Date: Wed, 1 Apr 2015 16:17:10 -0400
From: Jeremy Ellington <jeremyellingtonii@gmail.com>
Subject: Lessons From My Dad-10

NOTICE: This story may contain scenes of a graphical nature, which may not
be legal in your area.  This story is completely fictional and written only
for entertainment purposes.  Any similarities to real life people or
characters is coincidental. If you have trouble separating real life from
fantasy or you are offended by such themes, stop reading now.

Lessons From My Dad
Chapter 10

Beeping.

What the hell was that stupid beeping?  My alarm clock doesn't beep.  Even
still, I reached out to hit the snooze button just to be on the safe side
and the pain hit me all at once.  I screamed out and jerked my eyes open.
The first thing I saw was my Dad, his face and eyes red, his face unshaven.

"Sean!  Sean, honey, don't move too fast baby, you're gonna hurt yourself
if you move too fast."  He reached up and stroked the left side of my face
with his right hand, and I realized that I could his feel his left hand
holding my right one.  "Oh baby, I am so sorry," He sighed.

"Dad, what's going on?  Why does it hurt so much?  And why am I wearing
these tight clothes?"

"Son, let's take this a little at a time.  You may not remember, but you
were in a fight Sean.  Well, that's not really accurate is it Carl?  Some
boys were trying to beat you up Sean.  If Carl hadn't stepped outside to
smoke and saw them, I just don't know..." And with that Dad choked up and
tears started to drip from his face.  It occurred to me that he must have
been crying a lot for his eyes and face to be that red, and then I saw a
hand appear on his right shoulder.  About that time I saw Carl's face peer
over Dad's head, a strained look on his face, as if he wasn't quite sure
what to do.

"Hi Carl" I said, and he smiled at me.  Carl leaned down and whispered to
my Dad. "Its all right now Aaron, Sean is awake and he's safe and he's
gonna be okay."

"Dad?  Please don't cry" I sobbed.  I'd never seen him like this, and it
was about to tear me in two.

"I'm sorry Sean, its just...I've been so worried about you.  You're in the
hospital son, but you're gonna be okay.  You have a big bruise on your face
and a black eye, one of your ribs is cracked and a few more bruised, and
you have a lot of bruises along both sides of your body, but the doctors
say you should heal with no problem and be just as good as new."  He sort
of blurted all this out at once, as if he just had to get it out and over
with.

"You mean I missed my birthday party?" I asked.

My Dad's eyes got wide and I heard Carl chuckle.  "I told you he was too
smart not to figure out he was getting a party Aaron," Carl said, and my
Dad's eyebrows went up even as his eyes narrowed down at me.

"How long did you know young man," he growled at me with a smirk on his
face.

"It was my friends, Dad," I said, watching his face starting to look
pissed.  "Oh no, they didn't say anything.  Not a word.  And that's how I
figured it out.  Between you and them grinning all the time whenever any of
you looked at me, I knew something was up.  I don't have to be straight A's
to know that a thirteenth birthday is party-worthy!"

Dad and Carl just laughed.  "You were right Carl, he knew, and damn I
really thought I had him, especially when I decorated his room the night
before.  I thought it would throw him off getting so much attention so
early in the day.  And you, young man," he said, looking back at me. "You
fart in your sleep!"

I started to laugh but the pain in my sides grabbed me and I cried out
instead.  "Oh shit Sean, I shouldn't be making you laugh, I'm so sorry!"

"Its okay Dad, from now on, let's just exchange grins instead of laughs".
Dad and Carl both started to chuckle then caught themselves and grinned at
the same time.  "Is it still my birthday Dad?"

I saw a dark look pass his face and he glanced up at Carl, then back to me.
"No Sean, its not.  It's actually Sunday afternoon.  You spent all of
Friday night and all day Saturday with pain medication going into your
veins to help you sleep.  You've missed almost two days son."

My face must have looked stricken, because Carl quickly added "And Sean,
your Dad has been here the whole time.  I had to bring him food from the
cafeteria, otherwise he wouldn't have eaten.  He barely took time to go the
bathroom, and he's still wearing the clothes he had on Friday night for
your party."

