My Friend and Protector - 8. The Answer and a New, Shocking Relationship

We knew as soon as Mark asked 'Are all three of you fags?' that trouble was right around the corner.

"Karl, don't."

"He needs to learn a lesson."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

Karl didn't respond verbally. At least not initially. He grabbed Mark, spun him around and put him in a choke hold.

"Are you listening?"

"Ya-Yeah."

"First, none of us are fags. Carlo and Brandon are good friends and are both affectionate with everybody. Second, I don't like people being called names, true or not. Finally, you'll stop this nonsense or this choke hold won't be so gentle the next time. Got it?"

"Yeah."

Karl let him go.

"Geez, what's the big deal? I said it was OK if they were fags, I..."

Karl treated Mark to a knuckle sandwich.

"Oh, shit, that hurt. What the fuck?"

"I thought you said you were listening. Obviously, you weren't. You went right back into your homophobic mode. If you think someone is gay, that's OK; think it and keep your mouth shut. Maybe ask them if you ever become their friend. Using slurs is not going to assist in that endeavor. It's also going to be bad for your health if you keep it up. I'm not the only one around who won't tolerate that kind of prejudice. Plus, you'll find when you get to school that neither does the school. Five kids got expelled last year after they started shit because they thought someone else was gay. Now. Were you listening THAT time?"

"Yeah."

"And do you have something else to say to us?"

Mark stared at Karl, obviously not having a clue he needed to apologize.

"A little help, maybe."

"I think you owe us all an apology."

"OK. I'm sorry I called you that. It's cool if you are gay, I would just appreciate it if you toned down the affection."

He looked at us questioningly. I stepped up because I thought his response was acceptable. Whether he really meant it or not, he got the message and probably wouldn't bother us again.

"Thanks. Apology accepted from me at least. And message received."

Karl and Brandon echoed my sentiments.

"How about a little two-on-two?" Karl asked.

"You're going to let me stay?"

"You apologized; we think you got the message. We'll even put Carlo and Brandon on opposite teams, so they won't congratulate each other when they make a basket. That and if you and I were on the same team, the score might end up 21 to 2. Because they suck at basketball."

We could tell Mark almost said something probably along the line of sucking at other things too, but Karl was right. He learned his lesson, for now anyway. Mark played OK, I was slightly better than Brandon, but Karl and Brandon beat Mark and me three straight games to 11. 11-6, 11-8 (I got lucky on a couple shots in that one), and 11-3 (my luck ran out).

"I gotta head home now, but thanks for letting me play. You guys are actually pretty cool. I hope there will be no hard feelings and we can get to be friends. It really sucks being the new kid when nobody will reach out and try. I guess I didn't act like I was open to your friendship before. I've spent the past couple weeks being pissed at my parents for getting divorced. The anger came out to everybody I met, apparently."

We all thanked him for saying that. Karl felt like he needed to reiterate the message one more time.

"Just think before you talk, and we'll be fine going forward."

"Got it. I will. See you all around."

The rest of the summer passed by without any more incidents. Brandon invited Mark over to swim with us a couple times after that. We kind of felt like he was on probation. He couldn't prove himself to have changed without any contact, but we still didn't want to push it too much. He was definitely moving quickly to friend status. That would be cemented a little after school started.

First day of school

We're all seniors now. Well, except Mark. We discovered along the way that he was going to be a junior. Amazingly, we all ended up in the same lunch period. Karl still usually ate with his sports buddies for that particular season. Football at the start of the school year. Brandon, Lance, Ken, Mark, and I sat together at lunch and had a smattering of common classes. Carson and Travis, being in 9th grade, had a different lunch period, but we all kept our eyes and ears open for any potential issues with Carson being younger and smaller than his classmates. Travis was a tough little guy and was protective of his friend. We didn't think we'd ever need to step into an altercation, but we all made it well known that the two freshmen had older brothers and older friends. That turned out to be quite a deterrent. Unfortunately, that kind of deterrent wasn't a guarantee when it came to assholes.

There were three middle schools that fed the high school its freshmen. There was one group of 9th graders from one of the other schools that Carson and Travis warned us about once they started giving Carson shit about the way he spoke. They assumed he felt he was better than everybody else. True in the academic sense, but not socially. I happened to be the one who stumbled into a not so friendly discussion that was occurring after school about a week into the year. There were six of them surrounding Travis and Carson when I turned a corner.

"Come on, wimp. We know you've gotta be a faggot, the way you talk. Let's see you blow your friend."

"I am neither a wimp nor gay. I will not subject myself to such an action."

"See guys, I told you he talked like a faggot. Come on, start sucking kid. If you don't suck your friend, we'll make you suck all of us."

"I don't think anybody's sucking anybody today."

"Yeah, says you. Who the fuck are you anyway? Butt out or we'll butt you in and make the little faggot fuck you in the ass."

"I'm just a friend who's warning you to cut this shit out. Or did you not understand the school's policy on bullying? That is if you can read."

"Help me shut this kid up, Sam and Tim."

"I wouldn't suggest you honor that request, Sam and Tim. I don't want to hurt you, and even more so don't want to get into a fight. Why don't you just let us leave and I'll forget this ever happened. As long as it doesn't happen again."

They all laughed at me.

"There's six of us and three of you. It's not us who will be getting hurt."

"Well, maybe six on six will even the odds. Maybe even flip the who gets hurt scales."

I couldn't believe what I heard. Mark stepped up to a protector role. Granted, Karl and I probably didn't need him to take care of these guys, but one more in the mix couldn't hurt.

