Change of Plans
By Bev Vincent

 

“I want you to beat Lauren up for me.”

Karen dropped the basketball she had been bouncing off the brick school wall and turned. People didn’t often talk to her—especially popular girls like Jennifer, at whose feet the ball came to rest.

Karen gaped at the other ninth-grader. She lowered her eyes when the girl with the perfectly coiffed blonde hair, gleaming white teeth and high cheekbones returned her stare. “Who’s Lauren?”

“The new girl. Over there.” Jennifer aimed a manicured finger at a brunette waif sitting on a bench, an open paperback in her lap.

Karen shrugged. “What she do?”

“What difference does that make? I heard you beat up kids for no reason.” She kicked the basketball aside as if it annoyed her.

“Cuz you heard it don’t make it true.”

“You don’t beat people up?”

“Always got a reason.”

Jennifer frowned. “She’s talking to my boyfriend.”

“Looks like she’s readin’.”

“Not this minute, stupid.” Jennifer rolled her eyes.

Dragging her toe through the gravel, Karen said, “Could always beat you up instead, callin’ me stupid.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. Friends?”

Karen looked up to find Jennifer’s arm outstretched. She scanned the schoolyard to see if anyone was watching before giving the soft, pale hand a clumsy shake. She half-expected the jaws of a steel trap to snap shut on her. “Don’t beat on someone who ain’t done nothin’ to me.”

“But we’re friends now, and she’s done something to me. Friends stick up for each other, don’t they?”

“I guess,” Karen said. Having Jennifer speak to her was confusing enough to keep her mind from working properly. That Jennifer considered them friends was almost beyond her comprehension.

“I’m inviting Lauren to my place Saturday night for a sleepover. We’re going to become best buddies. After school on Monday, I’ll lead her down the hill by the stream.”

“That’s where I beat her up?”

“Yeah. Mess up her face. I’ll make sure no one interrupts us until you’re done. Okay?”

“I guess.”

“Meet me by the fence after last period. That’ll give you time to get down the hill ahead of us.”

Karen nodded.

Her transaction completed, Jennifer spun on her heel and returned to the picnic table where the popular kids hung out during lunch. Karen retrieved the basketball and watched. After a while, Jennifer strolled across the yard and sat on the bench beside Lauren. Soon the two were giggling the way popular girls did, with their hands over their mouths as if worried their teeth might fall out.

Karen bounced the ball while the others headed toward the school when the bell rang. The sound echoed across the emptying yard like a metronome. She tried to imagine what it would be like having a friend who sat beside her and told her jokes. One who would squeal with delight when she saw her.

Then she pictured Jennifer inviting her to a sleepover after she beat this Lauren girl up. Since they were now friends and all.

* * *

On Monday afternoon, Karen skipped her last class and waited for Jennifer at the edge of the schoolyard. It was only math—she’d already taken that twice.

A few minutes after the final bell, she heard her name being called. She looked around.

“Pssst. Over here.”

Karen spotted Jennifer lurking behind the bushes near the fence. She sauntered over.

“Get down, dummy. Do you want everyone to see us?”

Karen’s face darkened but she said nothing.

“Okay, change of plans. You’re going to cut her up a little, too. Here, take this.” The knife Jennifer held out looked like the one Karen’s daddy used to gut deer. Long and sharp, with a serrated blade. “The little witch won’t suspect a thing. She thinks we’re best friends. This is so great. She even thinks we’re going to ask her to join our club. We’d be more likely to invite you.” Jennifer giggled.

Karen stared, but said nothing.

“I’ll get her down by the creek. You show up and hit her as much as you want. Then slash her face. I want it to leave scars. I’ll try to keep her from yelling, but don’t get any blood on me. This sweater is new.”

Karen accepted the knife and tucked it into her belt.

“Go on, now. Wait near the big rock. We’ll be there soon.” Jennifer sighed. “And stay out of sight, okay? Or you’ll ruin everything.”

Karen lumbered down the path to the base of the hill, where a stream wended its way between the river and the bay. A little further up the stream was the shack where she lived. She often fished from these crisp, clean waters. Three or four rainbow trout made a good dinner for her daddy.

