New Brother - 14. Chapter 14

I stared at Adam across the table. The concern I felt was mirrored in his eyes.

“What do you think that’s about?” he asked me nervously.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “It can’t have anything to do with us, can it?”

Adam shook his head. “I don’t see how it could. Maybe something else has happened?” he suggested hopefully.

I had joked that morning about Randy restricting himself to thumping one person a day. I hadn’t been serious, and I knew that my brother knew I wasn’t serious, but I wondered if he had been called to the office because he had laid into someone, anyway.

My ability to do any further studying had gone out the window. Adam managed to force himself back to his books, but I just sat there, staring into space. I couldn’t work out what was going on, and until I had the answer, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else.

The door opened and I leapt to my feet. I saw Ms. Ng standing in the doorway.

“What’s happened to my brother?” I blurted out. “Is something wrong?”

The vice principal stood silent for a moment, a raised eyebrow her only indication that she had heard me and was considering a response.

“You’ll find out soon enough, but no, nothing is wrong,” she eventually answered. “In the meantime, you should be more concerned about your own fate. Please pack up your books and come to my office.”

With that, she turned and left. I threw my books into my school bag with no consideration for damaging them. If I ripped a page or two, they could be repaired. I had more important concerns on my mind. I wouldn’t find out what was going on with Randy until Ms. Ng had finished dealing with Adam and me.

I stood impatiently while Adam stored his books away in a more normal manner. As soon as the last book was away, and even before he had lifted his bag off the table, I was out the door.

Once Adam had joined me outside the VP’s office, I knocked loudly. Barely waiting for permission to enter, I opened the door and stepped inside.

“Sit down, please,” Ms. Ng said politely, indicating two seats in front of her desk.

Adam sat properly, but I perched on the edge of my seat, leaning forward anxiously. As soon as we were still, Ms. Ng started speaking.

“Mr. Johnson, your behaviour in the Religious Education class was totally unacceptable. For the school to function, a certain level of respect must be maintained between the teachers and pupils. The comments that have been reported to me show that you well and truly crossed that line. Now,” she added, lifting a hand to forestall me as I opened my mouth to respond, “I will concede that Mr. Martin also crossed that line, and appropriate actions are being taken in that respect. However, your being provoked does not justify what you did. We are trying to teach you to become a responsible young Christian. You have shown that you still have some way to go before you can be considered to be an adult.”

She paused and looked down at some papers on her desk. I thought about saying something, but there was enough truth in what she had said; enough to keep me quiet. I waited nervously for the punishment.

“Mr. Johnson,” she started formally, looking up and catching my eye, “after reviewing your past record, and taking the provocation into account, Mr. Pitt and I have decided to be lenient. You are suspended from school for the rest of the week. As you have exams next week, I seriously recommend that you use that time to study hard. You will not have the benefit of any more reviews with your teachers before you take your exams.”

She waited a moment for me to absorb what she’d said, before continuing.

“If you consider this too severe, you can ask your parents to contact either Mr. Pitt or me. However, as we have already discussed this with your mother, and she is in full agreement with the punishment, I sincerely doubt that that will occur.”

I rocked back in surprise. I had been worried about how to tell my parents, but that wasn’t a problem anymore; the school had done that for me. Now I just had to face Mum’s fury. I had a sinking feeling that being suspended was going to be the least of my worries.

Ms. Ng turned to Adam and stared at him for several long seconds before speaking.

“Mr. Kennedy, your behaviour was not as severe as Mr. Johnson’s, but, for various reasons, Mr. Pitt, Mrs. Johnson, your current guardian, and I have decided to suspend you, too, for the rest of this week. This may sound unfair, but we have our reasons for being harsh.”

She looked sympathetically at Adam as she continued in a more kind and less formal tone.

“You, more than anyone else in this school, must learn that you are not free to retaliate to attacks, verbal or otherwise. We all sympathise with what you are going to face, and we will do everything we can to prevent incidents here at the school, but we’re powerless outside of these grounds. Even on school property, we’re unable to monitor the behaviour of every student. There will be times when standing up for yourself will be the right thing to do. What you need to learn is how to identify those times, and what is the best way to respond.”

Adam nodded thoughtfully to Ms. Ng’s comments, though there was an underlying anger showing in his posture and expression. When he didn’t say anything, Ms. Ng continued.

