Chapter Sixteen
"All rise," the bailiff said, and the judge
called the courtroom to order. Travis was half asleep, thanks to insomnia
caused by a combination of his nervousness and the side effects of Dr. Hu's
treatment. It had been a week since school ended, and he'd had his first dose.
The first two days after the injection, he had little energy and slept most of
the time. Then he couldn't sleep more than two hours at a time due to the
migraines and nausea.
"Mr. Turner, I asked you a question," the
judge said. "Do you have anything you'd like to say before I render my
verdict?"
"Sorry, Your Honor. I'm on a new medication
that makes me drowsy. I would like to reiterate that I didn't set out to hurt
anyone that day, but I thought my life was in danger and used appropriate force
to defend myself."
"Very well then. I find you guilty on all
counts. Given the severity of your crimes coupled with your health issues and
this being your first offense, I'm inclined to go easy on you. But I feel you
should be punished to deter you from further criminal offenses.
"Thus, I'm sentencing you to serve 1,000 hours
of community service, placing you on two years' probation, and requiring you to
attend anger management classes. Let this be the last time I see you in this
court, Mr. Turner, or next time I won't be so sympathetic. If you'll follow my
secretary, she'll give you the information regarding your probation officer,
local anger management classes, and timesheets for your community service. Good
day." She banged her gavel, and Travis's father led him out by the arm.
Travis couldn't believe this was happening.
His whole summer was gone, and it was all Giovanni's fault. Damn him and his
red-orange rat's nest. He cursed the day they ever met.
***
On a muggy Monday, Travis found himself in Dr.
Douglas Dull's Class for the Aggressively Challenged.
The class wasn't scheduled to start for another ten minutes, but his mother had
to work a double shift at the hospital, and the twins' babysitter was running
late, so she'd elected to drop him off early. As they were saying goodbye,
Giovanni and his mother arrived.
"What are you doing here?" they all said in
unison.
"It was part of Joshua's--" Mrs. Giovanni
began.
"Sentencing?" his mother said. "Same with my
Travis, but I refuse to let him be in the same room with your ruffian of a
son."
Mrs. Giovanni balled up her fists and cut his
mother a dirty look. "The feeling's more than mutual." She stalked toward the
other woman, and an argument ensued. Travis's face flushed as others arrived
for the class.
"God, this is so embarrassing," he said to no
one in particular.
"I know," Giovanni said. "Talk about the
battle of the Beckys."
Travis turned to him, glaring. "Hey, your mom
started it."
"Did not." Giovanni got in Travis's face. "I
wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you!"
Travis, rage on the verge of exploding
outward, clenched his jaw. "Me? You're the one who started the fight that
landed me here, and now my summer's ruined." He shoved Giovanni back and was
about to punch him in that cocky little face of his when someone whistled.
"That's enough. Ladies,
is this any example to set for your children?" said a man who introduced
himself as Dr. Dull. "And boys, I'm sensing some animosity between you. What
say we talk things out before you do something you'll regret?"
Travis sneered at Giovanni. "Too late. This
supercilious simpleton is the reason I'm in this class."
"Oh, you think you're so smart using big
words. Compensating for something else, eh? Maybe that face of yours?"
Travis lunged at him, and they tussled on the
ground before Dr. Dull separated them.
"What are your names, boys?"
They gave him their names, and the man checked
his stack of papers. "It would seem you're in my course. As class hasn't
officially started yet, I'll let this incident slide, but one more outburst,
and I'll contact your probation officers. Understood?"
Travis's mom sneered. "My son isn't going to
be in any class with him."
Mrs. Giovanni stuck her nose in the air. "The
same goes for my Joshua."
Dr. Dull paused a moment, then cleared his
throat. "Perhaps we could all use this as a teaching moment. The boys are
already here, so why not let them attend class and see how things go? If it
eases your mind, I'll assume full liability should something happen."
Travis's mom and Mrs. Giovanni talked it over a
minute with Dr. Dull before agreeing to let them stay.
"Now boys, how 'bout you go inside and take a
seat?"
"Yes, sir," they said in unison and entered
the classroom. Travis took a seat in the front and booted up his laptop while
Giovanni sat in the back. "Asshole," he mouthed as he passed. Travis flipped
him off, shooting him side-eye.
During the first class, they went over the
syllabus and course policies. They were allowed two excused absences, one
unexcused absence, and if they were more than ten minutes late, that counted as
half an absence. Attendance and class participation were factored into their
grade, and any altercations meant an automatic failure.
Dr. Dull took attendance and had them each
tell the class something about themselves when he called their name.
"I hate stupid people and am only here because
a moron and his friends decided to jump me at school," Travis said when he was
called on.
Giovanni shot out of his chair. "Who ya calling a moron, fatso?"
Travis was out of his seat and heading for
Giovanni when a burly guy in a red bandana stepped in front of him. "He's not
worth it."
Travis wanted to kick Giovanni's punk ass but
wanted to stay out of jail more, so he went back to his seat.