I looked at Carl.  He looked so anxious to assure me that he been watching
over Dad even as Dad was watching over me.  "Thanks for taking care of my
Dad, Carl.  And thanks for taking care of me.  I'm starting to remember
some things, and I can hear your voice in my head yelling for Dad when you
came out and interrupted my beating."

Carl just looked at me with a sad expression, as if he wasn't sure what he
was supposed to say, finally coming out with, "I'd do it again in a
heartbeat for you Sean." Then he started to tear up as well.

I looked at Dad, and said, "Ok, I got beat up, I've been out for two days,
I missed my dang party...what else should I know?"

"Well...you aren't wearing tight clothes Sean, you actually have had your
ribs wrapped up in bandages.  There really isn't much they can do for a
cracked rib except hold you in place long enough for it to heal over, so
your movements are being restricted.  That means no sudden movements, no
reaching for anything that isn't right in front of you, and even then don't
do it if you feel the slightest bit of pain.  If you need something just
ask us or one of the nurses.  I am going to have to go home for just a bit
to shower and change, I'm surprised they haven't kicked me out I must
really stink by now."

"Dad, I love the way you smell, it makes me feel safe and protected, even
if you are a bit gamey," I giggled.  He got a very sad look on his face.
"I did a shit job of keeping you protected Friday night Sean, I can never
forgive myself for that."

"Dad, that wasn't your fault, you can't watch me 24/7, any more than I can
watch you."

"Even still Sean, I will never get that image of you laying there on the
sidewalk out of my mind.  Carl complains that I haven't slept in the last
two days, but really son, I don't think I could have.  If you ever have
children Sean, I hope and pray that you never have to see them hurt."

"Dad?  What's gonna happen now?  How long do I have to stay here, and
what's happening with the Jurel Twins and their asshole friends?"

At this, both Dad and Carl got huge smiles.  Dad looked up at Carl then
back at me.  "Son, Carl here was truly the hero of the day!  He caught one
of those little fuckers and sat on him!  Literally sat on him until the
police arrived!  It didn't take them long to grab the other one and that
Freddie Golden shithead hiding behind the Harrison's house down the block,
and they got Devon Harris at his house an hour later trying to pretend he
didn't know anything.  His own mom gave him away cuz she was too fuckin
stupid to realize that he was the one the police wanted and not his father.
It appears the apple didn't fall too far from the tree with that one, the
police are at their house once or twice a year I guess.  They all swore
they had no idea what the problem was, didn't know anything about a
beating, hell they swore they didn't even know who you were.  But
Mrs. Abbot across the street, bless her ever-living soul, another hero!
Not only is she the one who called 911 she also had her phone out and had
taken pictures of all 3 of the fucks as Carl was running after them, AND
she took a few pics of you as well.  I was not too kind to her at the time
wondering what the hell she was doing but the police said her pictures
would be invaluable to send those shits off to juvie once and for all.  It
seems this was far from their first scrape with the law.  And that stupid
Harris kid, why that jackass was caught red-handed with your backpack in
his room!  Tried to claim that he just found it, but by that point Golden
was crying and implicating each and every one of them, thinking he was
gonna get some kind of break with the prosecutor."

I giggled at this, carefully trying not to give myself any additional pain.
About this time a nurse came in, and seeing that I was awake, asked me how
I felt.  I told her I had a little pain, but I was more hungry than
anything.  She asked if I wanted some more pain medication, but I asked her
if it would knock me out.  She said it would definitely make me drowsy, so
I asked for some food first, then some drugs.  She smiled and said she
would be back shortly.

"Sean, now that you're awake the police will be by to talk with you and get
your story, probably tomorrow.  I'm not going into work, I know Carl can
handle anything that comes up there, so don't you worry, I'll be right here
with you, If for any reason I'm not here when they arrive just tell them to
cool their jets, you ain't talking without me here.  I don't think they
would pressure you anyway, but I want to be clear on this son".

"Okay Dad.  I'm a bona fide teenager now, so I have to accept some
additional responsibility and go along with what the old man says," I
grinned, and both Dad and Carl laughed.

"Well son, as soon as the nurse comes back would you mind terribly if I ran
home, showered and changed, maybe zip through a drive- thru and bring it
back here to eat with you?  Wait, maybe I should hang on in case you need
help with your food."