“The two-day suspension will give you time to think about what I’ve said, as well as give us time to reinforce the lesson of tolerance on the rest of the students and on the teachers. We are all praying that incidents of this type will not be repeated, but we’re realistic enough to know that they probably will. Please work with us, Adam,” she said, using his given name for the first time. “We’ll do everything we can to allow you to learn in peace.”

“Thank you,” Adam replied softly. “For understanding, if nothing else.”

She sighed. “I’m sorry, Adam, I really am. I wish things could be different, but they aren’t. I can’t even guarantee that you won’t experience bias from your teachers, though Mr. Pitt and I will be using these two days to try to ensure that you won’t. What we need from you is for you to avoid escalating things, and to let us know who causes you problems.”

I was shocked to see Adam actually sneer at the vice principal. I thought she was bending over backwards to try to help him; even going as far as to admit that he might have problems with some of the other teachers.

“Yeah, right. And what can you do when it’s just my word against theirs? All that will do is to make everyone else start resenting me for dobbing them in,” Adam stated bitterly.

Ms. Ng stared dispassionately at Adam until he began to fidget.

“We want to help, Adam, but we can’t do it if you won’t let us,” she said quietly. “Life’s not perfect. We all know that, but you don’t have to go through this alone. Just give us a chance to do what we can.”

When Adam didn’t respond, Ms. Ng dragged herself wearily to her feet.

“Okay, then. It’s time to go to the principal’s office. Your mother and brother will be waiting there, Mr. Johnson.”

“What was he paged for?” I asked quickly, as I rose to my feet.

She smiled at me. “Nothing to be worried about,” she answered soothingly. “We called your mother in because of your misdemeanour, and she took the opportunity to inform us of some incidents involving your brother. Now, school’s finished for the day, so I think it’s time for you to go home.”

She walked around her desk and waited for Adam and me to pick up our bags and precede her out the door. She then led us down to the principal’s office. After knocking, she opened the door and ushered us inside. Randy was sitting with Mum in front of Mr. Pitt’s desk. Randy looked up with a nervous grin at the sight of us. I think he was happy to see us, but whether it was because of where he was, or why we were there, he was still clearly concerned about something. Mum stood up as we entered the room. She was furious, and I could tell that I was one of the targets of that anger. I tried to make myself as small as possible, even though I knew that was a wasted effort.

“Any problems, Jeni?” Mr. Pitt asked the vice principal.

“Nothing serious. Adam has the valid concern that if it comes down to his word against someone else’s, he’ll lose,” Ms. Ng replied. “I don’t think there is much we can do about that. Hopefully, he’ll tell us about any problem, so we can keep an eye on the situation, even if we can’t do anything initially.”

Adam looked at her in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected her to take in what he’d said in her office. There are so few adults who actually listen to what we teenagers say.

“If there is nothing more, I think it’s time to take these boys home,” Mum said with an angry edge to her voice.

“I don’t believe there is anything more to discuss at the moment, Mrs. Johnson. Thank you very much for coming in,” Mr. Pitt replied as he rose to his feet.

“No, thank you for putting up with these two,” Mum replied. “I would’ve suspended them for a week, and just failed them on their exams next week.”

Adam and I exchanged worried glances. Mum clearly didn’t think the school’s decision was harsh enough. The only question left was whether we’d find out the rest of our punishment in the car or have to wait until Dad got home.

The answer to that was quick. Mum talked to Randy in the car, but studiously ignored Adam and me. We were left to stew on our own, wondering anxiously what would be thrown at us. Strangely, the punishment that was usually reserved for the more heinous offences didn’t apply to me. Stopping me from seeing Liz wasn’t applicable, anymore. They could ban Adam from having Scott come to see him, but I doubted they would go that far. As even Ms. Ng had acknowledged, Adam’s suspension was already harsher than he deserved.

As I went through ways I could be punished, I came to the realisation that my parents really didn’t have many options. Withholding spending money was no longer a big deal for me, as I didn’t feel like going out. Grounding me was a waste of time for the same reason. The most likely thing they would do would be to give me additional chores around the farm. Even that wouldn’t be a big deal – getting out in the fresh air can be a real pleasure at times.

I climbed out of the car with a fatalistic air when we arrived home.