Stay out of sight, Jennifer had said. The stone wasn’t big enough to hide behind, so Karen decided to climb a tree. While she waited, perched on a stout branch, she cleaned dirt from under her fingernails with the knife’s point.

There was a problem with Jennifer’s plan, but she couldn’t work out what it was. Pictures flashed through her mind, which was her way of thinking. A slide show of images told her the way things were and suggested what she should do. The pictures weren’t always nice.

Soon, she heard voices approaching. Jennifer and Lauren laughed and talked as they descended the hill, making more noise than a wounded bear. “Wait ‘til you see,” Jennifer said. “It’s the coolest thing ever.”

“Are you sure it’s okay?” Lauren asked. “Mom told me there’s a pervert who attacks girls down here.”

“It’s perfectly safe,” Jennifer said, in a tone that suggested she knew everything.

Karen didn’t understand math, but she knew the right moment to jump. As soon as the girls passed beneath her, she let the knife fall to the ground and dropped behind them, landing in a crouch to absorb the impact. Before Jennifer and Lauren could react, Karen rammed into them, sending them sprawling like bowling pins.

Leaping at her target, Karen rolled the other girl onto her back, straddled her hips and began pummeling. She didn’t strike her in the face—that would have hurt Karen’s knuckles as much as her victim. Instead she delivered solid punches beneath the girl’s ribs, bruising her stomach and kidneys and making it impossible for her to call for help.

“Git me the knife,” Karen said. “Stickin’ in the ground there.”

Jennifer had gotten to her feet but now seemed rooted in place. Karen knew about regret and second thoughts. “Move it,” she said. “And keep watch, like you said.” Lauren was twisting under her, trying to wriggle free. Karen put her hand over the girl’s mouth to make sure she didn’t cry out.

Jennifer shot a panicked glance up the hill, then stumbled to the base of the tree and plucked the knife from the ground.

“Wipe it off and gimme.”

Jennifer ran her fingers along the blade. Then she held the knife out at arm’s length, as if she couldn’t wait to be rid of it.

Karen plucked the weapon from Jennifer’s hand. Calls me dumb and then hands me a knife blade first. At that moment, a snapshot formed in her mind.

“Gonna have to do her.”

Jennifer frowned. Lauren’s struggles intensified, telling Karen she understood. A moment later, Jennifer eyes and mouth popped wide open.

“What? What?”

“We let her go, she’s gonna tell.”

“But I just wanted her marked up a little.”

“Cuz she’s prettier than you.”

Jennifer’s face turned red.

“Gotta do it. She heard us talkin’. Knows it was your idea.” Karen shrugged. “This way, she won’t talk to your boyfriend no more.”

Lauren’s head whipped from side to side under Karen’s hand. She squirmed and bucked but was no match for her attacker. The knife blade slid under her sternum. Lauren made a small noise and stopped struggling almost immediately. Karen twisted the blade but left it in place. If she pulled it out, there’d be blood—and plenty of it.

Behind her, Jennifer retched in the bushes. Another image flashed through Karen’s mind: Jennifer sprinting up the hill, yelling for help all the way. Blaming it all on her.

Karen lurched to her feet and retrieved her own knife from where she’d hidden it by the big stone before climbing the tree. It was the one she used to filet trout and to keep Daddy out of her bedroom at night. It wasn’t as fancy as Jennifer’s knife, but it did the job.

Karen crossed the distance separating her from Jennifer in a few strides. Jennifer was wiping her mouth on the tail of her new pink sweater. “Stupid dummy, huh? Not good enough to get invited into your clubs or your sleepovers.”

Jennifer started to say something, but Karen waved the knife in her face. “Don’t like to hurt people, but I do. Always have a reason, though.” The blade glimmered in the late afternoon sun.

Jennifer’s face grew pale. Karen thought she might faint.

“My own reason—not anyone else’s.”

Jennifer’s upper lip quivered. A tear formed at the corner of her eye. Karen wiped it away with the tip of her knife.

“Change of plans,” she told the girl. “Come over to my place. Since you’re my new friend and all. We’ll have a sleepover. My daddy is just going to love you.”

 

End