"Yeah. You'd better have walked away,"
Giovanni said.
Travis glared at him, and the lights
flickered.
Calm down. He centered himself,
and the lights returned to normal.
"Thank you, Buford, for defusing that
situation. And Travis, you showed good restraint. Where'd you learn those
breathing exercises?"
"A book on Zen Buddhism and meditation."
"Excellent. Meditation and having some form of spiritual practice are great ways to focus your mind
and redirect your aggression. However, I'm disappointed in you and Joshua.
Name-calling will not be tolerated in this class."
Travis nodded, and the class continued with
them learning various breathing exercises and ways to de-escalate situations.
The class closed with them doing trust falls. Travis's skin crawled at the
thought of all those strangers touching him, but he endured it until Dr. Dull
asked him to pair up with Giovanni.
"Hell no!"
Giovanni shot him a dirty look. "Not like I
want to do them with you either. God knows I don't trust ya,
and you'd prolly crush me anyways."
Oblivion whispered into Travis's ears, "Don't
let him besmirch you."
With rage hotter than hell, Travis stared down
Giovanni. "Disrespect me again, and I will lay you out and fill your mouth with
your mother's menses."
"Both of you outside, now!" Dr. Dull led them
by their arms. Once outside the classroom, he lit into them. "What is the
matter with you? Joshua, why do you antagonize Travis so? And Travis . . . I
don't even know where to begin with what you just said to him. By all rights, I
should kick you out of class and call your probation officers."
"Don't!" they said in unison, glaring at the
other.
"Why shouldn't I? You two have animosity that
goes far beyond aggression issues."
Travis, lachrymose at the thought of dying in
juvenile prison, graveled. "Please don't. We promise not to disrupt class again
and do the trust falls."
"Yeah," Giovanni said.
Dr. Dull scratched his salt-and-pepper beard.
"I'll make an exception in this case, only if you both agree to start therapy
with me and complete an assignment for me."
"Anything," Travis said, and Giovanni
agreed.
"I'll give it to you at the end of class,
assuming you make it that long."
Travis nodded, and they returned to class and
did the trust falls. Travis was tempted to let Giovanni fall on his ass but
caught him at the last second. Giovanni's lithe frame fit in his arms almost
too perfectly.
When class ended, Dr. Dull called them to his
desk and told them their assignment was to learn as much as they could about
each other before their first therapy session after class next Monday.
Shrugging, Travis said, "Easy. I still have
your contact info, so we can do this online."
"No, it's too easy to create false personas
online," Dr. Dull said. "I want you to do this face-to-face. You may go now,
but I'm warning you. One more altercation and I will call the police. Is that
understood?"
"Yes," they said.
"And if your parents ask, tell them I'll
assume full responsibility should anything happen."
Giovanni requested a rideshare on his phone
while Travis called a taxi. Travis turned to the other boy. "Hey, when do you wanna do this assignment?"
"I have community service most days from 9:00
am till 1:00 pm. You?"
"Six am till one pm most days, then nine am to
five pm every other weekend. How's this Wednesday at three pm sound?"
"Fine."
They parted ways when Giovanni's rideshare
arrived. Travis's taxi came a few minutes after Giovanni left, and he loathed
the conversation he'd have with his parents.
When his father came home at eight o'clock
that night, he told him the situation.
"Whelp, you made your bed, and now you have to lay in it. I'm sure your grandfather's trust will
cover the cost of therapy, but we best not let your mother know about this,
yeah?"
"Yeah," he said and went to bed. He had an
early day; tomorrow was his first day of community service, and he was dreading
being around more strangers so soon.
***
Five am came too early for Travis, but he ate
a quick breakfast of Fruit Loops, then got ready for the day, dressing in
basketball shorts, a Jordan jersey, and his favorite pair of beat-up Chuck
Taylors. If he was going to be doing slave labor, then he'd be comfortable.
The SMART bus dropped him off half a mile from
St. Michael's Episcopal Church, and he walked the rest of the way. He told the
receptionist he was there for community service, and the middle-aged Black
woman showed him to the kitchen entrance. "Joan will tell ya
what needs to be done. Bless you."
"And you, too," he said, though he didn't mean
it, and entered the kitchen. He was struck by the heat, but more so the sight
of a tall white woman with fiery serpents for hair.
"Something wrong?" she said.
"Nothing. Just trying to figure out who you
remind me of."
She cocked her head to the side, placing her
hands around her face. "People tell me I look like Miley Cyrus all the time."
"Yeah, that's it. I'm Travis."
"So, you're the first newbie. I'm Joan," she
said, handing him a hair net. "I'll start you off washing dishes, and once
you've mastered that, I'll move you to dispensing soup."
She showed him the proper way to clean off
dishes before washing them and then set him to work. It was monotonous, but it
allowed his mind to wander back to the vision of Joan. As he worked, he caught
glimpses of her scuttling about micromanaging everyone, but she looked normal.