“Inside,” Mum said curtly, the first time she’d addressed Adam and me directly since we’d gotten into trouble.

Randy had already disappeared down the path to the house as Adam and I headed off.

“What do you think she’ll do?” Adam whispered to me.

“No ideas, but I think I’ll get it harder than you, whatever it is,” I replied quietly, trying to reassure Adam.

Inside the house, I noticed that the light on the answering machine was flashing. Randy was already gone, presumably to get out of his school uniform and into something more trendy. I’m used to that; his first priority when he gets home is almost always to get changed.

As I put my school bag down and headed to the fridge to get something to drink, Mum piped up from behind me.

“David, there is a pile of clothes in the laundry that I was just about to iron when the school called,” she started dryly. “I expect them to be finished before you have dinner.”

“Ironing?” I asked in disbelief as I looked back her. About the only thing I knew about ironing clothes was that it wasn’t something I was supposed to do.

“Start with Randy’s school clothes, as he needs them for tomorrow,” she added, turning away. “Don’t burn them.”

I looked at Adam.

“Do you know how to iron?” I asked hopefully.

“Sure, it’s not hard. I’ve been ironing my own clothes for a couple of years,” he responded.

“Adam, David has to do it. You can show him what to do, and criticise to your heart’s content, but you are not to help him, understand?” Mum interrupted from where she was pulling things out of the freezer. “Once you’ve done that, come back here and start cooking dinner. Anything you ruin, you and David have to eat. I’m going to get changed and go ride my horse. I need some fresh air,” she finished flatly.

Adam cringed. My mum had managed to accurately pick chores for each of us that we were incompetent at. I knew from Adam’s expression that I needn’t look forward to dinner.

After showing me the basics of ironing, Adam disappeared back to the kitchen. I heard Mum playing back the messages on the machine, but I couldn’t make out what they were. I thought one of the voices sounded like Scott’s, which wasn’t surprising, but one of the messages was definitely from a female.

I slowly ironed away. It was painstaking and mind-deadening work. I had to concentrate, though, because I knew I’d have to re-do anything that Mum didn’t consider up to scratch.

I heard the door open and close shortly after I started, and then the sounds of someone bouncing a basketball. Randy must have decided to get some practise in. I felt a small surge of jealousy, but suppressed it quickly. There was no reason for Randy to suffer for what Adam and I had done.

When I left the laundry after finishing the last of the clothes and putting the iron away, I found Adam setting the table for dinner. He looked up as I came out and gave me a wry smile.

“It should be edible,” he stated, before adding hesitantly, “I think….”

I frowned, then shrugged.

“The way I’m feeling, I don’t think I’ll have much of an appetite, ” I remarked despondently as Mum opened the door, coming back in from her ride.

“That’s too bad, David,” Mum remarked with a distinct lack of sympathy, “because you’re going to have to eat it all, regardless of how you’re feeling.”

Not bothering to respond, I dragged myself down the hallway to my room. It was about time I got changed out of my uniform and into something more comfortable.

Dad showed up soon afterwards, and then it was time for dinner. Mum had been kind to Adam, as it was a fairly simple dinner of grilled lamb chops and a selection of vegetables.

“So, what happened at school today?” Dad asked automatically, as he started to serve up some of the mashed potatoes.

“Adam and David decided to get suspended,” Mum responded sarcastically on our behalf.

“It wasn’t our fault,” I piped up defensively. “We had a bigoted relief teacher who decided to pick on Adam, and we just stood up to him.”

Dad paused and stared at first me, then Adam. As he slowly resumed the transferring of food from the serving dishes to his plate, he looked back at me.

“How long are you suspended for?” Dad asked.

“Until the end of the week,” I replied glumly.

Dad looked at Adam. “And you?”

“Same,” Adam answered quietly. “Sorry to cause trouble, Mr. Castle.”

“Call me Kevin, or Dad,” my dad said absently as he slowly started to eat. “What happened?”

“Sister Brenda was off sick, so we had a Mr. Martin as a substitute teacher for Religious Instruction,” Adam explained cautiously. He’d never been involved in a Johnson family dispute, and was clearly being careful about what he was saying.

“He almost immediately launched into an attack on homosexuals, and wasn’t happy when I questioned him on it,” he continued.

