Roll Call - 5. Chapter 5

"You've really turned that around nicely, Renae. It couldn't have gone better. Are you alright?"

"Oh gawd Karen, I don't know. I mean, on one hand, I don't care as long as he is happy, but on the other . . . Shit, why my kid? Oh, I don't know what I mean. I mean, life for him sucked before he added this to it. Now, shit Karen, he's just fucked. I don't know what I am going to do. He was picked on before and that was hard enough after being so good at soccer and all, then losing it all because of a piece of shit father. Now . . . I just don't know what I'm going to do." The tears rolled freely down Renae's face. Karen pulled her to her and hugged her as she wept on her shoulder.

"Go ahead, cry it out. Get it all out. I understand. It means no grandchildren, it means ridicule and bias. It means a harder fight all the way through life. It's your baby, your sweet little prince. Cry it out now because this is your time. I understand. I've been right where you are this moment." She held her until she had cried herself out.

"Feeling a little better now?" Karen asked. Renae nodded and blew her nose in a tissue.

"Good, now turn around here. First of all, you aren't alone. There are a lot of support groups that can help you with things ahead of you. I'm here. Jan and Elliot are here. They aren't helpless either you know. It's more about watching that rights aren't trampled and that the boys remain safe. I've got lots of sites and resources to give to you tomorrow. But for tonight, didn't you say something about having a very unique toy box? Perhaps you could show me some of your toys."

"Oh sure! They are so much more fun to play with when you aren't playing alone," Renae said, smiling.

"I'll take your word on it. For now." Karen smiled and turned her beer up.

"I think I can be qualified as an instructor at this point." Renae's smirk matched the twinkle in her eye.

"Good, I think while we are playing, we should discuss how we are going to disembowel Mr. Granger."

"Oh, a woman after my own heart. Good idea. Let's grab another beer on the way."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Come on you two. Rise and shine. Breakfast in fifteen minutes. Out the door thirty minutes after that!" Renae said, smiling in the door at the tussled hair, one-eyed looks coming from the mish-mashed pile of boys and covers.

"Oh God, is she always like that in the morning?"

"No way. Usually, she's peering at me with one eye, staring over her coffee."

"Good, then I won't have to break up with you over it."

Jan rolled over and looked with one eye at Elliot and just stared at him until they both started to giggle. Jan quietly reached down and grabbed a fallen pillow by the corner. "Whap!" Elliot just lay there quietly. Jan, not seeing a response, gently lifted the corner of the pillow off of Elliot's face to find Elliot looking back with his eyes crossed and his tongue hanging out of the corner of his mouth. With the slept on hair, Jan noticed how much Elliot looked like Bill the Cat. He began to giggle and his giggle turned into a laugh as he mumbled, "Bill the Cat!" and rolled out of bed.

The boys fought over the bathroom until they both won. Elliot got into the shower and Jan brushed his teeth before they traded places. Elliot had to move the wheelchair out in the hall so he could get to the sink. He dutifully brushed his teeth then sat down to take a serious dump. As he deposited two children in the pool with little or no effort he wiped and flushed.

"Ah! You piece of toe jam and Oh my god! What is that smell! Jesus Elliot, what did you eat, a decaying, maggot-encrusted yak? Oh my God, that is just so wrong on so many levels."

Elliot smiled a wicked smile as he turned the fan off and closed the door and headed into the kitchen.

Jan finished his shower quickly and turned off the water. He pulled back the shower curtain to find his chair gone. "Shit!" he said as he sat his ass on the cold side of the tub and swung his legs over. Normally, he would just lean over and grab the arms of the chair and place a knee in the seat to get out, then stand and dry himself.

"Elliot! I'm so gonna kill you. Bring my chair back here." Jan yelled at the top of his lungs.

Grinning like a cat in a fish factory, Elliot continued smearing strawberry jam on his toast.

"Aren't you going to go take his chair back to him? What did you do with it?" Renae asked.

Elliot stood at the breakfast bar, eyeing the piece of toast as he nibbled a corner. "I rolled it out in the hall so I could brush my teeth."

"But didn't you roll it back in when you were done?"

"Are you kidding? The way I stunk that place up, all I could think to do was run," Elliot said, smiling.

"Oh, you're a rotten kid, you are." Renae said, smiling.

