"What happened? I expected to see you beat to a pulp!" Joe exclaimed, looking down at his friend.

"They might as well have beat the crap out of me," Chet almost cried looking up at his best friend for a moment and then shrinking back into his hands. Joe looked over at Biff quizzically. Biff walked forward and lifted the hood to Chet’s beloved car.

"Oh Chet!" Joe said as he saw the destruction. Wires were yanked everywhere and the engine looked like someone had literally dismantled it. His stomach fell thinking of how his friend saved and saved just to get the $500.00 to pay for the old battleship of a car. The boys teased him about the condition of the old Buick, but everyone knew that it was a "gem" to Chet.

"Looks like the Queen is down for the count," Chet muttered.

"We need to call the police Chet. This is vandalism! I am sure that your insurance has something for vandalism not to mention they had to get into your car to get the hood up," Joe pointed out. But Chet was not buying it.

"It was hot! I left the window down so all they had to do was reach in. Also my insurance will not cover this. Dad only put liability on it since he said it was not worth the extra money for more coverage. I am stuck!" Chet said in disgust.

"How did it happen?" Joe asked, lowering the hood and leaning against the car.

"I don’t know. Everything went fine. No problem. I just came out and find my car like this with a note inside," Chet said, pointing into the driver seat area. Chet reached in and picked up the note. Joe winced seeing that his friend had "polluted" the paper with his fingerprints. Chet noticed Joe’s reaction. "WHAT?"

"Chet, we might be able to pull some prints off of that," Joe exclaimed.

"Well, you don’t think of something like that when you walk out and see your car laying in pieces!" Chet mumbled, barely holding the note this time. "So how are we supposed to handle it? I don’t exactly carry gloves with me when it is hot outside."

Joe walked back to the motorcycle and looked in his carrying pouch that was strapped to the back of the seat. He pulled out a pair of black leather driving gloves. "Frank let me borrow them one day and I never gave them back!" Joe smiled as he put them on and took the note. The letter was typed on a computer word processor.

"Boy are they poetic?" Joe said with a laugh. "I didn’t think that they had enough writing skills to come up with something like that."

"But this does give us some evidence," Biff spoke up.

"Not really because they can just deny it and say it was someone trying to get them in trouble," Joe said. "Only if there was witnesses, and I doubt anyone is going to break their legs to come forward for us."

"The only way to prove it was them is to find a copy of this letter on one of their computers that are assigned to them in the lab. And that is only if that is where they did it," Biff commented.

"Maybe, but then we would have to involved Frank and Phil since that would be their area of expertise," Joe reminded them. "I don’t want to get Frank involved in this."

"I think he already is going to be," Chet remarked pointing across the parking lot. Coming down the roadway was the familiar site of the station wagon. Frank drove the car up beside the group and stepped out of the car. Joe grimaced, knowing that he could no longer keep his brother out of it.

"I want the whole story. If something is going on and it involves my brother and my friends, I have a right to know and to be given a chance to help out," Frank said sternly walking up to the group of three. Joe shrugged his shoulders and looked over at Chet, who looked at Biff.

It was then that Joe spilled his guts about everything that had been happening since the beginning of the season. Frank listened intently and looked at the note as Joe held it out to him.

"So there is where my gloves went!" Frank muttered after Joe folded the note and put it in Frank’s shirt pocket. Then his attention came back to the problem at hand. "Okay, it looks like we are going to need to get some proof here of what is going on. Hazing is against the student code of conduct, but I am sure that it is going to take a lot to nail them since they are so popular. I will see if Phil could help me go over all the computers in the lab with the permission of Mr. Gaines of course. Sometimes Phil helps him clear out the computer memory on them after a while. I am sure that he would love to see us do it again since he is also busy teaching computer classes at the college too."

"You mean the computers have a copy of everything we type on them in there? Even if we delete it?" Chet asked, his eyes were wide.

Frank and Biff looked at their chum. "Yes. Why is that a problem?"

"I sure am glad that I didn’t write any personal notes on those things!" Chet exclaimed with a sigh.

"He doesn’t go reading through them unless there is a specific reason," Frank recounted, wanting to clear the air. "And thanks to that program, we have a reason and a way to find out who may have typed this up."

"Well, that issue might be cleared up, but what about my car!" Chet said, remembering his beloved Queen.

"We need to make a police report. That way we have proof of what happened. Then I guess it will have to be towed. I am sorry Chet. I wish we could fix her like we could fix a computer," Biff chimed in. Frank nodded in agreement. Both Joe and Chet stood rigid. It was clear that they did not want to involve the police. Frank assured them that the incident would be kept quiet if their father could talk to Collig and make the report himself. Joe and Chet seemed to like that idea better.

Frank pulled out a cell phone from the station wagon and called his father. Meanwhile, Chet stood almost in tears looking at his car.

"I know who can fix it," Joe exclaimed putting his hand on his best friend’s shoulder.

"Who?" Chet whimpered.

"Biker! As soon as Frank gets off the phone, I will ride over by Biker’s house and ask him to help us put it back together. He has been teaching me some things about cars. I am sure he would help out," Joe said with a smile.

