W.A.R. 4-3 Dustin's Pride

W.A.R. Part Four - Rehabilitation

(2nd edition)

Chapter Three - Dustin's Pride

by Jeff Wilson

When I returned to school on Tuesday, everyone already seemed to know what had happened to me. I wondered how people had found out what was going on when I hadn't even had the chance to explain anything. I guess when your life falls apart at the neighborhood pool party it doesn't take long for the whole town to find out about it. Teachers asked me how my dad and mom were doing. Other kids asked me about my arm being in a sling and a cast. The attention was a little bit embarrassing. I'd done it to myself. I didn't deserve sympathy or concern.

The fun began when I got on the bus with Brett. Dustin gave me a betrayed look as soon as he saw me. He was still mad about what had happened at the hospital, and now he was even more upset that I was staying with Brett. Then Emily had to ask me about a million questions on the ride to school about my dad and everything that had gone on since I left her house.

When I split up with Brett to go to homeroom, it was the first time I'd been away from him in a day. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to handle being on my own. I walked into my homeroom and took my usual seat. Joey and Sarah noticed me and I could tell they were making snide comments to each other about me. Dustin walked into the room, but instead of sitting in his usual seat in front of me, he sat in the opposite corner near Joey and Sarah. He'd occasionally shoot a glare my direction, but that was about it. Joey looked around the room, and I knew that with the teacher missing he was going to say something.

"So... Did one of your tricks rough you up, Roberts?" Joey asked.

"Shut up, Joey," I replied.

"Is it true you give free blowjobs down at the park at night? Must make all the other fags jealous that you're taking away their paychecks. I'll bet you're real popular with the old queers who go looking for cheap head."

"Leave him alone, Joe," Dustin said sternly. "No one wants to hear your stupid mouth!"

"What's the matter, Smith? Afraid your boyfriend's gonna cry?"

"Just shut up, okay! His dad's in the hospital and he doesn't need your crap."

"Sure thing, Dustin," Joey smirked. "I wouldn't want you to break my arm like you broke Billy's."

"What's wrong with you Joey? You used to be an okay guy. But now you're just a jerk," Dustin said.

Before Joey could reply, our teacher finally decided to show up. I worried that Dustin would now have to face the consequences of standing up for me.

When the bell rang, everyone cleared out of the room to go to their next class. I hurried to catch up with Dustin.

"Hey Dustin, wait up!" I called.

Dustin turned and waited for me to join him.

"What do you want?" he asked, not too nicely.

"Hey, thanks... Thanks for sticking up for me in there," I said.

"Whatever. I didn't do it for you. Joey's just a stupid jerk."

"Well I appreciated it anyway," I said. "Listen, I'm sorry about..."

"Billy, I've got to get to class," Dustin interrupted. "Go tell Reilly about it."

"Hey, I didn't ask to stay with him! His mom offered to keep me while my mom stays with my dad! You know, maybe instead of getting all pissy with me you could find out what's going on instead of jumping to conclusions."

Dustin pushed me forcefully against the wall and grabbed me by the shirt. "Listen, jerk! Don't yell at me! I didn't do anything to you. You hear me?"

I shrugged him off of me and scowled at him. "What's wrong with you? I've got a broken hand and it hurts! You're going to hurt me even worse shoving me around like that!"

Dustin walked away in a huff. I looked around the hallway at all the people looking at me. "What the fuck are you all looking at?" I asked rudely. Then I stormed off to my next class. For the next few periods, I traded icy glares with Dustin. I hated being mad at him, but he was being such a jerk. Where did he get off treating me like that?

I decided to skip lunch, since I wasn't hungry and the person I always ate with was mad at me. I found the coach of the baseball team in his office and we talked for a while about what had happened to me and my family. We'd finished the baseball season, and it was a good thing because I could barely write my name, let alone keep score.

As I left his office, I almost ran right into a boy who I didn't recognize at first. He was a tall boy, thin, and very pale. His blue eyes had a tired look to them. They had dark circles around them, as if he hadn't slept in a month. With his dark blond hair cut in a very short military buzz, I would never have guessed who I was looking at until he spoke to me.

"Hey, Billy," he said. His soft and tired voice was barely louder than a whisper.

"Jerry?" I asked. "Jerry Freemont? Wow, you're back!"

"Yeah, I hear everybody thinks I died," he said without concern. "I guess I gave everybody a scare, huh?"

"You sure did! Wow, you look completely different," I said.

