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Prelude: In the Mind of Beto
"Beto es tonto, bajo, y feo. Ja, ja." The words of Jaime echoed through the mind of Beto Chávez. To this day the words stung him like a venomous snake clinging to his arm. Annoyed by this feeling, Beto grabbed the snake on his arm and flung it into a nearby bush. Still, the memory of Jaime's insults remained in his mind. For the last year, Beto had allowed his hate of Jaime to grow until he could stand it no more. He knew what he had to do. He had to kill Jaime for his insolence.
Part Nine: A Heap of a Student
Lupe García was walking down the crowded halls of Montebello High School when she sensed that she was being followed. She turned around and came face to face with the evil-looking Beto Chávez.
"What do you want??" she demanded to know.
"Me llamo Beto," answered Beto, "Beto Chávez."
"Shut up!" yelled Lupe, "You say that every day! Don't you have someone else to stalk??" Beto considered this for a moment.
"Oh yeah, I do!" he exclaimed, running away. This was the third day in a row that Beto had dropped in unexpectedly on Lupe. She was beginning to grow tired of hearing him introduce himself in Spanish. What she didn't realize, however, was that she was lucky compared to another of Beto's favorite victims. A girl by the name of Sylvia was being followed almost non-stop by Beto. When she first arrived at Montebello High School over a year ago, she had seemed a fairly normal person. She had just moved from Ecuador, but it didn't take long for Beto to take notice. Over time, Sylvia's sanity gradually deteriorated as Beto continually tormented her. Now, she had difficulty forming complete sentences.
Beto fell into step behind Silvia. She soon noticed, and stopped walking. She slowly turned around and stared into the purple eyes of Beto.
"Elp... egle...." she whimpered.
"Me llamo Beto," said Beto as he lowered a pair of dark glasses over his eyes, "Beto Chávez." Sylvia's face began to contort into abnormal positions.
"Me llamo Beto," repeated Beto, this time folding his arms across his chest, "Beto Chávez." That proved to be too much for Silvia. She collapsed in a heap.
"Me llamo Beto," said Beto to the heap, "Beto Chávez." The heap twitched. Beto laughed his terribly sinister laugh, and then turned to walk away.
"Hey Beto!" the voice of Carlos stopped him. Beto eyed his so-called friend suspiciously.
"Uhh... Beto? What's with the shades?" asked Carlos. Beto removed the shades and replaced them with his normal glasses.
"Me llamo Beto," said Beto, "Beto Chávez."
"Hey Beto, were your eyes always purple?" asked Carlos, who had learned to ignore Beto's introduction.
"Ever since The Incident," answered Beto.
"Ah yes," said Carlos, "I remember. You mean the time when-"
"Hey!!" yelled a voice from behind them. It was Seńor Ramos, the principal of the school.
"What do you to think you're doing??" he demanded to know. Beto and Carlos exchanged glances.
"What do you mean, sir?" asked Carlos. The principal narrowed his eyes.
"I know that look," he said, "You two are up to no good. You! What is your name?" The principal had turned to face Beto. Beto couldn't help but grin at this new opportunity.
"Me llamo Beto. Beto Chávez," he answered. The principal frowned.
"That is a horribly disgusting way to introduce yourself. You will never say such a thing again!" ordered the principal. Beto shrugged.
"Can we go now?" he asked. The principal was growing angrier by the second.
"No! You've still got some explaining to do!" he yelled.
"What do you mean?" asked Carlos, "We haven't done anything wrong." Seńor Ramos was startled to see halos appear over both their heads. He nervously looked around, hoping to find some kind of crime to blame them for.
"That!" he exclaimed, pointing across the hallway, "How do you explain that?" Beto and Carlos followed the principal's gaze until they saw what he was talking about.
"You mean that heap over there?" asked Beto.
"That 'heap' is a student at this school!!" screamed the principal. Beto shrugged again.
"You can't prove that I stalked her for the last year and gradually caused her to become insane and eventually pass out here in the hall," said Beto smugly. The principal stared into Beto's purple eyes.
"Both of you, come to my office immediately!!!" he shrieked, apparently having regained his composure, "And leave those stupid halos in your lockers!!!!!"
Part Ten: Framed!
Seńor Ramos was pacing back and forth in his office. Beto and Carlos had been seated in chairs in front of him.
"I have tried to be tolerant of you people," said the principal, "I'm sure you'll agree that I have been very patient and understanding with the both of you." Carlos fidgeted nervously. Beto propped his feet up on Seńor Ramos' desk. The principal stared at the undersides of Beto's shoes. Green gum was smeared across one of them.
