Date: Sun, 5 Jun 2011 16:08:55 -0400
From: Ronyx <ronyx@woh.rr.com>
Subject: It's Not Easy Being a Tree    Chapter 22

The following is a work of fiction. Any similarities to anyone are purely
coincidental. The story is intended for a mature audience. It may contain
profanity and references to gay sex. If this offends you, please leave and
find something more suitable to read. The author maintains all rights to
the story. Do not copy or use without written permission. Write
ronyx@themustardjar.com with your comments. Ronyx is a prolific Nifty
author. Visit my personal website at www.themustardjar.com for more
stories.


It's Not Easy Being a Tree         Chapter 22


No one was home when I entered. "Mom?" I hollered out, just to make sure. I
then made my way upstairs to my bedroom.

I stopped at the door and peered into the room. My computer was missing. I
hurried back downstairs to look for it. It wasn't in the family room or
kitchen. I then went back upstairs and looked in Glenn's room. It was on a
table next to his bed. A stack of my video games was beside it.

"This isn't right!" I shouted out as I walked over and collected my
games. My parents had given me the computer, but most of the games I'd
bought with my allowance money. Others were given to me as birthday and
Christmas gifts. Glenn had no right to them.

As I was heading back to my room, I heard the phone ring downstairs. I went
into the kitchen to see who was calling on the caller ID. I didn't
recognize the name, so I waited for the person to leave a message.

The phone made a loud tone, and then a woman spoke. "Marion, I'm so sorry,"
she said to my mother. "My daughter told me about that awful picture. You
must be heartbroken. Call me if you need someone to talk to." She hung up,
and I erased the message. There were six other messages, most to my mother
or father from friends who were `feeling their grief,' as one friend of my
mother stated.

One message was from an anonymous caller who wanted me to suck his dick. I
was glad I was able to erase it before Mom heard it. I turned off the
messenger so it couldn't receive any more messages and then went upstairs
to my room.

I sat on the edge of the bed and looked around. "Will this still be my room
tomorrow?" I wondered. I had no idea what the future now held. Mom and Dad
could send me away to a relative's house. My dad had a brother and two
sisters. Mom had two brothers. I guess they could probably talk one of them
into taking their wayward son.

I looked over at Jon's unmade bed. His sneakers were strewn about, and a
couple of tee shirts were lying on the floor. Even though we'd never really
gotten along, I would still miss him if I had to go some place else. I
tried not to cry, but a few tears managed to escape my eyes.

I jumped when someone started pounding on the front door. I slowly made my
way downstairs to see who it could be. When I peered through the curtains
to the front porch, I could see Ross pacing back and forth.

"It's about time," he said as he barged in when I opened the door. He stood
before me and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I replied sarcastically. "Things couldn't be better."

His eyes sparkled with excitement. "Man, you should have been at school."

"What happened?" I asked nervously.

"First," he began, "they locked the school down right after lunch." I
nodded as I waited for him to continue. "I have history fifth period with
Mrs. Henderson." Again, I nodded. "Someone looked out the window and
shouted that cops were outside. We all hurried to look out just as a bunch
of police entered the building."

"What happened then?"

"Kids started calling their parents on their cell phones," he said
excitedly. "They thought someone had gotten shot." He walked over and sat
down on the sofa. When I sat beside him, he continued. "About fifteen
minutes later they took that bastard Metzger out of the building in
handcuffs and put him in a cruiser."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he grinned. "Cindi Roberts videoed it on her cell phone. Anyway,
about ten minutes later, they brought Dewberry out in handcuffs and put him
in a cruiser." He started grinning. "You should have seen the look on
everyone's face. Even Mrs. Henderson was shocked."

"Then what happened?"

"We had to stay in our fifth period until school was out," he
explained. "No one was allowed to leave the room. If you had to go to the
bathroom, the teacher had to call for a security officer to escort you
there and bring you back to your class."

"No shit?" He giggled when he saw the surprised look on my face.

"Yeah," he said. "Everyone was wondering what happened. It was kind of cool
that I knew and no one else did."

"You didn't say anything, did you?"

"Of course not," he assured me. "But I think some kids were starting to
piece things together by the end of the day. You know, your picture and
their arrests."

I asked worriedly, "Did a lot of our students see it?"

His mood became somber. "Yeah," he replied with a sad expression. "I think
before all this happened, most kids had seen your dick on either their
phone or someone else's. It was the talk of the school most of the
morning."