"Carl, would you please stay with me while Dad runs home?  Maybe you could
help me eat if I need it?"  The look on Carl's face was extraordinary.  I
saw pride, happiness, eagerness and uncertainty all take their turns
running across his features.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw my Dad look
at me, a huge grin splitting his face practically in half, and a light nod
in my direction told me how happy he was that I had asked that.

"Carl, would you mind?  It would mean a lot to both of us," Dad asked Carl.

"Well of course I will Sean, you barely have to ask!" Carl grinned. Dad
leaned over and gave me a number of kisses on the un-bruised parts of my
face and mouth, then got up, gave Carl a quick hug and a whisper, turned
and said he would be right back, and out the door he went.  Carl took a
seat in the chair vacated by Dad, and suddenly looked a little nervous.

"Carl, will you please reach over and take my hand.  I don't trust myself
to move it yet," I asked him.  Carl quickly grabbed my hand and squeezed
just a little.  "Carl, I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am for what
you did.  I'm sure you saved my life Carl, I just don't know how far those
assholes were going to go, but I'm glad I don't have to know."

Carl looked at me, his eyes tearing up.  "Aw Sean, I know you probably
don't know this, but you're the closest thing I'll probably ever have to
seeing a young boy grow up to be a man.  I'm only just starting to realize
how important an experience that is gonna be, so shit kid, I sure as hell
wasn't gonna let those assholes take that away from me!"

I could tell that Carl had shocked himself with that statement, so I didn't
question him on it.  I just said "Crap Carl, I do believe they were heading
for my balls after they broke my rib and I was trying to get my hands down
there to cover them.  If you hadn't come out when you did, I think I'd have
a much higher voice right now!"

Carl opened his eyes in wonder that this thirteen year old kid just
finished mentioning the finer parts of testicular protection to him and he
threw his head back and roared.  "Shit Sean, don't make me laugh or you'll
make yourself laugh, and you've had enough pain for a lifetime, but damn
Sean that was fuckin funny!"

I was beginning to think I had misjudged this man.  I mean I'm sure pretty
anybody with any feelings would have intervened to stop a kid from being
beaten, but he could have just chased them away.  Instead he ran after them
and kept one of them prisoner waiting for the police to show up.  Would he
do that for just any kid?  I couldn't help but remember what I saw back at
the softball field that day with him trying to coerce that little boy in
the bathroom stall.  I decided to just let that memory go away for awhile.

"Carl, thank you for staying here with me.  I'm worried about Dad, but I'm
real glad he has you to keep an eye on him when I can't.  I know how
stubborn he can be too, so thanks as well for taking care of him while I
was drugged up.  If he hasn't said thank you yet I know he will, once
everything calms down a bit."

"Sean, your Dad and I go way back, and he's been a great friend to me for a
long time.  I wasn't a very social kid growing up, but Aaron always tried
to include me, and probably did more good for me than he'll ever know.  I'm
happy to sort of return the favor by staying here with you, but not just
because of that.  Like I said, I've come to realize that you have a lot of
your Dad's personality, and the older you get the more you remind me of
him.  Its gonna be fun watching you grow up and seeing what you make of
yourself."

I was watching Carl as he spoke, and it occurred to me that this was not
only the longest conversation we had ever had, it was also the first time I
felt comfortable with the way he looked at me.  I didn't see a smirk or an
angry face, this was the real Carl.  I smiled up at him when he finished.

"Carl, I think I'm going to close my eyes for just a bit here, but please
don't leave.  I'll rest better knowing you're here.  And for goodness sake,
please wake me up when the food comes.  I can sleep all night and I'm so
hungry right now I'll even eat hospital food!"

Carl chuckled at me, put his other hand on top of mine so my hand was
sandwiched between his, and just said, "Don't you worry Sean, I'll be right
here, and I'll make sure you get fed.  If I know your father, he'll bring
extra when he comes back too, so we'll fatten you up in no time!  You just
rest."

I smiled at him and closed my eyes, happy with the knowledge that Carl and
I might become friends after all.

