Thicker Than Water - 56. Chapter 56

Steve sat in the main office feeling nervous. He wasn't sure why he was there, and wondered if it was because of the amount of time he had taken off since getting his teaching job. He hadn't been there long enough to qualify for the union, so if he were in trouble, he didn't have any backing.

“Steve,” Mr. Montgomery said, “please come in.” Mr. Montgomery was an older man, perhaps in his late 50s, and looked like the grandfatherly type, complete with dad bod and black, horn rimmed glasses. They had talked a few times before, and they had gotten along well; however, Steve wasn't able to read the man's face nor his tone.

Steve entered the small office and was both shocked and pleased to see Trevor in the room. He was directed to sit at the table with Trevor and was soon joined by Mr. Montgomery.

“How are things going at home, Steve?” The principal asked.

“Aside from my youngest still recovering from yesterday, things are well.”

“That was rather unfortunate hear about.”

“It was worse seeing him, I'm assure you.”

“I have no doubt. No parent wants to see their child in that kind of state.”

Trevor had known Steve since elementary school and could tell the big man was getting upset. “Steve,” Trevor said, “we asked you here to discuss some things about the fight between Caleb and his classmates.”

“Why you and why here? Shouldn't Diego and I be talking to Caleb's principal, the bullies' parents or our lawyer? In fact, should I even be talking to you about any of this? I won't sign anything, even if means losing my job.” Panic was settling in as Steve felt trapped and ambushed.

Trevor reached out and patted Steve's hand. “It's nothing like that. This meeting isn't directly about the assault. It was brought to our attention that the older brother of the boy who initiated the fight goes to this school. His parents are concerned that you might try to retaliate.”

Steve scoffed so hard it more sounded like a cough. “You gotta be fucking kidding me, right?”

Mr. Montgomery said, “We're afraid not. The student in question is Lewis Martin Jr. He's in your 6^th period gym class.”

Steve wracked his brain trying to place a face with the name. He was still getting names wrong, which got him mocked by his students.

Recognizing Steve's state of mind, he said, “He's kind of tall for a 15-year-old, blonde, on the chunky side but not fat, very quiet. Anyway, his father called claiming that he was afraid that you might retaliate against Lewis.”

“How does he even know that I work here, or that I'm Caleb's stepdad, let alone have this Lewis kid as a student?”

Mr. Montgomery gave Trevor a worried, sideways look then replied, “The former superintendent, Mrs. Ridgefield, still has connections at district headquarters and at many of the schools around town. We don't know who exactly leaked it to either her or the Martins, but they found out that you're on Caleb's emergency contact list as his stepfather.”

Steve took a deep, settling breath. “Really? Is that so?” Steve began to rock back and forth a little in his chair, as his anger starred to build. “Is that how those little bastards found out about my fiancé and I? Is that why they attacked our son?”

Trevor replied, “We're not sure. From what I know, Caleb has been pretty open about Diego's sexuality at school, and he's been bullied because of it. So, I honestly don't see how to figure out the exact origin of the fight; however, other parents have called, showing concern for their own kids, specifically the parents of Olive and Carla Beck. Oliver is a sophomore and Carla is a junior. You don't have either of them in your classes, but they were still 'concerned' you might retaliate against them and Lewis.”

“Were it just those two families?” Steve asked, as something seemed odd about it.

“No,” Mr. Montgomery said, “we also got a call from Debra Thomas, who also voiced her concerns.”

“Thomas? As in--”

“--The mother of the boy Bryan and Kenny had beat up, and who was recently expelled for bullying,” Trevor said.

“Are they friends or something? This seems too coincidental.”

Trevor said, “It's not a coincidence. They're all related. Debra Thomas, the father of the Beck children, and Lewis's mother are all siblings. They're also the children of Reverend Donald Beck, the leader of the group protesting the custody hearing.”

“Motherfucker!” Steve snarled, slamming his massive fist on the table, causing the men across from him to jump. “Debra Thomas's husband is a lawyer at the firm that represents Calvin! They orchestrated this whole fucking thing to get back at Diego and Bryan for what happened to that little homophobic shit kid of theirs!!”

“Steve,” Trevor said, calmly, “I need to you chill. This not the time to freak out. If someone at this school was the one who told the Martin's about you, losing your shit will only make things worse.”

