CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Monday lunch meet-up with Jennifer and her friends ended up being a good deal for Reggie and Isaac. Very soon after Jennifer introduced her artsy friends, they were all sharing their lunches and some good laughs. Jennifer talked about the time she attempted to throw a pot in pottery class and it flew off the wheel and landed like a cow shit on the floor.
Reggie didn’t see Kevin until Biology on Tuesday, and, except for the soccer champ’s dirty looks and giving Isaac the usual foul kick on the way out of class, there were no problems. It wasn’t until the end of lunch period on Friday when Kevin made his move.
Carrying his lunch tray, Kevin approached, wearing his NO FAT CHICKS t-shirt. Stopping at their table, he said, “No wonder you girls like hanging with these two. Cuz they’re fags.” That got a few chuckles from his buddies.
Jennifer immediately stood up and slammed her tray on the table. “Get the fuck out of here Kevin. No one wants to listen to a lame dickhead like you.” Everyone at the table laughed.
Kevin smiled, ran his hand over his shaved head, and sneered, “You a fag, too, Jennifer?”
Reggie and Isaac both stood up. Before Reggie could defend Jennifer, Isaac said, “You’re just jealous ‘cuz you can’t get a girl to talk to you, let alone sit and eat with you. Maybe you’re the one who likes boys.”
Kevin’s beady eyes centered on Isaac and he tossed his lunch tray, including a cup of chocolate pudding, at Isaac. Isaac immediately scooped some pudding off his shirt and threw a glob at Kevin, who headed around the table to get at him.
No one noticed that Mr. Suarosky, the English teacher and lunch monitor, stood just a few yards away. He marched over to the table, grabbed Kevin by the shirt collar, and shouted, “What the heck do you think you’re doing over here?”
Reggie said, “Kevin was doing his bully thing. The guy won’t leave us alone. He’s being a dick.”
Mr. Suarosky, seeing Isaac wiping the pudding off his head, asked Kevin if he did that.
Kevin said it was an accident, but the teacher persisted, “Isaac, do you want to make a bullying complaint against Kevin?”
Knowing that it was a serious disciplinary school action and a lot of hassle, they looked at each other and Isaac said, “No, I want him to just leave us alone already. We’re tired of it.”
Mr. Suarosky gave Kevin a slight shove in the other direction and said that this incident would be reported to the office and that he would be watched closely from here on out.
After that day, Kevin seemed to keep his distance from Reggie and his friends. Reggie hoped that Kevin was starting to accept the school’s authority, maybe even realizing a further incident might jeopardize his status as co-captain on the soccer team. But, in his gut, he believed Kevin had major aggression issues and would be back at it.
After most school days, Reggie and Jennifer would get together at the food court at the outdoor mall. Jennifer loved doing pencil sketches of Reggie, and he loved posing for her in contorted positions that made her laugh. Although they were becoming close friends, Reggie wanted them to become closer. He wanted to kiss her and put his arm around her and go out on real dates with her, but just couldn’t seem to get the words out. Besides, her parents didn’t let her go out alone at night, let alone with boys, so Reggie contented himself thinking and dreaming about her as a girlfriend.
The school year was coming to a close in a few weeks and Reggie wanted to make her his girlfriend before her parents sent her up north to camp. Reggie imagined kissing Jennifer’s soft lips, feeling her close to him. One afternoon at the mall, he saw an opportunity as they walked past a quiet hallway near a storage area.
“Let’s get a coke,” he said as he took her hand.
Next to the vending machine, he put his arms around the lower part of her back. She did not pull away, but just said, “Reggie?”
He pulled her to him and just before he reached her lips, he closed his eyes. He didn’t see if she had closed hers’.
He kissed hard. But it felt stiff to Reggie.
Then three sounds erupted.
The loud rolling rattle of a garbage cart being pushed.
The clicking sound of teeth coming together.
A muffled ‘ow’ from Jennifer’s throat.
They pulled apart.
“I’m sorry, I just wanted to…”
The uniformed janitor glanced at the couple and smiled as she pushed the cart past them.
“It’s okay, Reggie,” she said as she wiped her lips. They walked back to the center court.
Jennifer must have felt massively embarrassed, Reggie thought. Or maybe she wasn’t as ready as he was. Or, maybe she didn’t really like him. Whatever, Reggie cursed to himself, I so fucked that up. How’s your lame ass going to fix that, half-breed?
Back at school they carried on like nothing had happened. Neither Reggie nor Jennifer brought up the kiss and what it meant. Reggie didn’t know what he was going to do. She was the best friend I could ever have, he thought, but I want more.
On the day of final exams in Biology, Reggie and Jennifer got to class early. Reggie noticed Isaac wasn’t in his seat and neither was Kevin. Close to the bell, Reggie was starting to worry about Isaac and told Mrs. Horton he needed to go to the bathroom. He looked up and down the hallways and around to the corner lockers—no Isaac.
Heading to check the bathroom, the door swung open and an upperclassman ran out and Reggie saw Kevin holding Isaac up on a sink with his back to the mirrors, slapping his face.