"What, you can smell it down here?" Elliot said, sniffing the air. "I guess I should have left the fart fan on."

"You really are one, aren't you? So how long are you going to make him wait?"

"If I know my mother, she is about to come out and answer his plea for help."

"Ahh!" Jan shouted from the bathroom.

Elliot smiled at Renae, "Right on cue."

Renae just looked at him. "Remind me never to piss you off."

Karen entered the kitchen. "Damn Elliot, no more Taiwanese food for you, and what an awful thing to do to poor Jan."

"Yeah, paybacks are a bitch. He hit me with a pillow when we got up. I couldn't let him get away with that, now could I?"

"Yeah, but Elliot . . ." Karen said, waving her hand in front of her face as if she was trying to clear the air.

Jan rolled into the kitchen and stopped. He started buttoning up his shirt and looking disgusted at Elliot. "Dude, that was so wrong. And me crippled and left for dead. What if I had suffocated in there?"

Ignoring him, Elliot went over and slapped his hands away and straddled the chair. Sitting on Jan's lap, he started unbuttoning his shirt as he leaned in and gave him a little kiss. Then he aligned his shirt properly and started buttoning it again. As he got up again, he ran his hand over his package, Jan jumped, "Hey, what the. . ."

Elliot looked to his Mom, "See, it does go down, just not very often." Then, looking back at Jan he added, "Or for very long."

Jan's eyes met Karen's, she was grinning. Jan blushed and his jaw dropped with a "help me" look at her.

"Not me!" Karen managed to giggle out through an impish grin, "You're on your own."

For a moment, Jan saw Elliot in her face. Turning back to Elliot, "You are sooo going to die for this."

"I am?" Elliot said, getting into his face. "Weren't you the one trying to play the 'dying crippled' card just a minute ago?"

"Well, what was I suppose to do, left all alone in the land of stench?" his voice trailing off as he looked up with the worst try at sad puppy eyes.

"Look, I'm willing to call us square, just don't ever try and make sad puppy eyes again. Deal?" Elliot said with finality.

Renae and Karen were in stitches. "Alright you two, eat before you're late," Renae said.

"That reminds me," Karen said loudly. "I've had a call from the school too. How long do you think you can go cutting afternoon classes and still pass this year? And Elliot, the coach wants to know if you're ever going to show up for soccer."

Elliot looked crestfallen. "I know, you're right. It's just that, well, stuff has always happened in the mornings."

"Ok, fair enough. Renae and I are going into school and see if we can sweeten Mr. Granger's attitude."

"Mom don't, please. It'll just make it worse."

"Sweety, we can't let him think that kind of treatment is okay and that a simple apology can fix it. What he did was not only wrong, but dangerous. He had no right doing that."

"Yeah, you're right. You're always right. It's just that he's so scary and all."

"Well, you can't just let it go because he's scary. That would only teach him that if he can be scary enough, he can do what ever he wants without consequences. You are going to have to trust me on this.

"Now, we both work two to eleven tonight. Renae has suggested that you both come here and hang out until I get home. If he outed you at school, I would just prefer you weren't in the trailer park tonight. Look, you two need to be on your toes today. We don't know who heard or said what. So take care of each other and at the first sign of trouble, head for a teacher or the office. Got it?" she said, looking at Elliot.

"I know the drill Mom."

"How about you? Do you understand what I'm saying?" she said, looking at Jan.

"Yes. You really think there may be trouble?" Jan asked.

"I don't know. That's why I said you have to be on your toes. I suspect if anything happens or if anyone knows, then you'll hear about it this morning and we will probably be there for at least the first couple hours. I plan on taking my time with Mr. Granger. But Jan, you have to realize that in coming out, things are no longer the same and there is no taking it back. Even if you were outed in error and you were really straight, the idiots out there wouldn't believe you. So know that things will not be the same as they were. Elliot can tell you a bit about what he's gone through. It doesn't mean you need to be scared, just more aware of what's going on around you. Stick together when you can and try not to go anyplace alone. At least until we know that things have settled down. Who knows, they might not even know, maybe nobody in the class heard or gave it credence. I mean, everyone must know about Mr. Granger, right?"

"That would certainly make life easier. All this is a little scary." Jan said with some concern.

"Don't worry sweetie, I'll protect you." Elliot said, fawning over him.

Jan looked up at his mom, "Can I change that to 'Oh my God, we're gonna die'?"

