Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 13:58:09 -0700
From: Danny <m12@thedoghousemail.com>
Subject: Simon's Journal: Thirteen Days, Chapter 4 of 13

Simon's Journal
Volume I

Thirteen Days - The First Crusade
A novel by Danny

Chapter 4
February 19, 2004 Thursday
      Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
      "Oh man!" I groaned as I crawled out of bed to turn
off my alarm.
      "I-t c-a-n-t b-e m-o-r-n-i-n-g a-l-l r-e-a-d-y!" I
said in the course of a yawn while stretching.
      I ran both hands through my hair and coughed once as I
took a deep breath. I reached down to see if I was dry and
for the second morning in a row I had gotten up dry. Before
yesterday morning I would have gone right back to bed just
like, well just like I had done yesterday but with dad's
words still replaying over and over again in my ears the
idea sort of turned me off the whole idea.
      A part of me wanted to get back in bed, wet and rub
myself again but I just couldn't do it, not today. I think
somewhere in the back of my head I was wondering if I would
ever want to do it again. So instead, I put on one of my
baseball style t-shirts with the three-quarter red sleeves,
stepped into my slippers and headed for the kitchen with
only my dry Goodnite on which was peeking out from under
the bottom hem of my shirt.
      Mom was already up making coffee, "Oh good morning!"
she said with a smile.
      It had been several days since I had showed up at the
breakfast table still wearing my Goodnite but it was such a
normal thing for me to do that I don't think that mom even
noticed.
      "Are you ready for breakfast?" she asked as I sat down
at the table while rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
      I shook my head yes and tried to rub the sleep out of
my eyes.
      "Someone doesn't look like he is awake yet this
morning." I just smiled and put my hands between my legs to
warm them, as it was a bit chilly again this morning.
      "When is summer going to come?" I asked with a shiver.
      "Oh, it will be here before you know it and then you
will be complaining about it being so hot every day," she
said while pulling open the curtain over the kitchen sink.
      "So, what sounds good to you this morning?" she asked.
      "Toast and O.J?" I requested.
      "You sure that is going to be enough?"
      I shook my head at her a little more assertively this
time.
      "Do you want anything on your toast?" she asked
dropping two slices of bread in the toaster oven.
      "A little butter, please," I said.
      "Ice in your juice, too?" she asked.
      "Yes please," I said, rubbing at my eye again.
      In no time at all, mom had served up two slices of hot
buttered toast and a nice icy cold glass of O.J. just the
way I like it.
      "Thanks!" I said, gulping down a big swallow of the
juice.
      "Careful! You will give yourself a brain freeze," she
cautioned.
      "AAHHH! T-o-o l-a-t-e!" I whimpered.
      I set the glass down a little too hard which caused a
few drops to splash onto the table as I grabbed my head.
      "See!" she said smartly while wiping up my small mess.
      "Oow!" I continued to moan.
      "Brain freeze?" I heard dad say.
      "Good morning sugar-booger," he said kissing mom on
the cheek.
      The freeze melted away, "That's better!" I said.
      "Morning, dad," I said picking up my toast and
crunching down into it.
      "Well a brain freeze is certainly one way to wake up!"
Dad said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "But, me? I
prefer to wake up to a nice hot cup of good old Caffeine
Joe!
      "Eggs this morning?" mom asked dad, giving him a poke
in the side.
      Dad spilt a little coffee on his hand! "Hey! Ouch!"
      "Oh sorry about that . . . sugar-booger!" Mom said in
a mockingly sweet tone.
      Dad chomped his teeth at her and growled, "Yes, L-o-v-
e!"
      She gave him a kiss on the lips.
      "Oh come on! I'm eating here!" I said, shielding my
eyes.
      I heard mom whisper something to dad.
      To which dad replied. "I would love to but I'll settle
for scrambled eggs."
      I did my best to avert my gaze from the two of them as
I chomped down on my toast again.
      "That all you're having?" he asked me.
      I just nodded a few times as I sipped at my juice.
      "Hah," is all he said back.