“Adam was polite and restrained,” I added. “He didn’t say anything rude or disrespectful.”

“At least not then,” Mum interjected sourly. “Later on, it was a different story.”

Randy was listening with great interest. I don’t think anyone had filled him in on the details of what had happened.

“Adam was justified in everything he said!” I stated forcefully. “Mr. Martin is a bigoted fool who should never have been a teacher!”

“Leaving that aside, what about you?” Mum asked me crossly. “Polite and restrained are not the first words that spring to mind for what I was told that you said.”

“David was just defending me and Randy,” Adam replied, as I cringed at Mum’s heavy sarcasm.

“Can anyone give me a short summary of what happened, without the social commentary?” Dad asked dryly as he looked around the table.

Adam looked at me nervously. While I thought he could probably give a better answer than I could – he had given an excellent one to Ms. Ng – I appreciated that he didn’t want to make too many waves while he was still settling into the family.

“Adam questioned Mr. Martin on the chapter of Leviticus that condemns homosexuals, and asked if he held the same views on adultery, which is condemned in the same chapter,” I started, trying to be as dispassionate and honest as possible. Hedging the truth was unlikely to work, as I was pretty sure that Mum had received a full account of what had been said.

“The teacher didn’t have a response, and just told Adam to shut up. He then said that homosexuality is considered an abomination by the Christian churches, and Adam pointed out that the Uniting Church doesn’t have that opinion. Mr. Martin lost it, then, and ordered Adam out of the class. Adam told him that he was incompetent, to which the teacher made a comment about deviants. I stood up and defended Adam, and Mr. Martin then made an abusive comment about Randy.”

I paused and looked down at the table before adding softly, “I, umm… blew up at that, and swore at him. That’s when I was kicked out, too, and we were both sent to the office.”

“Good on you, Stick!” Randy stated enthusiastically.

“Randy!” Mum snapped.

“But Mum, David didn’t do anything wrong. He was just defending his brothers. Isn’t that what he was supposed to do?” Randy asked.

I looked up and saw Mum start to say something, but Dad interrupted her.

“I’d like to hear David’s answer to that one,” he stated non-judgementally, while catching the eye of my mum.

I looked at him, and then back at Mum, who pursed her lips and nodded sharply. She glared angrily at me.

I knew what he was doing. I either had to justify my actions, which would basically say that Mum and the school were wrong, or admit that I was at fault, when I knew I wasn’t totally to blame. Looking for a target for the surge of resentment that I was feeling, I focused on Mr. Martin. I was angry at Dad, but he was just making me take responsibility for my actions; something he’s done before. I was angry at Mum for not sticking up more for us against the school, but I knew that I was partially at fault on that front. I even felt anger at Adam for being gay, but that was a road I’d travelled before, and I knew it lead to a dead end. Ultimately, I was mad at Mr. Martin for refusing to accept that Adam has a right to be left in peace.

Adam gave me a look of sympathy as he realised the predicament I was in. I took a deep breath and tried to give the best answer that I could.

“Giant, while defending you and Adam was the right thing to do, it was the way I did it that was wrong. I shouldn’t have sworn at the teacher, and it was for that that I ended up getting suspended,” I admitted.

“Well done, David,” Dad said quietly. His pride in me was evident in the smile he gave me.

With a worried frown, he turned to Mum.

“What did the school say about the teacher?” he asked. His concern was clear.

She scowled while looking out into the distance. I had the impression that it wasn’t us that she was scowling at.

“Adam filed an official complaint about his behaviour. They investigated and found the complaint justified. He should never have been teaching, with an attitude like his,” she conceded.

She gave Adam and me a faint smile. “The two boys were justified in getting upset. As they said, that teacher is a homophobic bigot. He shouldn’t be allowed to call himself a Christian,” she stated, still with a touch of anger in her voice. I relaxed slightly, knowing I wasn’t the target.

Dad nodded in agreement and asked, “Did you discuss the possibility of other teachers like that being at the school?”

“Yes, I did,” Mum said. “Both Mr. Pitt and Ms. Ng expressed their support, and are planning on pulling out all the stops for the next two days to try to ensure there won’t be a repeat. With both the principal and vice principal onside, I think we can expect no more problems from that quarter.”