"Yeah, I got my hair cut. I guess my dad finally realizes I exist. He signed me up for military school. We're just here to sign a few papers and say goodbye."

"Wow, you have to go to military school? That sucks."

"Eh... It's okay. My dad made a deal with the judge to keep me out of juvie. I guess having a lawyer for a dad pays off sometimes."

"I reckon so. I forgot your dad was a lawyer. It's been a long time since we've actually talked to each other."

"Yeah. Sorry about that. I guess I've been a bit of a jerk to everybody since I started hanging around Max."

"Yeah. I guess drugs make you do some pretty crazy things."

"No. You can't blame that. It didn't help, sure. But I have no one to blame but myself. Drugs really can't make you do anything if you don't want to do it. They just make it easier. Dad's been warning me for a while that if I didn't straighten up he'd send me to military school. I thought he was gonna kill me. But he just came to my room at the hospital and said, "Boy, I told you to either shape up or ship out." And that was it. I knew what he meant. He's barely said two words to me since. He can't afford to have an embarrassment to the family name running around. Say, how's your dad doing? I heard he's sick."

"He's fine," I said quickly. "So just like that you're leaving?"

"Things have been shitty since mom left anyway. It's probably for the best."

"Your mom left you?" I asked.

"Yeah. Two years ago. You mean you didn't know? I thought everybody knew about that. She ran off with some guy she met on the internet. She didn't even say goodbye. Just left me and dad and my little brothers like that. Dad blamed me of course, since I wanted the internet and all. Of course she wouldn't have left if he wasn't such a dick. Oh well. I didn't mean to bore you with my life story. Anyway... I guess I'll see you around some time."

"Yeah," I said. Then he was just about to go into Coach's office when I realized something. "Jerry!" I called.

"Yeah?"

"You ever hang out with Max when he was working?"

"I did a lot of stuff I'm not proud of," he replied.

"Well, I was wondering if Brett ever..."

Before I could finish, I saw Mr. Freemont coming down the hallway.

"Let's go, boy," he said tersely. "We're done here."

"Sorry, Billy. I've got to go. I'll see you some time." Jerry caught up to his dad, who was already walking briskly toward the exit not even waiting for Jerry.

I did feel bad for Jerry, but he brought a lot of his troubles on himself. It was weird. I don't know why, but I felt sad that Jerry was going away. I mean, we hadn't even been friends for years. We'd just said more to each other in five minutes than we'd said in those years. I couldn't believe how calm he seemed about the whole situation. If my life was falling apart like that, I sure wouldn't be as accepting as he was. It was like he wanted to go to reform school.

I turned to find something else to do to fill the rest of lunch period, but then I saw Dustin walking toward me.

"Shit..." I mumbled to myself.

"What are you doing here?" he asked crossly.

"I wasn't hungry," I informed him.

"Me neither," he replied. "I... Listen. I'm sorry about this morning. The whole argument was dumb. I was just upset that you didn't tell me you were going to be at Reilly's house. I was all worried about you and called your house a dozen times and then I saw that you were at his place all along. It just made me mad. I didn't mean to push you like that."

"Did you mean to call Brett a drug addict?" I asked.

"Aw, come on, Billy. Can we drop it? I don't want to argue with you. I'm sorry I brought it up."

"But you're not sorry you said it," I replied.

"Well, it was the truth. Everyone knows he's a stoner. Everybody! If you don't believe me ask anybody. If you want to see Reilly as a perfect little angel who can do no wrong, that's your right. But it doesn't make it true. He's a bad kid, Billy. He's a spoiled little brat. Everybody knows it. Look at the way he talks about his mother. You don't see the way he talks about people when you're not around. He doesn't get sent to the principal's office for being a saint. He's trouble. He's one on the meanest kids in the whole school. You can see what you want to see and ignore the truth if you want but that doesn't change the facts."

"Why are you acting like this? You've always hated Brett. What did he ever do to you?"

"You know exactly what he did to me," Dustin snapped. "You were my best friend, Billy. We were like brothers. But then he came along and stole you from me. You used to come to my house all the time. Now you have to wait for him to leave the state before you'll come over. He's got you wrapped around his finger. He's changed you. He could have anything he could ever want. I only have you. And he wants to take you away from me just to make me miserable."

"I'm not anybody's property, Dustin," I replied. "I can be friends with whoever I want. And neither you nor Brett have any say in the matter. I'm so tired of you guys fighting. I just want us all to be friends."