"Oh, God," I moaned as I buried my head in my hands. Ross began gently
rubbing my back. I looked up at him.

"Maybe they won't believe it's me." Ross looked quickly away. I could tell
the news wasn't going to be good.

"A couple of girls called Brandon last night and said they didn't believe
him," Ross explained. "Brandon sent them the picture of your face from the
chat room. They sent it out to some other students."

"Shit," I mumbled. I was screwed. There was no way I could deny it wasn't
me.

We looked at each other when we heard a door slam downstairs. I glanced at
the clock on my desk. "That's Dad," I said with a quivering voice.  He was
the last person I wanted to see. I held my breath when a few minutes later
I heard him coming up the steps.

He appeared at the door and peered in. His eyes narrowed in anger when he
saw Ross sitting beside me. "You have to leave, Ross," he barked
angrily. "Woody isn't allowed any visitors." Ross stood and told me he'd
see me at school. Dad didn't even move when he tried to go walk past
him. He stood a few seconds and looked down angrily at me before finally
going back downstairs.

I knew from the angry look in his face that he couldn't deal with me any
longer. I was relieved that he didn't order me to pack my bags. However,
going somewhere else to stay might be better than living under his roof
until I left for college in a few years. He never really liked me. Now he
hated me.

I lay across my bed and tried to get some sleep. I wasn't particularly
sleepy, but I had nothing else to do. Without my computer, it was going to
be a boring life. It had always been, but now I would have to face just how
miserable my life really was. Again, I'd have to face the real me- that
scrawny, suffering, little tree.

For just a few minutes the past couple of weeks, I had started to come out
of my empty shell. Now I was being drawn back into it. I guess nothing
really ever changes.

It's not easy being me.

I could hear my family downstairs as they began to come home. Glenn came
running up the steps and went into his bedroom. A few minutes later, he
poked his head in my door. "Hey!" he shouted. "Did you take my games?"

"They're not your games," I shouted back. "I bought them."

He turned and I heard him holler as he went downstairs, "Dad!"

Minutes later, Dad appeared at my door with Glenn peeking in behind
him. "Give Glenn the games," he ordered angrily.

"But they're mine," I insisted. "I bought them with my allowance." He
didn't say anything as he walked over and took them from where they were
laying beside me on the bed. For a second, I considered snatching them back
from him, but I was afraid of the consequences. He handed them to my little
brother. Glenn turned and stuck his tongue out at me before leaving. Dad
closed the door and didn't even look back.

"Woody!" My mother called up the stairs about an hour later, "Dinner is
ready."

I didn't want to go downstairs to eat, but I was sure Dad would come up and
get me if I didn't. Everyone, but Jon, was sitting at the table when I
entered the kitchen. Mom had fixed fried chicken, mashed potatoes and
corn. She already had a plate ready for me when I sat down.

Even though my father would never speak to me again, it appeared Mom was
going to ignore that anything had happened. She was trying to make
everything seem normal. I knew if wouldn't be long, though, until Glenn and
Glenda began to hear rumors about me since many of my classmates had
brothers and sisters their age.

We ate in utter silence. Glenda started to talk a couple of times, but my
father quieted her. I mainly pushed my food around on my plate as I
listened to Glenn chomping on his food across the table from me. When he
and Glenda got up from the table, I left without saying a word and went
back upstairs

I took a quick shower and got into bed around eight. There was nothing else
for me to do except try and sleep. I was ten the last time I went to bed so
early.

I was awakened a little after eleven when Jon came into the room. I
squinted my eyes so he would think I was asleep as I watched him undress
and go across the hall to the bathroom. When he returned, he sat on the
edge of his bed and peered over at me.

"I know you're not asleep," he muttered as he crawled into bed. Before
turning out the light, he added, "By the way, you owe me a new phone." I
lay awake most of the night listening to him snoring loudly.

I knew when the alarm went off and my eyes were wide open that it wasn't
going to be a good day. There's a saying that goes, "Today is the first day
of the rest of your life." I guess it's supposed to mean something
good. However, what if it is the first day of the rest of a horrible life?
That was my thought as I dressed for school.

I was surprised when I entered the kitchen and Dad was reading the
paper. He didn't even look up at me. I looked over at Jon. His bruised eye
was beginning to lightened, although it was still a dark yellow. Mom was
placing bowls of cereal in front of Glenn and Glenda. When she noticed me,
she prepared a bowl for me.