Randy, Adam and I were listening quietly to this conversation. It was almost as if our parents had forgotten we were there. I was heartened by the fact that what we were hearing made Ms. Ng’s comments to us seem even more supportive.

Mum caught my eye, and then Adam’s.

“Nothing that’s been said here stops you two from being punished for what you did,” Mum stated firmly. “As David said, you two have to learn how to respond to these sorts of small-minded attacks. The way you did it just inflamed the situation. I’ve already informed Scott that he’s not to come over here tonight. Your father and I will decide on the rest of your punishment after dinner.”

Adam’s face dropped at the news. He’d been looking forward to some quiet time with Scott, but now it wasn’t going to happen. I sincerely hoped that they wouldn’t be too hard on him.

“That’s not fair!” I pointed out angrily. “Adam didn’t swear, and he was being unfairly victimised. All you’re doing is more of the same!”

“One night without Scott is not going to kill him,” Mum retorted. “It might just make him, and you, stop to think for a second, next time, before you say something to enflame a situation.”

She paused and looked over at Adam.

“Sorry, hon, but it’s not like you won’t be seeing him again,” Mum said gently.

She stared for a moment before giving him a soft smile. “Kevin and I also need to make sure you’ll be listening when we talk, later. Despite what you might think, we can still remember what it’s like to be a teenager in love. We want this to be a safe place for you and Scott, but we also need to make sure that you stay safe outside of these walls.”

Adam seemed hesitant as he glanced nervously at first Mum and then Dad.

“Son, we’ll talk privately, later. Think about what you want to say,” Dad said gently to Adam. “I’ll just give you this one bit of reassurance. No matter what, you will not be asked to leave this house!

“This family can get a bit volatile at times. You saw a good example of that last Friday,” he said, raising an eyebrow at me. I cringed back into my chair at the reminder. “You are free to argue your case as much as you want. We have been known to change our minds. Don’t be afraid to speak up. No one else in this household is,” he finished wryly.

After a wait to see if anyone wanted to add anything, Dad turned back to his food, ending that part of the conversation.

There was a short period of silence while everyone served themselves. Randy and I both examined the food carefully, before transferring it to our plates. None of it seemed to be ruined, though the carrots looked like they may have been overcooked.

“So, anything else happen?” Dad asked, once everyone started eating.

“I had a long chat with Mr. Pitt and Ms. Ng about yesterday’s episode with the paint,” Mum remarked. “They understand what’s going on, and I’m happy with the plans they’re putting in place to try to stop it from happening again.”

“Good! Anything I need to know about?” Dad asked.

“I don’t think so. I’ll fill you in on the details, later, if you’re interested. In the meantime, maybe Randy can tell you about the incident at lunchtime,” she suggested, staring intently at Randy. “The one that he didn’t bother reporting until I had him called into the office.”

“What incident?” I asked quickly. When I’d checked in on him, everything had seemed cool, so it must have happened right at the end of the break.

“It’s not like I was hurt or anything,” Randy stated. “If I have to report everyone who ever says anything or looks at me funny, then I’ll be spending all my time at the office!”

“Throwing things at you is a bit more serious than that, Randy,” Mum said sternly.

“They were water balloons!” Randy exclaimed, clearly annoyed at Mum’s over-protectiveness. “Even if they’d hit me on my broken nose, they wouldn’t have done any damage.”

“Who threw water balloons at you?” Adam asked. He seemed as surprised as I was.

“Luke Williams and a couple of other idiots,” Randy said disparagingly. “They ambushed me just after the bell rang for the end of lunch.”

That startled me. I wouldn’t have thought that Luke would be that childish, but it seemed that I was wrong. It just shows that it’s possible to over-estimate people as well as under-estimate them.

“What about your friends?” I asked. “Were they there?”

“Yeah, and Maria got hit by one, but that was because one of the arse… uh… idiots was a rotten thrower. He missed from only a couple of yards away. They then all ran off. Stu was ready to charge after them, but if they had got him alone, they would’ve clobbered him, so Kev and I grabbed him and held him back until it was too late to chase them. As it was, we barely got to our class in time.”

“Still, I want you to report anything like that straight away,” Mum stated firmly. “If we don’t stop it early, it’ll just get worse.”

“MMMMUUUUUMMMM!” Randy wailed. “I’m not a little boy anymore. I don’t need to go crying for help every time someone picks on me!”