"Put.... those.... down...." he said slowly in an effort to control his temper. Beto, as instructed, lowered his feet. The door to the office opened suddenly. Beto turned around in his chair to see Jaime walk in.
"Ah, hello Jaime. A pleasure to see you." said the principal. Jaime frowned.
"I wish I were here on better terms," he said, "But I have some bad news for you." The principal motioned for him to continue.
"I know who killed the secretary in the next room," said Jaime, "It was Beto. Beto Chávez." Seńor Ramos narrowed his eyes into slits so thin that Beto wondered if a penny could fit between his eyelids.
"I don't know of any dead secretary," said the principal as he removed from his eye socket a penny that Beto had thrown at him, "Are you sure there's a dead secretary out there?" Jaime nervously looked behind him.
"Hold on a second," he said, running back through the door. A scream was heard, followed by gunshots. Jaime entered the office again.
"Yes," he said, "She's dead. I even found the gun Beto used." Jaime held up a pistol.
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm," hummed Seńor Ramos, "I'm afraid we'll have to send Beto to stand trial...." This was met with a resounding "NO!!" from the three other people in the room.
"Sir, don't you remember what happened last time?" whispered Carlos. The principal frowned.
"You mean The Incident," he said, "I remember well that time, when-" He was cut off by a sudden scream outside. Apparently, someone had discovered the corpse.
"Perhaps we can let Beto off with a warning this time," the principal suggested as he began to fully recall the disturbing events that took place during The Incident.
"You've got to be kidding!" yelped Jaime, "He just KILLED someone!!"
"Beto, as long as you promise not to kill any more secretaries...." began the principal. Jaime opened the door to the office and fired the pistol outside. Another scream, and then a thud.
"Two people!" shrieked Jaime, "He's killed two people!"
"Beto, didn't I just tell you not to do that??" the principal reprimanded him.
"Me llamo Beto," answered Beto, pulling out a machine gun seemingly out of nowhere, "Beto Chávez." He stood and pointed his gun at Jaime. Jaime pointed his gun at Carlos. Seńor Ramos pointed his finger at Beto.
"Put that away this instant!" he demanded, but to no avail.
"Drop the gun," ordered Jaime, "Or I'll shoot your friend."
"But then I'll shoot you," countered Beto. After thinking about this for a moment, Jaime realized that Beto had the extreme advantage.
"Looks like a draw for now, Beto...." said Jaime ominously as he backed through the door, "But I'll be back..... mark my words, I'll be back.... JA JA JAJAJAJAJAJAJA!!!" The echoes of Jaime laughing in Spanish could be heard from the hall.
Part Eleven: The Death of Sylvia
The next day, Jaime was back. Beto and Carlos eyed him suspiciously as he passed them in the field behind the school.
"I thought he was bluffing," muttered Carlos.
"He already has 15 absences," explained Beto, "Any more and they'll throw him into the Lion Dens." Carlos shuddered.
"Remember when you had that little mishap with the Lions?" asked Carlos. Beto nodded solemnly.
"Let us never speak of it again," he said. Suddenly, he spotted Sylvia limping across the field. Beto grinned a sinister grin.
"Time for some fun," he said as he silently made his way toward Sylvia. He crept up behind her, trying to get as close as possible. Carlos wisely decided to stay where he was and watch from a distance. Beto was just about to yell his introduction as loud as he could when Sylvia whirled around.
"Mi nombre es Sylvia!" she said, her voice strong, "Sylvia de Ecuador!" Beto shuddered from the shock of hearing such a stupid-sounding introduction. He quickly recovered.
"Me llamo Beto!" he countered, donning his shades and folding his arms at the same time for maximum effect, "Beto Chávez!" The force of Beto's attack caused Sylvia to fall down, twitching in pain. Beto was about to finish the job when from the ground, Sylvia spoke again.
"Mi nombre es Sylvia!" she shrieked with the last of her strength, "Sylvia de Ecuador!" Spasms coursed through Beto's body. He could withstand it no more. After taking one last look at the world through his purple eyes, he collapsed into, ironically, a heap.
When Beto awoke, he was surprised that he was still alive. He had expected to wake up dead. Having looked forward to being a walking zombie, Beto was understandably disappointed.
"Beto?" Carlos was standing above him, "Are you Beto?"
"OF COURSE I AM!" yelled Beto, extremely upset, "Me... uh.... my name is.... er.... I'm called.... llamo...." Carlos was worried.
"Are you sure you're Beto?" asked Carlos, "You aren't acting like the real Beto Chávez." Beto groaned. Why couldn't he say his introduction? It seemed that it had been erased from his memory. Perhaps, he thought, he would remember it again in time.
