Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:41:15 +1000
From: Drew <drew@superdrewby.com>
Subject: Life at a Private School 21

Sally was in the kitchen battling with the largest roast chicken I had ever
seen.  She was trying to keep it still while she cute portions off it.  I
had to laugh because she was scolding the cooked chicken like it was small
child.  She looked up as we entered and grinned at us saying that the
chicken just didn't want be eaten.  We both fell over in hysterics at the
scene of the roast chicken trying to get away and had to sit down to
recover.

Tim asked who was here at the house, indicating that he had seen the cars
in the driveway.  Sally said some names that I didn't recognized but Tim
must have because he looked at Sally then at me and asked why my mother's
solicitor was there tonight.  Sally just shrugged her shoulders and
continued battling the dead chicken.  I felt a hot flush or embarrassment
course through my body as I ruefully realized that his mother had obviously
decided that I need to talk to a lawyer after all.  I cursed to myself and
wondered why people couldn't stay out of my business.  I was upset and
embarrassed enough already without wanting to go through the hole thing in
front of people I hardly knew.

We quickly washed up and Tim guided me through the maze of rooms till we
entered the formal reception room of the house where three people including
Tim's mother were chatting having an aperitif before dinner.  Tim
straightened his back as he walked in and gave his mother a kiss on the
check and introduced the other people around the room.

Jonathon Simmons was his mother's solicitor, he had an associate with him,
a young college graduate Matt Aitkens.  There was also someone else that I
already recognized from yesterday, the policeman that had taken down my
statement at the hospital.  I gulped air in to my lungs to try and stop my
knees from shaking and to control the expression on my face.  I knew my
eyes must have opened as wide as saucers, but kept my breathing relatively
under control.

"Tim, you didn't tell me that you went to the hospital yesterday with
Josh", his mother enquired.  Tim went bright red and I was instantly
horrified about how much the policemen had already told her.

"I um I um, well he is my friend and um his parents were working so I um",
Tim stammered out, but then his mother turned to me and apologized for
this, but she was not going to stand by and allow the school to try and
ruin someone else's life like they had before, so she had spoken to
Jonathon after we left and asked him what could be done.

In some ways I was relieved and overjoyed that Tim's mother had obviously
believed us and had not read too much into the situation, so our secret was
still safe for the moment anyway.  I was embarrassed and overjoyed at the
same time that Tim's mother did actually want to help but I was still so
painfully embarrassed by all the attention and the situation.

Mr Simmons came over to me and asked if I would like to spend a few minutes
talking privately in one of the other rooms.  I looked from Tim to his
mother not knowing what to do or say until she interrupted my terrified
contemplation with, "don't worry about cost, I will cover any costs that
Jonathon might have".  It was honestly the last thing on my mind but I
realized that a solicitor was expensive and I certainly couldn't afford one
so I agreed to have a quick chat with him.

We went into another room which was almost as large as the formal lounge
and sat down on one of the sofas near a roaring fire.  Mr Simmons sat down
opposite me and smiled kindly making me feel a lot more comfortable with
the situation.

"So do you want to tell me what happened", he enquired gently.  "Nothing
you tell me can be repeated to anyone else, this is called lawyers
privilege and it remains only between us".  He murmured taking a sip from
his large drink.

I didn't really no where to start but with the gentle questioning by
Jonathon as he asked me to call him, he very quickly had a full version of
events from yesterday afternoon, the headmaster at my house last night and
episode with my father this morning.  He also asked me my age and when I
turned 18 which was only a few more days away.

After finishing he sat back for a moment or two to think and then started
to give me his opinion of what legal and other recourse I could take.  He
explained that because I was not yet 18 my father was legally entitled to
sign the paper granting no future action on my behalf.  I started to
interrupt him at that point but he held up his hand indicating that I
should wait till he finished.

However he explained that because I had been assaulted it was both a civil
and judicial matter and I could legal action on my own, regardless of my
age have charges pressed against the teacher. I could also take civil
action which meant suing the school.  He also said that because it was so
close to my eighteenth birthday the courts would not view me as a minor and
the actions my father had taken could be overturned by a good judge, but I
would have to petition the court that my father's actions were not done in
good faith.

