C'est la Vie - 19. Chapter 19

Part 19
James Fletcher & Co
The day after the trial Peter had been over the moon when he had been allowed to resume his education at his old school Woodberry Comprehensive.
The first day back found him standing in the Principal’s office being welcomed, and also being told that he had a duty to fulfil while in the school. It meant that during his probation period for the term of 1 Year he was to carry out monitoring duties in the school. This meant that after finishing his lunch, he would have an half hour to do so. He would then spend the remaining time in the company of one of the teachers, monitoring the Junior School pupils in the recreation grounds three times a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
With the teacher he was to make sure that no bullying took place, and also to check that they weren’t partaking of any dangerous activities. After his little talk with the Principal he was allowed to return to his class.

Eleven days after the trial Timothy Clarkson was returning to school. His doctor had refused to let him return the previous week stating he wanted Timothy to be fully fit when he resumed his schooling. Now with the doctor’s permission he was ready to leave the house and resume his education.
He opened the front door and looked back at his mother who was standing in the hallway with that concerned look on her face.
“Mum will you quit giving me that look I’m going to be alright.”
“Go on then, be off with you and mind you phone when you reach school.”
“Yes mum,” Timothy said resignedly having been told the same thing half a dozen times already, “Bye,” and he opened the door and stepped out of the house.
He was excited to be going back, Adam, Peter, Sammy and Brian came around and visited but it wasn’t the same as being with them for six hours at a time when they were out of earshot of parents.
Reaching the bus stop the first thing he noticed was no Kai but that was to be expected, he only used this stop so that they could meet up first thing in the morning. The other stop further down the road was a lot closer to his house, and since their break up Timothy had expected him to use that stop. They had hardly spoken since the breakup, the only time being at the trial when they had greeted each other in the courtroom.

Arriving at the school the first thing he did was to phone his mother who was on her way to drop Linda off.
Walking through the gates of the school now was a total contrast to six months ago. Then he was treated more like an outcast now everybody seemed to know who he was and greeted him. When he reached his locker the first person to see and grab hold of him and give him a hug was Sammy. Then the three boys with grins a mile wide were greeting him. They had been eagerly awaiting his return.
Making their way to the classroom they chatted and joked but inside Timothy was feeling nervous his insides were tightening up with the thought of having to face Kai. But his nervousness was ill founded. He walked into the classroom with the others and automatically their eyes met, Kai gave him a brief nod and he nodded in response then went to his seat, and that was the extent of their acknowledgement of each other.
Throughout the lessen he had to control his eyes from wandering over to look at Kai. He made a concerted effort and kept his eyes glued to the front, and when he did have to turn his to speak to, or answer a question, he made sure that his eyes didn’t stray from the person he was talking to.

Kai Webster was pissed off. His affair with James Fletcher had lasted just over two weeks and already he been stood up by James.
They’d supposed to have met at the Mall on Sunday and hang out for a couple of hours, then return to his house by which time his parents would have gone out and they would have the house to themselves. Instead he’d waited for an hour and James hadn’t shown.
He’d phoned James’s mobile and got no answer, and when he phoned his house Adam who answered the phone said he’d gone out quite some time ago. So he made his way home and spent an evening wondering what James was playing at. He had stood outside the school gates this morning waiting for James and when he arrived surrounded by his friends James had given him a cursory wave and carried on as if he didn’t warrant stopping and talking to, which annoyed him even more.

When the first morning break came Timothy latched on to Adam and Peter as they made their way to their lockers to grab their drinks then take them out into the recreation ground. They were soon joined by Brian and Sammy and stood in a group chatting. Suddenly Peter softly nudged him, then with the slightest indication of his head so the others wouldn’t notice, he indicated to a section of the recreation ground. He turned his head slightly and looked across and noticed Kai in a heated conversation with an extremely good looking boy. Kai suddenly pushed the boy violently who went sprawling to the ground, he stood over him his fists clenched his face a mask of fury then he turned and walked away making his way into the school.
Timothy with raised eyebrows looked at Peter, but didn’t ask the question that was on the tip of his tongue; he knew he would get the answer to what they’d seen later.