Reggie ran with all his speed and pushed and knocked Kevin to the floor and yelled to Isaac to run. Still on top of Kevin, Reggie started pounding him in the face. A left to the jaw. A right to the nose. A left to the mouth. Kevin lifted Reggie with his arms and legs and in one swift move, threw him off.
Kevin got up, growled and grabbed Reggie by the shoulders and threw him against the stalls. Reggie slipped to the floor. Kevin kicked Reggie in the stomach and crotch like he was practicing goal shots. Reggie doubled up trying to protect his face. With a slight lull in the kicking, Reggie glanced up between his arms and saw Kevin grab something from his backpack. Kevin knelt down over Reggie and started punching again. Reggie felt the blows were now twice as hard. Painful thuds to his shoulders. Sharp cracks to the side of his head. Reggie felt blood trickling down his neck and knew he was being badly hurt.
“Whack!” he heard the door open and Isaac yelled, “Hold on Reggie, they’re coming.” Kevin got up, swung his backpack on his shoulders and pulled Reggie up to standing just as the teachers came in.
“Break it up you two!” the teachers yelled. They must have assumed it was a shoving match, until they saw Reggie’s bleeding face. One of the teachers took Reggie under his arm and helped him to the nurse’s station down the hall. The other teacher looked at Kevin’s face which showed some red bruises on his forehead and cheek, but no blood.
“Are you alright?” the teacher asked, looking at Kevin’s face.
“Yeah! He started it,” Kevin said and wiped his nose and spit into the sink. The teacher escorted Kevin into the Vice Principal’s office.
The investigation began.
Once Reggie got into the nurse’s office and she saw the cuts on his head, she told Reggie to call his parents and that he should be taken to an emergency clinic or hospital. Reggie informed her that his mom was not allowed to use her personal cell phone at WalMart and that his dad was in Iraq and there was no one else to call. The nurse tried his mom’s number but could not get through. She called the store number and got a hold of someone from the office who said to hold the phone and she would find her supervisor. After a long, five minute hold, the nurse decided to call 911. While they waited, she cleaned and butterfly-bandaged the open wounds on his head and stopped the bleeding. She asked Reggie how he got the cuts. He only told her he got into a fight with Kevin, which she noted in her report.
When he got to the clinic, they tried again to get his mom, but they could not get through. They removed the old bandages, examined him closely and found that the cuts on his head did not require stitches, so they cleaned the areas and put on new butterfly bandages. His eyesight and cognition seemed normal with no indication of a concussion. The doctor probed his chest and although he winced in pain, there did not appear to be any broken ribs. Removing his shirt, they noted multiple contusions on his upper arms and shoulders. Afterwards, they summarized in the medical record the appearance of the bruises found. They were about five inches long and striped, just one inch apart in rows. Finally, after more examining and questioning, Reggie was released. He tried calling his mom several times, thinking he might catch her on break. But he couldn’t even leave messages. When he finally got the Wal-Mart supervisor, he said she had left for the day. After an hour, the ambulance brought him back to school.
In the Vice Principal’s office, Kevin was interrogated by two teachers from the disciplinary committee, Mr. Tremper and the security chief. Kevin’s story never changed and he claimed that Reggie called him a fucking asshole and took the first punch. When Mr. Tremper asked what happened before that time with Isaac in the bathroom, he told him, ‘nothing.’
The principal reminded him of the prior incidents in the pool shower and in the lunch yard and that if witnesses report that he had broken the school’s policy on bullying or fighting he would be expelled for the remainder of the school year.
They also questioned Isaac, but he was very tight-lipped. Isaac told them that Kevin picked on a lot of kids and was unwilling to state why he thought Kevin picked on him. Since their initial review could not determine there was bullying and who started the fight, they chose not to bring in the local police at this point.
For now and until further notice, the principal told Kevin he was suspended for two days and the school would be calling his parents. Kevin requested that they not call his dad and stated, ‘he will kill me.’
****
By the time Reggie got back to school, it was last period. In the principal’s office, Mr. Tremper asked Reggie to tell him about what happened. The principal was a very direct, no-nonsense man who towered above most of the students at six foot five and wanted answers. Reggie though, was feeling totally depressed about the fight and told him he did not want to talk about it and only wanted to go home. When Mr. Tremper pressed him to defend himself, Reggie only told him he was trying to protect his friend Isaac, from Kevin. When the principal asked him why Kevin was picking on Isaac, Reggie only shrugged.
Mr. Tremper respected Reggie’s feelings at the moment, but also suspended Reggie for two days. He told Reggie that he had put a call into his mom to inform her, but hadn’t been able to reach her yet. He reminded Reggie that his school would not tolerate violence and that Reggie would have to explain things to the disciplinary committee. Reggie nodded. The Principal gave him the suspension notice and told him to make sure his mom called back. Finally, he asked if he felt well enough to take the bus and Reggie nodded yes again.
****
Waiting outside at the pick-up area, Reggie watched the kids trickle out of classes and hoped he’d see Jennifer. Jennifer hoped she’d see Reggie and ran to him when she did. She gave him a long, swaying, ‘she-cares-about-me’ hug.
“Ow!” Reggie let out a short cry of pain, which he muffled into “Oh, good to see you Jennifer.”