“Randy,” Dad said sternly, “you saw those things on the web sites we looked at; the things that can happen to people who are thought to be gay. If you’re not careful, they can happen to you. Report it now, so it doesn’t get worse later on.”

Suddenly, Randy kicked his chair back and stood up. He was angry, and he was making no attempt to hide it.

“Can’t you get it through all your heads? I’M… NOT… GAY!” he yelled.

With that, he stormed out, heading to his bedroom. He left behind a stunned silence.

As Dad started to get to his feet, Mum stopped him.

“Let him go, Kevin,” she said compassionately. “I think he just needs some time by himself. He’s been holding things in and trying to act like it doesn’t matter.”

Nodding his acknowledgement, Dad sat down. Slowly, we all started eating again. I didn’t know how the others felt, but Randy’s outburst had disturbed me. There was a huge empty space in the room, which my brother’s personality usually filled, and the whole place seemed different without him there.

“Nice dinner, Adam,” I remarked after a couple of minutes.

“Thanks,” he replied with a faint grin.

I saw my dad looking a little perplexed by that.

“I made Adam cook dinner, since I wasn’t able to do it earlier because I was at the school, picking up a pair of recalcitrants. I also made David do the ironing, for the same reason,” Mum explained, with a touch of anger. “I’ll be checking it shortly to see if any of it needs to be redone.”

She then turned to me and gave me the evil eye.

“I don’t recall you having complimented me on my cooking for a long, long time, David,” she stated, in a deceptively mild tone. “I think Adam has a full-time job, now.”

“No, please?” Adam anxiously jumped in. “I much prefer your cooking. I’ll help, if you insist, but can you please do it?”

As Mum stared at me, I quickly tried to find a way out of the hole I’d dug for myself. I hadn’t expected that thanking Adam for dinner would land me in hot water, but Mum had a point. I’d been taking her cooking for granted. Even Dad compliments her every so often on the meals she serves up.

“Sorry, Mum,” I said lamely. I paused while I tried to think of what else I could say, but everything I thought of sounded worse than nothing, so I left it at that.

When she realised that I wasn’t going to say anything more, she sniffed dismissingly and turned her attention back to her food.

With the same poor timing that I’d been experiencing for the previous few days, I had managed to insult my mum just before she and Dad sat down to work out what my punishment would be for being suspended from school.

I kept my mouth shut for the rest of dinner. Adam did the same, as he flicked nervous glances at both my parents.

As we were finishing, I remembered that I hadn’t mentioned my invitation to Michael, from the day before.

“Uh, Dad,” I started, picking the parent that I thought would be the most sympathetic, “I forgot to mention that I’ve asked Michael O’Conner and his dad if they’d like to come up here one weekend. With all the help they’ve given us, I thought we should show our appreciation.”

“Who’s Michael?” Mum asked, slightly annoyed.

“Michael’s dad is the one who restrained Aiden’s dad on Saturday,” Dad explained, before turning back to me. “I think that’s an excellent idea. Just let us know when they’ll be coming. Thank you, David. I should’ve thought of that.”

I felt pleased that I’d done at least one thing right. I carefully neglected to mention when I’d asked Michael. After all, it was the thought that counted, not when I remembered to mention the invitation.

As soon as we had all finished eating, Adam and I jumped in and started clearing the table. It was unlikely to help, but cleaning up certainly wasn’t going to hurt. We both wanted Mum and Dad to be in a happy mood, or as happy as possible, before they worked out what they’d do to us.

We were still cleaning when my parents disappeared into the study. I could see that Adam was tempted to sneak down the hall to eavesdrop, but I quietly warned him against it. The risks were too great and I couldn’t see how we’d benefit from hearing their discussion.

Once we’d finished, we looked at each other, wondering what to do next. Adam was the first to sit down at the table and drag out some schoolbooks to review, but I quickly followed suit. I was slowly realising that I’d have to guess what items would be covered in the next week’s exams. I’d need to review everything, just in case.

We were both busy when my parents came out.

“Hmmm,” Dad said, “it looks like you’ve worked out one thing to do right, at least.”

We both looked up anxiously. What was it going to be?

“Adam, could you please join us in the study? We’d like to discuss some things,” Dad stated ominously.

