Chapter Thirty-Four

It had been a first doing Maths while still buzzing but when he re-read it the next morning, Lincoln found it was all right.  He felt pleased to have finished another piece of coursework, even though the teacher had practically accused him of cheating.  He had stayed behind and explained the way he had done it and even done a few equations before the teacher had been convinced that he hadn't copied someone else.  He could have been angry about being accused of cheating, but he made a conscious choice not to.  The teachers had no reason to trust him, he thought.  He was already noticing the change in some of the teacher's attitudes to him now he was doing what he was supposed to.  It felt good to not be the one called out in class and not to have to go to detention everyday for not doing any work. 

He came out of school and could hear the low beat of a bass line.  He looked left to see the black BMW parked outside of school.  As he headed over to the car, Jason got out.  They bumped shoulders.

"How did last night go?" asked Lincoln.

"Yeah man, okay.  I ended up partying with them for a few hours."

He had rings under his eyes and looked tweaked.

"Oxford girls can get nasty" he said with a grin.

"Did you have to pay extra to lose that cherry?" joked Lincoln.

"Yeah, yeah.  Cos you have always been a smooth operator haven't you?  I still remember walking in on you and Tanya – your little white butt going mad for it." 

Jason grinned.  "So you getting any from that girl yet?"

"It isn't like that with Abbie" said Lincoln.

"Your Italian charm not working its usual magic?!"

"It's not like that with her."

Jason smiled wryly.  "Ah, you proper like her."

Lincoln shrugged but didn't say anything else.

"Speaking of sex on legs..."  Jason's gaze went past his friend.  Lincoln turned to see Abbie and Kat approaching.  Abbie ran and wrapped her arms around Lincoln.  Jason stepped towards Kat.

"Hey gorgeous" he said, getting close to her, "My God, you are fine."

Kat blushed and pushed a strand of hair away from her face.  Her eyes showed that she was loving the attention. 

"Jason, it is good to see you again."

"Baby, you can see me whenever you want" he said and then whispered into her ear, running his hand down her arm as he did.

Lincoln rolled his eyes at his friends awful flirting.

She giggled at whatever he had said.

"Kat"

Lincoln looked up to see Kyle standing there watching this moment intently.

Kat turned and saw him.  She broke out a guilty grin and went and kissed him on the cheek.

"Hey sweetie, this is Jason, Lincoln's friend from London."

Kyle didn't respond but kept staring at Jason.

"You got a problem mate?" snapped Jason, squaring towards him.

Kyle looked away.

"Didn't think so."

Kyle spoke in hushed tones to Kat for a second.  He saw his friend and called out to him for back up.  "Theo."

Jason looked up as Theo came over to Kyle.

"Is this the same Theo?" asked Jason loudly, pointing at him.

"Jason" Lincoln's voice contained a friendly warning.

Jason wasn't paying attention to him but was staring at Theo.  Theo looked away uncomfortably.

Jason went up to him and got into his personal space.  Jason was a bit taller than him and looked infinitely scarier with his face masked with disgust.

Lincoln followed behind him.

"He doesn't look like much" said Jason loudly.

"He isn't Jase, come on" Lincoln pulled his arm.

"No he isn't.  That must be why he needed all that extra help sorting you out."  Jason leant right into Theo's face.  "Coward."

Theo looked worried but didn't move.

Jason pulled his face back and stared Theo down. 

"Come on then pussy; let's see how you do one on one."  Jason's fists clenched.

"Jason, leave it" Lincoln raised his voice. 

"It will only take a minute" said Jason, his eyes not leaving Theo.

"I told you:  he is mine" snapped Lincoln, putting his hand on Jason's chest.

Jason's eyes flicked to Lincoln's and he heard the message clearly.  He stood back.

"Maybe another time, wimp."

"What is going on here?"  Mr Adams appeared and stood between the boys.

"Nothing" said Lincoln.

"You, you don't go here" said Mr Adams, looking at Jason.  "Leave school property or I will call the police."

Jason levelled him a look that showed his disinterest.

"Whatever, come on Linc."

Jason dropped Abbie home before heading into the small village centre.  He parked outside the shop and turned the engine off.

"Are you going to wait around until I finish work?  I'll be done in like 2 hours" asked Lincoln.

