Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 15:38:01 -0500 From: Jeff Wilson Subject: W.A.R. Part Five - Chapter 6 W.A.R. Part Five - Secrets Chapter 6 --The Unlikely Hero by Jeff Wilson As the bus rolled to the front of my house to pick me up, the first thing I noticed was that Mrs. Smith wasn't driving. I didn't think much about it, because she would take days off from time to time. I sat in my usual seat and after the bus driver took a wrong turn and we all laughed, we eventually made it to Brett's house. Brett sat down next to me and didn't look happy. "Why didn't you tell me you were allergic to cats?" He asked. "I forgot." I said. "Well, I'm not going to get rid of Bob Cat. You're just going to have to take a pill or something before you come over. How are your eyes?" I pulled my glasses slightly out of my flannel shirt pocket. Brett smiled weakly. "I'm still keeping the cat." When we got to the school, Brett and I went our separate ways, as we usually do in the mornings. At least this year we were in most of the same classes. The school grouped everyone by last names, so Brett, Dustin and I were all in the same homeroom. I found Joey in the hallway before class and asked him if he found out about Angela's doctor's appointment. "Four months pregnant, so it wasn't the time I thought it was," he said. "I thought you said you always used protection," I said. "Well apparently that didn't work." Joey said, looking almost like he was going to cry. "I'm real sorry, Joey," I said. "So what happens now?" "I don't fucking know. My parents are so pissed off it's not funny. And her parents… They said they're going to sue me for child support. How the fuck am I supposed to pay child support? I don't even have a job." "Maybe the baby's not yours." I suggested. "What?" Joey said. "I mean, you told me before that she'd fuck anybody. Maybe she fucked somebody else and they got her pregnant." "Billy, this isn't a Maury Povich, okay? This is real fucking life. And people in real life don't do shit like that. Nobody goes off and has sex with somebody else to keep their boyfriend. So forget about it, I already thought of that. I'm fucked and I can't even leave the house except to go to school until summer. At least until I get a job to pay for the kid." "What about…" I said. "Forget about it." Joey said, unable to keep the tears back now. "My life is over. I made one mistake and now I'm fucked for life. I've got to get to class. Thanks for trying, Billy." I watched Joey head toward his class. I really felt for him. He was always nice to me, and a good friend. I felt sorry that he was in so much trouble. I guess that was something I took for granted. Neither me nor Brett were going to get pregnant. I went to my homeroom and noticed that Dustin was absent. I wondered if he still wasn't feeling well. I mentioned it to Brett and he just rolled his eyes. At least they weren't actively trying to hurt each other anymore. Brett just kind of accepted that Dustin was always going to be around, and Dustin didn't seem to have enough emotion in him at the moment to hate anybody. In chemistry class, Brett noticed that his laptop computer wasn't working. Miss Winston had moved up to the senior high school with us this year, and she was the teacher of the class. Brett got the laptop for his birthday and he used it for school work instead of a notebook. But after checking the battery and then seeing if the power cord would work, he closed it up and asked to borrow some paper from me. Throughout the day, he kept trying to get the laptop to work, and when it finally did start up, the screen was out of focus. I tried to get it to work in math class and for a brief second it looked like I had fixed it, right before it turned itself off for good. "You've got to be kidding me!" Brett said angrily. "I just got this thing last March. It can't be broken already." "Maybe your cat peed on it." I suggested. "Shut up, allergy boy!" Brett said. "You think I wanted to be allergic to your dumb cat? I'm not the one who went out and bought a cat. It's your fault I have to wear these dumb glasses today! You and Bob Cat." I said crossly. Then Mr. Palmer put a quick end to our argument by threatening to send us to the principal's office if we kept disturbing his class. After school let out, Brett was still angry about the computer and I was still angry about having to wear glasses all day. I suggested that Brett take the computer to Mike's place to see if he could find out what was wrong with it. Brett didn't seem too thrilled about it. "Can't I just have your dad look at it?" Brett suggested. "Well, you could, and he could probably fix it, but I don't know if he's worked on a laptop before. You'd be better off going to Mike." "Okay. But I don't want to go by myself. Will you meet me up at the path about an hour after you get home?" "Sure. I'll go. I want to tell Mike about Dustin missing school." I said. "I thought Mike didn't want anything to do with Dustin anymore after the car thing." "That's what he told Dustin's parents. But I think he's gotten over it. Boy, he was pissed off when that happened, though." "What did I tell you? I told you two years ago that Dustin was trouble." "Come on, Brett. We've been through this before." "Just look at him. He looks like a goon now. He's got that greasy, long hair. He always looks like he's miserable. You said yourself he smokes more cigarettes than your dad ever did. And you don't think he's found his way to his