NOT ENOUGH GIRLS: Part 6
"I'm NOT a fag!"
It was almost funny watching Mitch turn red in the face and be unable to do anything about it.
The Master raised an eyebrow, "No? Well, it certainly sounds like you two had a fight over a girl - except in this case the girl is another boy."
I blushed at that, but stayed silent and looked at the floor.
"I just don't want to stay in the same dorm with a fag!"
"That's supposed to explain why you beat up a boy half your size and put him in the hospital?" I suddenly realized the Master himself wasn't physically any bigger than I was. Nevertheless, his cold, formal tone intimidated all of us. Mitch fell silent.
The Master's hard gaze fell on Mark next. "How about you, Mr. Anderson? Are you going to try to claim Mr. Miller isn't your boyfriend?"
I looked up in surprise, but Dr. Wong's eyes were fixed on Mark, so I don't think I gave anything away that way.
"No sir. I never told him I wanted a boyfriend," Mark said, honestly but mendaciously.
"No? Then would you care to explain your fight with Mr. Davis?"
"He was just standing up for Bubba - um Josh."
"Thank you, Miss Powell, but I really want to hear what Mr. Anderson has to say. I'll get to you directly."
"Uh, he just seemed so proud of himself for beating up poor Josh. It just made me mad."
"Indeed." The Master sounded very dubious. "So I suppose you didn't know he was interested in you until he expressed his undying love for you last Friday?"
"No sir, he'd never said anything like that before." Again, truthful but wholly misleading.
"So Miss Powell," he paused for a moment, "you're not really related to Mr. Miller, are you?"
"No," I broke in, "but she's my best friend in the world." I saw a flash of pain cross Mark's face.
Karen looked at me mournfully, "I'm so sorry I wasn't there when you needed me, Bubba."
"So exactly what did you see?" The Master seemed unperturbed.
"Um, well, we heard Josh scream, and Jack and I both ran up the stairs. Mitch was standing over him yelling ugly things."
"Precisely what did Mr. Davis say?"
Karen gave Mitch a look of pure hate, "He was saying, 'Get up, faggot, get up or I'll kill you.'"
The Master looked back at Mitch, "Did you actually threaten to kill him?"
He looked at the floor, "I didn't really mean it."
"Indeed." He looked back at Karen.
"So when Josh didn't move, Mitch started kicking him."
"I did NOT. I just nudged him with my foot."
"That's not what the hospital said, you stupid lying ASSHOLE!" Then she and Mitch started yelling at each other.
"Quiet!" They hushed. "What happened next?"
"Um," she sniffed a bit. "I yelled at him, and he got scared and backed away."
"How did YOU frighten him, Miss Powell?" The master actually seemed amused just for a second.
"She didn't yell AT him," Jack broke in, "She screamed for help at the top of her lungs - at least three times. Guys came pouring out of their rooms, down the hallway, up the stairs - at least half the dorm." Jack sounded very proud of her. "Mitch looked like someone poured cold water on him; I think he was going to try to say something for a second, then he just split."
"Is that accurate, Mr. Davis?"
Mitch looked at the floor. "More or less."
"Anyway when I got to Josh, he looked terrible. His nose was bleeding, and he was out cold. But what scared me the most was I couldn't wake him up." Karen choked up here.
"So I got a couple of guys to help me carry him to my car," Jack continued, "And we went straight to the emergency room." Even Jack choked up a little here. "It's amazing how much attention you get when you carry someone in. People came running over with a stretcher, trying to help us."
"So which one of you was it who decided to call the police?"
"I think the hospital did that," Karen offered.
"What did you tell them that made them do that?"
"Um," Karen flushed bright red here, "I told them a big bully at the dorm had beaten up my twin brother."
"Why did you tell them he was your brother?"
"Um, it's a game we play. I didn't mean anything by it at first - it just sort of came out, but later they came out to talk to me, and once they started treating me as his next-of-kin, I couldn't stop."
"So you went along with this, Mr. Rogers?"
"Well, as soon they told us Josh had a concussion and that he'd probably wake up on his own in a bit, I went ahead and drove back to school. Karen wanted to wait and be there when he woke up, and I guess the only way they let her in was because they thought she was his sister. Also, if she hadn't been there, they would have called his parents in New York, and no one wanted that."
"I gather your parents don't know you're homosexual, Mr. Miller?"
The thought of someone telling my folks scared me more than anything, "No. I really didn't know myself before last week." The awful thought crossed my mind that Mitch might call them himself. I shuddered.
He looked at me quizzically, and I waited for him to say, "Indeed" with that same "I know you're lying to me" tone, but he just went "Hmmmm" instead.
He looked back at Karen, and she continued. "So I sat by his bed and held his hand until he woke up. He was real groggy and didn't know where he was or anything."
I remembered opening my eyes and seeing her face hovering over me. I'd swear it was rotating slowly around in circles. A mild concussion, two bruised ribs, a bloody nose, and a shiner. One night in the hospital. Could have been a lot worse.
The Master turned his hard eyes back at Jack, "So what happened when you got back to campus?"
"Well, I went looking for Mark. I found him down in the weight room, and when I told him what had happened he flipped."
"Could you be more precise?"
"Um, he called Mitch a lot of names, and stormed out. I followed him back to the dorm. I thought the walk had calmed him down, but when we got back to their room and he confronted Mitch, something Mitch said pushed him over the edge."
"I told him he needed to look for a real girlfriend, not settle for some pansy."
Mark went white and clenched his fists, but otherwise didn't move.
"And what did you mean by that?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Mitch spat out. "Queer boy has been flirting with Mark all week, and Mark's been encouraging him. Anyway, when I told him, he lit into me."
"Is that accurate, Mr. Anderson?"