He told me that the chances of me winning either a civil case against the
school or the teacher were quite high, although the school had the
resources to fight a long and dirty legal battle.  He explained that from
his experience it depended on what I wanted out of the case as to how the
fight would be fought.  If I was looking for a monetary settlement the
school would probably settle out of court very quickly, if on the other
hand I was looking for the teacher to be fired and the school to issue an
apology that they would probably go to court.

If I went to court they would try and totally discredit me, my behavior at
school, anything bad I had ever done, problems at home.  Anything they
could try to use against me they would.

It would be a nasty fight and it could last for many years and be very
stressful for me.  If I wanted the police to charge the teacher, it would
be very traumatic for me and again the teacher's lawyer would try to
discredit me as being unreliable and a problem student.

I sat there taking all this in, not knowing what to say or do and Jonathon
sensed this by letting me sit there for a few minutes.  He finally broke
the silence by telling me that I didn't have to make my mind up then and
there I could leave any of this until I was ready, and added that I could
even wait until I had finished my school exams and left school.

After a few more moments he suggested that we go and join the others for
dinner and let me think about what course of action I would like to take.
As we got up he turned to me and reminded me that I could do nothing and
simply get on with my life and forget all about it.  No one was going to
force me to do anything that I didn't want to do and the choice was
entirely up to me.

When we came back to the others Tim came straight up to me to ask me what
had been said.  We walked away from the rest of them and I hastily
whispered everything to him.  I was really worried about the whole thing
because if I did take action and it went to court there was a very real
chance that our relationship would be made public and we would be pulled
kicking and screaming out of the closet.

This was the last thing I wanted and I knew that it not only terrified me
half to death but it also terrified Tim as well.  Tim was so very straight
acting and all of his other friends who he had been pretty much ignoring
for the last several months would stop talking to him if he came out, or so
we both thought.

It seemed that there were a lot of people around us who wanted to help, but
I still felt very alone and that the problems all rested on my shoulders.
I turned to Tim and desperately wanted him to hug me right then and thee,
but I held off knowing that it wasn't a good idea in front of his mother
and the others in the room.

"Why is my bloody life so damn complex" I asked Tim, half joking and half
serious.  Tim looked at me with his big brown eyes and just shrugged not
really knowing what to say to me.

I felt like hell at that moment, the only thing that seemed to be going
right was my relationship with Tim, but I hated being dishonest to people
around us about our relationship.  The whole thing with my father and the
school was just too much for me to deal with at the moment and I just
wanted it to all go away.

Dinner was an amazing affair for me, as I had never really been invited to
a formal dinner before.  But the food was delicious and I was made to feel
very welcome, especially by Tim's mother.

We didn't have much time before we had to be back at the school for the
Musical that night, but after we had all finished our meal and coffee had
been served Tim's mother cleared her throat and stood up.  I turned to Tim
as if to ask what was going on, but he was looking straight at his mother
so I could not get any clue as to what was happening.

"Ten years ago my first son, Tim's eldest brother died, and I promised
myself that I would never let his memory rest until we bought those people
to justice that caused his death".

My stomach instantly knotted as I realized why Tim and his mother had been
so evasive about the date and why the special dinner was on.  Under the
table I felt over for Tim's hand and grasped it hard.

"Josh", she said looking directly at me.  "Jonathon was ten years old when
he died from complications of an appendicitis.  He became ill at school
during a class in the morning and died later that afternoon".

His mother the recounted what had happened that day at the school and I
finally understood why she hated the school and in particular the
headmaster.  Jonathon had been a very quiet child, unlike his older brother
Tim, who was very outgoing and loved all sorts of sports and was generally
a rambunctious child!  Jonathon liked nothing more than to sit and play the
piano for hours on end and he had a very promising talent for it too.  He
had a habit of losing track of time at school during recess and lunch when
he would go into one of the practice rooms and play on the piano, often
being late to class.

On the fateful morning, Jonathon had been late for the class and his
teacher was very cross with him, so when he complained of feeling unwell
the teacher ignored him and thought he was just being naughty.  As a
punishment for being late to class the teacher made Jonathon stay in during
lunch and clean up the room.

Unfortunately Jonathon had been ill for a few days and by that morning his
appendix was almost ready to burst.  He had tried to tell the teacher that
he was very sick but he had not listened to him.