"You two are something else. Go on now or you're going to be late. We'll be there shortly."

Elliot grabbed his bag and Jan's and made for the door. "Come on slow poke, you're gonna make us late."

Jan motored towards the open door and out to the Van. "What do you mean I'm going to make us late? You're the one who hid my chair from me. If anyone makes us late, it's you."

"Quit your belly aching. How long are you going to hold a grudge, anyhow?"

The mom's listened to the boy's bickering as the lift tucked itself away and the door closed. They shook their heads, looking at each other. Renae closed the door and looking at Karen asked, "Hey, wanna try that Double X vibrating Meat substitute in the shower together before we go have roasted teacher for breakfast?"

"Ooo, that sounds delicious." Karen said, slipping her arms around Renae's waist and pulled her into her. "Who get's to drive?"

"I do, of course!"

"Good, you do it so well. Hey, think we can roast the asshole and still get back in time for a cat nap before we go to work? I don't think that two hours we managed last night will be enough to get me through until eleven this evening."

"Hey, it's not my fault you are insatiable. But maybe we can, we'll just have to hurry. I'll put the vibration setting on high."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Boy, our moms are sure hitting it off well. I can't believe they let us spend the night together. That was fucking awesome. I thought we were dead meat when mom told me she locked the pool gate."

"Well, I knew it wasn't going to be terminal. I'm just glad your mom didn't freak out. That's always so bad."

"What do you mean 'always' so bad?"

"I had a friend at my last school. He got caught sucking his friend off and his mother went off the deep end. He ended up running for it. He spent a couple nights with one of his friends and then his mom found out and he ran again and ended up at our house. Mom tried to get her some help, but she wouldn't have any part of it, so Mom called Social Services and got the kid a foster home and counseling from some groups that help gay kids with parents who don't want to accept it."

"I don't get it. It's not like she could make him like girls or something. I mean, she doesn't have any choice."

"Yeah, but it doesn't always occur to them. They don't get it. Sometimes they think it's like a choice and you are doing it to rebel or something. Or like you are doing it to get back at them for some reason."

"Oh God, I'm glad my mom is my mom. I don't know what I would have done if it went that way."

"We went to PFLAG meetings and stuff and learned a lot. The thing that kids said they heard the most was 'How could you do this to us?' Like you just wanted to hurt them, so you went gay. And you're right. Your mom is so cool."

"Yeah, your mom is too."

"Yeah, and she thinks you're hot, too."

"Oh man, I could have gone all day without knowing that. You know, if you would stop making me hard and then pointing it out, I would be a lot happier."

"I know, but you are just so cute when you blush."

"I know, but it's so embarrassing."

"What? Did I use too big of words? You're adorable when you're hard and everyone can see it. Your dimples make me crazy."

"Yeah, but come on, you gotta give me a break. And last night! You conned me into showing them everything and then run up, covering yourself up and saying that. God, I can't believe you did that."

"Yeah, but you should have seen your face. In fact, look at this. I had your mom print me one this morning. See, look at those dimples!"

"Oh my God! You're not going to show that to anyone, are you? Christ, it looks like I'm fishing."

"Yeah, it is pretty cute. No, don't worry, I won't show it to anybody. Well, except maybe Karen Fitzgerald. She thought you were pretty cute."

"No way dude. You do and I'll have to kill you in your sleep."

"Oooo, can I choose how you kill me?"

"She thought I was cute? Really? Did she say that?"

"Go near her and I'll scratch your eyes out."

"Well, if you show her that picture, I may not have any choice. I mean, if she thinks I'm cute anyways."

"Are you kidding me? I'm not showing this to anyone but you and me. I'm putting it in the back of our locker. Then I can see it when ever I open the door to get books."

"Over your dead body! Then everyone will see it when they walk past."

"Humm, well ok, then. I'll think of someplace discrete."

"Yeah well, it better be. We're here," Jan said, looking around at the masses milling about, waiting for the bell. He took a deep breath and blew it out. "Let's go."

"If anyone says anything, just keep going, ignore them."

"Yeah, right."

"No really. If they don't get a response, then they won't keep it up. It's a key defense."

"Yeah okay, I got it." He rolled out on the platform, lowered it and backed off, pushing the button to stow it away. Turning towards the school, they made their way up towards the doors.