Throughout the next school periods he kept giving sidelong glances at Kai Webster only to see his face in a permanent frown. As they broke for the lunch break Peter grabbed him by the arm and steered him towards the toilets. Once there and certain that none of the other gang members were near he told him about what they’d seen in the recreation ground.
“According to Adam, James had stood Kai up on Sunday afternoon,” Peter said, “And what we saw was an angry Kai having a go at James. I reckon if they’d been outside the school grounds Kai would have done a bit more than just shove him.”
“So is their romance over.”
“I should think so, Two weeks is a long time for James to stay with one boy. Come on let’s find the others and get something to eat.”

Arriving at the cafeteria they saw the others already seated and eating. Grabbing a tray each they stood in the queue to be served.
Timothy looked around and spotted Kai sitting at a table by himself. When he’d got his food he made straight for the table that Kai was seated and put his tray down. As he took his seat Kai looked up and frowned then said, “You’re at the wrong table your friends are across the room.”
“They’re your friends as well. When we broke up you said we could still be friends, seems like you forget very easily.
“Yeah well I thought they wouldn’t want me around.”
“Why not, I’m sure Sammy would prefer you sitting at the same table as her then here by yourself.”
“Just leave me alone will you, and stop trying to be Mr Nice Guy and preaching all that holier than thou bullshit.”
Timothy didn’t say a word just sat and ate his meal.
“I said leave me alone.”
Timothy paused in eating, “I am, I’m just sitting here eating my meal and can’t very well move half way through it,” he said “What’s more I don’t intend in engaging you in any further conversation, so there’s no need for you to get uptight” Then he resumed his eating, his eyes firmly fixed on his plate.
Kai Webster subdued ate the rest of his meal in silence and when finished left the cafeteria.

Later when they were out in the school grounds Adam asked, “What had happened in the cafeteria?”
“Not a lot, I tried to tell Kai that although he and I were no longer an issue didn’t mean that he had to stay away from his friends, and especially Sammy. They were always together in the past, now he doesn’t seem to want to know any of us.”
“Yeah well Peter and I were not all that friendly with him and after the knifing incident even less so.”
“I’ve go to do my playground duties,” Peter said. “I’ll leave you two to carry on the discussion.”
As he was walking away Timmy called out, “Peter,”
He turned asking, “What.”
“Did you talk to Crystal?”
“Yeah,”
“And “
“And nothing, we talked last Friday and again this morning when I said Hi to her, and she hasn’t said anything since.”
“Timothy and Adam couldn’t help but smile as they saw the girl they were talking about approaching Peter from behind him.
Peter Blake was on the verge of asking the two boys what they were looking so smug about when a feminine voice in his ear enquired,
“Do you want company doing your playground duties?”
He swivelled his head and turning saw Crystal Lenihan standing waiting for an answer.
“Um uh! yeah um if you really want to.”
“Come on,” she said grabbing his arm.
“Uh see you guys later,” he yelled over his shoulder as the girl of Peter Blake’s dreams led him away.

“I’ll see you in a bit,” Timothy said, “I have to go to my locker and get my drink forgot to take it out.”
“You want me to come with you?” Adam asked.
“No stay here and talk with Brian and Sammy they’re just coming over.”
When the couple arrived Timothy told them he won’t be long and left to make his way to his locker.
As he walked down the corridor he heard footsteps behind him and then a voice saying, “Hi.”
He turned to look at the person who’d greeted him and saw it to be the same boy that Kai had been involved in an argument earlier.
He greeted the boy and continued walking to his locker.
The boy followed him along the passageway in silence till they reached the lockers, Timothy stopped to open his and James Fletcher asked, “What are you doing after school?”
“Going home.” Timothy responded.
“Do you want to meet up”
“No.”
“What’s wrong you pissed off because I took your boyfriend away from you.”
“You didn’t take him he went on his own accord. As for meeting up with you I’ve got more respect for my body.” And before James Fletcher could respond Timothy left and made his way to meet up with his friends. Reaching them he didn’t mention to Adam his meeting with his younger brother not wanting to cause trouble between the brothers.

