Free Dweller by Jeff Strand

see how smart you are,” said Larry. “Do you know what it means to put your hands behind your head, execution-style?”
    Toby nodded. Oh, God…
    “So do it.”
    Toby put his hands behind his neck, threading his fingers together. “There’s nothing funny about this,” he said. “All it’s going to do is get you in a ton of trouble. You’ll be expelled.”
    “Expelled for murder? That’s not such a big punishment.”
    “I meant expelled for the joke.”
    “What joke?”
    “Guys, come on…”
    “Why don’t you take some time to pray?” Larry asked. “That’s what they do when they’re about to die, right? They pray. Go on, Toby, pray.”
    “Out loud,” said Nick. “We want to hear it.”
    Toby hesitated, then spoke in a whisper. “Dear God, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, please let these assholes realize the error of their ways…”
    “Oh, now, see, you messed up a perfectly good prayer,” said Larry. “Now we want you to beg.”
    “No.”
    “Beg for your life.”
    “I’m not doing that.”
    “I bet you will,” said Larry, pressing the barrel of his gun against Toby’s forehead. Toby felt like he was going to throw up but choked down the urge. “Beg me not to kill you.”
    “No.”
    “Do it.” Larry raised his voice to a falsetto. “‘Oh, please, Larry, don’t shoot me in the head.’ Say it.”
    Toby remained defiantly silent.
    “Then how about ‘Oh, please, Larry, don’t shoot me in the stomach, because that would hurt a lot worse.’ I bet you can say that.”
    “No.”
    “No. No. No. You sound like a broken record. If you don’t want to say anything, that’s fine. Just close your eyes. Close your eyes and count to ten.”
    “No.”
    “ Stop saying that !” Larry shouted with enough ferocity that Toby nearly lost his balance. “ I’ve got a goddamn gun to your head, and you need to start taking this seriously ! Now close your eyes !”
    Toby didn’t close his eyes. He just couldn’t.
    “On the count of ten, you’re going to die,” said Larry. “Are you ready?”
    “Let’s do it on five,” Nick suggested.
    “Okay, five. Five seconds left to live. That’s got to be scary.”
    “Five…” Nick began.
    “Four…”
    “ Threetwoone !” Nick shouted. Both of them pulled the triggers at the same time. Both guns clicked.
    Both of the bullies howled with laughter. Larry placed his foot on Toby’s shoulder and shoved him onto his back. “I can’t believe you fell for that! You actually thought we were going to blow your head off! How stupid can one person be?”
    Toby was so relieved not to be dead that he was having trouble being furious. But as they continued laughing, Toby felt his relief fading and his rage rising. He sat up.
    “I’m going to the cops,” he said.
    That made Larry and Nick laugh even harder, if such a thing were possible.
    “I mean it.”
    “Yeah? Will that be before or after you run home crying to Mommy?”
    Nick, who was practically doubled over, cackled as if that was the most hilarious insult ever to pass somebody’s lips. Toby couldn’t remember ever having felt such rage. He wanted to gouge his thumbs into Larry’s eyes and rip his head right off his body.
    Instead, he settled for tackling Larry. He didn’t care if it meant he was going to get beat up again. He needed to get in one punch. Just one good punch.
    “Hey, whoa,” said Larry, still laughing as they crashed to the ground. “Kind of violent there, aren’t you?”
    Toby punched him.
    It wasn’t that hard of a punch, and it got Larry in the shoulder instead of the face, but it definitely made Toby feel better even as his fist exploded with pain.
    Larry’s return punch got him right in the nose. The crunch and immediate gush of blood proved that Larry’s punch had done a lot more damage than Toby’s. The pain was so intense that Toby’s vision blurred.
    He slammed his fists down upon Larry, as hard and quickly as he could. Larry seemed far more amused