      As I was finishing off my toast and gulping down the
last of my juice. I went to get up from the table when dad
said, "Hang on, Simon."
      I was already standing up so I just turned toward him.
I don't know why, but my insides all got hard and I started
feeling anxious like I was in trouble or something. Heck,
I've been in the line of fire so much this week that it
wouldn't surprise me if I was in trouble this morning
without even knowing what it was I had done.
      "Yea, dad?" my voice squeaked as I said it.
      "I have a late afternoon meeting today and your mom
has to go help your aunt as well." He looked at mom who was
wiping off the counter and then back at me long and hard.
      "What?" I said feeling that I was under a microscope.
      Dad took a sip of his coffee still staring me down.
"If we let you ride your bike to school today, can we trust
you to go straight to school?" dad finally asked, pointing
his fork at me.
      I started to open my mouth but he cut me off. "And to
not go anywhere else but school? And to come straight home
after school?"
      I started to open my mouth again but this time mom
chimed in. "This is a big step of trust on our part. You
know that, don't you?"
      "Well?" dad asked.
      "Gee? I don't know? I mean I don't think you guys
should trust me!" I said sarcastically.
      "You know, love? I'm thinking of trading him in on a
newer more respectful model. What do you think?" Dad said
dropping his fork in his plane and looking at mom.
      "Don't look at me! He's your son!" mom said, tossing
the wet rag into the sink.
      Dad cocked his head as he looked back at me with both
eyebrows raised quizzically.
      "Okay! Okay! Okay! I hereby do solemnly swear that I
will go straight to school and will come straight home
after school. If I don't you can lock me in my room and
feed me nothing but worms and muddy water for the rest of
my natural life!" I said with my left hand in the air and
my right hand over my heart.
      "That good enough for you?" dad said to mom.
      "I suppose!" mom sighed, "But you are to call me at
your aunt's as soon as you get home! And don't forget to
put your key around your neck! And . . ."
      "Okay!" I said with a slight whine, "Can I go get
ready for school now?"
      "I wish you would!" dad said, stuffing him mouth with
a fork full of scrambled eggs.
      I started to turn to go but dad added, "Simon?"
      I stopped and looked back at him as if to say, "WHAT!"
but I knew better then to use that tone with either of them
so I managed to keep my lips together.
      He was looking very serious. He glanced over at mom
again and then back to me, "Don't mess this up! Okay?"
      I got the message loud and clear. "I won't! I
promise!"
      "Okay now go!" he said waving me off with his fork.
      Smiling from ear to ear I took off for the bathroom
where I only took a short shower. Since I had not wet last
night, I didn't have to worry about getting all the pee
washed off so that I wouldn't smell of it all day.
      Also, since I was going to be riding my bike, I was
careful not to get my hair too wet while showering, only
enough to get it to lay back down. I dressed equally fast
and was out the door with a, "BYE!"
      It wasn't as cold out this morning as I thought it
would be but it was cold enough that the key around my neck
was biting my chest until it warmed up. Even though it was
not as cold this morning as it has been, while flying down
our street, the wind felt like it was going right through
me! Boy that was sure cold but I warmed up pretty fast
peddling the rest of the way to school.
      About a block from the school I nearly ran into some
kid that appeared out of nowhere. He was so bundled up in a
fake fur style winter coat that he looked like a big fuzzy
gray bear. I had to swerve to miss him as he came running
out of some bushes and I nearly crashed into a street sign.
      I turned to the kid who was standing on the sidewalk
staring through his scarf that was wound around his face
like red and green mummy wrappings. It was not cold enough
out to be as bundled up as he was but I figured he had one
of those moms that are very over protective.
      "Man! You need to watch where you are running!" I
snapped, "I nearly hit you!"
      I saw through the scarf that his eyes were all teary
and appeared frightened. As he turned and looked behind
himself to where he had come out of the bushed he raised
his gloved hand to where his face should be before turning
back to me. I could now see a lock of red hair sticking out
from under his hood and I new him instantly.