---

I spent the whole week in the hospital, Dad by my side all day and part of
the night, with Carl popping in to relieve Dad every so often.  I started
to manage the pain better as the days went along, and I even enjoyed some
of the food, especially when Dad would supplement with some burgers and
fries or a submarine sandwich.  I received some cards from kids at school,
and one especially touching card from Mr. McDonough.  In the card he said
how sorry he was for my situation, and he blamed himself for everything.  I
kept that card away from Dad, asking Carl to sneak it out one night when
Dad wasn't there.  I had originally planned on telling Dad how upset I was
over my fake detention, but I knew he would be pissed at how McDonough had
handled it, plus it would make him realize that it was his idea to keep me
at school, which in turn led me right into the middle of the Jurels and
their shithead buddies.

The police had arrived on Tuesday to take my statement, and true to his
word Dad was right there to make sure they treated me with respect.  The
police officers were very nice and told us, off the record, that they were
glad to have a reason to lock the Jurels away for awhile, because they were
tired of dealing with the complaints about them.  They said I would hear
from the prosecutor after they finished filing their report.

Dad swung by school every day to pick up my schoolwork and any necessary
books, and went back with completed homework, plus he spent the days in my
room with me so I was never really bored.  The worst part was I needed a
nurse to help me in the bathroom.  Dad was able to assist me with peeing,
but I didn't want him to have to wipe my butt for my other bathroom needs.
He protested that he did it when I was a baby, but I thought he was going
above and beyond as it was, and he stopped arguing with me about it after
the first day.  A couple of times he even jerked me off in the bathroom as
well, which certainly helped my wellbeing, and only brought us closer.  We
came out of the bathroom one time still giggling about how well he was able
to aim my cumshots right down into the toilet, only to find Carl sitting on
my bed with a questioning expression on his face.  Dad covered it up by
changing the story to be how well he aimed my piss stream, which in turn
got Carl to `confess' how he and Dad used to cross piss streams when they
were kids, like they were fighting with swords.  I think Carl was a little
embarrassed to retell the story, but he was giggling with us afterwards so
I guess he got over it.

I was discharged the Friday after I had been admitted, along with some
extra bandages for my ribs, instructions for Dad on how to take care of me,
and a supply of pain pills.  I was happy to be home, especially with Dad
now giving me a sponge bath every day.  He would either jack me off or suck
me off after each bath.  I'd asked him if he had been jacking off while I
was in the hospital.

"No Sean, I haven't, I didn't even think about it I was so very worried
about you.  Besides, I was with you almost all of the time so if I had, you
would have been there to see it."

I felt badly for him, I mean he was still young and I knew he needed to get
some relief too.  "Dad, remember the pair of your underwear that you shot
your load onto so I would be able to sleep with a part of you every night?"

He blushed a little but gave me a grin.  "Of course I do Sean, that was
pretty hot if I do say so myself."

"Well, why don't you do that again for me?  That way I'll have a fresh pair
to sleep with plus you can shoot out a load or two," I asked him, returning
his grin.

"You're serious aren't you," he asked me.

"Hell yea I'm serious Dad, I feel horrible that you haven't been jacking it
because of me, especially considering what you've been doing for me during
my baths!  I'm selfish enough though to want to watch you do it and I want
to be able to suck it out of your shorts afterwards!"

He looked at me and shook his head.  "You are an evil genius my son and you
know I have a major hard on right now thanks to you," he chuckled.  "I
haven't had a chance to do all the laundry yet and I just happen to still
have the pair of shorts I wore those three days that you were in the
hospital."

He laughed when my eyes lit up.  "Really?  Oh yea Dad, those are the ones I
want!  Can you show them to me?"

He left my room for a moment and then returned with a pair of jockeys in
his hand and a big grin on his face.  "Here you go sport, three days worth
of unwashed father!"

I shoved the shorts up to my nose and inhaled deeply then moaned.  "Oh yea
Dad, these will do fine."  I looked them over and shook my head when I
looked at the front.  "No Dad, these don't have nearly enough piss stains
on them.  You must really shake it off too much after you take a leak.  I
think I'll need more than this," I giggled, looking up at him and wiggling
my eyebrows.

He looked at me for a moment, got an evil grin in his face, then snatched
the shorts out of my hands and left the room. I didn't hear anything at
first, then I could hear the unmistakable sound of him pissing in the
toilet.  He came back to my room with that same evil grin and a little
something extra in his eyes.

