A Strange Start to a Friendship - 8. Flashing Lights and an Announcement

"OK, let's start with who he is. I know you from the football games, Roy. You said Cory?"

"Yes. Cory Stone."

"Oh, yeah. I’ve seen him on the sidelines with Coach Enders. So, the two boys in the bathroom were trying to get Cory to, fellate them?"

"Just Bruce initially. I'd guess they'd both would have wanted him to do it. I can only assume since Bruce knows we're gay, he thought Cory would like it."

No reaction. I suppose us being gay didn't phase him.

"I know this embarrassing, but do you know, um, how far they got?"

"I asked Cory, Bruce didn't get past the initial insertion into Cory's mouth."

"Well, that's a good thing, relatively. But I would still recommend he get a blood test at some point. OK, sit tight while I call the police."

"Can I call my mother? She's a lawyer and I have a feeling I'm going to need one."

"Go ahead. Hopefully, because you were only defending your friend, you should be OK, and I'll back you up on that. No matter what the police do, those two boys will be expelled."

I started to get up, but Cory held tight.

"Just come over here with me then."

We walked to a corner of the office and I made my call.

"Landon and Associates, how may I direct your call?"

"Sarah Patterson, please."

"One moment."

"Landon and Associates, Sarah Patterson speaking, how can I help you?"

"You can keep me out of jail again."

"Roy. What happened?"

"Two kids pulled Cory into a bathroom, fortunately, I saw them go in. By the time I got there, one had his dick in Cory's mouth."

"I'll let the language slide, I know you're upset. What did you do?"

"I threw the one with his penis hanging out into an open stall, and punched the other one in the testicles. Bruce, the first one, started to get up and I punched him in the nose."

I looked back at the VP's desk, he had a nameplate there.

"Mr. Hanson, the vice principal is calling the cops now."

"Shit. I have a client coming in shortly. I'll have to ask you to just hang in there if they bring you in. They'll probably bring you in for questioning, but only answer questions about what happened to Cory."

I say dick and it's watch the language. Apparently, I guess shit is OK.

"I can do that. I've been there before."

"How is Cory?"

"Still upset, but he's calmed down a little. I don't want to think about his state of mind if I didn't get there when I did."

"OK. Text me on my cell phone when you know more. I should be able to get out of here in about an hour."

"No problem. I'll be OK."

I hung up with mom, looked up, and saw two police cars and an ambulance outside Mr. Hanson's window. Let the fun begin. Apparently there was an unmarked car out there as well, because a few minutes later, two detectives walk into Mr. Hanson's office. They look at Cory and I, still standing near the corner, then head to Hanson.

"I'm Detective Ballard, this is my partner, Detective Cornwell. I assume these are the victim and the boy who stopped the assault?"

"Yes," Hanson said, pointing at me, "Roy Patterson, and Cory Stone."

"I don't think I need to guess which is which. Boys, come and sit down."

We sat on the chairs, Hanson sat in his desk chair and the detectives leaned on his desk.

"Cory, are you able to tell me what happened?"

"I-I'll t-t-try."

"Just take your time, there's no hurry. Mr. Hanson, do you think you can scare up a couple bottles of water for the boys?"

"Sure. I'll be back in a minute."

"Thanks. Whenever you're ready, Cory."

Cory takes a deep breath to gather up the courage. I'm sure it's got to be tough for him to be talking about this.

"I was walking to class, and Bruce Plough and Lyle Dillon each grabbed an arm and led me into the boys bathroom. I didn't know if they were going to beat me or what. After we were inside, they forced me down to my knees. Lyle held my shoulders and Bruce dropped his pants a little and stuck..."

Cory had to take a couple breaths before he could go on. He took a water bottle from Mr. Hanson and took a drink before continuing.

"He put his penis in my mouth. The door opened and Bruce told whoever it was they should get out, but it was Roy. He pulled Bruce away from me, pushed him into a stall, then punched Lyle. Before we left, Bruce was getting back up, and Roy hit him. Then we came to the office."

"Sorry, but I have to ask this. Did Bruce ejaculate in your mouth?"

"No. He didn't get that far before Roy showed up."

"Both boys are on their way to the hospital, the bigger boy very likely has a broken nose. The other one was holding his crotch and laying next to a puddle of vomit. It's pretty obvious where Roy hit them. Did you hit either of them multiple times?"

"My mother directed me to only answer questions about what happened to Cory. She's a defense lawyer."

"Patterson. Sarah Patterson?"