"Well that's not gonna happen. He doesn't want you to be my friend! He's been stirring stuff up between you and me since he got here! He wants you all to himself, and you're too blind to see it. He's not a nice person, Billy! Why can't you see that?"

"Well you're no angel either," I protested. "You're the one spreading lies about him."

"I can't talk to you," Dustin fumed. "All you do is blindly defend him! You refuse to see the truth. I've known I was your second choice for a while now. And it hurt. But it hurts even more to realize that I'm losing to such a bastard!"

"Don't you call him that!" I shouted.

"Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!" Dustin mocked.

"Shut your mouth, you miserable little weasel!" I snapped.

"Weasel?" Dustin laughed. "You really want to get into a name-calling match with me? You should be careful, because I might have a few names for you too. How about `back-stabbing-traitor?' Or how about `Bed-Wetter?' See? I can play that game! Don't mess with somebody who knows all your dirty little secrets!"

I was angry now. He'd hit me below the belt. But I had an ace up my sleeve too.

"Okay, speaking of dirty little secrets how about you and..." I started.

But just as I was about to lose my temper and attack Dustin with my most devastating blow, Coach came out of his office.

"What are you boys doing out here?" he scolded. "I can hear you shouting from my office. What is it with you two lately?"

"He started it!" Dustin tattled.

"I don't care who started it. I don't need my best player and the best scorekeeper in school history arguing with each other! I thought you two were friends. Get over whatever it and get to class!"

I turned and walked down the hall. As soon as Coach went back into his office Dustin grabbed me and slammed me hard into the lockers against my back. He pinned me in place with his forearm against my neck. It surprised and scared me more than it hurt me. "Don't screw with me, Billy," he growled. "I've had about as much of your crap as I can take. Stay away from me! You hear me?"

Terrified, I quickly nodded my head. He let me go and stormed down the hall. He angrily pounded his fist against three or four lockers as he walked.

The bell rang, and the hallway filled with students. I didn't move from my spot against the lockers until the next bell rang. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon hiding around the school. I didn't care if I got in trouble for skipping class. I was more afraid of Dustin's wrath than I was afraid of being caught. I hid in the auditorium balcony for a while. Then I snuck into the library and hid among the periodicals for an hour. Finally, I got caught in the hallway and sent to class. Fortunately, it was the last period of the day and I would have Miss Winston to protect me. I was still scared though. Dustin had shown me a side of himself that had frightened me. I'd never seen him so angry before. I was beginning to wonder if maybe Brett was right about him.

He didn't say anything to me when he saw me come into class. He didn't even look at me. Miss Winston scolded me for being late without the least bit of sympathy for me and my situation. She was like that in class. She played no favorites.

After class ended, she told me to stay behind. Everyone cleared out, and Dustin made it a point to not even look my direction. Once everyone was out of the room and it was just me and Miss Winston, she smiled. "So is there a reason you were skipping class all afternoon?"

"No," I replied.

"Billy, I know you must be upset about everything that's going on. There's only a few days left until school is over. I know it may seem easier to run and hide from your problems but they won't go away that easily. If you need someone to talk to, you know you can come to me."

"I know. I just don't want to bother you all the time," I replied.

"It's no bother to talk to you." she said, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. "If there's anything you need this summer, you can call me anytime."

"I know," I replied. "Thanks."

"So, with everything that's going on, are you still going to be able to help with volleyball again?" she asked. "You were such a big help last year."

"Well, my mom's staying up in Pittsburgh while dad's up there, but I think we'll be home in a few more weeks."

"I'd be happy to pick you up. Your house is on the way for me. I'm sure it will be nice to get your mind off your troubles for a few hours."

"Well, what use will I be with this?" I asked, showing her my cast.

"Well, we don't start until the end of July, so you'll have two months to heal up. And I've already thought of a back-up plan in case you're not at one-hundred percent. I got you another helper. He's a friend of yours," she smiled. I immediately thought of Brett.

"Really? That's great!" I said. "Who is it?"

"Dustin Smith," she answered.

I felt my stomach twist into a knot. "Oh..." I said with fake enthusiasm. "That's cool..."

"I know you boys are going to do a great job."

"I'm sure we will," I said. I scurried on my way and hurried to the bus before it left. My summer was about to become much more complicated than I'd expected.

Well, the tension is rising between Billy and Dustin, but the real issue is between Dustin and Brett. What is going to happen next?

If you'd like to comment, you can reach me at: jkwsquirrel@yahoo.com I hope you will!

Next time: Think or Feel