When the bell went for the end of school Timothy said goodbye to his friends and made his way to the bus stop. He saw Kai waiting there but they didn’t talk or even acknowledge each other, Timothy walked past and made his way to the back of the queue.
When the bus came because of the crowd he was squashed between bodies of boys standing in the aisle. Eventually after being squashed, and jostled, as the bus stopped and started it finally arrived at his stop and thankfully he got off, promising that tomorrow if the bus was this crowded he would let it go and wait for the next one.
He walked along the main road then turned into Grove Road that led into Brentwood Avenue. He had been walking for a few moments when instinctively he looked behind him and saw James Fletcher and two of his friends following him. He knew at once what was in store he could run, but that would only put off the inevitable as they would catch him quite easily. Instead he just continued walking at his normal pace thinking. Why is it always me? Why do I have to be the punch bag all the time? God! It’s not fucking fair.
Then he heard the footsteps right behind him and Fletcher’s voice saying.
“Would you want to repeat what you said in school?”
He turned facing the three boys “Why, you know what I said, if you want your friends to hear it you tell them.”
He saw the punch that one of the boys that he didn’t know throw and ducked but not quite quick enough. The fist caught him on the top of the head it dazed him slightly but he was still on his feet. As he straightened from the punch he swung his leg and had the satisfaction of feeling it connect with a shin and hearing a yell of pain. That seemed to trigger a furious response from his antagonists and the punches rained in on him. Suddenly he felt one hit him exactly where his knife wound was. It caused a searing pain to shoot through his body and scream of agony to escape from his lips as he sagged to the floor. He lay on the pavement and the last thing he felt was a blow to the head and another to his stomach then thankfully oblivion.
The boy Danny Griffiths who had been the recipient of Timothy’s kick on the shin was about to land another kick to the form lying on the pavement when James Fletcher stopped him.
“Enough I think he’s hurt pretty badly, that last kick you gave him must have done it.”
“Yeah well not bad enough as far as I’m concerned, the little Shit fucking hurt me with that kick.”
“Just leave it Danny, I think he’s really bad he’s not making any sound at all. You might have done some real damage kicking him in the head when he was down.”
“Hey let’s scarper,” Sid Cooper said, “There’s a woman coming down the street,” and that’s precisely what they did, the three of them running down the road and around the corner and out of sight.

The woman approached the crumpled form on the pavement and when she was alongside the boy noticed that he was not making any sound and that his breathing was very shallow. She accessed her mobile phone and dialled the emergency services asking for an ambulance to come for an injured boy at the bottom of Grove Road. She gave details of what she had seen. Three boys running away and leaving the injured boy on the pavement. She then supplied her name Verna Blaylock then waited for the ambulance to arrive.

By 4.15pm when Timothy hadn’t shown Mary Clarkson was getting a bit worried. She was on the verge of phoning the school when the phone rang. Thinking it was Timothy phoning she hurried to answer it. “Hello,” she said expecting to hear Timothy’s voice. Instead a woman enquired if she was the mother of Timothy Clarkson. Getting confirmation from Mary Clarkson the woman then informed her that Timothy had been brought to The City Hospital having been assaulted. At the moment Timothy was in surgery but she had no further information as to his immediate condition.
After the conversation Mary Clarkson just sat down it was like a bad dream. Once again the boy who had won her heart and called her mum was lying critically injured in the same hospital he’d been in only a few months ago.
Composing herself she picked up the phone and called her husband passing on to him the news that she’d just received.
He suggested she stay at home if Timmy was in surgery then she wouldn’t be able to see him and it wouldn’t be fair to Linda to be hanging around in a hospital. He’d leave work right away and stay at the hospital till he got news of Timothy then he would call her.

