CHAPTER NINE
Tuesdays and Thursdays were the two days during the school week that Reggie dreaded the most; he had swimming class. Although Reggie was not athletic, swimming was the only sport he enjoyed. So, it was frustrating for him that he had to put up with what went on before they put on their suits and got into the pool.
The big shower room had long pipes running along two walls that sprayed fine jets of water that both tickled and stung from head to toe. The swim coach turned the shower on to warm it up while the boys got undressed. By the time Reggie got in, he and the boys were in a steamy fog. The high narrow windows let in shafts of morning light which glistened off the shoulders of the naked boys.
Kevin and his buddies used the cover of fog to bully the boys they called ‘wusses.’ They loved picking on Isaac. “Hey, homo,” they called him, pointing at his small frame. “You’ve got such a cute ass.”
On most days, Reggie and Isaac ignored the stupid comments, although Reggie wondered if this was just name-calling, or that they knew Isaac was gay. It didn’t really matter to Reggie if he was, as they shared a mutual interest in animals and became good friends. Reggie always thought of himself as different and he could sense that feeling of isolation in others.
On this Thursday, Kevin hid a large bar of Ivory soap along his thigh as he slowly sneaked his way through the spray. Approaching Isaac from the rear, he made one fast upward jab and shoved the soap between his buttocks.
Reggie didn’t see it, but he heard Isaac’s yelp, which was followed by the loud laughter of Kevin and his friends. Knowing who, but not what was involved, Reggie turned around. He saw Isaac slumped down with his back against the wall. His legs were shaking and he held his hands in front of his face cowering under the blasting jets of water.
Reggie jumped in front of Isaac, faced Kevin, and asked, “What did you do to him?”
Kevin stood almost a foot taller than him, with more muscles and a lot more weight. Kevin smiled and held up the dripping bar of soap. “I gave him something all homos love, so bend over, pencil dick, and I’ll give you your thrills too.”
Reggie stood firm; he knew he didn’t stand much of a chance, but he didn’t care. “You know what, Kevin? You’re an asshole!”
Kevin dropped the bar of soap and put up his fists. “Come on wussy show me what you got.”
Water dripping down his face, Reggie elevated the dare with a ‘come and get me’ finger pointing and jabbing at his jaw.
Kevin hauled back his right arm and swung it at Reggie with his whole weight, but before Reggie could even duck, Kevin slipped on the wet soapy floor, made a 180-degree spin, and landed face down on the floor. He immediately turned over looking shocked and humiliated. Most of the other boys laughed, but Kevin’s buddies shouted, “Get up and kill him, Kevin.”
Others shouted, “Fight! Fight!”
Kevin struggled to get up as someone shut the water shut off. The coach ran into the shower room and pushed his way past the boys shouting, “Break it up! Break it up!”
Kevin, now standing, snarled to Reggie, “You’re dead, Reggie.”
The coach separated them and asked, “What’s going on?”
Kevin turned and gave the coach an innocent shrug. The other boys stood there in silence like nothing had happened. Nobody, including Reggie and Isaac wanted to say anything.
“Kevin. Reggie,” the coach said, “I’m still going to file a report—you two better watch it.”
In the swimming pool, the tension seemed to ripple away with each practice dive, and Reggie gained some standing as he bested everyone in the butterfly. Later, Isaac found him in the lunch yard, where Kevin eyed the pair across the way like he was planning his next attack.
“Thanks Reggie, but I gotta ask,” Isaac said, “how come you stuck up for me like that—Kevin coulda beat the shit out of you?”
“It’s okay,” Reggie mumbled as he wondered to himself, why did I become Isaac’s protector?
“You know he’ll be coming after you,” Isaac warned.
“Thanks for the reminder. The guy thinks he’s the dominant male in this territory or something. He’s a wild animal.”
The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. Reggie slugged through history and struggled with Algebra. In the halls, he looked over his shoulder, constantly feeling Kevin was stalking him. Luckily, English class took his mind off things; they discussed William Blake’s poem, The Tyger. Reggie thought the words describing the tiger were cool, but didn’t agree with many of the student’s characterization of the tiger being evil. Eventually, the poem made him think about his fight with Kevin and what seemed to make him evil. How am I going to deal with his next attack?
Would I have to kill him before he kills me?
Reggie then thought of his dad, who both killed people in war and built a beautiful house by hand, so he offered his interpretation to the class. “Maybe God put both beauty and violence in all animals,” Reggie said. The teacher and the students were surprised by Reggie’s comment.
****
When the school day ended and Reggie headed out the doors, he felt better as he sat on the esplanade to wait for the bus. Looking around, he noticed Jennifer sitting alone on the boulevard. She looked kind of lost—like the way he felt—but no way was he going to go over to her. But then she turned around and saw him looking at her, so she got up and walked in his direction. She wore one of those long sweaters, the breeze catching the sides like wings.
“I heard you almost got into a fight today,” Jennifer said.
Reggie was surprised and embarrassed how the word got out from the boys locker room so soon. He didn’t want to talk about that.
“That Kevin is a total jerk,” Jennifer added.
Reggie thought all the girls in school thought he was this good-looking jock, so he said, “You don’t think he’s cool?”
“No way,” she said, “He’s so not my type. He’s not anyone’s type. Me and my friends think he’s a total joke.”
Beep! Beep! A car honked. Jennifer looked to the street and then back at Reggie and asked, “Wanna hang out sometime? Maybe we can get together some weekend?”
In shock, Reggie lost his voice for a second then said, “Um. Sure. I mean, cool.”
Jennifer looked over to a silver Tesla and saw her dad gesturing for her to hurry. She reached into her backpack, pulled out a ticket stub from a Lady Gaga concert and wrote her phone number on it. Then she ran to the car, turned around, waved and yelled, “See ya!”
The bus pulled up at the same time Jennifer ducked into her car, and Reggie was beaming as he climbed in. He sat near the back and looked out the window, and his smile disappeared. There was Kevin, standing on the esplanade, staring at him with his beady eyes.