Like dinner the night before, no one spoke. Glenn kept looking at everyone,
wondering why no one was speaking. He started to talk about something that
happened in gym the day before, but Mom told him to tell her later. He
shrugged his shoulders and continued eating his cereal. When Glenn and
Glenda finished eating, my mother told them to go to their room and stay
until the bus arrived.

When Jon rose and headed to the door, I got up to follow him. "Sit down,
Woody," my father said harshly. Jon turned, looked at me and then headed
out the door.

"Your father has to take you to school this morning," my mother
explained. "Mr. Calloway has scheduled an appointment for 8:45"

"Why?" I asked. I didn't see why I had to meet with the principal. I'd
already been questioned by a detective.

"He's afraid for your safety, Dear," she replied as she sat down and took a
sip of her coffee.

"My safety?"

"Yes," she said. "He's worried how other students might treat you now."

Dad grumbled something, but I didn't understand what he said. I could tell
by the worried look on my mother's face that things might be worse than I
expected. I knew students would talk about me. I had certainly given them
enough to talk about. By now, the entire school had seen my dick on a
phone. I was also sure that most students had probably figured out that I
was responsible for Mr. Dewberry and Brandon's arrest.

When Dad got up from the table, he made sure that he left the front page of
the paper facing me so that I could read it.

LOCAL TEACHER ARRESTED ON SEX CHARGES

Under it in smaller letters was printed: AT LEAST TWO STUDENTS INVOLVED

I started to read the article, but Mom snatched it off the
table. Mr. Dewberry's picture and name appeared, but I didn't see Brandon's
name or mine.

At a little after eight, Dad walked out the door without even saying
anything. Mom told me I should grab my book bag and go with him. She gave
me a quick hug as I was leaving. The ride to school was eerily quiet. I
could hear Dad breathing heavily as I'm sure he could hear me. Not once did
he look over at me or say anything.

When we arrived at school, I followed a few feet behind him to the
office. Thankfully, first period had begun, so no students were in the
halls. I was surprised to see Lucas and his father waiting in the lobby
when we arrived Pastor Sparks rose and shook Dad's hand, but no words were
exchanged.

I sat beside Lucas as Dad sat several seats away. He stared ahead, watching
the secretary as she typed something on the computer. I wanted to reach
down and hold Lucas's hand, but I knew that I couldn't. We looked at each
other and smiled nervously.

Mr. Calloway came out of his office and motioned for us. As we took our
seats, he walked around behind his desk, sat down and thumbed through some
papers. After a minute he looked up and scowled,

"You Boys have sure put the school in an awkward position," he grumbled.

Pastor Sparks spoke angrily, "I don't believe we are here to talk about the
school's image. We're here to discuss these boys' safety."

The principal mumbled something under his breath as he rearranged the
papers on his desk. Finally, he looked up angrily. "Fine," he
growled. "I'll do what I can to provide for their safety."

"That's it?" Pastor Sparks asked, throwing up his hands. "You'll provide
for their safety?" I glanced over at Dad, but he didn't say anything.

"What more do you want?" He looked angrily at me and Lucas. "These boys got
themselves into this mess."

"What!" Pastor Sparks stood and shouted down at Mr. Calloway. "My son and
Woody aren't responsible for what one of your perverted staff members did
to them."

Mr. Calloway stood and banged his fist on the desk. "Now wait just a
minute!"

I jumped when Pastor Sparks hit his fist on the desk. "No!" he screamed,
"You wait a minute. You're the principal of this school, and it is your
responsibility to see that my son is provided safety." He looked over at my
father expecting him to come to my defense, but he didn't. He sat watching
the exchange unemotionally.

Pastor Sparks sat back down. He leaned toward Mr. Calloway and said
threateningly, "I sit on several committees and boards with Dr. Chavers,
the superintendent of this school district."

"I know who Dr. Chavers is," replied Mr. Calloway angrily.  "Then you'll be
interested in knowing that I called him last night and told him that you
might react this way." He looked at his watch. "He should be here in a few
minutes." Pastor Sparks sat back and folded his arms. "I have nothing else
to say until he arrives."

Mr. Calloway's eyes narrowed in anger. He and Pastor Sparks stared
challengingly at each other until Mr. Calloway looked away. I thought it
was pretty cool that a mild-mannered preacher could hold his own against a
gruff, ill-tempered principal.