By the end of lunch when the teacher returned to the classroom Jonathon was
lying curled up in a corner of the room in his own vomit just barely
conscious.  The teacher had called the school nurse and the headmaster, but
by the time he was taken to hospital and they operated the infection from
the burst appendix had spread too far.

By eleven o'clock that night ten year old Jonathon had died.  The school
immediately tried to cover up the incident and the teacher's culpability in
not letting Jonathon go to the school nurse earlier.  In the end Tim's
father who was an old boy of the school and a close friend of the
headmaster had agreed that it was all just a big mistake and that the
school was not responsible.

Tim's mother however had never forgiven either the school or her husband
and ten years later she still had a burning hatred for the school.  I
understood everything now, why Tim's parents did not get along and why
Tim's mother wanted so much to help. Except it wasn't help that she wanted
to give me, she wanted to use me for revenge.

I didn't really know what to say so I sat there quietly with my eyes
staring down at the empty coffee cup in front of me for several moments.
Tim broke the silence in the room by saying that we had better get going or
we would be late.

As we got up to leave Tim's mother came up to me and gripped my arm
tightly, "don't let them get away with it Josh, they have to face justice
for their actions!"

Her eyes were burning with hatred and the hand on my arm hurt as she
whispered this to me and it was all I could do not to visibly shake away
from her.  Tim came up behind me and motioned for us to leave.

As we drove off towards the school Tim explained some more of what happened
after his brother's death.  He was too young to really understand what was
going on, but he had loved his brother who had always looked after him.
His feelings towards the school were pretty ambivalent and he neither
really loved the school or hated it.  He didn't truly believe that it was
the schools fault, because even if his brother had gone to the school nurse
he probably still would have been died as the appendicitis he had was quite
unusual in the speed it burst and killed him.

I was silent for a while until he asked me what I was going to do about the
school and Mr McAllister.  I was still very confused and didn't know if I
should take his mother's offer of help and pursue the school.  I decided
that I would wait a week and then decide.

We continued talking till we arrived at the school and Tim went one way and
I went the other towards the back stage area where I would be because I
couldn't play that night.  I hardly concentrated at all on the singing or
the action around me as I sat there playing over and over in my mind what I
should do.  Most people avoided looking at me because they knew what had
happened and didn't want to get involved.  Ben did come over and say hi to
me quickly in between moving scenery around, but I could tell that he was a
bit scared of being seen with me.

Just before the final number I saw Mr McAllister walking towards me and my
whole body started to shake and sweat ran down my face.  He glared at me
and laughed a nasty menacing little laugh as he said. " stupid poofter, I
should have hit you harder and knocked some real sense into you".  I held
my breath shaking wondering what he was going to do as he leaned in very
close to me and said in my ear, "you know that you can't touch me legally,
the school would never allow a stupid little queen like you to hurt them,
and if you try well we can just make life extremely difficult for you".

He then sneered at me and walked off.  I was almost in tears at this,
because I had been so frightened that he was going to really hurt me this
time.  And sat there for a few moments just gathering my thoughts.

I heard a noise in my ear as one of the stage managers made some comment
into the PA system.  I realized I was still wearing one of the small
earphones with a microphone in my ear and the voice made me jump.

After the show was over I met up with Tim, Dan, Nick and Cass near the
school gates.  Cass gave me a hug and asked me how I was feeling and if I
had made any decisions about what I was going to do.  Tim came to my rescue
by saying that for the next few days we were just going to forget it ever
happened and have a great weekend as my Birthday was on Wednesday of next
week and I would think about it later.  Cass smiled and said that I should
have a great weekend and then she left to get home to her partner.

The four of us stood there for a few minutes confirming our plans for going
out into town the following night before we all departed, Dan and Nick to
their own homes and Tim and I to his where I was staying for the next
little while.

On the drive home I rested my had on Tim's knee and fell asleep to the
movement of the car feeling safe from the school and safe from my father
for the time being.  I dreamt of Tim and I having our own house away from
everyone else playing on the beach laughing and generally being happy.
When I woke we had just parked at the front of Tim's house and we went
inside talking about going out and what it would be like.  I was really
excited by going out and was really looking forward to going somewhere
where no one knew us and we could hold hands and be ourselves in public!


I thrive on feedback and comments, so please send them to
drew@superdrewby.com