“Whoa!” Kinzer said. “I’m the one who was talking to him. He didn’t do anything!”
“Kinzer!” Jerry shouted from the corner of the room. He stood over a sweat-soaked twink of a boy who had stopped mid-push-up to watch Kid and Kinzer. “Kid knows the rules. This is the way we do things around here, so shut your faggy mouth and let Robb handle it.”
Robb sent another fifty thousand volts into Kid’s chest. Kid writhed about.
Kinzer dropped his dumbbell. As it bounced off the floor, he tackled Robb.
Robb whined and slapped around as Kinzer pounded into his cushioned stomach.
“What the…fuck! Stop! It’s…the…rules!” Robb wailed.
“Marzo!” Jerry exclaimed.
Marzo stomped across the workout room, a stern look frozen on his face.
Kinzer reared back, his fist moving to strike Robb again.
Marzo put a Taser to his neck.
Zzzz.
Kinzer convulsed and twitched about, just as Kid had done moments earlier.
***
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Jerry shouted.
He sat at a termite-ravaged school desk. Kid and Kinzer sat on a cot before him.
On the concrete wall behind Jerry were two large windows. Like all of the windows in Jerry’s place, they were covered in chain-link fencing.
Kid threw Kinzer a foul look.
Fucking asshat, getting me in trouble.
“This isn’t a fucking Jean-Claude Van Damme movie!” Jerry continued. “No need to act like a fucking animal.”
“He didn’t do anything,” Kinzer said. “I didn’t even know that rule.”
“I don’t care what rules you know and don’t know,” Jerry said. “If I discipline, I expect you to obey. My rules may not always be fair, but the only way to be any kind of leader is to be consistent. If you discipline consistently, then everybody understands when and why they get punished. Got that?”
Kinzer nodded.
“I’d prefer auditory confirmation.”
“Won’t happen again.”
Kid looked Kinzer over. He doubted that was true.
A guy doesn’t end up with bruises all over him like that and in a place like this for no reason.
“As for you, Kid, you know better than to be acting up.”
“I was—”
“Shh, shh. I don't like this, but I'm gonna have to find a suitable punishment for you. I have to be honest, considering how long you’ve been with me, it’s not going to be generous. You should have known better.”
There was no point in arguing. Kid hung his head and nodded.
