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- 08/27/2015
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Timothy’s Terrible Prompt Stories - 35. Prompt 299 I’m going to give him a piece of my mind!
A Nelson POV chapter
“I’m going to give him a piece of my mind! And if that doesn’t work, he can have my fist, again.”
All of us stared at Rob, trying to work out whether he was joking or not. Mr. Perry clapped his hand over his eyes and shook his head sadly. Eric’s mom had been the one to ask Rob what he was going to do if Chris or Ryan did anything to Eric and me.
Before Mrs. Perry could jump all over him, my mom spoke.
“So Rob, have you thought about whether your two teammates meant to insult Eric specifically, or are simply general bigots?” Hmm, Rob’s parents had obviously been telling mine about the fight, and I cringed a bit as I wondered if the Perrys had been told of my old ‘encounter’ too.
“Huh?” Rob stared at her, while his mom cleared her throat. He rephrased, “I mean, sorry, I don’t understand.”
Mom smiled at him.
“Before Nelson came out at school, we talked about how he should deal with bigotry. My advice to him was to think about whether anyone harassing him thought they had a problem with gay people in general and simply used him as a representative to vent their stupidity. Or whether that person disliked him personally and just used homophobic slurs to try and get to him. Do you see the difference?” Her question was directed to all of us, but Rob answered.
“I think so. If they’re attacking Eric directly, I take it personally, no matter what they say about him. It doesn’t matter whether they call him egghead or queer, I’m gonna whip their butts. But if they spout general BS about gay people, then I’ll let Jazz teach them a lesson. He was awesome at the Mall.”
Rob’s mom exclaimed a bit over the first part of Rob’s statement, but her curiosity about the Mall incidence got the better of her. Soon Rob was telling the story, making all the rents laugh and applaud Jasper, but also shake their heads over Melanie, her cousin and Chris.
“So I guess Chris belongs to the general haters?” Rob asked my mom at the end of his story.
“Yes and Jasper’s tactics are good against people who attack you from a religious standpoint, or think it’s a ‘choice.’ Other answers can be used for idiots who confuse gay men with pedophiles, or think being gay is ‘unnatural.’ The last one is usually easy, since you only have to point out there are gay animals in nature. In every case, the important point to make is that being ignorant is terrible but they can do something about it; like the way Jasper told them.” Mom waved her hand at my best friend, who blushed a bit, but enjoyed the attention. We all laughed once more as Rob rephrased Jasper’s punch-line.
“‘The cures for being ignorant and indoctrinated are called science and education. Get help before it’s too late and you have to spend your life in shameful stupidity.’ I’m gonna remember that one forever, Jazz.” They high-fived each other.
Rob turned to his mom. “And stop frowning at me, Mom. I’m not stupid enough to hit anyone in school, unless it’s in self-defense. I never have and I never will.” I could see on his face that he was telling the truth.
But Eric had noticed the same thing as me. “Have people been saying stuff about me before? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Rob shrugged. “Nothing important, bro. Just silly high school gossip and envious idiots. And it wasn’t you especially. All freshmen students get joked about.”
“If it was nothing special, why would you have to defend me? And how would anyone know I’m brainy?”
I decided to back him up. “Good question, because you look hot rather than nerdy. On the other hand, I think most of the drama club members get the nerd name flung at them. I know I did, but it’s true, so I don’t care.” All the rents laughed politely in that ‘isn’t-he-cute-when-bravely-honest’ manner which I disliked, but had gotten used to from age six.
Eric squeezed my hand under the table. “Nelson and I are proud to be both clever and out. You simply should have ignored the idiots.”
Rob rolled his eyes at us. “Don’t you understand? It wasn’t about you, Eric, it was about me. They wanted to see whether I gave a damn about you, or whether you were a sore spot to be exploited, or someone I’d listen to.”
He scowled at his audience. “Don’t look at me as if I have two heads. I may not be as intelligent as you, bro, but I know all about how to gain and maintain social status in the small shark pond of high school. I bet it’s excellent training for college, the corporate world, and similar places.”
My father nodded and gave Rob a conspiratorial thumbs-up.
“So when you started last year, I had two choices. I could pretend I didn’t care about you at all and hope you’d be left alone, and that the friendship with Maria and Tony would be enough protection. Or I could take a stand right from the start and make it clear that anyone messing with you would regret it.”
Eric shook his head. “How about taking the middle road? Doesn’t a strong reaction prove exactly how much you value me?”
“Yes.”
“But you wanted to avoid exposing me as your ‘sore spot’ or as influential, didn’t you?”
“No. I’m fine with everyone knowing you’re important to me, and I don’t see it as a weakness. I know how stubborn and clever you are, bro; no one can make you do anything you don’t want to, including getting to me through you.”