"Did I hear the name Biker?" Frank spoke up after finishing his conversation with his father. Joe sighed and made a face.

"Yes, I am going to ask Biker if he will help us put the car back together," Joe said, crossing his arms.

"You know that Dad is not too crazy about him," Frank pointed out. Joe had been hanging out with Biker Conway all summer. Biker was a senior whose name was known for trouble at Bayport High School. He was also known for racing his motorcycles and not having the best of character. However, Joe befriended Biker while looking for parts at the junkyard. Picking up on Joe’s interest in learning about cars, Biker took Joe under his wings as a willing apprentice. So off and on throughout the summer, when Biker was not in trouble, the nineteen-year-old senior was teaching Joe everything he knew about cars. Frank thought this was a good idea, but wished Biker would use better judgement in his behaviors. After Biker got in trouble for drag racing his motorcycle, Fenton tried to keep Joe away from Biker. But his stern words fell on deaf ears. Laura finally convinced Fenton that they had to trust Joe’s judgement. Fenton reluctantly agreed, but did not like his youngest son’s choice of friends and made that opinion openly known.

"Dad just does not know Biker like I do. He is really a nice guy," Joe replied, waiting for his brother’s lecture. Frank was not too crazy about Biker either, but he was not going to get in a battle with his younger brother over his choice of comrades. "Besides, I am sure Biker would help Chet out. He hates Steven’s gang."

Frank had to grin at that thought. At least Biker had some standards. "Fine, but if Dad complains, you are going to handle it. He is your friend."

Joe flashed a smile and got onto his motorcycle. He was about to start the engine when Frank pointed towards his head. Joe grimaced at the thought of having to put his helmet on. "You know Dad’s rules concerning the helmet," Frank said, handing Joe’s helmet to him. "It is a good thing he did not notice that you did not have it with you when you left or you would be grounded for a couple of weeks."

"I will be right back. Call Collig and get a wrecker set up," Joe said, taking off towards Biker’s junkyard hideout.

Frank just shook his head. He could hear his father now. Why did you let him go and get Biker! You know how I feel about that troublemaker.

But then Frank looked over at Chet, who stood there, with a lost look in his eyes. He knew Chet did not have the money or the know how to get the Queen up and running. If Biker can help him out, then it will be worth the speech.

Frank called Collig just as his father directed him to do. Collig said he would keep the report quiet as Frank asked and would process the report himself. He also called for a tow truck to tow the disabled car to Chet’s house.

The tow truck was just raising the Queen into position as Joe rode up on his motorcycle.

"Biker said he would be glad to help out as long as we all chipped in and helped out. That way it will not take as long," Joe said with a sly smile.

Chet’s eyes perked up like he had been the winner of a lottery. "Oh Joe! That is great! He can count on me to be there every step of the way. Besides, car repair would be a great project to take up."

Everyone rolled their eyes at the mention of another hobby that Chet Morton would be trying out. "WHAT!" Chet said, looking at his chums’ faces. "It is not like I can fix it myself and I need the Queen back on the road! I hate riding that smelly school bus."

"Well, you are going to have to ride it at least for a little while. Biker said he could come out after school to the farm each night and work on it right after he is tutored by Frank," Joe replied, standing next to Chet.

"WHAT!" Frank then spoke up. His eyes were fixated on his younger brother.

"That was also part of the deal. Biker needs to pass government in order to graduate this year. He is already off to a bad start and he said he doesn’t want to spend another year in school," Joe shrugged.

Biff laughed as the expression on Frank’s face spoke for itself.

"Joe, I have never had government!" Frank piped back. He could not believe that Joe would volunteer his services for something without his knowledge.

"But you have had civics!" Biff chimed in. Frank glared at his friend who tried to hide a smile.

"Frank, you are smart," Joe pleaded. "You can handle teaching Biker government. Besides it is all for Chet."

Frank scowled while he thought the situation over, but then reluctantly agreed to his brother’s deal. Noticing that the tow truck was ready to pull out, the boys said their good-byes. Frank got back into the station wagon after Joe assured him he would be straight home with the helmet on. Biff waved and went over to his truck.

Joe was about to start the motorcycle when he heard his name. He looked around and saw Chet standing there.

"Just wanted to say thanks for your help with everything," Chet said quietly.

"No problem," Joe said.

"Yes, it was a problem. You didn’t have to ask Biker and stuff. I just wanted you to know I appreciated it," Chet replied. "Tell Frank thanks for me too. I know he is not crazy about tutoring Biker."

"I will tell him, but I would say that I better do it before the next tutoring session," Joe said with a coy smile.

Chet sensed Joe had something up his sleeve. "What did you do?" he asked with an ornery grin.

"Frank is also going to be tutoring him in business math too," Joe said with a laugh. Chet chuckled at Joe’s comment and playfully slapped him on the back.

"You devil! He is going to kill you!"

"Well it won’t be the first time. I will see you tomorrow!" Joe said as he started the motorcycle. Chet bid him farewell and made his way back to the waiting tow truck.