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The sun beat down mercilessly on the bare stone slabs of the schoolyard, and even the scattered trees could not provide any cooling shade. Since early morning, the oppressive heat had been weighing heavily over the city. In the shade of a schoolyard elm, a few students had gathered; five or six boys from the twelfth grade.
“I'm dead against it,“ said Karl, whose shoulder-length, jet-black hair was standing on end from being pulled in all directions.
“But it's just too hot for anything else. At least the movie theater has air conditioning.” The somewhat lanky Thorben was not so easily dissuaded from his idea. “Besides, I've wanted to see this movie for ages.”
“Knock yourself out,” Karl snarled. ‘I don't feel like sitting in the movie theater all evening anyway. Aren't there any more constructive suggestions?’ he turned to the others. But before anyone could answer, a stocky middle-aged man approached them from the school building, whose expression did not bode well – the sports teacher of the upper classes.
“Finder!” he barked. ‘You seem to have forgotten something? You were supposed to clean the equipment room, remember?”
Karl grimaced. ’Mr. Schroeder, we've been out of school for a quarter of an hour. Can't it wait until next week?”
“No way! You had time to take care of it all week. But apparently you had better things to do. I don't know if you would necessarily appreciate a warning from the principal, though?” The teacher gave the small group a contemptuous look. ”You can get one of them to help you, so it'll be faster, I want to go home eventually, too. But just one, got it? I know what will happen if I let you all run around the hall together! No way!”
Karl looked at his classmates carefully. Finally, his eyes settled on Jakob. “You.”
The others breathed a sigh of relief. None of them were particularly keen on starting the weekend by cleaning up Schroeder's junk room.
Jakob, however, was also not particularly keen on the idea. “Why me?” he grumbled under his breath.
“Because I said so, that's why.“ Karl sometimes had such an authoritarian manner about him that could literally drive you crazy.
“Are you finally ready?” Schroeder looked at his watch.
Karl nodded. Jakob held back an angry retort that was already on the tip of his tongue. Sometimes it was better to just follow Karl's whims. The boy could be very moody and resentful.
“Let's go, then. It's just after four now. How long will you need? Well, I'd better stop by again around six.”
The gym teacher pointed to the gym door, and Karl reluctantly got moving.
Jakob followed him, while the other boys quickly dispersed.
“That lousy wanker!” Karl kicked a box angrily and then angrily fell backwards into a pile of mats.
Jakob looked at him questioningly.
“He caught me smoking pot in the schoolyard,” Karl explained, grumbling. ‘And to keep him from running straight to the headmaster, I had to agree to clean up this shit. The bastard! He knows damn well that I can't afford another scolding.’ He reached for a tennis ball lying nearby and hurled it across the hall. Near the window, the ball rolled under a bench and came to a stop. Karl rose again. “All this talking isn't going to make the mess any better,” he grumbled, and climbed over the loose mats to the mat cart. “Come on, the sooner we start, the sooner we'll be out of here.”
Jakob climbed after him, and together they piled the flat gymnastics mats on the wagon. Then they collected the odds and ends lying around among the equipment: spring balls, tennis and table tennis balls, skipping ropes, badminton rackets and two volleyballs, long, colorful ribbons used in gymnastics classes, and eight small dumbbells that had probably been left there by the fitness class. She neatly sorted the small sports equipment into the designated cubbyhole, which was adjacent to the equipment room. Next came the heavy medicine balls, which were actually supposed to be on the high shelves at the back of the room, but for some unknown reason were always found on the floor in front of the shelves.
After they had pushed the two uneven bars into place with an unspeakable amount of effort and finally the trestles, boxes, beams and also the horse were properly in place, Jakob went on strike.
“I'm out,” he gasped exhaustedly and sat down on the wide high jump mat. ”I've had enough.”
Karl brushed the sweat from his forehead and sat down next to him. He had worked doggedly and silently the whole time, and even now he remained tight-lipped. “Just this mat and then we're done.”
“Forget it.” Jakob leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head. “I need a break first.”
Karl looked down at him thoughtfully. “All right. Then let's go out for a bit of fresh air and then finish up as quickly as possible.”
“Agreed.” Jakob rose again and followed Karl into the vestibule by the front door.
Karl pulled on the door, but nothing happened. Then he pushed against it, but it still didn't budge. “That asshole!” he shouted angrily and kicked it. “He's locked us in!”
“Probably doesn't trust us,“ Jacob stated wearily. So now they would have to sit here until six.
Karl gave the door one last kick, which made it tremble on its hinges, and turned away. ‘Maybe we can get out through the office window.’ But both office doors were locked too.
“The emergency exit,” Jacob remembered.
Karl shook his head. Since the emergency exit had been broken open a few months ago and the hall robbed, it had been secured with a thick chain and an even thicker padlock. “We're stuck,” he soberly stated.
They went back into the hall to open a few of the upper hinged windows. Nevertheless, the air remained warm and stuffy.
“There's likely to be another thunderstorm,” Jakob predicted. ‘It's been so humid all day. And the sky is already closing too.’ He pointed out the window.