Within These Walls

Chapter 12

The cafeteria has fallen into silence, which is something to see considering the number of people in here. The injured boy moans again and presses a hand to his bruised mouth. He lifts his eyes, sees Rudolph take a step toward him, and covers his head with his arms.

Rudolph bursts into hyena-like cackles. I catch Marcus shouldering his way through the crowd. For once, I'm relieved to see him angry.

"What are you doing?" he asks, his voice deceptively calm.

Rudolph stabs a finger at his victim. "He stole food when he was on kitchen duty. His roommate caught him stuffing cans into his drawer last night."

"Where's the roommate?"

He clutches another guy by the back of the shirt and drags him forward. It's Weasel, the kid who tested the bread yesterday. He swipes a tongue over his thin lips. "It's true. I saw it. I was trying to do the right thing by reporting it."

More like he was trying to suck up. Marcus's glare makes it clear his endeavor has failed. "And you didn't bother to bring this to my attention?" Marcus asks Rudolph.

Rudolph looks at the rest of their gang. No one sticks up for him. He realizes he stands no chance because he mumbles, "Thought I could handle it myself."

"Except you're too stupid to do anything on your own, aren't you? You're back on kitchen duty until I say otherwise. I might give you back some power when you learn your place. Is that clear?"

Rudolph's nose flares and his jaw moves hard and fast. But his eyes stay fixed on the floor. With a stiff nod, he wheels around and stomps back the way he came.

"And you, Weasel-face." Marcus shoves him. "You're a spineless little shit who snitches on people to make himself look good. You think I'm going to reward you for that?"

Another shove. Weasel's eyes dart around. They flood with relief when Marcus gives him a disgusted look and says, "Get out of here."

He scuttles away. I watch Marcus as he returns to his corner of the cafeteria, surprised at the way he handled the situation. I expected him to take Rudolph's side. I thought he'd bash heads together and create a bigger mess, but he was reasonable for once.

"Maybe Marcus can help us with Rudolph," I say before I've thought it through.

"You're kidding." Carson lets out a nervous laugh. "What makes you think he's going to do that? He'll probably reward Rudolph for being such a prick."

"I don't think so. Marcus doesn't like Rudolph. It could work to our advantage. The enemy of our enemy is our friend, right?"

"Except this friend is just as capable of being a complete ass—maybe an even bigger one." Carson folds his arms on the tabletop and rests his chin on them. "We got enough to worry about as it is."

My chest softens at the downward tilt of his lips. Rudolph has done a number on him, but we can't ignore away our problems. Now that Marcus has put him on long-term kitchen duty, we can only go hungry for so long. "Don't worry, Carson. I'll talk to him alone. No sense in all of us drawing his wrath."

"You sure?" Willow asks.

"Yeah. I'll be fine."

Marcus sees me as I approach his table and gives me his undivided attention. There's already the barest hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. He's going to be impossible to deal with in front of everyone, but if I can talk to him privately—like Willow did with him yesterday—he might not feel like he has to put on an act.

The colorful assortment of food on the table distracts me. Mac and cheese, deli meat sandwiches, pancakes—even boxes of cookies I didn't know we had. A boy strips meat from a chicken leg with gusto and tosses the remains on top of a tray heaped with bones. The girl across from him picks at a bowl of fruit with her fork, giggling with a friend.