"Sorry for the delay, but I had to convince my woody to go down enough to
piss," he said, handing me the shorts.

I took the shorts and right away I noticed the big wet spot on the front.
I smiled, looked up at him, then without breaking eye contact I put the wet
part of the shorts into my mouth and sucked on them.  "Mmmmm, now that's
much better Sir."

His eyes got really big, then he stood back up and quickly ripped open his
pants.  He was already rock hard again.  "Fuck Sean, you get me so hot when
you do stuff like that!  I'm ready to spooge up those shorts for ya boy!"
He started stroking his cock and groaned.  His fist was a blur on his dick,
then he grabbed the shorts from me and covered his cock with them and
started convulsing.  I could tell by the sounds he was making that he was
creaming into the shorts.

"Can I get some fresh from the source," I cried.  He dropped the shorts and
moved closer to my bed.  I leaned over and wrapped my lips around his cock
just in time to get the last couple of shots of his cum.  He must really
have had a lot stored up in his balls!  If I had any doubt that he hadn't
been jerking off, I sure had the proof now.

As he calmed down he dropped back in the chair, his pants still around his
ankles.  He handed me the cum-covered shorts and watched me start sucking
on the cum that was splattered on them.  He looked down to my sweats and
saw the tent I had erected in them, pulled them down to just under my
balls, and started to jack me off.  It only took me a few minutes before I
shot my own load onto my belly.

"You want me to use those shorts to wipe you boy," he asked.  "That way we
could mix our spunk together for ya."

"No Dad, I just want *your* spunk on these," I said, finally catching my
breath.  He used a tissue to wipe me off, then he pulled my sweats back up
and patted me on the head.

"You need to get some rest now Sean.  I think we've tired you out enough
for awhile."

"Okay Dad.  Thanks for the fresh supply of daddy-cum and piss!"  He just
chuckled, kissed my forehead and left my room.

- - -

Dad had to wipe my butt now that there were no nurses around, and he did it
without a complaint and much to my relief, without any jokes about it.  My
cracked rib was on my right side, and being right-handed, I decided to
teach myself to take care of my business with my left hand.  I came up with
some exercises to move my left arm forward and back, trying to reach back
as far as I could, and I was eventually able to do the job without Dad's
help.  He almost looked disappointed when I told him, but I said that
cleaning up my diapers was enough for one lifetime, and I got a shocked
look then a swat on my ass when I told him that someday it might be me
having to wipe *his* rear end!

Even though he was not sure we should, I was later able to convince him to
let me suck him off a couple times.  We had to get in just the right
position to avoid making me move too much, but that resulted in him
straddling me and fucking my mouth, and I really enjoyed that position.  He
could tell, because every time we did that he had to jerk me off again.  I
couldn't help it, something about Dad being so dominant like that really
got me excited, even if I had just shot my own load.

It took us that entire week to eat all the food and snacks that Dad had
amassed for my birthday party, and we had birthday cake every night for
dessert.  Carl joined us for dinner a couple of those nights at my
insistence, and I could tell by the look on Dad's face that he was very
pleased with my change of heart regarding his childhood friend.  One of
those nights I asked Dad to hold off on putting on new bandages after my
bath until Carl was there, so I could show him how much the bruising had
faded.  From the look on Carl's face I got the impression he was somewhat
uncertain about looking at me like that, but I just kept up a conversation
with him and Dad, acting as if there was nothing at all odd about the
procedure.  I finally realized that even though I was wearing shorts, Dad
had to pull them down a little to finish wrapping me and Carl must have
gotten a great view of my blond pubes before Dad had me covered up again.
Carl blushed a little off and on that night and waived off on having
dessert, claiming he was tired and had to get home.  The slight wet spot on
his jeans told me that he wasn't so much tired as horny, and I giggled to
myself thinking of the workout his hand would be getting that night after
he got to his house.

