Kenny and Peter - Book 1 - 10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons living, dead, space aliens, goats, or others are purely coincidental. There may be sexual content so if this, in any form, offends you, please cease reading. Also, if you are not of legal age to read this, please don't.

Copyright © 2009 by hh5

Kenny and Peter

By HH5

Chapter 10

Brian

Peter was right. Mr. Morrison is one big asshole!! I heard mom say he’s got tenure. I thought that meant he was supposed to be good, or something. Turns out, it doesn’t. What it means is that he can be a jerk and can’t get fired. I talked to a couple of other students after Peter told me about him; they said they didn’t like him, either. They wouldn’t say why, but I don’t know them very well, yet. I sure hope that bell rings … I need my chewable Tylenol bad!! I just hope mom lets me have a double. I love the orange flavor.

Not a moment too soon, the bell rang. I finished jotting down the notes on the board and started to leave. Mr. Morrison got in my way.

“Not so fast Mr. Jenkins.” Mr. Morrison closed the door after all the other students had left.

Peter

Wow! Mrs. Carson is so nice. She made things fun and easy to learn. I’m glad that she’s a friend of Brian. The other students were just as excited as I was when she asked the questions; we all had our hands up.

The bell rang and all the students groaned. I guess we all had so much fun we didn’t want it to end.

“Peter … Please wait.”

“No! I’ve got to find Brian!!” I darted out the door. Mrs. Carson followed me. We got to Mr. Morrison’s classroom less than two minutes after the bell.

I open the door and shouted, “Look!!” Mr. Morrison stepped away from Brian. Mrs. Carson put her hand to her mouth. I could tell she was surprised.

Brian

Peter rushed over to me; I could tell he was worried about something. He looked like he had seen something, something that wasn’t really there, but something that he could see and recognize a mile away.

He pulled me out of the classroom while ignoring Mr. Morrison’s attempts to keep me in there. As soon as he got me into the hallway, I saw Mrs. Carson. Peter pointed to me, and said to her, “Brian needs a hug today!”

Mrs. Carson thought it was so cute. She gave me a long hug and asked me why I was so upset. I trembled a bit, and then just whispered that Mr. Morrison’s lesson didn’t agree with me … just like it didn’t agree with Peter. She broke the hug and stared at me. She looked away, and stared at the wall…like she was thinking. She smiled … kind of a sad smile … and then said, “I’ll bet you two are hungry, aren’t you? So, you run along to the cafeteria before you pass out from hunger!”

Peter hugged me, too. Then he grabbed my hand and led me to the cafeteria. He was trying his best to make me feel better.

I looked back over my shoulder, and saw Mrs. Carson staring into Mr. Morrison’s classroom for a moment before she left—headed in the direction of the administration office. She was in a hurry.

Mrs. Carson

As I made haste to Mary’s office, I thought, “This is the straw that breaks the camel’s back! Mr. Morrison has definitely crossed the line!”

I nodded at the receptionist and walked directly into Mary’s office. “Mary? May I have a word with you?”

“Sure, Susan. Let me close the door. Please, have a seat.” We settled onto the couch, rather across the desk. I wasn’t sure how to start. Mary broke the silence. “What’s the problem?”

“I think its Mr. Morrison.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Well, yesterday, after Morrison’s class, Peter was very despondent. Today, after being in class with Morrison, Brian seems upset, perhaps despondent, too. Mary, this program is about reaching out to these kids. It’s not about harming them—in any way.”

Mary’s face took on an expression I can only describe as, “déjà vu.” I was glad and sad: glad that I wasn’t the only one who had concerns about Mr. Morrison; sad to learn that it was a real problem that was affecting our kids. Mary took notes, and asked for clarification a couple of times.

Then she smiled. It was a tight smile. “I have a meeting with Mr. Williams tomorrow at 1:00 PM., would you please join us?”

“Yes, Mary, I would like to … But, what about in the meanwhile? We can’t let Morrison…”

“That’s what I was checking. He doesn’t have any classes until 3:00 PM, tomorrow. I’ll have him in the observation room…where I can keep an eye on him.”

“I see,” I said. I should have known Mary wouldn’t have overlooked something that obvious.

“Good. Then, let’s have lunch … my treat!”

I smiled at that. Lunch in the school’s cafeteria was designed to be healthy for young, growing bodies. It wasn’t often a “treat” for the adults. Still, it would be nice to have a few unofficial minutes with my old friend.

Brian

Peter and I went to his home. As we walked there, I showed him the street names and landmarks. He seemed to remember a lot of it from yesterday, but not everything. I guess I’m gonna have to help Peter find his way home for a while. He acts like he never left his home, before. I’m gonna have to work hard, because as soon as he learns how to get home, I want to teach him how to come to my place.

It took about 25 minutes to get to Peter’s place. It would have been quicker, but the sidewalks were icy. Kenny must have been waiting for us; he opened the door and greeted us. Peter gave Kenny a very long hug. Then he pushed me gently to hug Kenny, too. It turned into a group hug. I think it lifted all our spirits.

Kenny looked tired. We asked what was wrong. He said he got home late, and hadn’t gotten to sleep until after 4:00 in the morning.

Kenny

“So, guys!! What took you so long?” I asked Brian. Peter had made a beeline for the bathroom.

“It’s slippery out there, and we almost got lost before I found my landmark.”

I stepped over to the window and pulled back the drapes. “Oh, yeah … the weather must have changed since I went to bed … You should have called me.”

“Its okay, Kenny. Peter has to learn how to find his way home, no matter what. You can’t baby him too much. It’s going to take time for Peter to get use to coming home. I’m gonna have to keep showing him the way until he understands his way around.”