dad's liquor?" "His dad's an alcoholic, Brett. Among other things… You think Dustin could even get a drop without that asshole finding out about it?" I said, beginning to get angry as I usually did when I talked with Brett about Dustin. "Okay. We're almost to my house. I'll see you in an hour. Wear your glasses." "What? Why?" I asked. "Because I like them," he said smiling sort of shyly. Then he whispered, "They make you look sexy." Then he jumped up and walked to the front of the bus. I sat there watching him while he walked to his house. He looked back to the bus and gave me that little smile again. I swear, I fell even more in love with him just because he could do something so sweet. I got to the house and worked a little on homework in the bathroom. I hadn't seen Mike in a while, and I was actually a little nervous about seeing him. When it was time to meet Brett, I left a note for mom and dad in case they came home. Then I walked to the path in the woods. I got there before Brett did so I sat down on Dustin's stump to wait. I noticed that there were more cigarette butts there, and that made me a little frustrated. It took a stroke to get dad to quit, and Dustin saw what can happen. "Hey, you wore them." Brett said as he walked up the path, noticing my glasses. He was carrying the laptop with him. "You told me to wear them, besides, my eyes still hurt." I said. We kissed each other when he got to the stump. We didn't kiss all the time when we were together. That was something that was still special for us. "Well, let's get this over with." Brett said. We walked down the hill toward Mike and Dustin's part of town. I sometimes wondered why Mike still lived on Ligonier Street. He had made plenty of money over the years he had lived there, more than enough to move out. Even when his mother died of a heart attack, he could have moved back to his old house. But something kept him in that little trailer next to Dustin's house. Even when Dustin stole his car, he stayed there. Maybe he was feeling like me, like he had a responsibility to stay close to Dustin when everyone else had abandoned him.. Brett knocked on the door and after a few moments Mike opened the door and smiled at us. "Well, this is a surprise," he said. He moved aside and motioned for us to come into the house. It looked a lot different than the last time I'd been there. It was filled with more computer parts and it was organized differently. The living room stuff was gone, replaced with a computer display and a counter. "Haven't seen you boys in a while. So what brings you two strangers to my part of town?" he asked. "Brett's laptop wouldn't work today." I said. "He just got it for his birthday back in March, so we figured you might be able to look at it." "Why didn't you let your dad work on it?" Mike said. That was a question I hadn't expected him to ask. "Well, you're the expert," I said. "Billy, your dad could fix the Titanic if he wanted to. This kind of stuff is easy. Hell, I've called him when I'm stumped." "You have?" I said astonished. "He's scary smart, Billy. Seriously, the man's a genius with electronics. New stuff, old stuff… He's brilliant. And this computer's battery is dead." Mike said. "What do you mean?" Brett asked. "I checked it. I plugged it in and it still didn't work." "The computer won't work without the battery. The plug only saves the battery power so you can use it longer. Didn't you charge it?" "I thought I did." Brett said. "It was in the charger this morning and… oh…" "Oh?" Mike and I both said. "It wasn't in all the way. Bob Cat must have knocked it loose. But I didn't know that the computer wouldn't work without it." Brett said. "Well, let it charge for a while and it will work fine. Do you boys want something to eat or anything before you…?" Mike started to say. But before he could finish, the door flew open and slammed hard against the wall. Dustin's mom's large frame filled the doorway. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!" She roared. I had seen her angry before, but this was beyond anything I had ever seen in my life. She was beyond livid. "Mrs. Smith…" Mike said. I think even he was frightened. "Is there something you…" "Shut up, you fucking child molester!!" Mrs. Smith bellowed. I think all three of us were stunned to hear her say that. "What?" Mike said weakly. The blood drained out of his face and he turned as white as a ghost. "You've been fucking my son, you sick, perverted bastard!" "I don't know what you're talking about." "All I have to do is call the police and your fucking ass is going to jail, and to hell too I hope to God." Mrs. Smith had entered the house and was now staring down Mike. Even though Mike was taller, he looked like he was shrinking. I don't think she even realized Brett and I were there. "Mrs. Smith, I'm telling you, I have never touched your son. I was a friend for him, nothing more." "Enough bullshit! I know exactly what's been happening. I've been so fucking blind! I should have known. A guy like you, no girlfriend, no wife, just a single guy with a sick fascination with boys. You better hope the judge locks you away for life because if you get out I'll rip your balls off." "I swear. I don't know what Dustin said, but…" "Dustin almost died, thanks to you!" Mrs. Smith screamed angrily. "What?" Mike asked. "He's in the hospital! He didn't have to say a thing! It was obvious what happened. Anal bleeding! A torn rectum that got infected! If he hadn't have spent yesterday