"Hey look, the crip's got him a nurse-maid. Show us your cute wiggle," came a voice from the pile of jocks by the steps. Elliot looked at Jan and his face showed fear. Elliot walked up to the one talking, his hands on his hips, squinting as he looked up at the jock.

"Why, am I what you're interested in?"

"Fuck no, I ain't no faggot."

"You seem pretty interested in me and my wiggle a minute ago, and oh, look! You've got a wiggle too. Only yours is in the front." He pointed at the bulge in his corduroy shorts. "Hey, look guys, I turn him on. Here . . ." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a note pad with a pen and quickly wrote down a phone number. He stuffed it in the top of his pocket in his shorts and smiled, "Call me. That looks like it could hurt me, but call me anyhow." He smiled as he sashayed back to a waiting Jan who stared slack-jawed as Elliot walk past him. Pausing, he turned back and looked at the jock, who was fidgeting, and now holding his notebook in front of him. Elliot made eye contact with him, then looked down and back up to meet his eyes again. He poked his tongue against the inside of his cheek, making it bulge out a few times and the jock shivered. His mouth opened and he glanced down at his notebook, then back up at Elliot. Elliot could see the anger rising in his eyes.

Jan looked up at Elliot. "I'm so glad you showed me how to do that key defense thing."

The boys made a hasty exit towards the front doors of the school listening to the jibes now aimed at the jock, who was still fully hard, thinking about what Elliot had said and done. He started to exit himself, knowing he had a limited amount of time before they would all discover that he just creamed himself.

Going through the doors of the school they peered back through the windows of the door watching the jock getting railed by his buddies.

"Good," Elliot said. "Now he knows how it feels. Maybe he'll think twice before doing that to someone again."

"Yeah, or maybe now he can spend his time thinking of ways to pound the little faggots for turning him out to his friends." Jan looked up at Elliot. Elliot placed a hand on Jan's shoulder.

"Relax. I'm sure nothing will come of it. All I did was take their minds off of us."

They glanced back out the window just in time to see the jock draw back and paste his buddy in the eye, knocking him to the ground.

"Oh shit!" Elliot said. "Come on." And he turned around to find his nose smashed against the button of someone's shirt. He slowly tilted his head up to find the eyes looking back at him were none other than Mr. Granger's.

"What are you two up to now?" he said, now looking past them to the maylay outside. "You had a hand in this, I just know it," he said, pushing his way past them and out the door.

"Come on, let's get to Biology. Maybe they'll forget about us." Jan said, spinning his chair around.

"You wish!" Elliot said under his breath.

"Yeah, I do. I know they won't, but it's better if we aren't standing there when they come through that door. There won't be a single one in the bunch who wouldn't just love to kill the both of us. Including the guy restraining the pissed off jocks."

"Ooo, good call. I hadn't thought of that. We're fucked, aren't we?" Jan said with obvious concern.

"Well, if I can quote Tonto and the Lone Ranger, 'What do you mean "we" white man'?"

"Thanks, so glad I can count on you."

"Look, just ignore them, it's a key defense. I have it from someone who has been through it already." Jan said ramming his words back down Elliot's throat.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. He told me on the way to school this morning, just before they all decided they wanted to kill us."

"Slap!" Elliot slapped Jan's arm. "Asshole," he said as he opened the door to the classroom

Jan pulled out his phone and started punching keys quickly as the bell rang, the universal signal to put away all electronics or have them confiscated.

"Who are you texting?" Elliot asked, as kids came running in and trying to slide into their seats without being noticed.

"The mom's"

"What did you say?" he whispered

"Oh shit, help."

"A little drastic, don't you think?"

The door opened and Mr. Granger stuck his head in and made eye contact with the boys. He motioned with his finger for them to come with him. The delight in his eyes made them both nervous.

"No, don't think so," Jan whispered as he rolled forward, and out the door.

"You two have really done it now, inciting a riot, making sexual advances towards another student. I'll see your homo ass on a street corner selling your abilities to other perverts just like yourself."

"Really?" Elliot said, pausing; His anger begining to boil.

"Oh yes. I have you now, right where I want you. Well, I guess this just exonerates me all to hell, doesn't it?"

"Oh, I'm so terrified, aren't you?" Elliot said to Jan, mockingly. Jan failed to see the humor in it as his eyes filled.

