Thicker Than Water - 19. Chapter 19

The next few weeks just blended together, especially for Bryan. His punishment was routine and monotonous. When he wasn't at school, he was cleaning the house, studying or sleeping. Whenever he thought he had nothing more to clean or do, somehow, his dad had a whole new list of chores that needed to be done. What's more, after handing over each list, Diego would say, “I love you.” Part of it, Bryan knew, was passive-aggressive, but it was also a reminder that Bryan was the one who fucked up.

With October came cooler, wetter weather, leaves and yard work. Bryan had to keep the lawn mowed, flower beds weed free, and the leaves raked and bagged. Diego had a leaf blower, but as part of his punishment, Bryan wasn't allowed to use it and had to use a beat-up, old rake instead. His back hurt and muscles ached, but the yard looked great.

Mid-October also brought mid-term tests. Only the nerdiest of nerds looked forward to them. Everyone else saw them as a waste of time. Teachers claimed they were to test the student's progress and knowledge of everything that had been covered, while the students thought that was what homework was for. As usual, Bryan assumed he'd fail math, though he barely passed, while getting high marks in English.

The only upside was his relationship with Kenny. His boyfriend slowly came around and finally accepted Bryan's apology. Despite the occasional looks they were given, the rest of the school turned their attention to another scandal. Kris Yeager had his clothes stolen, and according to rumors, had to walk naked from the gym to the office on the other side of campus.

“When are you ungrounded, again?” Terra asked, pleased that her friends were finally talking again.

“Tomorrow,” Bryan said, “and it can't come any sooner.”

“Can I come over, then?” Kenny asked.

“You better! I didn't go through hell for the last month for you to stay away.”

“Are you guys having sex yet?” Terra had a wide smile on her face as both boys blushed, and Kenny hid his face.

“No,” Bryan said, avoiding eye contact with Terra. “I've been grounded, remember? Besides, that's really none of your business.”

“That's fair, I guess, but I thought all gay guys were sex fiends or something, especially teenage boys.”

“Um, no. That's both sexist and homophobic,” Bryan said, mocking indignation.

“Whatever,” Terra replied. “What are you guys doing Friday night, then? Wanna see a movie or something?”

Kenny pulled his ruddy face from behind his hands and looked at Bryan, who shrugged. Bryan then said, “Sure. I think we can do that.”

“Cool. It's a date.” Terra gathered her things and left for her locker.

“Oh my God!” Kenny said in a bit of a panic. “It is a date, isn't it?”

“What?” Bryan said, also panicking. “No, no...I mean...no. It can't be a date if Terra's there...can it?”

“Do you want it to be?” Kenny asked.

Bryan was speechless. It never crossed his mind that having a boyfriend would lead to dates, despite having had a single father most of his life, who frequently went on them, especially with his boyfriends. “I don't know. Do you?”

“I don't know.” Both boys were lost in thought, each having a mini existential crisis.

Bryan was the first to come around. “How about this? The movie on Friday will just be us friends hanging out. No date!” Bryan waited to Kenny's approval, before adding, “But, we should go on an actual date. We're boyfriends, after all, and that's what boyfriends do.”

“Did you learn that from your faggot daddy?” Dan said in a low voice as he walked by the table.

“Fuck you!” Kenny said, throwing Bryan and Dan off guard.

Dan recovered quickly, however. “No thanks. Don't want to make your bitch jealous, or is he your butch?”

Bryan stood up but not before Kenny pounced on Dan. Despite the size difference, Dan wasn't able to push Kenny away. Kenny didn't have much muscle mass, so he knew he wasn't going to actually hurt his bully, but he had fast hands and landed several blows to Dan's face and body.

All the students cried out, “Fight! Fight! Fight!,” as a couple of teachers ran to break things up. Bryan stood frozen, very much in shock at the sight of Kenny actually fighting. Had it been anyone else, Bryan would've jumped in, but this was a whole reality shaking event.