throwing up he could have been dead by next week! He could still die, anyway! The doctors told me that it was caused by a violent sexual penetration. You raped my son, you sick bastard!" Mrs. Smith couldn't take it anymore and grabbed a computer monitor and heaved it at Mike. It missed him by inches and shattered on the wall, leaving a large dent and glass everywhere. I was so scared at that point that I couldn't move. I felt for sure that we were about to be witnesses to a murder. I thought for sure that Mrs. Smith really was going to hang Mike by his balls. Plus, I was scared about Dustin. I knew he was feeling sick on Saturday, but to find out what was wrong with him, it was shocking. "Mrs. Smith, please! Let me explain!" Mike begged. "You'll have some explaining to do to the cops, if I don't kill you first!" Mrs. Smith said as a keyboard went flying. It hit Mike in the head and he yelped in pain. I figured that it was all over for Mike. I couldn't help him. I was too petrified. She wasn't going to listen to anything Mike said now except screams of pain when she pounded the shit out of him. Then it happened… "Maybe you should ask your husband what happened to Dustin." Mrs. Smith, Mike, and I turned and looked at Brett. Who was staring defiantly at Mrs. Smith. "What did you say?" Mrs. Smith said. "What did you just say to me?" "I said maybe instead of killing an innocent man you should find out what your husband does to your kids when you're not around." Brett said. "How DARE you!!" Mrs. Smith shouted. "Why don't you ask Amanda what happens when you go to work at night? No wait, you can't because she ran away from home!! Now why would she do something like that?" Mrs. Smith slapped Brett hard right across the face when he said that. But then I saw something I never thought I'd ever see… Brett slapped her right back. Mrs. Smith was stunned into silence. "That's assault on a minor. I could sue you for that if I wanted to. But I won't, because I know what you're going through. My dad raped my mom. Did you know that? That's why my did is never around. Perfect, huh? And I felt just like you do now when I found out. It hurt. It hurt far worse than a slap. It hurt worse than if it had happened to me. And I'm tired of watching people do nothing when they know that it's happening to somebody else. Well I'm tired of it, god dammit! I'm tired of keeping it a secret, and I'm tired of feeling like shit for letting it keep on happening! I know that Mr. Smith is the one who raped Dustin. I wouldn't say that if I wasn't one hundred percent sure of it." "Frank wouldn't do that…" "Wake up!! He did it and we're all letting him do it because we're all a bunch of fucking cowards. And if we let him, he'll do it again. He did it to Amanda until she got the hell out of there and he'll keep doing it to Dustin until either Dustin kills him or he kills Dustin. Either way, you'll end up losing them both. Why don't you find Amanda and ask her about why she really left? I'll bet if you told her about Dustin being in the hospital, she'd finally tell you about why she gained sixty pounds in six months." "I can't believe that you are saying these things, Brett." "And I can't believe that you would throw a guy who's been trying to help Dustin for two years in jail and bring Dustin home and right back into the hands of a guy who will fuck him again as soon as he thinks he can get away with it." Mrs. Smith turned and slowly walked out the door. Brett stood there a few moments, shaking. Mike walked around the counter and I blinked a few times, trying to figure out what had just happened. Mike put his hands on Brett's shoulders. "Are you okay?" Mike asked. "I just need a drink of water," he said. Mike quickly ran to the kitchen. "I can't believe you did that." I said, finally finding my voice. "Me neither." Brett said, his voice trembling. "I think I'm going to need a few minutes to myself." "Okay." I said. Brett walked out to the back porch and I walked to the front steps and sat down. From Dustin's house came the sounds of yelling, and things breaking. Mike joined me on the steps. "Well, I guess it's over now." He said. "No," I said. "I think it's just getting started." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Well... what do you think? This is one of those chapters that I've been building up to since part two. I'm anxious to find out what you think about it. And Billy is right, it's only the beginning. I guess this is like "sweeps" time for WAR. You know, how the tv shows hold off on the big plot developments until November or May, and then, boom boom boom, one after another. That's what's up for the story in the coming weeks. Major developments in every chapter for the rest of this part. This is payoff time for making it this far with me, and I'm very excited about the coming chapters. Remember, if you join the yahoo group, you get the first look at the story, and you get to talk with other readers and stuff. And of course, the polls and pictures. Here's the address for that: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/squirrelwriter And then there's the email. You should send me email! I'd really appreciate it! I want to know what you think about the developments in this chapter. Who would have thought it was Brett that would be the one to finally save Dustin? Did you figure it out before now? I can't know unless you tell me. Next time, Something will happen that will change Billy's life forever. (How's that for a teaser?)