I felt badly that Dad had to take care of the cooking and cleaning, plus he
had taken so much time off from work, so rather than sit around too much I
tried to get up and around, still following doctor's orders, but determined
to get some of my regular life back.  I was released to go back to school
on the third Monday after the attack and was the hit of the classroom.
Apparently I was some kind of hero to a lot of kids who were used to being
bullied by the Jurels and their cronies.  I also heard from some of the
guys that Coach Harper told each of his gym classes that if he heard even
the slightest hint that anyone was going to try to get back at me for
getting those shits locked away, he would come down on them like a ton of
bricks.  From what they told me, with perhaps some exaggeration, he scared
the crap out of everyone and even used swear words and everything!
Needless to say, I knew I was safe for a least a little while.

Dad, or sometimes Carl, would take me to school and then pick me up each
day, so as long as the teaching staff and my friends looked out for me I
thought I would be okay at school.  The twins had a younger brother who
intentionally bumped into me in the hall on the first day back, but was
nabbed by a watchful teacher within seconds and was whisked off to the
principal's office, not to be seen again for a week.  When he came back he
avoided me like the plague.  I later learned that he was told he would join
his brothers in juvie in a heartbeat because the school had installed a
no-bullying policy while I was out, and they were itching to use it against
the known troublemakers.  The Jurels were petty criminals and bullies and
pretended to be fearless about it, but everyone knew what their father
would do to one of them if they got kicked out of school.

My big birthday present from Dad was my own cell phone.  He knew I wouldn't
abuse it, and after what happened to me he said he wished he'd have gotten
it for me sooner, thinking I would have been able to call for help before
anything bad had happened.  He pre-programmed his and Carl's numbers into
the phone, and I added just a few more, making sure Dad knew what I was
doing.  I downloaded a few games and some apps, but I really wasn't the
type to sit and stare at a cell phone all day, so it spent most of its time
in my backpack.

Mr. McDonough acted very timid around me when I returned to school, never
addressing me in class unless I raised my hand to answer a question, and
rarely looking at me straight on, although I could tell he would sneak
peeks at me every so often.  I knew he felt badly and I decided that I
needed to clear the air with him, so one day after Carl texted me to say
that he would be a few minutes late picking me up I texted back to tell him
that was fine, I actually needed about 10 minutes to discuss a project with
a teacher.  After my last class I walked into Mr. McDonough's room and
asked him if he had a few minutes.  He gave me a `deer in the headlights'
look, then said "Of course Sean, please come in."  When I closed the door
behind me his eyes roamed the room quickly, as if he was looking for
another way out.  I walked in and sat in the first chair in front of his
desk.

"Mr. McDonough, I wanted to thank you for the nice card you sent me while I
was in the hospital."  He mumbled a `your welcome' while trying not to look
at my face.  "I also want you to know that none of this was your fault Sir.
There was no way for you to know that I would run into those hoodlums, and
if I had known, I would have either asked you for a ride or I would have
called my Dad.  Please don't blame yourself and please, please, don't be
afraid I'm going to bite your face off in class.  You've always been my
favorite teacher, and I'd like for us to just move on and get back to the
way things were before.  I hate seeing you look like you're afraid of me
Mr. McDonough."

He looked at me, blinking for a few minutes, before his face relaxed and a
very slight smile appeared.  "Sean, you are a bigger man than I for coming
in here and letting me off the hook like this.  Yes, I have blamed myself
for what happened to you, and even though you say you don't, I will never
forget, nor will I ever forgive myself for any of it.  I appreciate that
you came in here more than you know, and I thank you, from the bottom of my
heart Sean.  You know you're pretty popular with all of the teaching staff.
We had a meeting the week after your...incident...and we all decided that
we had to not be just good teachers, we also had to be better adults and
protect out students.  When you're young you may not realize this, but you
young people don't just walk into our class at the top of each hour then
waltz out 50 minutes later to be forgotten until the next day.  We care
about you.  Most of us became teachers for that very reason.  It's because
of you that we convinced the school board to adopt the new anti-bullying
program, and we hated that you of all of our students had to suffer in
order for us to get the kick in the butt that we needed to do that.  I am
in charge of that new program Sean for two reasons.  One, because of what
happened to you, my best student, but not just because you're my best
student.  I've seen you help other students with their work Sean." He
smiled when I raised my eyebrows at this.  "Ah, you students don't think
we're watching you all the time?  You think that Billy Watson came to you
during lunch last month for help with his math on his own?  Ms. Saber sent
him to you, knowing that you could and would help him.  We know who our
good students are Sean, and we know which of our students are
struggling. We also know who would be a good tutor and who would accept and
improve by being tutored.  A teacher hates to admit this Sean, but we also
know there will always be students who we will never be able to reach.
They will either drop out, or just barely graduate by the skin of their
teeth unless one of their peers finds a way to help them."