Maybe it was another side effect of Dr. Hu's treatment? He'd ask him next time
he went up to the cabin.
Once Travis had worked his way through his
stack of dishes, he was about to see what Joan wanted him to do next when a
dark-skinned boy around his age plopped a stack of dirty dishes at his station.
For the briefest of seconds, Travis could have sworn he saw a reptilian
creature reminiscent of the Chupacabra movie he watched last night on SYFY. He
blinked, and it was gone.
Two hours and many stacks of dishes later,
Travis took a bathroom break, then resumed washing dishes until Joan told him
to stop. "The next volunteer will be here in a bit, and I want you to train
him, then go work the soup line. Understand?"
"Yeah," he said. Hey, if it means I
can slack off, I'm happy.
At ten to nine, Giovanni showed up, and
Travis groaned. Of course, it'd be him.
They glared at each other, but Travis, being
the bigger man, trained Giovanni--or tried to.
"I'm not some idiot. I know how to wash
dishes."
"Could have fooled me. Being a Giovanni, I'd
expect you'd be pampered and have help for everything."
Giovanni flipped him off. "For your
information, we only have a maid four days a week, and the rest of the time, I have to take care of things myself. You know what they say
when you assume things."
Travis gave him an exasperated look. "Let's
try to get through this day without killing each other."
Rolling his eyes and sighing, Giovanni agreed,
and they continued with Giovanni washing while Travis dried and stacked. Joan
showed up a while later and told them they made a good team.
"Don't say that,"
they said in unison.
Joan laughed. "Travis, come with me." She
showed him to the front of the dining hall, where people were lined up awaiting
their plates. The stations were organized assembly-line style, with soup being
the last stop, and once all the food was on the plate, it was distributed to
the people.
Joan placed her hand on his back, and he
struggled not to cringe. "I have to warn you. Some
people will try to get more than they're allotted, but you can't give it to
them, understand?"
"Yeah."
He took his place next to the dark-skinned boy
from before, who introduced himself as Dylan De Leon. Travis nodded at him and
told him his name, then he got to work slinging tomato soup. He kept his eye on
the clock, and as soon as it hit one o'clock, he had Joan sign his timesheet,
and he was out of there.
The next two days passed without event, and at
the end of his shift Wednesday, he was set to go home and murder M. Bison when
Giovanni called to him.
"We're still on for today at 3:00 pm, right?"
I forgot. Scheisse!
Ich bin ein dummkopf. "Yeah, why?" he said
all smooth.
"Well, why don't you come over now? It doesn't
make sense for you to go home and have a taxi take to you to my place, right?"
There was a twinkle in Giovanni's eyes and
almost a pleading tone to his voice.
"Thanks, but I have things I need to do first.
Like, wash the funk off me. And I suggest you do too because you're a bit
malodorous."
"Huh?"
"You have major BO."
Giovanni's face went red. He discretely
sniffed himself and made a sour face. "Dude, I reek."
Travis suppressed a laugh and went to get his
timesheet signed, then left. The bus was only a few minutes late, and he made
it home with plenty of time to shower, tinker with Cha, and curb stomp M.
Bison. With a little over an hour before he was due at Giovanni's, he had
second thoughts.
Why do we even need to meet up? We could do
this asinine assignment online, and Dr. Dull would never know. I'll Skype him
right--
"Kid, you're going, even if I have to
hijack your body to do it."
As if you could.
"I been doing it for we--shit!
I wasn't supposed to tell ya that."
What do you mean?
"Nothing."
The lights flickered, and a wind kicked up as
realization dawned on Travis. You've been body-jacking me, haven't you?
And that's why I'm so tired all the time.
"On a scale of one to ten, how pissed are
you?"
Infinity plus one.
"Imma go."
How long has this been going on?
"Bro, calm down."
How long!
The overhead lights shattered, tripping the
circuit breaker.
The screams of the twins and their babysitter
broke through the haze of his fury; he used the breathing exercises Dr. Dull
had taught them, and once he'd collected himself, he changed the fuse and
cleaned up his room. Once the Wi-Fi was back on, he logged on to Skype to see
if Giovanni was on.
"I get it. You're scared to be alone with
him."
Do you want me to come in there and kick your
ass? Because I will.
"Anything to keep you from seeing Giovanni,
right?"
I'm not afraid of being alone with him.
"Then go over there already."
Done.
He called a taxi and told the babysitter he'd
be gone an hour max.
***
The Giovannis' house
was a mansion in a gated community, and the guard at the entrance side-eyed
Travis upon hearing why he was there. "You're not the type JJ hangs with. How do you know him?"
"We attend Azure Plains Preparatory Academy
together. Call him, and he'll confirm it."
"I'll do just that."
A few minutes later, Travis keyed in the
passcode to the Giovannis' gate, walked up the
driveway, and rang the doorbell.
Here goes nothing.
Author's Note: Will Travis and Josh get
through their assignment without coming to blows? Find out, next chapter.
Reminder: Nifty needs your continued support (https://donate.nifty.org).