Once pulled apart, Kenny kept swinging and accidentally hit the teacher holding him. Dan was bleeding from his mouth and nose, and his left eye was swelling quickly. Kenny, from what Bryan could tell, didn't have a scratch, but he was flailing around too much to get a proper look.

“Dude,” a kid at the next table said to Bryan, “your boyfriend is a demon!”

Pride filled Bryan's heart as he replied, “Yes, he is!”

At P.E., word of Kenny's fight had made it around the school. Bryan overheard some of the guys in the locker room talking shit, but mostly about Dan. Only those who were spreading hate about Kenny were Dan's friends, but they were easily dismissed when someone mentioned that big, bad, jock Dan Thomas got his ass kicked by little, nerdy, gay Kenny Mitchell. A few guys even gave Bryan high fives, and said that he probably could learn a few things from Kenny.

By the time he was in art class with Terra, the rumor mill was in full swing with the story evolving to Kenny stabbing Dan and was already a convicted murderer.

“Why?! Why did I have to go get that stupid book?!” Terra exclaimed. “I miss all the good stuff around here! Is it true Kenny bit off Dan's face?”

Bryan rolled his eyes and said, “No. None of that crap is true, but it was a sight to see. Who knew Kenny had it in him?”

“I did. It's always the quiet ones you have to look out for.”

Bryan nodded. “If that's the case, then Caleb is an ax murderer in hiding. He's always been very quiet.”

“You never know!”

Bryan laughed and changed the subject to the movie they wanted to see. Unlike Diego, Bryan knew Kenny's mom wouldn't care that her son got into a fight.

After school, Bryan went to the parking lot and waited for his ride. His dad had the day off and would be picking him up. As Bryan approached, Diego got out of his truck and walked towards his son.

“What's going on?” Bryan asked.

“Come with me,” Diego said, walking passed his son and towards the school.

Confused, Bryan did as requested. They entered the building and made their way to the office. Without waiting for permission, Diego entered the principal's office.

“I'll have to call you back,” Mr. Deacon said, to whomever he was on the phone with. “Can I help you?” He sounded very annoyed.

“Want to tell me why you're moving to expel Kenny Mitchell?” Diego demanded.

“I can't discuss that with you, Mr. Padilla.”

“Bullshit! His mother just told me that you caved to Dan Thomas's mother's demands for expulsion, while only suspending Dan.”

“Again, I can't discuss--”

“Stop fucking around, Craig. Don't give me that shit! We both know that Dan Thomas is a bully. It was only a month ago we were having this discussion with you after what he was saying in class. In fact, you warned him to stay away from my son, yet the bastard made a point to walk by, violating your conditions to make his homophobic remarks.” Diego looked at Bryan and asked, “Were you called in here to tell them what you witnessed?”

“No,” Bryan replied. “There were other kids nearby, as well.”

Diego turned his gaze back to Mr. Deacon. “Kenny is openly gay and was bullied by a known homophobe you recently punished for making homophobic comments and threatened with expulsion. So, again, tell me why he's not facing expulsion while Kenny, who has been his victim in the past and never faced any serious disciplinary actions before, is being kicked out?”

Mr. Deacon sat silently for a few minutes. “Fine, but you didn't hear this from me. Mrs. Thomas has become friends with the superintendent for the district. This wasn't my call and out of my hands. The second Mrs. Thomas was notified of the fight, she called Caroline Rouch, the superintendent, and complained that Dan had been the victim of bullying assaults, especially by Bryan. Kenny is being reviewed by the school board, which includes Ms. Rouch. I plan to testify against Dan, and I highly recommend that you and Bryan do as well.

“This is very political, Diego. Bryan wasn't dragged into this because you're a minority, and it would look bad come election time. Kenny, on the other hand, is poor and white. Nobody will really care that he's gay.”

Bryan said, “What? I don't get it.”

Diego replied, “I'm Mexican, gay and a business owner. They're not going to make a move on you, because of the perception of racism. I also have money, which means I could, in theory, hire a lawyer to sue the shit out of them. Kenny's mom can barely afford their rent, let alone an attorney, which makes him the perfect scapegoat. The fact he's gay doesn't mean anything to them, since being gay is still part of the culture war in America.”