Mr. McDonough stopped here to get his breath, and looked out past the rows
of empty seats as if deep in thought.  I wasn't sure if I was supposed to
say anything, so I just sat there, waiting for him to continue, or send me
home.  He finally pulled his gaze back to me and seemed to focus intently
on my face.

"What I just told you really needs to stay between us Sean; we can't have
students thinking that we give up on them.  The other reason I am in charge
of the anti-bullying program must especially stay between us Sean, I am
counting on you to promise me this."  He looked at me with an expression on
his face I had never seen from this man before.  It was both expectant and
pleading at the same time.  "Of course Mr. McDonough, I would never breach
the trust you have in me," I said.

He sighed and seemed to have some inner turmoil about carrying on the
conversation, then he squared his shoulders and spoke again.  "Sean, when I
was you age I had a stutter, a terrible stutter.  You've been bullied Sean,
so you know what its like.  Back then the general response to being bullied
was to be told to `man up' and deal with it.  Yes, *deal with* being made
fun of by your peers, and even, yes, some teachers.  Being treated as if
you're somehow deficient because you can't get through an oral book report
without having the class laugh at you, and never raising your hand to
answer a question when you knew you had the correct answer, even when there
were no other hands raised in the class.  I worked hard to overcome that
stutter Sean, but it wasn't until I was in college and found an excellent
speech professor who had gone though the same experience that I learned how
to control it.  I hope with all my heart that I can help prevent any child
from dealing with emotional pain Sean.  Growing up can be hell Sean, kids
can be very cruel.  I deeply apologize to you Sean, on behalf of all of the
teaching staff and administrators that you had to end up in the hospital
for us to finally act on trying to prevent some of that cruelty.  We can't
stop it all, but we can try to stop some of it."

I saw the single tear falling from Mr. McDonough's eye before he had to a
chance to wipe it away.  I was stunned by what he told me, and I had so
many questions, but I knew this wasn't the right time to ask or if I really
should ask.  I stood up and walked over to where he was sitting at the
front of his desk and reached out my hand.  He gave me an embarrassed smile
and shook my hand.

"Your secret is safe with me Mr. McDonough, and thank you for sharing it
with me, it really means a lot to me that you did, and it means a lot to me
and the other kids that you've taken the lead with the anti-bulling
program.  Please let me know if I can help in any way.  I'd like to think
of you as my friend.  I know that it is probably against school regulations
or something, but that's not going to stop me.  I'm glad you're my teacher.
Thank you for letting me speak with you tonight.  Have a good night Sir."

He smiled a big smile this time, and then got a concerned look on his face.
"Do you need a ride home Sean, is there someone we should call?"

"No, I see my chariot is just now pulling around the front.  I'm good to
go."

"All right Sean, good night then."

I left his classroom and practically floated to my locker, passing two
teachers who also asked if I needed any help.  I thanked them but told them
I was okay, then I made my way towards the door.  I started to wonder about
Mr. McDonough.  Could he be gay?  Could any of my teachers be gay?  I was
surprised at myself for just now thinking of that.  I wonder if he had a
thing for that professor who helped him lose his stutter.  Wait, he never
said if it was a man or a woman.  Hmm, I wonder how I would work that into
a future conversation, if we ever have another like the one we had tonight.

Before I knew it I was standing in front of Carl's car, with him holding
the door for me with a perplexed look on is face.  "Sean?  Are you okay
Sean?"

"Oh hi Carl, sorry!  I was so deep in thought I might have walked right
past you if you hadn't said anything."  I slid into the front seat, careful
with my still-tender ribs, and he closed the door chuckling to himself.

He got behind the wheel and looked over at me.  "You're sure you're okay
now?"

"You bet Carl!  Thanks for giving me some extra time.  Let's boogie!"

Carl just laughed at me, started the car and headed for my house.


----

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