When Adam gave me a worried glance, I tried to smile back some reassurance. While Mum and Dad occasionally come down heavy on Randy and me, they are rarely unreasonable. Given the circumstances that had Adam staying with us, I expected them to treat him lightly.

It wasn’t that long before he came back out. He looked a little disappointed.

“What’s wrong, mate?” I asked.

“Scott isn’t allowed to visit until Friday, and I’m only allowed ten minutes on the phone to him a day,” Adam said forlornly, before smiling. “I get to invite Scott and Chris for dinner on Friday night, though. Your parents also started discussing having him stay a night, sometime soon.”

“While we’ll never replace your real parents, Adam, we’d really like you to think of us as your Mum and Dad, too,” Dad said quietly from the doorway, where he’d snuck up while Adam was talking.

“David, if you don’t mind?” he added, before turning and walking down to the study.

I followed nervously, but also with a sense of resignation. I felt there wasn’t much they could do to punish me that would make a lot of difference, since I had broken up with Liz.

Despite the seriousness of my situation, I couldn’t help reflect over one thing that Adam had said. Liz had never stayed here overnight, so the question had never been raised on what the sleeping arrangements would be. I did know that both sets of parents had several discussions on the subject before I was allowed to stay with Liz and her family over the previous New Years period. If Scott stays here, where would he sleep? I couldn’t imagine my parents letting Randy be exposed to the possibility of Scott and Adam sleeping together, but they’d constantly surprised me with their attitude to Adam. I resolved to wait until something happened, and then raise any objections I felt needed to be said. Now was not the time to talk about this with Mum and Dad.

I silently took a seat in the study and waited for my parents to start.

My dad started ominously: “David, we discussed everything from grounding you to kicking you off the basketball team until next season.”

My mouth dropped to the floor at that last one. They wouldn’t do that to me, would they? I anxiously waited, as I wondered exactly how badly they thought I’d messed up.

“Before we tell you what punishment we think you deserve, I’d like to say that we think you and Adam each did one thing that was absolutely correct,” Mum said. “The thing that Adam did that was right was filing that complaint against the teacher. There are remedies in place for situations like this, and Adam used one of them. The thing you did correctly was standing up to defend both Adam and Randy.”

If their plan was to put me into a state of confusion so that I wouldn’t be able to argue about the punishment, then it was working well. The last thing I had expected when I walked in was to be complimented!

“As you admitted,” she added, “you were wrong in how you defended them. You’ve always had a tendency to speak first and think second. It hasn’t mattered much, before, but now you really need to learn to think first. Saying the wrong thing can get people hurt, especially when you are dealing with homophobes.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but closed it without saying anything. They were right, and I knew it. I felt a surge of resentment at being told it so bluntly, but I was too honest to deny it.

When they realised I wasn’t going to say anything, Dad pronounced the judgement.

“We eventually decided that keeping you off the team would be punishing the other players for your mistake. You are, however, grounded. You’ll be spending the time until the end of Easter here at home. The only times you’ll be away will be when you’re with us, or at school. To make sure you’re not bored, we’ll have a list of chores for you to do. Adam will be helping for the next couple of days, and after that, you’re on your own. If you behave yourself, we may shorten the time, but we’re not making any promises on that.”

I gave a sigh of relief. Two weekends wasn’t too bad, even if one of those was a long weekend. At least I’d still be allowed to play basketball. It wasn’t as if I had anything else I wanted to do over those weekends.

I thought about objecting, but I quickly decided that if I did, it would be more for the sake of arguing than anything else.

With the sentencing out of the way, I returned to the kitchen, where Adam and I returned to our study. After about thirty minutes, Randy came out of his bedroom and silently joined us. He still seemed a little tense, but he looked more determined than angry.

“Hi, Giant,” Adam started, but Randy interrupted him rudely.

“I’ve got homework to do. Can you please keep the noise down?” Randy said curtly.

Adam was surprised at that and I was feeling a bit concerned. That wasn’t like my brother. The things that were going on at school were affecting him, even though he’d been trying to pretend that everything was still normal.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked him.

“Do you want to talk about Liz?” he retorted, spitefully.

I shut up. Randy wasn’t in a mood to speak, and I didn’t know how to change his mood. The way he had blown up at Mum and Dad earlier, and then at Adam, seemed to indicate that he wouldn’t be opening up to anyone here; not in the short term, at least.