"Yes."

"OK. I know we’re not getting anything more from you. I'm sure we can get a medical report at some point. Personally, unless you hit them multiple times and/or when they were down, I don't see you having any problems, Roy. But time will tell."

"It happened just like Cory said."

Well, pushed wasn't exactly accurate, but no matter how Cory phrased it, I wasn't going to challenge it.

"OK. I think we have all we need from you boys right now. Cory, you'll need to have a parent come to the station with you to sign a formal complaint, since you're a minor. Do you boys have any way to get home?"

"My car is here, I drive us to and from school."

"OK. Mr. Hanson, I suggest you don't force them to go back to class today. I'm sure everything has been disrupted enough, that will only make things worse."

"That's fine. Roy, you won't leave Cory alone, will you?"

"Not for a second until his mother gets home."

"Thank you Mr. Hanson. Boys, we'll be in touch." Handing Cory their cards, "ask for us when you and your mother get to the station."

"OK."

The detectives left. Cory and I sat there for another minute. When we were ready to leave, I asked,

"Do we need a pass, or anything?"

"No. I'll walk with you out the door. I do have to thank you, Roy, for making sure this incident didn’t get any worse than it was. If you hadn't been there..."

"There was no way I was going to let more happen if I had the chance. Not to Cory, anyway.”

We walked out of the office. Just our luck, the bell rang ending a period, so lots of kids saw us being escorted out of the school. Tomorrow is going to be fun.

"Dang, could you let Coach Enders know we won't be at practice this afternoon?"

"Sure, I'll stop by the gym on my way back. Take care."

We got into my car. Cory looked at me.

"Roy?"

"Yeah?"

"Tha..."

That's as far as he got before he broke down crying. While in one way I'm glad I didn't do more to those assholes than I did, another part of me wished I'd killed Bruce, seeing Cory break down like that. If there's a next one, I may not be able to stop myself.

"It's OK. Just try and calm down. We'll go to my house, I'll get us lunch, and we'll wait for your mom to get home."

Still sniffling, "we need to stop at my house."

"OK, why?"

"I was really scared, and I..."

He looked down at his crotch. I hadn't noticed that he'd wet himself. Apparently, nobody else did either. Thank God for small favors.

"No problem. We'll take care of that first."

We got to Cory's house. He was still shaking, and was having trouble unbuttoning his pants.

"Here, let me help."

I took his pants and underwear off for him, and brought them to the laundry room while he went into a nearby bathroom to wash himself. I threw the clothes in the washer, added some detergent, and started the wash cycle. By the time I got to his room, he was dressed again.

"Oh, God, Roy. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't there. I obviously couldn't text you."

"I'll give you a piece of advice. If someone ever tries to do that to you again and I'm not around. Bite. Bite hard, then run like hell."

Cory chuckled. That was good to see.

"We may as well just stay here, we'll know right when mom gets home. I'm sure I can find us something to eat for lunch."

He did. Elio's pizza. I've always felt pizza had to be really bad to not be edible. Maybe it was the way we cooked them, but these came pretty close to inedible. Next time, it's the oven. Or we figure out something we missed with the microwave. Cory got us a couple sodas and we each choked down two slices. I texted my mom and told her that I didn't get taken in, I was at Cory's and would go with them to the police station when his mom got home. I got an 'OK, I'll see you later' in response.

When Cory's mom got home, he started to tell her what happened, but couldn't bring himself to say those things in front of his mom. It didn't help that Beth was there too. I took over.

"Beth, do you think you could go to your room for a couple minutes?"

"No. I wanna hear what happened."

"I'm pretty sure Cory doesn't want you to."

"Tough!"

"Mrs. Stone?"

"Beth, please leave. I'l try to convince Cory to give you at least an idea what happened."

She huffed and stomped away. Girls. I Told Mrs. Stone what happened and that she needed to take Cory down to the police station to make a statement, with him being a minor. She told Beth to wait in the house, and not to go anywhere or let anyone in. Beth pouted, but listened.

Once we got to the station, Mrs. Stone asked to see Detective Ballard or Cornwell. They were both there. One of them had already typed up what Cory told them at the school. We looked it over, and he made one suggestion. They printed it again and Cory and his mom both signed it. Then I had the shit scared out of me.

"We'll be in touch if anything comes from your part in this, Roy."

"Like?"

"Any charges from the other two boys. Don't worry, there's only a small chance charges will be brought."

"Um. Thanks."

