Free Pay Up and Die by Chuck Buda Page A

The shadowed windows resembled evil eyes taunting him. He took a deep breath and approached the entrance.

Chapter 16
     
     
     
     
    Andrew Wright was looking forward to school today. It was going to be another movie day because they had a substitute teacher all week. Mrs. Franklin was out for several days because her husband had passed away suddenly. The Principal had told the class that she would need some time for mourning and that they would do their best to keep the kids on track with studies in her absence. Lucky for Andrew and the rest of the class, they still hadn’t figured out how to do that. So they had a substitute teacher assigned to the class each day. And substitutes equal movies. Nice and easy to sit at your desk all day watching films about the Civil War and stuff.
    Andrew’s mother made him wear his green windbreaker but he felt too hot in a jacket today. He wanted to take it off but kept it on for now until he got on the school bus away from his mother’s sight.
    The short, yellow school bus came around the corner and stopped at the bench labeled bus stop. The bus door opened but it looked like a new driver today. Mr. Morton must be sick. The backup driver was a monster. He was enormous and filled up the seat, the steering wheel almost cutting into his bulky chest. The driver leaned towards the door. “Well aren’t you going to get on the bus?” The large man asked in a friendly tone.
    “Where’s Mr. Morton today?” Andrew asked while stepping up the stairs. He looked down the aisle and noticed the bus was completely empty. But there were several stops before Andrew’s street corner. So he paused and looked back at the driver. “And where are all the other kids?” He licked his dry lips because he felt unsure of the situation.
    “Oh, I gotta get them still. It’s my first time doing this route and I think I made a few wrong turns. I guess I’ll have to circle back and pick up the others once we catch up. I don’t want to be late getting you kids to school. I really need this job.” The driver pulled a piece of paper out of his red and black flannel shirt pocket. “Are you Andrew Wright?” He pretended to match up the name on the paper with the face of the kid standing on the top step as if he needed to verify his checklist. He grinned out of the right side of his mouth.
    “Yes.” Andrew answered. “But I think I should go back to my house. I think I forgot my homework.” Andrew lied pretty well. He learned at an early age how to lie to get out of trouble. It came in handy when you had a little sister. He started to turn to go back down the steps.
    “Hold on there, kiddo. Maybe I can just swing the bus around real quick so you can get it faster and I won’t be late for getting the bus to school. You know. We’ll work together like a team to do it faster. Whaddaya say?” The debt collector almost jumped out of the seat to grab the boy but refrained.
    “I think I can do it by myself, thank you.” Andrew said. He felt a burning need to jump off the bus and run home as fast as he could. Something wasn’t right and he was scared. He turned again to go down the steps when a huge fist landed on his left shoulder. It felt like a two ton anchor and riveted him to the spot. He tried to move but couldn’t even flinch. Then the lights went out.
    Martin had punched the kid in the right side of his head with his free hand. Then yanked the kid’s body into the aisle of the bus where it flopped like a rag doll. He spun around on the top step of the bus looking out every window he could to see if anyone had noticed. It looked clear so he squeezed back into the driver’s seat and closed the bus door. He ground the gears trying to shift the bus into first and rolled away from the curb. He stopped at the sign, looked both ways and continued for another two blocks down Delaware Avenue. He found an empty house with a For Sale sign on the yard and pulled up in front of it. There seemed to be