Karl, Mark, and Brandon came around the corner just then. Karl's size was enough to make most of the assholes back down. But he spoke up to make sure they knew he was involved.

"We'll even let you make the first move. I guarantee you won't be making a second."

"Jerry, I think those three are the guys that we heard about last year. I don't know who the colored guy is, but I bet he has a knife. They always do - or maybe even a gun. Those three took out six then too. I don't need any broken bones."

"Shut up Jack. You're gonna piss them off more."

"And I don't have a knife. These knuckles are all the weapons I need."

"Your friend is right Jerry. Although, to be honest, only two of us took care of four of them. The two others hit the streets when their friends were all lying on the ground. And actually, I'd love to watch Carlo take all six of you out of commission."

Mark then took off his jacket so they could see how well built he was. Not like Karl, but way better than these assholes.

"Him? He's the smallest of you four. I can take him out of commission, as you say, all by myself."

"Try not to hurt him, Carlo."

"I make no promises, Karl. But I'll try. Too much hurt could be trouble for me too. Come on, Jerry. Take me out. Or are you afraid."

I hit that button dead on. Jerry took the invitation and threw a roundhouse punch. I blocked it easily. He backed up and repeated the maneuver. I blocked it again and used his momentum to grab his other arm and chicken wing him. He tried to hit me backward with his other hand. After a few misses I was able to grab him by the fingers and squeeze. Hard. Not hard enough to twist them into a pretzel, but enough to bring out the whine.

"Aaaaah. Ow. Ow. Fuck. OK, OK. I give up. I give up. Let go before you break my fingers or arm."

I held him like that for a few more seconds. I wanted more begging.

"Pleeeeeease. Come on."

That worked. I simply let him go, thinking tossing him to the ground, as much fun as it would have been, would cause me more trouble than it was worth.

"Jerry, I could have done both of those things and more. You, Sam, Tim, and whoever you other three bozos are, you'll leave our friends alone or next time it will be Karl and me, and we won't hold back. We'll even let Mark play whack an a-hole. We won't even need the other three to help us. Two of the four we took out last year ended up in the hospital. We'd want to beat Karl's .509 batting average in the spring if we had to do it again. So, unless you want to risk being one of four or more spending some time in the hospital, you'll LEAVE THEM THE FUCK ALONE! Now get out of here before I really get angry."

They could have given Brandon a run for his money with how fast they disappeared.

"That was quite impressive, Carlo. We were extremely fortunate that you happened upon us when you did. I offer my eternal gratitude."

"You're welcome, Carson. I'm just glad they didn't try to use their numbers against us before the reinforcements arrived."

"Would not a majority of them have sustained injuries as Karl described if they had?"

"After they got here. Yeah. That would have happened, for sure. I just wouldn't want the fallout from the school. We were warned about fighting last year. Not worth the risk."

"I see. Well, thank you again. Will you accompany us home? Travis is visiting with me this afternoon to amuse ourselves with video games. I fear that the ruffians will be lying in wait for us somewhere along the journey."

"Sure, let's go."

The assholes weren't lingering anywhere on the way. They also didn't bother our two friends ever again.

Over the next week or so I started to notice a change in the dynamic between Lance and Ken. Earlier in the year, they weren't sitting next to each other. Now they were. They tended to look at each other more than before. But the kicker was it looked like they were holding hands under the table after they finished eating.

"OK. Spill the beans guys. You've been acting strange lately. Is what I think is happening between the two of you, happening?"

"Wha-what do you mean, Carlo?"

"Ken, I'm sure by now, you know Brand and I are more than just friends, even though we're trying not to flaunt it. We can tell when others are going down the same road. Let me say, I'm happy for you if my thinking is accurate."

They looked at each other, apparently trying to gauge whether the other was willing to tell the truth. With Brandon and I already knowing Lance was gay, he stepped up.

"You're right, Carlo. Ken and I have, um, started getting closer. We have a lot in common, and he discovered he has stronger feelings for me than others."

"I'm not really sure if I'm gay, but what we do together is fun."

"Oh, man. I was hoping for at least a 50/50 split when we included Karl. Without him, I'm outnumbered 4 to 1."

We chuckled at Mark's discomfort. I decided to have a little fun at his expense.

"Well, we'd be happy to recruit you and make it unanimous when Karl isn't around."

"Um. No. I, um, would rather find a girlfriend. She'll have the right kind of equipment to match up with mine."

"Oh, come on. We've all got something that matches up with your equipment."

"Carlo. Stop. I know you're just kidding, but, um, it really makes me uncomfortable. Even just thinking that is giving me the willies."

"OK. I guess I'll stop. But it was fun watching you panic."

"Gee, thanks. Who needs enemies with friends like you guys?"

"You want an enema, you say?"

"Brandon. Cut it out."

We all laughed at that. Even Mark started laughing after a moment.

"So, what have you two done together? Go all the way yet?"

"God, Carlo. I'm still eating. Well, I was. I think I just lost my appetite."

"Cool, it worked. Can I have your brownie, Mark? I mean, I know you like girls, but brownies are probably too young for you."

"Oh, geez."

Just then the bell rang.

"Thank God. Saved by the bell. Somehow, although it could have sounded mean, that still wasn't fun. Let's not do it again, shall we?"

"You got it Mark. See you guys later."

I let Mark get a few feet away before I said anything to Lance and Ken.

"Hey, the four of us should go on a double date. Maybe we hit Adventure Landing before it gets too chilly."

"Um, OK. We'll talk about it."

"Cool, Lance. See you later."

Next up - "Four Gay Boys at a Water Park - What Could Go Wrong?"