Once more I wondered how Rob’s girlfriend could have been dumb enough to reveal her thoughts about Eric to him. Surely she must have known how much he cared about his brother? But I was more interested in the description of Eric as stubborn; maybe I’d gotten a glimpse of where his persistence came from. I had the feeling he could be quite single-minded in his pursuit of what he wanted. Lucky me…
“Anyway, no one gets away with dishing my brother, after the first week all the guys knew it. The girls thought my protective-older-brother act was cute.” He rolled his eyes. Hmm, probably anything Rob did got admired, and maybe they hadn’t realized how serious he was.
“Yes, Rob, we know you will protect Eric at any cost, but you need to find a balance and control yourself. However, this isn’t what we wanted to talk to you about.” Mr. Perry paused, but none of us said anything. “You told us you and Eric plan to join the GSA at West Hill tomorrow.”
Rob and Eric nodded and exchanged glances. Mr. Perry smiled at them. “Your mom and I think it’s a good idea, and Nelson’s parents have reinforced this opinion. However, I want you to think about why you’re doing this, Rob.”
The blond jock frowned. “I’m doing it for Eric, of course.”
His dad shook his head. “You can be a supportive brother in many ways, Rob. But if you join the GSA, it should be to support gay people in general, as well as other groups facing prejudice or bullying. You can’t just stand up for Eric or Nelson. You will have to stand up for everyone, perhaps even people you don’t like.”
“Not if they’re obnoxious towards Eric! And Paddy Evers had better keep his distance!”
Rob’s scowl was epic, but I didn’t blame him. Paddy was the resident high school sleaze, a high-profile GSA member, and self-proclaimed equal opportunity exploiter. The latter simply meant he chased males and females in equal measure, giving everyone the chance to get fucked over by him. In my opinion, he didn’t care who he played around with, as long as he got off. He was good-looking, charming, had rich parents who provided him with all kinds of material goods, probably to make up for a lack of caring. Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m stereotyping, but it was easier to deal with him if you kept telling yourself he was damaged goods.
Mr. Perry held up his hand. “I’m not saying you have to be buddies with everyone in the GSA. I’m sure they, like any group, have their share of people you won’t get along with, but you can’t tease them or single them out by picking on their orientation or gender, and you should object if anyone else uses those tactics.”
He leaned forward and held Rob’s eyes. “So here’s the deal, Rob. I’d like your word that you’ll also join the GSA at college and stay a member for all four years. We want you to take active part in their work, engage yourself in the cause. You have great social skills and they should be used for something worthwhile, not just building your own status. If you’ll commit to that, I’m fine with you joining your high school GSA tomorrow.”
I think Eric was as stunned as I was. We exchanged looks, and he squeezed my hand. “Do I have to promise the same, Dad?” My boyfriend didn’t seem happy with the idea.
“No Eric, you can join or not as you like, but your mom and I would be pleased if you did in high school. Particularly since you have another three years there, two of which will be after Nelson leaves. The GSA can provide you with friends and support, because let’s not kid ourselves: being out isn’t always easy.” He sighed and ran his hand down over his face. “I have patients who’ve had a tough life due to gender and repression issues, and… Well, it’s heartbreaking at times.”
Eric turned his head to whisper in my ear: “Dad’s a psychologist; he takes private patients as well as teaching courses and doing counseling.” I looked at my hopefully future father-in-law with new respect.
Rob cleared his throat and we all turned to him. “Eric, what would you like me to do? Join the GSA or not?”
“Why are you asking me? You don’t have to join for my sake. And you’ll be busy in college.”
“Come on, bro, think it through. Knowing you, your GPA will gain you admittance to almost any college you want. I’d love for you to join me, but I suppose that depends on where Nelson is headed.” He nodded at me, and I gave him a warm smile for his assumption of Eric and me being together three years from now.
“In fact, I should ask your opinion too, Nelson, as I hope you both end up at the same school as me. Would you mind if I joined the GSA?”
I shrugged, confused why he asked. ”It’s up to you, Rob, why should I mind?”
Rob rolled his eyes and took a deep breath before spelling it out for us. “Will you be OK with me having established myself in the one social setting in college where the two of you have a natural advantage over me? I thought you and Eric wanted me to stay out of your business.”
Ah, so Rob was aware of Eric’s issue of being in his older brother’s shadow? Interesting, but I decided to be honest about my own view. “I don’t know how Eric feels, but although I’m sure I’ll join the GSA at college, I have no urge to be in the spotlight. You being a prominent member is fine with me, and in any case we might end up at different schools.”
Rob gave me a nod, but his attention was on his brother. “Eric? Please be honest, and you don’t have to explain. I’ll respect your wishes; just say no if you don’t like the idea.”
Mr. Perry broke in, “Think about it, Eric, we don’t need to know right now. Why don’t you boys go upstairs for a bit? We’ll call when Beth and Paul are ready to leave.” He gestured to show he meant all of us, and we lost no time in escaping. That was one unexpected conversation. Why did Rob’s parents want him to do this?
Thanks to AC for a fast editing which kept readers off my back. Thanks to Litlover and Drew for encouraging images in the discussion forum.
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