"Give it a rest, will you?" Jan whispered back as he sped up toward the office.

They reached the office where Mr. Granger, smiling deeply, held the door open and with a slight, grinning bow, also used the bow to indicate that they should enter. They went in and could see off to the side the nurse tending to two pummeled jocks. Mr. Granger pointed to the hot seat outside the principal's office door.

"Sit," he said, still smiling.

"Kiss it." Elliot said back.

The smile disappeared from his face as he clenched his teeth and took a step forward in the direction of Elliot. Jan backed up a few inches, his eyes silently filling, afraid of what was about to happen.

"Or what? You'll hit me? Oh, won't that make you a fierce warrior!"

Mr. Granger was seething as he grabbed Elliot's arm and squeezed it, moving him to the chair.

Elliot screamed when he did. "Let go of me. You're hurting me."

Mr. Granger continued to push him back as Elliot's knee came up and planted itself in the groin of Mr. Granger.

He became incensed as he grabbed Elliot's other arm.

"Take your hand off my son this instant." Karen said, pushing her way across the room and grabbing Mr. Granger's wrist, she glared at him. "I said to take your hands off my son, now."

Mr. Granger started to say that her son just assaulted him as she took her loose hand and hit him in the throat. He released his grip and drew back as Jan rammed his chair into the side of his legs. Mr. Granger went down like a freight train trying to fly. Renae stood there in shock.

"You got your cell phone?" Karen asked her.

Staring at the gasping man on the floor, she nodded, handing it to her. She flipped it open and dialed the 9 1 1 emergency number.

"9 1 1, what is the nature of your emergency?"

"I need the police. I just caught a teacher molesting my son. I think you may need an ambulance, too. He is starting to wake up, so they better hurry." She told them the name of the school and they said to stay on the line. She handed the phone back to Renae and said, "Hold this, but don't hang up."

The next moment, teachers were scrambling as a voice came over the PA system. "We are currently in lock down. Please follow lock down protocols. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. The county school system has been notified that there is a disturbance at one of the properties. We are to remain in lock down until further notice."

"Well, that system sure works well. But I think they just locked us in with a mad man." Karen said, hugging Elliot. "Are you alright sweetheart?" she said, looking him over.

"Yeah, nothing but sore arms where he grabbed me."

Karen lifted his short sleeves to see he had bruise marks that looked like hand prints where Mr. Granger had grabbed him so hard.

"Did you assault him like he said?"

"Mom it just hurt so bad when he grabbed me, I was just trying to get him to let go of me. He wouldn't, so I kneed him. He must have brass balls though, because it just made him madder."

She hugged him for a moment and pulled away.

"Did you see him, mom? He came to our rescue." Elliot said to his mother, then looking at the boy in the wheel chair. He looked like he was in shock. Just like Renae, who also stood frozen to the spot.

Elliot moved over to Jan and knelt down beside Jan's chair. Jan was breathing heavily and staring at Mr. Granger. Elliot took his finger and gently placed it on Jan's chin and turned his face to look at him.

"Are you alright?"

Jan seemed to come out of his daze, and shook his head no as a tear rolled down his face. Elliot pulled him to him and hugged him. "You saved us. You came to our rescue." He held the trembling, weeping, boy as he sobbed into his shoulder. Karen made her way to Renae.

"Come on hon. Sit down over here." Karen said to her. She just sort of shuffled as she was led, still pointing her finger at the moaning man still laying on the floor. "You hit him," she whispered.

"Yeah, well, he needed hitting. What choice did I have?"

Elliot pulled Jan away from his shoulder, "You gonna be alright?"

Jan seemed to be better, but the adrenalin was still pumping. Elliot pulled Jan to him and kissed him as the door opened and two very large policemen walked in.

"Who called?"

Karen stood up, "I did. He's the one."

"Can you tell me what happened?" he said as the other officer stepped around him and rolled Mr. Granger over on his stomach and handcuffed him.

At the sight of the hand cuffs and the guns on the side of the officers, Jan backed up. He felt like his heart was going to explode from his chest. He started to hyperventilate.

The first officer reached up and clicked his microphone, "14" he said.

"14 go ahead," the voice on the radio replied.

"Dispatch rescue to this location please." He let go of the microphone and a moment passed.

"Base to 14"

"14 go ahead."