I gave Brian another hug, and thanked him for being a good friend to Peter.

“I picked up a DVD at the video store. It’s an oldie. I haven’t seen it myself but I figured Peter and you might like it since it has a guy in a Speedo on the cover.” I grinned, and saw Brian blush.

Peter came back from the bathroom. He asked what we were going to do, today. “Well, especially since the weather’s so bad, it’s lucky I got a DVD. I think you’ll like it.” Brian showed him the cover; his eyes widened and he smiled.

“Guys … remember … you can pause the DVD any time you want to ask a question, or get something, or go to the bathroom. That way none of us misses anything. We’ll all be able to enjoy our time together.” We settled on the couch and I pressed play. The screen showed the title, “The Greg Louganis Story – Breaking the Surface.”

Brian

Peter threw a fit after seeing only the first 10 minutes of the movie. It was like when we started to play the boxing game on Wii, only much worse. Greg’s hard and scary childhood frightened Peter. I was closest to the remote. I grabbed it and pushed pause. Kenny put Peter in his lap and held him, calming him down. “Peter,” Kenny said. “It’s okay. This is Greg’s story about his life. What happened to him can’t hurt you; in fact, nothing can hurt you as long as you’re here. Don’t be frightened. What if I hold you while we watch? Okay?” Peter nodded. I was pretty impressed by how fast Kenny helped Peter.

Kenny added, “I didn’t know anything about Greg’s life, either. I bet we all can learn a lot by watching it. It would be a shame not to learn more about him, don’t you think? Don’t you want to know why he likes diving?” Peter nodded.

I went to Peter with the remote in my hand. I showed Peter what Kenny meant. “Look, any time there is something in the movie that you don’t understand, or something that you want to talk about it—or, something that frightens you, you can pause the movie. Here’s the control. This is the pause button. When you pause the movie, you can tell me your questions, and I will write them down for you.”

Peter smiled at me, and nodded. Kenny reached over and started the movie, again. Peter did pause the movie, several times. I wrote down his questions, like, Why was Greg’s father so mean to his son? Why is Greg gay? What is dyslexia? Why did Greg stop living with his mama and papa? Why did Greg’s mama and papa divorce? What is AIDS? Why is Greg’s friend so mean to Greg? Does Greg love that old man?

When the movie finished, I gave the list of questions to Kenny. Kenny asked me to help him answer the questions. I was very happy that he asked me; it made me happy to be able to help Peter. We had a long discussion about the movie. I answered the easier questions and Kenny built his answers on top of mine. It seemed to make Peter happy that both Kenny and I answered his questions. Kenny sure knows a lot of things, but he admitted that he learned a lot from this movie.

Kenny

The boys wanted to help fix supper. While they started a salad, I jotted my own notes. I thought, I learned something from this movie. I am now even more determined to talk to Mrs. Darwin about Peter’s parents. She can require them to attend counseling. No matter what, that will help Peter. If they pass, then perhaps they won’t hurt Peter again. If they fail, then Peter will never have to stay with unfit parents, again. Either way, I’ll be happy. I think Peter is gay, but I’m not sure, and he’s never said anything. So, I guess that kind of counseling can be deferred until it’s appropriate. I hope he will trust me enough to ask about this, someday.

I finished my notes and went to the kitchen. The boys were still chopping vegetables for the salad. I made one of my favorite dishes when I was Peter and Brian’s age. I’m glad my mom gave me the recipe. This was going to bring back some great memories and probably make some new ones, too.

We finished dinner. It turned out just great. The boys ate two helpings each. I saved some for Mary for Brian to take over. The beeper went off. It was work and I had to get the boys scrambling to get ready to go.

Brian

Mom came home a little earlier than yesterday. Kenny had left us only a moment ago. Mom put her things away in the closet. Peter came out to the living room to greet her.

“Hello, Peter!” she said. Peter smiled. He wasn’t into talking too much today. He’d been moody since we watched the movie.

“Okay, guys. I want to talk about what’s going on in Mr. Morrison’s class.” Mom was very serious.

Peter and I looked at each other. I made Peter go first and he explained what happen to him. Mom was making notes like about which lesson it was, how understandable it was, what we learn (or what we didn’t learn). Then came my turn and I went through the same process. I asked if Mr. Morrison was in some kind of trouble. Mom just said that she needed to update some progress notes for her meeting with Mr. Williams. Then she went into the kitchen and re-heated the food we brought home for her—and made us dessert.

After we all finished eating, she sent us off playing in my room while she made some phone calls and caught up with school business. I thought it was kind of funny that she had more homework than we did! We went to my room, but before I could close the door, Peter said he had to go to the bathroom. He left, and closed my door. I set up the Wii and started to play a single payer for a bit while I waited for him. He was gone for a long while. When he came back, he had a drink for each of us. I asked what took him so long, and he said that he and my Mom had talked a little bit about school and Kenny. I shrugged, okay, and we played some games on the Wii.

Peter and I went to bed at 10:15. He was sad that Kenny hadn’t called. I asked Peter what Kenny did for a living. Peter said Kenny was ER guy in a hospital like on TV. Well, I explain to Peter that’s why Kenny wasn’t able to call. If some big emergency ever happens, he wouldn’t be able to make a phone call. It took a while for Peter to understand. But when he did, he hugged me to let me know that he was okay. Again, he grabbed my arm and held it tighter than last night. I was a little bit concerned for Peter’s sake, but sleep overcame my thoughts. In no time, we were both sound asleep.