"Where's Sylvia?" he asked, sitting up. Carlos shook his head.
"She didn't make it," he murmured.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed someone from the other side of the school yard.
"What was that about?" asked Beto. Carlos shrugged.
"So Sylvia's dead, huh?" mused Beto. Carlos was relieved to see that Beto was healthy enough to start musing again.
"Yeah," said Carlos, "Should I add another tally mark to the flag pole?" Beto shrugged.
"If you want to," he said. Carlos happily frolicked toward the flag pole. Somehow, Sylvia's death just didn't seem as glorious as he hoped it would be. For a moment, he even felt sad about her tragic demise.
"This is all Jaime's fault," muttered Beto, his hand clenching into a fist, "I have.... emotions now...." Beto shuddered at such a horrible concept.
"But worst of all," growled Beto, confusing a nearby dog, "He took away my name." Carlos had rejoined Beto at this point, and had heard the last thing he had said.
"Didn't Sylvia do that to you?" asked Carlos. Beto slowly turned his head.
"If you say her name one more time," warned Beto, "I'll kill you."
"Whose name? Sylvia's?" asked Carlos two seconds before Beto shot him.
"JAIME!!!" yelled Beto as loud as he could, "SHOW YOURSELF!! IT ENDS NOW!!!"
Part Twelve: The Revenge of Beto Chávez
Jaime and Beto stood opposite each other, their guns in their holsters. (Seńor Ramos had been reluctant to allow them to bring gun holsters to school, but they had eventually convinced him that it would make school more interesting) A crowd of students gathered around to watch.
"This is it, then," said Jaime, "Today, we shall decide who will rule this school." Beto spat.
"Today the school, tomorrow the world," replied Beto.
"We shall see," said Jaime as he wiped Beto's saliva off of his face, "For I am Jaime! Jaime the Emperor!!"
"Oh.... oh yeah?" stammered Beto. Jaime winced in anticipation of Beto's introduction........but it never came.
"Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" asked Jaime.
"Um.... no...." Beto backed up a few paces.
"Beto es tonto, bajo, y feo. Ja, ja!" yelled Jaime to the crowd. They laughed. It was a horrible, taunting laughter. It was then that Beto realized that they didn't like him. They were rooting for Jaime! An even worse thought - they had NEVER liked him! They had only feared him before. Now, without his dreaded introduction, he was helpless. Jaime drew his gun, and pointed it at Beto. Beto knew he should do something. He should jump out of the way! He should draw his own gun! He should lunge at Jaime! Beto did none of these things. He simply closed his eyes and awaited the inevitable. Jaime fired, hitting Beto in the head. Beto was dead before he hit the ground.
"Ay ay ay.... no es bueno...." said the Bumblebee Man.
"JA JA JA!!!" laughed Jaime as he walked over to the corpse, "The evil reign of Beto has ended!!" The crowd cheered. Beto was dead. A new era of peace was about to dawn upon Montebello high school. Jaime stood over the corpse of Beto Chávez. He pointed his gun at it with the intention of killing him again. Suddenly, the corpse's eyes opened. Jaime, shocked, dropped his gun.
"Me llamo Beto!!!!" proclaimed the corpse in an eerie trance, "Beto Chávez!" Jaime, as well as everyone standing nearby, collapsed as the force of the words hit them with full force. The corpse of Beto instantly decayed into nothing. Jaime struggled to stand up.
"Nice try, Beto," he said between ragged gasps of air, "But I live." Suddenly, a venomous snake flew at Jaime from a nearby bush. Jaime screamed as it sank its fangs into his flesh. In desperation, he tried to shoot at it with his gun, but succeeded only in shooting himself in the arm.
"Just remember Beto," groaned Jaime as his life oozed out of him, "I killed you first!" Seconds later, Jaime was dead.
Beto laughed.
"I can't believe he thought that was the real me!"
"Maybe he was convinced when that other guy managed to say your intro before he died," suggested Lupe.
"I guess so," said Beto, "But his eyes weren't even purple! What's a Beto without purple eyes?" Lupe laughed.
"Yes, that sure was funny, during The Incident, when-"
"Sh!" Beto interrupted, "That story is for another time." Lupe didn't understand what he meant, but she shrugged it off.
"Someday, someone will write a story about my adventures," Beto explained. Lupe laughed again.
"How will anybody know who you are?" she asked. Beto grinned.
"I'm called Beto," he answered, "Beto Chávez."
The End
This was the third story in the Beto Chávez trilogy. (Written in reverse order) The second story, The Incident, is coming soon.
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