Four hours later Jack Clarkson got the news that Timothy was out of surgery and in I.C.U. The prognosis was not good. Timothy was in a critical condition and in coma and needed help in his breathing the next few hours would be crucial whether he recovered or not. At the moment the odds were slightly in Timothy’s favour.
Jack Clarkson received the news grim faced, he didn’t bother to relay the news to his wife over the phone knowing it would be best if he was with her when he told her. He went to his car and within twenty minutes was letting himself in to the house. His wife hearing him enter dashed out to enquire about Timothy. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her the news which caused her to start sobbing as she rested her head on his shoulder.
“There’s no need to go to the hospital tonight,” he said as he tried to comfort his wife, “Timmy’s unconscious and as it is I don’t think they’ll let us into the sealed unit at this time.”
Mary Clarkson got her weeping under control. “We’d better inform your sister, you’d better phone. I think she’ll want to come down tonight so I’ll get the spare room ready for her.
By 11.00pm Jack Clarkson could not stand the tension of just waiting in the house. Getting to his feet he told his wife, “That it would be better if he stayed at the hospital so he’d be on hand if there was any change in Timothy’s condition be it for better or worse.
She could take over from him tomorrow or his sister Lucy if she had arrived. Kissing her he made his way to the car and headed for the Hospital.

Tuesday morning when Timothy didn’t show for school his friends sensed something was wrong. In all the time they knew Timmy, even during the bad times when he was constantly bullied, he’d never stayed away from school unless he was made to by forces he had no control over. Now as they made their way to the classroom they were discussing what could have kept him away.
“I’ll give his phone a quick bell,” Peter Blake said, and quickly dialled the number only to be told that Timothy was not available at the moment.
“Phone his land line,” Adam suggested, “His mum should be back from dropping Linda off.”
Peter Blake did so and a woman’s voice that he didn’t recognize answered the phone.
After enquiring if that was Timothy Clarkson’s home number and being told it was, he asked if Timothy was alright as he hadn’t come to school this morning.” Hearing the response the woman gave Peter Blake’s face paled and he was speechless for a moment then quickly thanking the woman he rang off.
The moment the others saw his face they knew that the news must be bad.
“Come on Peter tell us will you for Christ’s sake.” they said.
“Fuck it,” Peter Blake yelled out, and then composing himself said, “He’s in fucking hospital in Intensive Care and in a coma. Seems like he was beaten up pretty bad yesterday after school.”
The other three were just as shocked as Peter Blake. When they entered the classroom Sammy went straight to Kai.
“Did you see Timmy after school yesterday?” She asked.
“Yeah he got on the same bus as me. I got off the stop before his. Why do you ask?”
“Timmy’s in hospital in I.C. and in a coma he was beaten up really badly yesterday after school.”

Kai Webster rose from his seat gathered his books and left the classroom. He dashed to his locker then ran out of the school gates before they could be closed. He had no idea what he was going to do but he knew he couldn’t stay in school after hearing about Timothy. He rode the bus home all the while thinking what a total fuck up he was. He’d made so many fucking promises to Timothy and broken them all. His cock seemed to have more control over his body then his mind. This time he would make no promises only do what had to be done. That was to look after the boy who if it was not too late now needed him more than ever before.
His mind now went back to the day before when Timmy had sat with him at the dining table and he’d turned his back on him. The thought of how he’d treated Timothy made him squirm. If he’d had the guts at that time in the cafeteria to admit his mistake then maybe he would have travelled back with Timmy after school and nothing would have happened. But that was just wistful thinking and it had happened and now he’d have to start getting things right for once.
Reaching home his mother was more than surprised to see her son return from school.
At once she assumed the worst and asked, “Kai have you been sent home?”
“No mum I just left. We had news that Timmy is in hospital again in I.C. and in a coma. Please mum I need you to take me to the hospital.”
“Certainly just let me get ready, By the way Kai don’t be disappointed if they don’t let you into the I.C. unit. If he’s in a sterile environment they can only let the immediate family in and then only after they themselves wear protection so that they won’t infect Timmy in anyway.”
“What’s the reason.”
“I’m assuming that his immune system might be low so the medical staff won’t take any chances with Timothy being infected by anyone.”
“Well okay mum I may be able to speak to one of his parents or even a doctor to get the latest information on him.
Elizabeth Webster after getting the car keys then picked up the phone and called Kai’s school. When she got through she informed the secretary that her son was with her and on their way to the hospital to see Timothy Clarkson and he won’t be returning to school today.
Ringing off she addressed her son saying, “Right let’s go,” and with the car keys firmly gripped in her hand and a concerned look on her face led him to the garage.