We studied silently for a few minutes, and then Randy spoke up.

“Sorry, guys. It’s not your fault, but I’m just really on edge,” he said softly, without looking up from his book. Before I could say anything, he added, “And no, I’m still not ready to talk about it.”

I nodded to no one in particular. My brother was still in there, somewhere. With a bit of luck, this would just be a passing thing. His friends at school should help him through the problems he’d be facing while Adam and I were suspended.

We were still studying when there was a knock at the door. Looking up, I saw Brian coming through. He’s been here enough times to know that he doesn’t have to wait to be invited to enter.

“Hi, B2! How’s things?” I asked.

“Actually, I’m Brett,” he said apologetically.

I stared at him, and the clothes that he was wearing. He was definitely wearing Brian’s clothes. I’ve always assumed that if there is a “1” on the clothes, it’s Brett, and if there’s a “2”, it’s Brian.

“I got into trouble at school today, and Mum’s given me a whole lot of chores to do. Brian offered to swap shirts to give me a break,” he explained sheepishly.

I couldn’t help wondering how often the twins did that trick. That was the first time they’d admitted it, but that didn’t mean it was the first time they’d swapped clothes.

“What happened?” Randy asked.

He shrugged and grinned. “A couple of idiots decided that they could have fun at our expense. They said we played for a team of poofs, and we must be sissies, too. The fight was broken up by the time the teachers got there, so we didn’t get into trouble with our school, but Mum got the story out of us when she asked why my clothes were torn. Brian managed to get away with it, but I’m being punished.”

“Who was it? Which team do they play for?” Randy queried angrily. “They’re going to get a thumping, next time we play them!”

I watched nervously at that. Randy’s temper had clearly been simmering just below the surface, and it didn’t take much for it to rise to the top again. That was not his normal behaviour. The whole “gay” thing was really messing him up.

“They don’t play; they’d just heard rumours. Otherwise, they would have realised the mistake they were making,” Brett answered with a cheeky grin. “There was a new guy at school today, and he was standing right behind them when they started in on us. They outweighed us, and if the new guy hadn’t joined in on our side, it might have gone badly,” he admitted.

He paused for a moment before smiling widely. “Aiden said to say ‘hi’!”

“Yes!” I exclaimed with a grin. “How is he?”

Brett shrugged. “He’s doing okay, but he was glad to see us. I don’t think his dad knows that we go to that school,” he said before grinning. “Russell and Paul know now, though. I don’t think they were particularly happy to find out....”

At that moment, Dad poked his head out of the living room.

“Hi, Brian!” he said. “I’m sorry, but Adam and David are not permitted visitors at the moment. You can talk to Randy, but those two are still in trouble for what they did at school today.”

“That’s alright, Mr. Castle,” Brett said, not correcting my dad’s mistake. “I was really just coming over to let you know that my dad is inviting everyone to a barbeque at our place after the game on Saturday, to celebrate the end of the main season. I’ll be going, now.”

Dad frowned, before slowly nodding his head. “Okay, Brian. Tell your dad we’ll be there,” he answered reluctantly, while staring at Adam and me. I could tell he was trying to decide whether or not to allow us to attend. After a long pause, he disappeared back into the living room.

“So, what did you two get up to?” Brett asked quietly, curiosity overcoming his stated intention to disappear.

“David and I got suspended today,” Adam stated with a shrug. “We had a homophobic teacher, and we sort of said a few things that we shouldn’t have. The only good news is that the teacher got into trouble, too, but we’re still in the bad books with the parents.”

“Cool! I’m not the only one who got into strife. That makes me feel a lot better,” Brett said cheerfully. “I better get back and relieve Brian. I don’t want him upset with me, just in case we need to do this again.”

With a wave, Brett headed back home.

I didn’t know how the other two were feeling at that moment, but getting the news that Aiden was okay, and at school with the twins, cheered me up. Something was going right with one person, at least.

Eventually, it was time for bed. Mum was going to have a long list of chores for Adam and me to do, and we’d be studying for next week’s exams. She’d also told us that we were expected up at the normal time. The fact that we wouldn’t be going to school didn’t mean we could sleep in.

With the news about Aiden still buzzing through my head, I lay down and had my first restful sleep for several nights.