Community service, as the name suggested, meant they were made to pick up trash in the nearby park. The place was practically a fucking hub for family "picnics," and in the end, no one bothered to pick up after themselves. The grass was always littered with bottles, cans, wrappers, and all sorts of other rubbish.
So, every week, a few of the volunteers had to clean up after those annoying asses.
Today, it was his turn.
Ezra held the trash picker in his hand. It was nothing more than a long stick with a fork-like end. He speared a plastic bottle and tossed it into the trash bag he was holding.
"Catch."
Mateo playfully tossed an empty beer can at him.
Ezra caught it precisely and dropped it into the bag.
"What is your revenge plan? Come on, enlighten me." Mateo excitedly jumped around him.
"Well, this is my plan." Ezra held up his trash bag.
Mateo blinked.
"Picking trash?"
"No, the trash. Look there." He pointed toward Rio.
The maggot was actually picking up trash very dedicatedly for a change. A few young teenage girls had already swarmed around him, sweet grins plastered across their faces.
Rio Velveta grinned at them as he continued cleaning up the area.
Ezra narrowed his eyes.
"I'm going to trash his spot. He is going to be picking up trash all day. By the end of the day, he'll have a backache that can't even be cracked by a chiropractor. Buhhhaaaaa…" He laughed evilly.
Mateo just gave him a dull look.
"Are you a grade-schooler?"
Ezra rolled his eyes. "I don't want to cause bloodshed here. It's a family gathering spot, man." He pointed toward the children playing in the corner. "Can't influence them toward violence at such a ripe age."
Mateo sighed and plopped down onto the grass. "Boring. I was expecting more."
"What more do you need?" Ezra shook his head and continued picking up trash with gusto.
Mateo, however, was now staring at the nearby trees with interest.
"EZ, my man! Look!" He grabbed Ezra's shorts and tugged at them.
Ezra hurriedly grabbed the waistband, fearing Mateo might actually pull them down.
"Stop tugging at my shorts!"
"Look there!" Mateo jumped up and excitedly pointed at something.
Frowning, Ezra looked in the direction he was pointing. On a huge cypress tree, he spotted a honeycomb.
"You don't mean…"
"Yeah, I exactly mean that. Let's make that man's life a living hell." Mateo grinned villainously.
Ezra remained silent.
He actually didn't like that idea. Somehow, it felt wrong.
"Don't disturb the bees for our revenge. Let's just go with the trash-dumping strategy."
When his trash bag was full, he walked over to Rio's spot.
Rio peered at him with that same condescending gaze.
"Ezra, coming here to see if you had a chance? Sorry to inform you, but they were already charmed by my face."
Without a word, Ezra emptied the trash close to him.
"Enjoy the attention, Trash."
A weird sense of fulfillment filled his chest.
'Revenge is the best!! God, why didn't I do this long ago?'
As he walked back happily, he suddenly noticed that his friend was gone.
A subtle sound of a branch hitting something came from nearby.
Ezra's eyes widened as he looked toward the trees in shock.
That stupid Mateo had hit the bees' nest and fucking run.
"That bozo!"
He watched as the bees began swarming out.
"Everyone, move away!" he shouted, gesturing for the girls to leave.
To his surprise, he spotted Rio standing there with a weird look on his face.
"What the heck are you standing there for? Do you want to get stung? Get going!" Ezra pushed him.
Rio ran.
He didn't wait for anyone. He was the first person to reach the nearby lake, and Ezra anxiously glanced after him.
Ezra then went looking for his stupid friend.
Mateo was currently hiding behind a trash bin.
But could a trash bin really stop a swarm of angry bees?
The answer was no.
The stupid guy was being stung all over.
"Fuck! I told you not to do that, you idiot!" Ezra removed his sweatshirt and started swatting away the bees surrounding him.
"I was expecting a different situation," Mateo sheepishly grinned.
The bees finally flew away from the idiot. Ezra pulled him up and checked him over. It wasn't that bad. He had a few stings on his legs and neck. Nothing too serious.
Ezra patted his face forcefully.
"You should be thankful that the bees didn't gnaw on your face."
Mateo touched his face softly.
"Thank God I'm not disfigured…"
Laughing, Ezra patted his back.
Suddenly, he heard a loud shout behind him.
Ezra glanced back. To his surprise, there was a group of young girls standing around, shouting in panic.
"Call 911! Call them!" a young girl sobbed loudly.
Ezra rushed toward them.
"What happened?"
"He is having an allergic reaction," she sobbed, pointing toward the guy lying on the ground.
It was fucking Rio Velveta.
Ezra froze for a second.
"Fuck."
He ran to him and pulled him up. The man was struggling to breathe, his face blue and bloodless.
Ezra pried open his mouth. His whole throat was swollen and red.
"Shit, shit… anyone have an EpiPen? Anyone…" He looked desperately around at everyone.
"I have one!"
A young mum ran back to her picnic blanket and started searching through her bags.
Ezra watched her desperately.
A trembling hand gently grabbed his neck.
He glanced down at Rio and saw him looking at him, his eyes wide.
"You can try to kill me after you survive this, okay? Just stay put. Don't panic."
He pulled Rio's hand away.
"Here!"
The lady ran back to them.
Ezra swiftly pulled the cap off the EpiPen and stabbed it into Rio's thigh.
"Hmmm…" Rio let out a loud groan and rolled onto his side.
Ezra carefully checked the inside of his mouth. The swelling had gone down a bit. He was finally breathing.
"Has anyone called 911?" he asked, looking around.
"We have. They're on the way," a young girl informed him.
"Good. Good…"
He stood up with the EpiPen still in his hand.
"Who is going with him in the ambulance?" He looked around.
"Me! Me!"
A few young girls raised their hands.
They barely looked reliable.
Sighing, Ezra decided to reluctantly accompany the maggot to the hospital.
Ezra pulled the trash bag open to put the EpiPen inside.
"Wait! Don't throw that away!" the lady who had lent him the pen shouted.
"Why not?"
"They need to know how much epinephrine you injected into him. Just carry it with you to the hospital, okay?"
Ezra picked up the pen and carefully rolled it up in his sweatshirt. As he did so, he noticed a pair of green eyes watching him from the ground.
'You have to be thankful I'm kind to my enemies. If not, I would have let you die right here.'