      Right on cue, Peter Alderman and his three goons came
crashing through the bushes. They each jumped on the boy
and wrestled him to the ground, pounding him with their
fists.
      I still don't remember doing it, but evidentially I
jumped into the midst of them and started pulling them off
the boy. I later found out that I was kicking, punching and
screaming cusswords at them like I was talking another
language. For some unknown reason, Peter and his goons
actually listened to me when I told them to leave the boy
alone. The only part I really remember clearly was Peter
standing there looking like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple
of pieces gone and my brain trying to work out why he
looked so disheveled. Unfortunately one of the crossing
guards and a small flock of students heard my rather loud
remarks and gathered around to see what was happening. One
of the crossing guards had come over and broke everything
up and he ended up reporting us all to the school.
      No sooner had I sat down at my desk in homeroom class
than my teacher walked into the classroom, came right up to
me and gave me a red hall pass and sent me to the office.
Now you might recall that hall passes are supposed to be
blue but there are also red and orange hall passes. The
orange hall passes are for those few students that have
permission to be in the halls between classes. A few
examples are kids that have to go to the nurses' office a
couple times a day to take medications, also the AV-kid has
one and so do the hall monitors. Then there are the red
hall passes and anyone that sees it knows you have been
summoned by the principal himself.
      That walk to the office this morning was one of the
longest walks of my life! With every step my heart
constricted just a little bit more. I could already hear
both of my parents yelling at me when they found out what
had happened and what had come out of my mouth. I could
feel the tears welling up but I managed to keep them in.
      As I was turning the last corner I came face to belly
with Mr. Shaffer!
      "Well hello there Mr. Leonard!" he said with a smile
on his face.
      "Oh, hello Sir!" I said looking down at the floor.
      "Hey! Don't look so glum! It's not all bad!" he said.
      I looked up at him in bewilderment.
      "Yes, I know what happened this morning, actually I
imagine by lunch every person in this school will know." He
was still smiling and for some reason it didn't help.
      "Every person in the school will know soon enough," I
thought.
      "You're made of all the best stuff. Aren't you?" he
said, messing up my hair.
      "Okay, better go face it like a man! And don't you go
forgetting that we have a date tomorrow after school," he
said continuing on his way.
      It was all I could do to pick up one foot and then the
other. It felt like my shoes were made of lead. When I
finally reached the door to the office I couldn't get my
arms to extend out and push it open. Something in me was
telling me to run and never stop but just as that voice was
starting to get through to my feet the door opened on its
own. Standing there taller then ever was Mr. Graff, our
vice-principal. He looked like the cat that had just
swallowed the big juicy mouse!
      "We've been expecting you, Mr. Leonard!" he said with
the meanest looking grin and sounding like someone out of
an old horror movie.
      He stepped to the side and motioned for me to come in
but my feet wouldn't move. My arms hung to my sides and my
legs felt like they were made of stone. I was shaking all
over and couldn't stop. He looked down at me and I think I
heard him say something. I mean, I saw his lips move, but
what did he say?
      His face went hard just as his hand started moving
forward to grab me and . . .
      "You scared the hell out of the boy! Now get out of
here before I throw you out!"
      The voice sounded hard yet somehow soft. I heard a
door slam hard, my eyes jerked open and all I saw was
white.
      I think I said something but I'm not sure, then there
was a face. I could see a face.
      "There you are! Welcome back!" such a sweet voice
said.
      "What?" I said as the face came into focus and I could
see it was the school nurse.
      "You? Oh Hi!" I think I said as I realized who it was.
      "You are okay! You just got too worked up and fainted
is all, but you are going to be just fine," she said,
brushing my hair from my forehead with her fingers and
dabbing at my face with a cold, wet cloth.
      "Did you get this nasty bump from the fight this
morning?" she sounded so much like an angel.
      My hand instinctively went to my forehead, "No, my dad
did it." I said.
      My whole body went ridged, "MY DAD!" I shouted.
