Ironically, Tony had cut classes that morning also. He was over in Jimmy’s secret cave, discussing, among other things, the Preps. It had also occurred to Tony far earlier than Pinky that Derby might be behind Kurt’s disappearance. He also felt that the Preps, or their people, had something to do with Damon’s mysterious vanishing as well.
“With them, anything’s Possible”, Jimmy was saying. “They were...Are...The most two-faced of all the Cliques here. Everybody else is really straight-up, you know where they’re coming from. Yeah, they scheme and they plan, but it’s right out in the open. But the Preps ? They’ll friend you to your face and stab you in the back all at the same time. That’s how all them rich people are. They’re evil.”
“So I been finding out”, Tony said. “First they glad-handed me, when I was doing the clothing thing. But after they found out I wasn’t stupid enough for them to cheat me, they went nasty. I got them back with a little Greaser help, though.” Tony went on the tell Jimmy of the fake clothing exchange he set up, only to find out that Bif had brought along a bat to beat him with. Tony had allowed the pre-set Greaser attack to happen then, and just stood by as they beat Derby and Bif’s asses. The unfortunate by-product of that was being lured into sex with Pinky, however.
Jimmy laughed at that. “Yeah, she’s good for that. I had her a couple of times myself. Lola, too, right before I got together with Zoe. Johnny kept accusing me of banging her, so I went ahead and did it so’s not to make a liar out of him.”
That brought a fresh round of laughter between the two boys. As their mirth subsided, Jimmy said, “But serious...You got to watch out for them Preps. They’re underhanded as Hell, it ain’t nothing for them to hire others to do their dirty work for them. I think they had Gary in their back pocket the whole time last year, right up to the time I finally beat his ass there at the end.”
That surprised Tony. “Jake’s evil cousin was working for the Preps ?”
“As far as actually working for them, I don’t know”, Jimmy said, “But he was certainly in league with them somehow. Tell you a little story....While Gary was still pretending to be my friend, I ran into a rather wild-looking Tad out behind the Girl’s Dorm, smoking a ciggy. I was just casing the Dorm out, but I think Tad was back there stalking Pinky. I found out he had the hots for her, even though she was Derby’s girl.”
“Still does, far as I know”, Tony said. “He took a hell of a beating for her at the Beachhouse when Pinky got kidnapped by Kurt to start with. They found him naked the next morning at the bottom of the ramp.”
“That’s some strange shit, right there”, Jimmy commented. “Anyhow, I didn’t know any better then, and I hadn’t ever talked to Tad before, so I walked over to him and tried to start a friendly conversation, but then he began to insult me....So, I mentioned Gary, still trying to make conversation, and his reply stunned me -- "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that you were friends with Gary and the chaps...". After that, every time I talked with him again, he was friendly....Clear up until Gary double-crossed me and lured me down in the Hole to fight Russell.”
“That fight is a legend now”, Tony said. “No one still knows how you managed to beat Russell.”
“Ehh....Little help from a few Firecrackers, and a whole lotta luck”, Jimmy said. “Point was, after that, the Preps all hated me and believed everything Gary told them about me....They lured me over to Spencer’s place and tried to gang up on me, but I beat their asses there. Then, there was the deal about the trophies, they were convinced I stole them in retaliation for them swiping my bike trophy. I didn’t take their stinking trophies, fact is I’m the one who found them and the real thieves, but that didn’t make them like me any better. Then they really got pissed when I beat them in their own boxing match championships and took the Beachhouse from them.”
“But...Everyone was on your side there at the end, Right ?”, Tony asked. “After you beat Gary ?”
“The Preps were out there cheering with the rest, all right”, Jimmy replied, “But they still hated me. The Preps will always try to ally with the winning side, personal feelings aside. But I think they went back to working with Gary to undermine me over the summer. I was a threat to them, being King of the School and all. They knew they couldn’t control me. I think they got Gary to have that Big Darrell fucker to come after me and Edgar Munsen, only nobody expected that jackass to go nuts and start killing people. Worked out for them though....They got rid of Gary and kept me from coming back to school.”
Both were silent for a moment. Then Tony said, “I don’t think the Preps had anything to do with Jake, though. He was only at school a few months before he bailed. Sure, he had that clothing scam set up, but it was with everybody else, too. And he bombed their place along with everyone else. Plus, nobody at all knew he was even Gary’s cousin.”