"Be advised rescue is enroute your location. ETA 2 minutes"

"Copy base. ETA 2 minutes. We are code 4 at this location. I expect we will be 10-06 for a while."

"Jan, are you alright? Jan? Nurse!" Elliot called out. She came running in and knelt, listening to his gasping.

She ran back to her room and brought a paper bag, rolling the top down. "Here, breathe into this. Calm down, you're alright. It's all okay now. Breathe slower. Concentrate on breathing easier. That's right. You're going to be alright now. Just calm down. You just hyperventilated." Jan looked at her, not understanding. "You got overly excited honey. It happens sometimes and you just can't catch your breath. You're going to be alright."

Elliot slapped his arm. "Don't you ever do that again. You scared the crap out of me."

Jan smiled as Elliot leaned in and kissed him gently, then rested his forehead against his. Everyone in the room watched the interaction in silence for a moment until the silence was broken by Mr. Granger, coughing and wheezing.

The ambulance arrived moments later and two paramedics came in with their kits. "What have we got?" he asked the officer.

"Well, at first we thought this one. He started breathing rapidly, but the nurse had him breathe into a bag. The guy on the floor sounds like he's having trouble breathing."

One paramedic rushed back out into the hall where they had parked their gurney and grabbed the oxygen and brought it in, placing the mask over Mr. Granger's face. The paramedic looked him over. "It looks like he has a crushed wind pipe. Let's get him on the gurney and transport."

The first officer looked at the kids and then at the two women. He turned to the other cop. "Why don't you ride with them and I'll pick you up at the hospital after I get done here."

The officer gave him a nod and helped the paramedics get him on the gurney. He undid the handcuffs and cuffed him to the railing on each side.

"Now," the first officer said, "would someone mind telling me who beat up the Marine?"

"He's a teacher here," the principal said, glaring at Karen. "And she attacked him. I saw it."

The officer took a breath and reached up for his mic again. "14" he said.

"14" the disembodied voice said back.

"Could you roll a Baker unit in this direction, please?"

"Copy 14. Baker unit ETA 3 minutes."

"Copy, Baker unit eta 3 minutes." He looked at the group. "Let's everyone just have a seat alright? I've called for some assistance so we can get everyone's story, so for the moment, let's everyone just have a seat and we'll hear from everyone. Now, you said you placed the call. Is that right Ms. . ." he stood poised with pen against his pad.

"Glicksman," she replied. "Karen Glicksman, and this is my son, Elliot," she said, extending a hand towards him and he came to her. "We got a text from Jan saying that they need help so we came right away. When we came in, Mr. Granger had hold of Elliot by the arms and Elliot was trying to get away from him. He was screaming for him to let him go, that he was hurting him. I tried to break his grip and couldn't. He had hold of him really tightly. He had a crazy look in his eyes, so I hit him in the throat. That stunned him and then Jan finished him off with his wheel chair."

The officer was writing frantically and paused. "He ran him over with his wheel chair?"

"Right. Well, he didn't run him over, exactly. He really just bumped into his legs and that made him let go and then he fell on the floor."

He looked at Elliot. "Where did he have hold of you son?"

Elliot rolled up his sleeves and the officer could see serious bruises. "He did this to you?" the officer asked.

"Yeah."

"Why did he do that to you, Elliot?"

"Because," Elliot paused, then took a deep breath. "Because we're gay."

The cop just stood there waiting. "That's it, because you're gay? I was expecting more."

"Then you're not shocked, or put off, or anything?" Elliot asked.

"Well, to be honest, when we got here, you were busy trying to swallow that young man's tongue, so we were a little tipped off to that aspect of the relationship. And son, I have seen almost everything so no, I am not shocked or put off. Does it make a difference? To me? Not one bit. The law is for everyone."

Two more officers showed up and the officer excused himself to speak to the two officers as he pointed at the different people in the room. When he got to Elliot, he pointed at the sleeve areas of both arms.

The principal stood up and started to go back into her office when the officer stuck his head into the room. "Excuse me, where are you going?"

"I have to call for a substitute for Mr. Granger. You know. The innocent victim that you handcuffed and drug away like a criminal!"

"Right, listen. Sit down in that chair and don't move. Do you understand?"

She began to argue, "Someone has to call for a substitute."

"Right," he said. "But for now, that someone is not you."