      "He's going to kill me!" Panic gripped me again as
everything came flooding back into my mind, "I didn't mean
it! I didn't know what I was saying!" I was crying, "Please
don't tell him, PLEASE!"
      "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down, Simon! It's okay!
Everything is going to be just fine." She managed to get me
calmed back down and put the cold, wet cloth on my forehead
and another one under the back of my neck.
      "I'll be right back, okay?" she said, rubbing my
chest.
      She wasn't gone but maybe two minutes and when she
returned she had the principal in tow. I had only seen him
a couple of times in the halls or out in front of the
school but I had never seen him up close before.
      "Hello Simon!" he said and smiled.
      "Hello Mr., huh? Mr. Principal." I said, unable to
remember his proper name.
      They both smiled though the nurse hid her smile behind
her hand.
      "That's Mr. Freeman, but I think you can just call me
Andy for now, Okay?" he said and for the first time I
realized that he sounded just like Mark Twain from the
movies with that southern twang and all. But he doesn't
look anything like Mark Twain; he looks more like an older
and shorter Nick Nolte with half-moon glasses and short
graying hair.
      I somehow managed to nod my head at him.
      "Can he set up?" he motioned to me while asking the
nurse.
      "Oh sure, here, let me just." She helped me to set up
and propped a pillow behind me to help hold me up.
      I was still a bit woozy but I was okay setting up.
      "That's better. And can you leave the two of us alone
for a minute?" he said to the nurse.
      "Sure, I will be just outside if you need anything,"
she said as he closed the door behind her.
      He put his arms behind his back, which made his belly
stick out just a bit more then it normally did.
      "Simon. Uh, you don't mind me calling you Simon do
you?" he asked.
      "N-N-No Sir. I mean Uh Mr. Uh."
      He corrected me again, "Just Andy."
      "Yes Andy, Sir." I said nervously.
      He smiled again. "That's close enough!"
      "Let me start off by easing your worries." He leaned
forward a bit for effect, "You are not in trouble, okay?"
      I just nodded.
      "Yes, I do know about the fight and yes I was told
what was said," he cleared his throat, "during the fight."
      I started to say something but he held up his hand to
silence me. "No, let me finish.
      "I will admit that I was not very pleased to hear that
one of my students was using that sort of language but
under the circumstances it is understandable."
      I started to open my mouth again but closed it right
away.
      "Ah good! Better to say nothing then to incriminate
ones self. Don't you think?" he said as he moved his hands
around to the front and clasped them together.
      "If you will allow me, I will get back to all of that
in just a moment but I've got another problem that I hope
you can help me with."
      I guess the look on my face asked the question that my
lips didn't seem to be able to get out.
      "Well you see, I have several boys standing in my
office right now and I am not entirely sure what to do with
them. I believe you are acquainted with Mr. Alderman and
his three friends. Yes?"
      "Y-Y-Yes S-sir." I stammered and nodded.
      He scratched his cheek, "Already this year I have had
them in my office more times then I care to remember.
However, the last time I had them before me I had
instructed them that if they messed up just one more time
that every last one of them would be expelled from my
school for good."
      He pulled a slightly faded white handkerchief from his
inside jacket pocket and dabbed at his face with it before
continuing.
      "They have been a real thorn in my side." He exhaled
noisily.
      "I hate to loose a student, no matter how bad they
are, I always feel like I failed them. If I cut Mr.
Alderman and his friends loose they are just going to
become some other schools problem. You see my predicament
here Simon?"
      "Ah Sir . . . I mean Andy? I don't know how I can
help?" I was surprised to hear myself speak.
      "Ah Yes! I've noticed that you and Mr. Alderman have
become, well, chummy in the past few days. Yes?" He said.
      "I-I wouldn't say chummy." I swallowed, "I helped his
friend and somehow he thinks that makes us friends now too,
I guess."
      "Ah and in that I believe might be the answer I have
been searching for." He said waving one hand mystically
before me.
      "You see, from what I have heard this morning from
countless students as well as a couple crossing guards is
that you took those boys by surprise today and even made
Mr. Alderman think twice. You might have even scared them
just a little."