“Exactly,” Mr. Deacon confirmed. “Conservatives will be coming out in droves demanding that Kenny gets kicked out, since it'll only prove the 'dangers' gay kids are towards hetero, Christian children. However, if race ever got involved, they'd almost certainly lose.”

“That's bullshit,” Bryan said.

“Yeah, it is,” Mr. Deacon agreed, ignoring Bryan's inappropriate language. “Which is why you need to testify and keep your nose clean. I have no doubt you're going to be a target now. They're not going to care what race your dad is, since you look white. They're only going to see another gay kid attacking straight students.”

“What if they start it?” Bryan asked defensively. “They always do! Am I supposed to let them say whatever they want or attack me?"

“I want you to tell a teacher,” Mr. Deacon said. “I want you to not engage and tell the nearest teacher, who will then tell me, so I can try to do something about it.”

“You didn't help Kenny, so what makes you think you can stop it?”

“I get your frustration, Bryan--”

“No you don't!”

Mr. Deacon looked to Diego for help but found none. “Tell the nearest adult, don't engage anyone who's bullying you, and you won't get in trouble. Is that understood?”

Bryan refused to answer. He was shaking with rage.

“Come on, Bryan,” Diego said. To Mr. Deacon he added, “You better make this right, or Kenny's mom will have a lawyer.”

Bryan followed his father out to the parking lot. Diego was pissed and didn't bother trying to hide it. Diego slammed his door and peeled out of the parking lot. Bryan was a little scared. It was rare for Diego to be that angry in front of his kids, so Bryan sat quietly not wanting to make things worse. Diego did start to drive more legally about a block for the school. Luckily, there weren't any police around.

At first, their destination wasn't clear, as they drove in the opposite direction of their house. Bryan grew excited as they pulled into Kenny's apartment complex. Diego stopped the truck but kept the motor running. “Get your boyfriend.”

Not one to argue (much), Bryan jumped out of the truck and ran to Kenny's door. He entered without knocking and hadn't seen his boyfriend's face since lunch. Kenny's face was a little bruised and his right eye was swollen shut. “Oh, baby,” he said as he hugged Kenny. Their embrace was cut short by the honking of Diego's horn. Kenny was already packed and heading out the door. “What's going on?” Bryan asked once they got in the truck.

Diego replied, “Kenny's mom is worried that Child Protective Services will be called by the school district, so he'll be staying with us for the weekend.”

“What? Why?”

“She thinks the school district may have reported her for being an unfit mother.” It's true that she wasn't around much and was a bit neglectful, especially compared to Diego, but even Bryan found it hard to believe that she would be deemed unfit.

He put his arm around Kenny and held him the entire ride home. Diego stopped at the restaurant and got dinner for everyone, along the way. Once inside, Bryan helped Kenny put his things away. Caleb was both floored and impressed when he saw the state of Kenny. Despite Kenny staying over, Bryan was still grounded and had to get to his chores and studying, though Diego did lift the ban on TV and video games.

Kenny's jaw hurt, so he ate slowly. He had been checked out by the school nurse who declared nothing was broken. He was given some over the counter pain medicine, and Diego gave him an ice pack for his eye.

Out of sympathy for his boyfriend, Bryan didn't play any video games. Instead, he held Kenny as they watched some movies. Anytime Kenny needed something, Bryan got up and got it.

“What are you going to do if I have to pee?” Kenny asked as Bryan brought him a third glass of water and pain meds.

“I think there's an empty milk jug around here.”

“Ha ha,” Kenny said, followed by, “Ouch. Don't make me laugh. My face hurts.”

“Really? It's killing me.”

Kenny laughed and vocalized his pain again. Bryan kissed Kenny and said, “All better?”

“Not quite. I think you might need to do it again...just to make sure.”

Bryan gently kissed Kenny's face before settling on his boyfriend's lips.