“Oh my God, you look really messed up!” she said as she looked back and forth at his bandaged forehead, then his eyes, then his bloody shirt, then back into his eyes. “Does it hurt bad?”
Holding her close almost made the pain go away. Reggie wanted to keep the hug so he said, “Bad enough.”
“Here, sit,” she said as she eased him into the bench. “You and Kevin, right?” she asked. “We heard the shouting in the hall and Cheryl said she saw Kevin being taken into the office—everybody’s talking about it.”
Reggie lifted his head, cracked a smile and said, “Yeah, he hurt me, but I got in a few punches too.”
“Good—he’s an ass, but are you expelled?” she asked.
“We’re both suspended for two days, pending an investigation—my parents won’t be happy.” “Was it over Isaac?” she asked.
“Yeah, I found Kevin slapping him up in the restroom.”
“What did you tell the principal?”
“That I tried to stop him.”
“You didn’t tell him why he was hitting Isaac?”
“No.”
“Come on, Reggie, don’t you think they’ll want to get to the bottom of this?”
“I suppose, but that’s up to Isaac.”
“Reggie!” she yelled, “you can’t let Kevin get away with that— you might be expelled if you don’t explain.” “I know,” he said, looking at the floor.
Raising her voice even louder, she pleaded, “It’s gay-bashing, Reggie—you have to tell them.”
Reggie, looked torn, took a long time to answer and said,
“Isaac doesn’t want people to know.” “You’re kidding me.” Jennifer responded.
“No,” Reggie added, “he told me he is very confused and I want to respect that.”
“That’s fucked up,” Jennifer mumbled, shaking her head, “you’d be stupid to take the blame.”
Reggie felt caught between her and Isaac, so he couldn’t find words. A car horn sounded and they looked to the street and saw her dad’s Tesla.
“Wait here,” she said and ran to the car, opened the door and talked to her dad for a moment. Then she ran back to Reggie. “Come on, we’ll give you a ride.”
“You sure?” Reggie’s replied, pointing to his head, “what’s he going to say when he sees this?”
“Come on.” She grabbed his hand and they ran to the car. Opening the back door, she slid into the backseat followed by Reggie.
“Dad, this is Reggie,” she said.
Mr. Peters reached over the seat with a friendly smile and handshake, which quickly stiffened into shock when he saw Reggie’s bandages, bloody shirt and anxious face.
“What happened to you?” he asked.
Reggie, figuring whatever he would say would not sound good, couldn’t say anything.
His silence prompted Jennifer, “He stopped a bully who was picking on our friend.”
Focusing on the bruises, Mr. Peters’ said, “Only a fist fight?”
“Yes, sir,” Reggie answered as Mr. Peters faced front and adjusted the rear view mirror to get a good look at the two. Reggie dropped his eyes, feeling like a criminal. Jennifer held and squeezed his hand in Reggie’s defense and in defiance of her dad.
Mr. Peters drove off.
After a few minutes of silence, Mr. Peters asked, “Jennifer said Encino, right?”
“Yes, sir,” Reggie said, “off of Dean Street—really appreciate it sir.”
“No problem,” he acknowledged then added, “What did you say your name was?”
“Reggie Youngblood, sir.”
Following a long pause, Mr. Peters quizzed the two of them, “How long have you two guys known each other?”
Jennifer felt the irritation of parental nosiness and answered “Just a few weeks.”
After another long pause, her dad asked, “Why was this guy picking on your friend?”
Reggie and Jennifer looked at each other for the answer. Hoping her answer might end the inquisition, Jennifer said, “Just because he’s gay!”
“Not good,” Mr. Peters said, “I hope that’s not how these issues get solved at your school.”
“Reggie and I don’t want to talk about this anymore, dad,” Jennifer’s testy voice replied.
So until the car pulled up in front of Reggie’s apartment, no one spoke.
“Take care, Reggie—I’ll see you in a couple of days,” Jennifer said as she rubbed his hair gently above the bandages, then looked to see if her dad saw her.
“Okay, and thanks for the ride.” Reggie said as he exited the car with a quick wave. Mr. Peters nodded.
“I want to know everything,” her dad said as the door closed and they drove off.
****
Reggie felt jolts of pain walking up the apartment stairs, but when he got to the door, the thought of Jennifer’s touch made the pain go away.
Knowing his mom was working the evening shift, Reggie micro-waved one of those lasagna meals followed by half a package of Oreos.
He saw that the light was blinking on the home phone, so he listened to two calls from Mt. Tremper and erased the messages. He took two Advils, watched a little TV then felt really sleepy. By nine o’clock he hit the sack.
When he heard his mom come home and she knocked on his door, he made sure he was lying on the side with the bandages with his hair covering most of his face. She asked if he was all right and did he have supper. He stopped her by saying he wasn’t feeling well, was really tired and would talk to her in morning. He knew he’d be in deep shit tomorrow, but he wanted to bury the whole incident. Besides, he felt he needed the sleep to be able to handle it. So he drifted off, feeling Jennifer’s fingers rubbing his hair, interrupted by flashes of her dad’s cold stare.