Chapter Five
Bandaged, Bruised, and Belligerent
“I warned you,” Sara whispered to Maria from the side of her mouth. “He’s just waiting for the first opportunity to get us!”
“Ugh,” Maria muttered beneath her breath. “This doorknob just won’t give it a rest, will he?”
Though Jasper was the school janitor of Hollow Oak Elementary, there were elements to his person that far exceeded that which initially met one’s eye. Of much greater significance than his occupation as a wielder of broom and mop, was his recently unveiled status as a mechanical engineer.
His brilliant abilities in that field were nothing short of genius, but this was a secret that he had kept closely guarded. Jasper’s reasons for doing so, as one might suspect, were all nefarious. He did, after all, have a lengthy, well-established history of getting up to no good, even before his elaborate deception had been cracked.
Jasper had been successful in defending his secrets, until but a few days earlier, when the Beans (the Fresco Sisters and their closest friends, Neil and Jack) had learned critical details of the janitor’s strange past.
Even more significant than his mechanical skill set was the dark role that he served, that which was his true purpose… he was a spy for a group of reprehensible scoundrels who were known as the Black Hats. Jasper was a founding member of this band of power-hungry, immoral villains, and his loyalty to their goals was absolute.
Jack’s Uncle Lefty also knew of Jasper’s true purpose, and the weird history that belonged to him. They had once been close friends, working side by side in the sciences toward common, noble aspirations.
But Lefty had been forced to depart Hollow Oak only a few days ago, as he pursued his nemesis, Ebenezer Widget-Bocker, who was in possession of an immensely powerful, stolen technology. Therefore, the Beans were on their own against this, their most formidable and persistent adversary.
Jasper was, by any measure, a most imposing figure. His staggering height tallied in at six and a half feet, and he towered over his fellow adults. As far as children were concerned, he looked something like a mountain from their relatively diminutive position, from which they would have to crane their necks skyward in order to take in Jasper’s full form. Oftentimes, he would blot out the sun itself, depending on the hour of the day and the position of his bearish silhouette.
Jasper’s height was well balanced with an equally impressive girth. Broad shouldered and bull-necked, he was built far more like a well-fed lumberjack than a school janitor. His forearms were like birch trees, knotted with thick cords of sinew and muscle. He had huge hands, festooned with knuckles the size of walnuts, peppered with scars from a lifetime of turning wrenches and wielding blast torches.
The crowning aspect to Jasper’s intimidating appearance was his black eye patch, which made for the perfect complement to his perpetual scowl. His lone, remaining eye was the color of gray-blue quartz, and it was filled with a cold, calculating menace that was ever present.
Jasper’s attire was meticulously maintained, for he was a stickler for cleanliness and order, a trait that served him well in the occupation he had chosen for his double life. A khaki-colored shirt and navy blue overalls were neatly pressed and free of lint, hugging his bulky frame. His black boots were polished to a high shine, reflecting light from their oily surfaces.
Despite his high standards for neatness, however, Jasper’s normally immaculate appearance was a bit… off today. For he had recently suffered a defeat that he deemed most heinous and unjust (though the Beans would undoubtedly disagree with that assessment), the results of which were plainly visible upon his body.
About his head was wrapped a thick, white bandage, from which his black and silver hair sprung in unruly tufts. Scrapes and bruises were visible on his face and neck, and he was walking with a pronounced limp. One arm was immobilized within a sling (the other remained free to wield his trusty, mahogany broom).
Jasper was, in short, looking much the worse for wear.
He had suffered many injuries when the Beans had bested him and his accomplice within the Black Hats – the mad scientist, Ebenezer Widget-Bocker. With the aid of their own odd allies, the Beans had managed to get the upper hand in their most recent encounter… and Jasper was none too pleased about it. He was a man with a long memory, and he would hold a grudge, that much was certain.
Children already ranked very high on Jasper’s list of most disliked things. But as for Sara, Maria, Neil, and Jack? They had gone straight to the top of that list, and Jasper would stop at nothing to exact his vengeance. To have been defeated by a group of insolent schoolchildren was, quite simply, too much for him to bear.
Though he was now bruised and bandaged, Jasper had become, if possible, even more belligerent than he had ever before been. Furthermore, his passion for crushing those who opposed him had reached new heights.
But this mattered not to the Beans. They had stood up to him before, and they would do so again, no matter how imposing he might be.
It was true that Jasper was an intimidating character, and he inspired fear within all those who met him… and even among those who only knew of his reputation. Nothing more than the sight of him in the halls of the elementary school would cause children to scatter in a mad panic, scrambling about as they pursued safer, janitor-free areas.
Even now, as he came closer to Evelyn in order to dispense his grumbling advice, the children that were closest quickly began to edge away. Within seconds, a wide circle formed around the Fresco Sisters and the two adults who faced them.
Nobody would volunteer to get on Jasper’s bad side, and it was understood that such a thing was to be avoided at all costs. Even adults would go out of their way to grant him a wide berth, such was the level of cantankerous crankiness that he radiated.
Despite his terrifying nature, however, the Beans had realized that they would stand up to Jasper, regardless of whatever outlandish odds were stacked against them. He was big, he was bad, and he was surly and moody and mean. But the Beans had witnessed such foul injustices rendered by Jasper’s hands, they would not – nay, could not – remain indifferent to his dastardly deeds.
And so it was that they came to exist in a moral arena that was directly opposed to Jasper’s own wayward ethics. The hulking janitor would never relent, and he would never change his ways. But the Beans would likewise remain defiant, and resist him at every turn.