it done before the
night is over, as long as you have all the equipment that we need,"
Joe said enthusiastically.
"Yeah,
I'm sure I got it all. The
teacher gave us a list of things to get.
I got the stuff a while ago, just never got around to putting the
thing together," Jason said as he led the way once more to his room.
"I'm
sure it's no different than that project that I did a couple of years ago
for school, so this is going to be a piece of cake," Joe said.
"You might even have fun doing this."
"Yeah,
whatever," Jason said, not sounding thrilled.
Joe
laughed, not at all put off by the other's lack of enthusiasm.
"Just wait until that little light bulb comes on at the end
of it. You will feel like the
world's greatest inventor."
"Not
likely," Jason said. "I
just want to be able to hand this in and get some marks.
Don't want another beating from my dad if I can help it."
"Does
he hit you often?" Joe asked, frowning.
Fenton had seldom even raised his voice at his two sons, let alone
laying a finger on them. Joe
could not even begin to imagine having a father like Jason's.
"When
I piss him off, yeah! Lucky
thing is that I hardly ever see him.
He's always at work. Says
he wants to save enough money so that we can move away from this rat
hole," Jason muttered.
"Doesn't
your teacher say anything when you show up for school with bruises like
that?" Joe asked.
"Hey,
half of the kids show up at school with some kind of mark on them.
They aren't going to keep track of every one of us.
Most of them don't care anyway," Jason said.
"Can’t
be all that bad. I'm sure
some of them care." Joe
was not convinced.
"Well,
if they do, they certainly haven't done anything about it.
Don't blame them sometimes. They
might get into trouble if they stick their noses into things that don't
concern them," Jason said. "So
are we going to do this thing or are we going to sit here and chat all
night?"
Joe
laughed. "We can talk
and work at the same time. How
about that?"
"If
you have all that energy, you can do the talking.
I'll just sit back and watch," Jason said as he slumped back
on the bed.
"Oh
no, you don't. You aren't
going to let me do all the work. It's
your project. I'll show you
what to do, but you have to put in some effort too," Joe said.
Jason
frowned. "Why should I
bother if you know how to put the thing together?
I just want to be able to hand in something."
"There's
this thing call learning, kid. You
can't learn if I do it all for you. Come
on, learning can be fun sometimes."
Wasn't that one of Frank's lines?
Jason
looked at him incredulously. "What
planet are you from?"
Joe
laughed again. "Same as
yours, I think. Funny, my
brother asks me that same question."
"Don't
know what it's like to have a brother," Jason said rather forlornly.
"Maybe if I had one, my dad would have someone else to yell
at, not to mention to practise his fists on."
Joe
grimaced at the other's words. "Well,
there is that, but those are certainly not the only reasons to want a
brother. The best thing about
having a brother is like having a live-in best friend."
"Best
friend?" Jason asked. "I've
seen brothers pulling knives on each other before."
"Cases
like that have got to be the exceptions," Joe protested.
"Sure, it happens, but I think most brothers do get along and
support each other even if they are not the best of friends.
As for me, I can't imagine life without Frank."
Joe shook his head, as if trying to banish any such thought.
"No, I'd be totally lost without him."
Jason
looked at him almost enviously. "Well,
I guess I will have to wait until my next life to see what it's like to
have a brother."
Joe
clapped him lightly on the shoulder.
"Would you settle for a friend for the time being?"
Jason
regarded him for a long moment and then a slow smile spread across his
face. "Maybe."
Joe
laughed. "Okay, that's
good enough for me for now. Hey,
we really better get going on this thing or we'll never get it done in
time."
"Show
me what I have to do," Jason said, grinning.
"I
think I can do that," Joe said, returning the grin.
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The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.