Several minutes later, a very distinguished looking gentleman entered the
room. He was dressed in a three-piece suit. He was tall, and his gray hair
was beginning grow bald. Mr. Calloway jumped from his seat and attempted to
shake his hand, but Dr. Chavers ignored him as he began speaking to Pastor
Sparks.

"Hello, Pastor Sparks," he smiled. He looked down at Lucas and me. He
extended his hand toward us. "You must be Lucas and Woody." I nodded as he
gripped my hand tightly. He then walked over to my father. "You must be
Mr. Fields." After shaking my father's hand, he then sat down. Mr. Calloway
looked frustrated as he returned to his seat.

Dr. Chavers spent the next half hour discussing the situation at school and
how students might react to us. He instructed Mr. Calloway to have a staff
meeting after school to discuss how they should handle situations that
might arise. The principal grumbled, but agreed. Dr. Chavers said he'd be
present to answer any questions they might have.

He also apologized several times for what Mr. Dewberry had done to us. He
said because of a pending trial, he could not allow us to discuss what had
happened. He also warned us that we should not discuss it with any other
staff members or students.

He tried to get my father to talk, but Dad remained silent. Except for an
occasional yes or no, he said very little. At no time in Mr. Calloway's
office did he look over at me. As we sat there, I knew that I no longer
existed in his life. He was going to ignore me. It hurt, but I was used to
it. It was not much different than how he had always treated me. As long as
I didn't have to leave home, then I guess I could survive a few more years.

We didn't leave Mr. Calloway's office until the middle of third period. He
had his secretary write us a pass to class. As my father stood to leave,
Dr. Chavers asked him and Lucas's father to remain behind. Reluctantly, my
father sat back down as Woody and I left the office.

We were walking to class when Lucas stopped and turned toward me. "Do you
ever sometimes wish that you weren't here?"

"What?" I didn't know what he was talking about.

"You know," he replied as tears welled up in his eyes. "That maybe things
would have been better if you just weren't born." A single tear fell down
his cheek. I looked around the hall before taking his hand and leading him
to a restroom down the hall.

Once inside, I wrapped my arms around him. He collapsed against me, and I
was afraid his weight would send us both crashing to the ground. "I can't
do this," he cried.

"Sure you can," I said soothingly. "I'll be here with you." I began to hum
Seasons of Love into his ear. After a minute, he giggled and stepped
back. He looked so cute with his eyes filled with tears.

"I guess that is going to be our song?" He smiled as he leaned down and
kissed me quickly.

"I guess so," I replied as I returned a quick kiss. He walked over, pulled
off a paper towel and wiped his face dry.

"You know I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for you, don't you?" He
turned and smiled at me. "I'd be home and Mom would be home schooling me
again."

"I know," I replied as I took his hand. "I'm glad you stayed."

He smiled, "Me, too." After a quick kiss, he said, "Let's go do this." We
left the restroom and I walked him to his class. After he closed the door,
I headed to mine.

The room was rather rowdy when I entered. The teacher had given an
assignment, but it didn't appear many students were doing it. A hush fell
over the class as I walked over and handed her my hall pass. I hung my head
as I walked back to my desk, knowing that everyone was watching me. A
couple of girls started giggling, and I heard a couple of snickers from a
few guys.

When I sat down, everyone had turned to look at me. I tried to ignore them
as I took out my book and began doing the assignment that was written on
the board. They began talking again, and I heard my name mentioned
frequently, along with Mr. Dewberry and Brandon's. I assumed the entire
morning had probably been spent spreading one rumor after another.

It was an agonizing half hour until the bell rang. I waited until most
students had left before I got up. As I exited the class, Jeff was waiting
against the wall for me.

"Hey," he said timidly. I knew it must have been difficult for him to
decide if he wanted to remain my friend after all the talk surrounding
me. If it were me, I'm not sure I would have had the courage to remain his
friend.

"Hey," I smiled nervously as we began walking down the hall toward the
cafeteria. "Aren't you afraid to be seen with me?"

"Fuck `em," he replied as he put his hand on my shoulder. It felt good to
know that one of my only friends in school hadn't abandoned me. As we
walked through the cafeteria, almost everyone stared at me. If Jeff hadn't
tightened his grip on my shoulder, I would have left. When we headed to the
food line, Lucas was standing off to the side waiting for me.

He smiled nervously and said, "Hi." He threw up his hand and gave me a
quick wave. We went through the line, got our food and headed across the
cafeteria to where Kate and Anna were sitting. The tables we passed got
quiet until we had made our way past them. The students would then giggle
or whisper something.