Mark looked at the floor. "Kinda."
"Mr. Anderson, it's not that unusual for a normal male student to feel attracted to an effeminate homosexual one." I really cringed at that. "There aren't enough girls here, so it does happen. In my experience, though, it always leads to trouble. Not usually as spectacular as the mess you five have managed to make, but still trouble. Mr. Miller will not manage to be a satisfactory girl for you, no matter how much he may look like one." Ouch! "And he'll eventually be unhappy being treated like one, and will get jealous when you show interest in real girls. You need to let this go, and make up your mind to either find a real girlfriend, or else wait until graduation." He smiled paternally. "I know that sounds like a long time, but it will go by all too quickly."
Mark just nodded dumbly.
Then the Master looked at me. "You realize I can't allow a predatory homosexual to stay in the dorm with the regular students."
"What?"
"Several students complained about the 'consciousness raising' session you held in the student lounge just before your fight with Mr. Davis."
"The what?"
"That was my fault," Jack broke in. "I put him up to it. I thought it would make it easier for everyone if we just talked about it. I mean, everyone was talking about it already. Who complained?"
"Not all students are comfortable sharing a dorm with someone who's quite so visibly homosexual, Mr. Rogers."
"It wasn't his fault!" Karen seemed on the verge of tears. "He didn't know Mitch would hear him."
"Well, what's done is done. The simple truth is, you can't stay in the dorm. There are a few single rooms in the basement of the old administration building. They're not the most desirable housing, but they're private, and one is available. I'm moving you into that, and I expect you to focus on your classes and avoid socializing for a while. Do you understand me?"
I nodded, thinking how I was going to be even lonelier than I'd been to start with, and I felt tears forming, even though I desperately didn't want to cry in front of the Master. I looked at the floor to try to disguise it.
"And I especially don't want you talking to Mr. Anderson. Is that clear?" I nodded. He looked over at Mark, "and you're well advised not to go looking for him either."
"No."
I looked up at Mark, surprised.
"No?" The Master raised an eyebrow and waited for Mark to reply.
"No. This isn't about not having enough girls." He took a deep breath. "I had lots of chances to date girls - still do. I don't want a girl." He stopped and drew another deep breath. "Josh is who I want." Then he almost whispered, "Josh is all I want." Everyone sat there in stunned silence - even the Master seemed taken aback.
"You should not be so quick to decide to be a homosexual, Mr. Anderson. It's not the kind of thing you can change your mind about later."
"I never have liked girls, Dr. Wong - just guys like Josh. He's not the first one, and if there's a predator here, it's me. He didn't even think he was gay until I told him." I started to say something, but thought better of it. "But I never met a guy who meant as much to me as Josh does. I can't just let him go." He looked at me forlornly, "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me." He looked like he was going to cry himself.
"Hmmmm." The Master took a moment to digest this, while the rest of us sat there quietly - even Mitch. "Do you two think you can keep your affections private, and limit them to one another?"
I took a moment to decipher that. "I never wanted anyone but Mark, and I never wanted anyone to know in the first place." I looked at Karen, realized that wasn't strictly true, but she let it slide.
"Likewise," Mark smiled at me, "we should just swap roommates and then we can all be happy."
"It's not as easy at that, Mr. Anderson."
"Why not?"
"You don't think a known pair of homosexual lovers will disrupt dorm life? Think again."
"Yeah, no one wants to be around fags, thinking about you queering each other off; you two are gross."
"Mr. Davis, I'd shut up, if I were you." He shut up. "A heterosexual couple disrupts dorm life too," he looked at Jack and Karen, "I wouldn't let you two share a room either."
"But we weren't asking for that," Karen was a little slow on the uptake this afternoon, and she trailed off as she realized her mistake.
"Here's what I'll do. There is an open suite in the married students' complex. If you'll promise no more gay activism in the dorm, I'll put you both in there."
"That's still not fair, Dr. Wong. They didn't do anything to anyone - it's Mitch who's the cause of all this. You're punishing the wrong people here. Anyway, won't the married students have the same problem with them?"
"No, the married students essentially live in an apartment complex, and like other Californian apartment dwellers, they don't socialize with their neighbors at all. As for punishment, I think this is a very generous offer; there is a waiting list for these apartments, and I'm jumping them over several people just to make this problem go away." He looked at us, "Do you boys think I'm being unfair?"
We looked at each other, I smiled at Mark, he smiled back, and then turned to the Master, "No sir, it sounds like a great deal. We'll take it."
"A wise choice." Then he looked at Mitch. "Mr. Davis. There is no excuse for brutalizing another student, especially one so much smaller and weaker than yourself. That you could be so low as to kick him when he was lying unconscious on the ground makes me wonder if you are in the wrong KIND of institution."
I couldn't help myself. I snickered. Karen and I both giggled and I'd swear I saw a hint of a smile cross that stern face.
"What about me? Anderson beat me up too."
"Looks like you gave as good as you got - you've both got black eyes."
"Yeah, but he broke my nose too!"
"Well, at least he hit someone his own size." Mitch shut up. "You're on probation for the rest of the year. Another physical altercation with a student and I'll expel you. Do you understand me?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. Then I believe we're done here. Pick up your new room assignments from my secretary. I want you out of there today." He stood up, and motioned us towards the door. "Thank you all for your cooperation."
We shuffled out the door, Mitch disappeared, but Jack and Karen stayed while Mark and I picked up an information packet from Dr. Wong's secretary.
As we stepped out of the building into the sunshine, Jack suddenly laughed out loud.
"What's so funny?"
"This was all for show. Old Wong had this all figured out before he talked to us!"
"What do you mean?"
"Why do you think your new room assignments were already ready?"
--To Be Concluded