We left, got out of Mrs. Stone's car when we got to their house.

"See you in the morning?"

"Yeah. I wish we had every class together. I'm afraid something else will happen."

"Fingers crossed, just remember what I told you. Bite."

"I will. Goodnight."

Cory gave me a hug and kiss goodbye. It was a short lip on lip kiss, and I was surprised he did that in front of his mother. I don't believe we'd ever done that before.

Tuesday

Once again, Cory and I were a little nervous walking into school. We got a bunch of strange looks, but nobody said anything until I got to homeroom. We only had a minute or two before the bell, but Jerry Blaine apparently just had to know.

"I saw Hanson escorting you and Cory out yesterday, and you guys weren't at practice. What happened?"

"Bruce Plough was..."

Riiiiiiiing

Saved by the bell. It didn't matter much. Jerry was going to figure it out in just a short while. Not a minute later, a voice came over the Public Address system. I think it was Mr. Hanson's voice.

"Attention all students and staff. There will be a mandatory assembly in the auditorium in thirty minutes. Everybody is required to be present. Thank you."

Blaine looked and pointed at me, as if to say, is this about you? I just shrugged my shoulders and stared straight ahead at the teacher. A half hour later, Cory was standing just inside the door when I got to the auditorium.

"You think this is about what happened yesterday?"

"I'd be shocked if it wasn't."

We took seats in the front row. I figured, why make it harder for everybody to stare at us. It was indeed Mr. Hanson who called this assembly.

"Thanks for coming everyone. Not that I gave you a choice. Hehe. Anyway, we had a very disturbing incident in the school yesterday. I'm not going to provide details to protect the privacy of those involved. Suffice to say there was an instance of bullying that went well beyond what anybody could reasonably expect to happen in school. So, yesterday, I contacted the superintendent to ask her advice on things. You should all know we have a zero tolerance policy on bullying. Unfortunately, that's hard to enforce. Not every incident gets reported. However, we are making an immediate change to the student rules. Faculty and other staff members are already aware of similar conditions of employment. You will all take two copies of these rules on your way out this morning. To keep this short, I'll summarize. Any instance of bullying of a sexual nature will result in suspensions or, if warranted, expulsion from the school for severe acts."

There was a whole host of ooohs, and gasps from the students. I even heard an ouch.

"Good. You all heard that. In addition, the school district will bring charges against the offender or offenders if the situation warrants it. The only type of sexually-based bullying that will not, in most cases, bring the police into the picture, is verbal abuse. That will fall under the suspensions category, however. Suspensions will be one week for the first incident by a student or students, one month for a second, and the remainder of the school year if anybody is brazen enough to attempt to test us thrice. The school district lawyers were consulted, and these penalties are well within the allowable bounds. It's Tuesday. Any student who does not return one copy of the addendum to their homeroom teacher by Friday, signed by themselves and a parent, will begin their first suspension on Monday. You all should know where my office is if you have any questions. Don't forget to take two copies on your way out, they are on both sides of all three doors in the back. Thank you."

We turned around to leave and I saw the two detectives from yesterday standing at the back of the auditorium. I sure hoped they weren’t here for me. But Cory and I walked past them with only the slightest of nods from them. Apparently, they were there to complete the scare tactics. Their badges were on full display. I’m sure that made an impression on a lot of kids.

Things settled back down for a while after the warning was given. With or without my presence, Cory was left alone. The rumors were rampant, however. Bruce and Lyle did everything from smacking Cory around to all-out raping him. Another rumor was that I had killed Bruce and that’s why he wasn’t around. We decided to tell the football team the truth, we both felt close enough to them. And besides, Cory didn’t do anything wrong.

There was some trouble for Cory two days before Thanksgiving. Earlier his grandmother had been sick. Cory’s mom didn’t give him many details. The bad news was it was breast cancer and she had died. Cory’s mom was a wreck. His mom had two brothers and a sister, so not everything fell on her to do. Cory, Beth, and their mom left the day before Thanksgiving. They were going to stay at his grandmother’s house in Stockbridge until Sunday. Nearly four whole days without seeing him was hard. We Skyped on our phones every night. Not the same. I filled him in on the annual rivalry game with Buford, which we lost by the way.

We ended our season at seven and three. The team was really happy with the improvement over last year. Cory will get a twelfth man award on Monday for all he did for the team. Coach also arranged for a varsity jacket for him. I think he’ll be thrilled.

Next up - "More Normal, and the Holidays"