"Only if your sister will keep me company" replied Jason.

Lincoln jabbed him in the ribs and he chuckled.

"I've got to get back to London; give Jack the car back and his money."

"Right"

Lincoln felt sad to see Jason go.  He had been a good friend to him over the years and he missed having someone around who knew him, inside out.

"Hopefully I will be back to London soon" said Lincoln.

Jason sat forward, excited.  "Come.  Jack said he always has a job for you."

"I meant for a visit" said Lincoln, staring out of the window.

Jason sat back.

"I get it" he said softly.  "You have a family here now.  You don't want to lose that."

"You are my family Jase" said Lincoln.

He batted this thought away with his hand.

"I know, but you have a chance of a new life here.  It could be good.  If it doesn't work out, come back.  You'll still have a brother in London."

They hugged briefly.

"Alright" said Jason, clearing his throat.  "Enough girl stuff."

"Here" he said, reaching into his pocket.  Lincoln looked at his hand to see the rest of the bag of weed and two £50 notes.

"Whoa, I can't take this" said Lincoln.

"Take it, I got plenty more."

"Weed or cash?"

"Both" grinned Jason.

"Then use some to buy a phone so I don't have to write you another fucking letter."

"Ha" said Jason.

"See you bro" said Lincoln, climbing out of the car.

"Laters, loser" called Jason.

Lincoln smiled hard as he watched the car speed off down the street.

When Lincoln got in from work that night, he was still feeling a bit sad.   He got his school work out on the kitchen table and was getting a can of pop from the fridge when Sam came in.

"Oh good, you are back" said Sam, "Eventful day?"

"Not really" said Lincoln, pulling out a chair and sitting down.

"That is strange because I got a call from Mr Adams about an altercation down at the school" Sam said sitting across from him.  He leant forward on his elbows and looked at Lincoln enquiringly.

He cursed Adams under his breath.

"It was nothing" said Lincoln.

"Mr Adams says there was boy with you he didn't recognise who was looking to fight with another student.  Was it Jason?"

"Yeah, but like I said it was nothing.  There was no fight" said Lincoln, leaning back.

"Was there meant to be?  Is that why he came here?"

Lincoln sighed.

"No he just came to visit.  When he saw Th...one of the guys who beat me up, he got mad.  He is protective of me, that's all."

"So do you have a plan to fight?  Because you remember what Sergeant Kramer said" he added.

"I was there, I remember, but just to spell it out: no Dad, there is no plan to fight" said Lincoln wearily.

Sam sat back and half smiled.

"What?" said Lincoln, confused by his sudden change in mood.

"You called me Dad" said Sam, his eyes betraying his emotion.

"Oh" said Lincoln, looking down at his papers.  "I guess I did."

Sam stood up, not wanting to make a big deal of it.

"Well, I will let you get on."  He turned on an afterthought.  "I am very proud of you for being mature enough to let go what happened and move on."

"I've had enough drama for one year" said Lincoln, shrugging.

Lincoln thought about what Sam had said.  Had he really let it go?  He still wanted to knock Theo out but when he thought about the consequences it put him off.  Not just Kramer's threat.  He and Abbie were together and happy; so Theo hadn't got what he had wanted and he had.  Abbie didn't want him to fight Theo; she wanted the whole thing put behind them.  But he had been worried about his reputation; that maybe people would think he was a soft target.  That didn't seem to have happened and he knew he could handle himself if anyone decided to try it on with him.  He never thought that he would let someone get away with breaking his arm but in a weird way maybe the ends had justified the means.  All his relationships were stronger following the attack, with the exception of Connor.  Although, since Lincoln had forgiven him, their relationship had gone back to the way it was: easy in each other's company.  He realised that he was a lot happier than he had been before.

The week continued as it had done before Jason's arrival.  He worked hard every night and finished another piece of coursework.  He didn't have that much to do now.  It amazed him how much he could get done in two weeks – practically all the coursework of his GCSEs! 

Sam had again mentioned the three of them going away camping one weekend and this time Lincoln didn't hate the idea.  He had never been in a tent and it looked like fun.  Spending time with Sam and Connor no longer appalled him.  They had been having a regular game of Xbox every night and it was always banter filled and fun.  A weekend wouldn't be so bad.