"I am the principal here, it is my job," she said as she walked back into her office.

The officer followed her into the office where her voice could be heard. "What are you doing? Take your hands off me. How dare you? Oh no you're not. You're not going to put those on me. You wait. I'll have your badge for this," she spit out as the officer emerged from the office with her by the arm and her hands firmly hand cuffed behind her back. He set her in the chair where she continued to rant and rave.

"Excuse me," the officer said. "You see these two officers?" he said, pointing at the two officers standing with their arms crossed. He went on, "This is my supervisor and the shift commander. If you have any complaints, tell them. But if you don't exercise your right to be silent, I'm going to have them seat you someplace where you can scream all you want. I think they have the drunk tank cleaned up by now."

She glared at him and then shut up. The officer then went to his supervisor and asked the two of them to interview the nurse and the principal. Upon comparing notes, it seemed that when Mr. Granger brought the two jocks in, the principal stopped him and upon hearing his side of it, sent him to bring the two boys to her office. It was further brought to light that the nurse and the principal watched the whole thing happen and did not do anything one way or another.

The officer went back to Karen, speaking softly, "Ms. Glicksman, do you wish to press charges?"

"What does that mean?"

"Well, to begin with, it really doesn't matter if you say yes or no, because two people are going to jail today. The state will prosecute on behalf of the minor children. Yours will just add to it."

"Then yes, I wish to press charges, but I have to ask who the second person is? I mean, I was just defending my son."

"Oh, no, not you. You see, the principal sent him to get your son and his boyfriend. So she was complicit in placing them in danger. And she further involved herself by watching and not acting. She did nothing to stop it, so that makes her party to it, especially since she sent him to get them. Now, I don't know how the prosecutor will handle this one. You see, when he placed his hands on Elliot and moved him from one place to another against his will, then he committed kidnapping as well as assault. Since she sent him and then watched as he committed the offenses, then she is party to it as well. You see, he was acting on her behalf.

"The nurse was iffy. You see, she was also aware and did nothing, but she also had two boys already getting care for an altercation. So we aren't charging her. But the principal and the teacher, Mr. Granger, are spending the night in custody. And because the whole thing stems from your son's being gay, then that moves the whole thing into the arena of a hate crime and exacerbates the offense. Now, if you'll just sign right here, the prosecutor will be in touch."

She signed and then he stood up and walked over to the principal. He reached for her arm to help her stand up. As he did, a female officer came in through the door and walked over to where he stood with the principal. She handed him her handcuffs and he slipped them on above his. "What are you doing? Why aren't you taking them off? I didn't do anything wrong," she began to protest. Having placed the new cuffs on her, he removed his own, placing them back into his cuff holster.

"Yes maiam," he said. "I am placing you under arrest for the assault and kidnapping of Elliot Glicksman. This officer will read you your rights." The young female officer pulled a card from her pocket and began to read from it. As she did the color drained out of the principal's face as she was led out of the room.

The officer clicked his microphone "14"

"14 go ahead."

"Would you notify the school district that we are now code 4 and the district can stand down from its lock down state?"

"Copy 14 are you still 10-06?"

"Affirmative. Be advised that I am enroute to county hospital for a transport."

"Copy 14. Time 1134."

"The rest of you are free to go."

"Well," Karen said, smiling as she fiddled with Elliot's collar. "I guess that's that."

Renae still had a glassy-eyed stare that matched her son's.

"So, are you two alright to go back to class then?"

"Sure mom. I mean, we were only kidnapped and assaulted."

"Oh, stop it," Karen said. "Look, you guys have been through a lot, but you have already missed a lot of afternoons and I don't think they are going to be too forgiving in the future."

Renae was coming back to life. "You want them to go back to class?"

"Look, the only problems they had are gone. They've got afternoon classes left. If we pull them out now, then everyone will know they were involved. If they go back to class, they only know what the boys tell them."

Renae looked at Jan. "You okay with that? Going back to class?"

Jan looked at Elliot. "Somebody's got to keep an eye on him."

The boys turned and went out the door to lunch. The jocks in the nurse's office left too.

Word didn't take long to get around, although the stories varied from Granger taking them hostage, to getting caught fucking them both in the principal's office, the latter getting corrected as quickly as possible. With lunch done, they proceeded to their next classes. Jan to Home Economics and Elliot to gym.