Kate stood and hugged me when we approached. "Are you all right?"

"I suppose," I replied. She knew I wasn't, but what else was there to say?
Anna looked over and waved. I didn't know if she was aware of what
happened, or if she was clueless to the events of yesterday. With Anna, it
was hard to tell.

I sat down and Jeff and Lucas sat on each side of me, pressing their bodies
close to mine. I knew they were trying to protect me, but I was beginning
to feel smothered. Anna was the first to speak. She looked over at Lucas
and asked him if he had completed the homework assignment in algebra. She
couldn't figure out the answer to one of the problems. Good old Anna.

Lucas seemed relieved at the distraction, and he quickly began helping her
with the problem. Kate, however, kept staring worriedly at me. "I'll be
okay," I assured her. She smiled, but I knew it didn't alleviate her
concerns.

After lunch was fifth period- Mr. Dewberry's class. It would be the most
difficult class to attend. When the bell rang, I hesitated before I got
up. Jeff grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," I said worriedly. "I got Mr. Dewberry's class next." I left the
cafeteria with Lucas, Kate, Anna and Jeff surrounding me. When we stepped
out into the hall, Ross was waiting against the wall.

"I thought I'd walk you to class," he grinned as he stepped beside
me. Everyone, except Lucas, told me goodbye as they headed off to their
classes.

"You guys okay?" Ross asked as we walked toward my class.

"Yes," I replied. "Everyone's been staring at me, but no one has said
anything yet."

"You come get me if they do." I nodded as I walked up to Mr Dewberry's
door.

I glanced over at Lucas. "Can you make sure he gets to class, too?"

Ross smiled, "Sure thing." He grabbed Lucas's arm and they headed off
toward his class. I took a deep breath, turned and opened the door.

A young woman was sitting at Mr. Dewberry's desk. She was hollering at
students to take a seat, but my classmates were ignoring her. Instead, they
were talking excitedly about the police coming into the room and removing
Mr. Dewberry from class the previous day. Several students looked over and
pointed at me as I sat down.

"Class! Class!" The young woman shouted. "Please sit down!"

No one paid any attention until the door opened and Mr. Calloway barged in,
crossed his arms and scowled. There was a flurry of students rushing to
their seats. He waited until everyone was seated before standing
authoritatively in front of the class.

"This is Ms. Williams," he said harshly as he turned and pointed to the
embarrassed teacher behind the desk. "She will be teaching this class the
remainder of the school term." He surveyed the class. I met his eyes, and
then looked down at my desk. "You will show her the same respect you showed
the former teacher." I found it interesting that he didn't even mention
Mr. Dewberry's name. "If she reports to me that any of you have misbehaved
in this class," he paused a second, "then you will be suspended for five
days." He paused again as he scanned the room. "Any questions?"

"No, Sir," several students replied. He then turned, nodded to Ms. Williams
and then took a seat in the back of the room. He remained there the entire
period as the young teacher nervously lectured about the affects of global
warming on the environment. One student turned and looked at me, but he
quickly faced the front when Mr. Calloway very loudly cleared his throat.

He did the same thing sixth period. After I entered the class, most
students started talking about me. The teacher was having a hard time
getting students to quiet down. Ten minutes into the class, Mr. Calloway
dramatically entered the room, stood by the door and glared at students as
they scurried to their stations. He didn't say anything, but he remained in
the room for about a half hour, walking around as we completed our
assignments. He didn't say anything to me, or even acknowledge that I was
in the room. However, every student knew why he had come in to observe the
class. It was his way of demonstrating that he would not tolerate anyone
harassing me.

He left fifteen minutes before the end of class. A few students whispered
to one another, but I think everyone was afraid he might return. A few
minutes before class ended, he made an announcement that all teachers were
to meet for an emergency meeting in the cafeteria immediately after
school. It was a mandatory meeting, and no one would be excused. Many
students looked over at me when he finished.

When class ended, I hurried to my locker. Jeff and Kate were waiting for me

"How was your day?" Kate asked.

"I survived," I sighed. "I guess that is something." I put my books in my
locker. "Listen, Guys. I gotta go. Dad is probably waiting for me." I
turned and hurried away.

When I exited the building, Dad was sitting in his truck. He didn't even
look at me as I approached. We rode home in silence.

* * * * * * * * *

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