“Do you want me to quit?!”

“Not at all,” Mr. Montgomery said, thankful that Trevor was next to him. “We want to give you a heads up. I don't see this being over. We've been having issues with the Beck children since they got here, but haven't been able to do anything because Angela Ridgeway blocked all our efforts. Now that she's gone, we can try doing something about it. Until then, you need to be careful around Lewis.”

“I suppose moving him to a different class wouldn't work.”

“We can't. It might look bad. Until we can figure something out, try to treat Lewis as fair as possible.”

“Okay,” Steve said. He always treated his students with more respect than he got in return, so he knew that part would be easy.

“I'll walk you out,” Trevor said, as everyone stood. Once they were out of the principal's office, Trevor motioned for Steve to follow him. They rounded a couple corners and were in Trevor's office. “There's something else I need to tell you about Lewis that I couldn't tell Principal Montgomery.”

“What's that?”

“Lewis is gay. He told me at the beginning of the year and wants to come out to his family, but as you've seen, they're not exactly the gay-friendly type.”

“So, why are you telling me this?”

“I don't think you'll have any issues with Lewis. He doesn't like his family, including his cousins. However, it's Oliver and Carla you have to worry about. They've been terrorizing the students here, especially those in the Queer Student Union for years. They might bully and press Lewis into making false statements against you, so if you can, try to befriend Lewis. He could use some positive role models. In the meantime, I'll have a talk with him, and make sure we're all on the same page. I doubt he knows about the phone calls, and he might be more in our favor if I tell him.”

A small amount of weight felt lifted from Steve's shoulders, but he was still on the edge of exploding. He could only imagine how Diego was going to handle the news.

*     *     *

“I'm home!” Steve called out as he walked into the house. He was pleasantly surprised to see that the place wasn't a war zone.

“We're in here, Dad!” Bryan called out from Steve and Diego's room.

Steve opened the door and instantly went for his camera. Caleb was still under the blankets, curled up to Bryan, with his head on his big brother's chest. Bryan's arms were around his baby brother. Steve took the pic and smiled.

“Really?” Bryan said, rolling his eyes. “You're such a dad.”

“Yep, and proud of it.” Steve moved to the other side of the bed and laid down. “How were things?”

“Okay, I guess. I gave him a pain pill about 20 minutes ago, and he's been asleep since. Any news from Dad?”

“Nothing yet. He's still in court, so we probably won't hear anything till he's home. Do you know a boy named Lewis Martin?”

Bryan took a couple minutes to think about it and said, “I think he's a grade ahead of me, but I don't remember ever talking to him. Why?”

“Just asking. The name came up earlier, and I thought you might have known him for some reason.”

“Does this have anything to do with what happened to Caleb?”

“Not exactly.” Steve saw a fire starting to kindle in his oldest son's eyes, and quickly added, “It's not what you think, so don't blow things out of proportion. Lewis might be another victim, so just leave it to me to deal with, okay?”

Bryan wasn't sure if he should believe Steve, but he let it go. Besides, he didn't have any friends at the high school, so it would've been pointless to snoop around.

Steve's phone rang. It was Diego. They talked for a few minutes, and Steve could tell that Diego was excited about something but wouldn't say exactly what it was, other than court had gone really well. “Okay. I'll get on it. Love you, too.”

“Was it Dad?” Bryan asked.

“No, I tell every person I talk to on the phone that I love them.” Steve laughed as the scowl he got from Bryan. “Yes, it was your father. Billy, Trevor and Kenny are coming over for dinner, so you should take a shower before they get here.”

“I'll take one with Caleb and get him washed up, too.” Bryan said. They hadn't bathed together since they were little, but Caleb was beginning to stink.

“If you're sure; otherwise, your dad or I could manage it.”

“No, we'll be fine. Besides, I'm sure you and Dad will want to shower, and there won't be enough hot water for all of us.”

“Sounds good,” Steve said, thinking about how things had changed so dramatically from a year prior when Bryan would hardly say anything, unless it was snarky. “I love you, Buddy.”

“I love you, too, Dad.”

*     *     *

Dinner was a relatively quiet affair. The adults didn't want to say too much in front of the boys, and Caleb was having difficulties eating due to his injuries. His lips were badly bruised and split in several places, while his jaw was swollen, which made chewing very difficult. Diego did his best to cut everything into small portions, but somethings were still very hard for Caleb to eat.