“Nobody ?”, Jimmy asked. “Oh, There was somebody who knew, alright. And that fucker just might be the most dangerous asshole in the whole Vale Valley.”
Tony looked at Jake quizzically. “Who you talking about ?”
“Why, their Grandfather, of course”, Jimmy said. “Mr. Smith.”
Tony was surprised. “Why would you say that ?”
Jimmy leaned back in his chair. “Cause, Mr. Smith was runnin’ things around here long before the Harringtons and Spencers came along. He made a lotta money, and built this place up from a hole in the mountains to what it is now. Before, it was mostly a shipping port, and before that, mining, as you know. Smith was a developer, and started by buying up cheap land in New Coventry, leasing out the buildings on the strip. Then, he fired up the development of all those shops over in the Vale. More than half the businesses over there are there because of him. He got old and retired, and the Harringtons and Spencers took over, cause his worthless, no good kids couldn’t. Smith went to Florida or somewhere and was gone for awhile, but he came back for some reason a few years back, before I got here. There’s a rumor around that he’s in debt to Harrington, somehow, but I don’t know for what.”
Jimmy stopped to take a drink, then continued. “His real reason for coming back might have been to groom Gary to take over his 'Empire’, as he used to call it....But that went down the tubes when Gary got killed....So, he musta turned to the other Grandson, put him in Bullworth. But if Gary was a psychopath, this kid Jake was even worse, from what you told me of all the shit he done. Old Man Smith’s plans must be in ruins, all because he couldn’t control his Grandkids any better that he could their Parents, his own children.”
“So, do you think he’s in with the Mob, too ?”, Tony asked.
Jimmy thought about that, in his usual slow way, before he answered. “Naw....We never ever seen anything in those secret files about that. Fact, he’s hardly mentioned at all. No, I think Smith is one of those old-fashioned guys who’ll have some dock workers take somebody out in a back alley and beat them until they’re sniveling in their own blood and puke, begging them to stop. That’s his way. The Mob way would be just to put 'em in cement and throw 'em in the river.”
“What makes you think that he wouldn’t Murder ?”, Tony asked.
“That’s easy. Old Man Smith is smart. Leaving a trail of dead bodies behind means someone is gonna come looking for YOU, eventually. Besides, if you kill somebody important, they become a martyr, and maybe even a legend. But, if you totally destroy somebody’s rep, they never come back from that”, Jimmy said. “Look at that Heavyweight Champ from about 20 years back. He was on top of the world then, the undisputed King....Then he raped a girl in a hotel room, and did three years in the joint. After that, he was just a joke, and the only things he could do was bite other fighter’s ears off and do cameo roles in Rocky movies. His rep was gone, destroyed. He’ll never get it back.”
Jimmy went silent then, thinking about his own rep, and how he wanted so much to redeem himself before he left Bullworth behind for good. After a bit, he said, “That’s why it’s important to get that file to the Feds....Not just over the corruption in this place, but to clear me. I didn’t help kill anybody.”
Tony felt a rush of sympathy for Jimmy, whom he had come to regard as his friend. “Don’t worry, Jim, we’re gonna figure out something.”
“Have you seem Luntz yet ?”, Jimmy asked.
“No”, Tony admitted, “He’s been missing for a few days now, but he’s been doing that a lot lately, for some reason. I’m sure he’ll be back, though. He seems to know all about the file and about what Pete was doing.”
Jimmy took a breath. “I never really got on with Mr. Luntz , but for some reason, Pete did. And, I trust Pete. So, there has to be a real reason that he did. I gotta go with that.”
“He’s quite a mysterious man, that much I know”, Tony said. “I can’t help feeling that he’s got a personal stake in all of this. But I still don’t know why.”
“I just want my life back”, Jimmy said, morosely. “Living in a cave is fun for a few days, but after a long while, it just feels like a jail all over again.”
Tony rose to go, as he had to get back before the bell and meet Karen for lunch. “I’ll do all I can for you, Jimmy, you know that. Just hang on a little longer, OK ?”
Jimmy looked up glumly, then slowly grinned. “Sure. One way or the other, it’ll all be over soon.”
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