Once the boys were done, Bryan and Kenny helped Caleb to Bryan's room, which left the adults able to discuss the day's events. Needless to say, Steve and Trevor were shocked and impressed with how Court went. Neither suspected that Calvin would not only confess to sexually abusing Diego. It was even more shocking that Calvin admitted to multiple accounts of abuse, while it was being recorded.

“I wish I had seen the look on his face,” Steve said, relishing his own imaginary reaction. “He must have been freaking out.”

“Not really,” Diego said, bursting Steve's bubble. “He kept his head down the entire time. His lawyer on the other hand looked like he was about to have a stroke.”

Billy added, “So did the judge. I'm surprised the old fucker didn't drop dead on the spot. But, let's not get our hopes up. There's still cross examination to do tomorrow, and then I'm calling my next witness.”

“How much longer do you think it'll be?” Trevor asked.

“At this rate?” Billy said as he did the mental math. “I'm hoping to be done by the end of the week, then we'll have closing statements after that, which will take a couple hours. After that, it'll be up to the judge, who could take as long as he feels he needs.”

“Seriously?” Diego asked. “He doesn't have a time limit?”

“Not really. Most judges won't take more than a few days to a couple of weeks depending on how complicated the case gets, and that's what we have to assume will happen here. Neither of us lawyers want to spend forever waiting for the judge to make a decision, so if it takes too long, we can push him for a verdict eventually.

“In the meantime, Bryan will need to go on the visit this weekend. I think it's safe to say that Caleb isn't in any condition to go, and I doubt the judge would make him; however, Bryan doesn't have that excuse.”

“Do you think having the boys testify against Ashley before then would make a difference?”

“Maybe. We'll see. I still have a few more witnesses, including you, so it'll depend on when they get to testify. Anyway,” Billy said, looking to Steve and Trevor, “what happened at school?”

Steve and Trevor broke down the meeting they had with Principal Montgomery. It was Diego's turn to be shocked, though he was far from impressed. Several times, Billy had to shush Diego, who had started to rant.

Once Trevor concluded with his and Steve's conversation about Lewis Martin, he added, “I called Lewis into my office to ask him about Steve and if he felt that he was being treated unfairly. Of course, he said he hadn't been and actually thought Steve was a fun teacher.”

“I mean, I try to be,” Steve said, trying to be modest despite the topic at hand.

Trevor smiled and shook his head before continuing. “I didn't tell Lewis about what the complaints his family made, nor did I mention Caleb. I felt it wasn't the right move to put that kind of burden on him. Lewis is a nice, quiet kid, who happens to be related to probably the worst people in Washington.”

“Poor kid,” Diego said. “I can't imagine what that's like.”

“So, how do we move forward with this?” Steve asked. “Do we have grounds to sue anyone?”

“I'm not sure at this point,” Billy said. “It would be a lot easier if we knew who the leak was. It could really be anyone, and without knowing who, we can't really move forward too much. We can still go after the school for playground monitor's neglect and for the school for not stopping the bullying in the past. If we knew for certain that Christopher Martin was told about you and Diego, and that information is what caused the fight, we might have some better grounds, such as them accessing your personnel records illegally. Those are confidential and not subject to public access. It would require a court order--.” Billy paused and then sent Charlie a quick text.

The other three shared concerned looked, but it was Diego who asked, “What's going on? Did you figure something out?”

“I'm having Charlie review the court orders to see who filed for the background requests. Usually, a lawyer will do background checks on clients and witnesses, and two of those are employment and relationships. I wouldn't put it passed Clarke to have someone one his team to do a background check on Steve, especially since Steve was going to be supervising the visits.”

“I don't see how Steve's background matters in this case,” Diego said.

“It's routine, because you never know what you'll find that can be used, like a known drug history, a prior sex offense or domestic violence conviction, or a warrant for their arrest. You'd be surprised how many people don't actually know their partners' real past. Hell, you saw that yourself with all the ex-girlfriends I questioned., and he lied to at least 20 different women that we found. I have no doubt the number is twice of not three-times that amount.”

“True. I didn't think of it that way, but why is this important and how does it connect to everything?”

It as then that Billy received a reply from Charlie. “I fucking thought so!”