      "I SCARED THEM?" I said loudly.
      He held up both hands, "Whoa, now don't get all worked
up or Mrs. Fish will come in after me. You know, between
you and me, she might look like a heavenly being but
between you and me, I think she has some devil in her too!"
he waved at the door as if to magically seal it shut.
      "Okay let me lay all my cards on the table. I would
like you to help me out by becoming friends with Mr.
Alderman and his . . ."
      He paused and I offered a descriptive word though I
don't think it was exactly the one he was looking for,
"Goons!"
      He laughed, "Uh, I didn't say that but you got the
idea."
      "I-I don't think . . ." he stopped me.
      "Oh but I do and so does your gym teacher, Mr.
Shaffer. I think he said it best when he was in here
earlier. You have strength and bravery in you that you
don't even know you have yet."
      I still can't believe that Mr. Shaffer said that about
me! Wow!
      He continued. "I happen to agree with him and I think
that you might be able to turn those boys around. Or at the
very least, keep them out of my office and out of my hair!"
      I looked down at my shoes, back to him and then back
to my shoes.
      "Okay you think on that one for a minute. Let us get
back to the other matter." He said and my head jerked back
up instantly.
      "Now, don't get all worked up again! It's just that
Mrs. Fish told me that you didn't get that in this mornings
fight. She said you got it from your father?" He pointed to
my head and like a flash of lighting it all became clear.
      "NO, NO, NO!" I shouted.
      "It's not like that at all! He didn't hit me! I hit
him!" I knew I had said the wrong thing again by the look
on his face.
      "No that's not what I mean! I mean . . ." and I went
on to tell him, rather animatedly, how I got the lump on my
forehead and how it was all a total accident.
      "Pork chops huh? Well that sounds too crazy to be a
lie so okay, I will buy that and I will explain to Mrs.
Fish and your dad that everything is okay on that front."
      "My dad?" I asked sounding frightened again because -
well - because I was.
      "My goodness you are an excitable boy! Now just settle
down. Please! I said everything was okay and it is! I had
the secretary call your dad at his work after you fainted.
It's school policy and he is on his way here to take you
home."
      "But!" I tried to interject.
      "Now that is school policy too! You will have to get a
doctors note saying you are allowed to come back to school
before we can let you back in the school. It's the rules
and yes I can see you are just fine. As matter of fact I
think you are well enough to go on to your classes and
disrupt my whole school today."
      I gave him a perplexed look.
      "Oh yes! Everyone is going to be talking about how you
single handedly took on Mr. Alderman and his . . ." he
paused and I offered again.
      "Goons!" and smiled.
      He frowned back! "Not to mention the stories about how
you whipped them with that tongue of yours. Which brings me
to the unpleasant part."
      "But you said I wasn't going to get in trouble!" I
said tearing up again.
      "Did I? Oh well, I tend to talk too much I guess!
Humm, tell you what. Do you have a study period in your
schedule at all?"

      "Yes." I said puzzled and a little scared.
      "When is that?" he said tapping his fingers against
his bottom lip.
      "Right before lunch." I said still puzzled.
      "And do you use it to study?" he asked neatly.
      I started to open my mouth but he spoke first, "Be
honest!" he charged.
      "Sometimes." I said looking back to my shoes.
      "Right, that's what I thought. Okay then. I hear you
are an exceptional student as well as a bit of a writer. Is
that right?" he said self-assuredly.
      It surprised me that he knew both things about me
seeing how before today neither of us had spoke a single
word to one another.
      "I don't know, I suppose." I was still looking at my
shoes.
      "From the reports I've seen and hear about you, you
assuredly are! So, starting on Monday you will go to the
library instead of your study hall class and begin working
on a report that you are to turn in to me in two weeks. I
want you to give me a single page on the origins of each of
the words you used this morning and then an acceptable
substitute for each of them. I want each page hand written
in blue ink in your best cursive script and single-spaced."
He stopped in mid speech to add, "That's one page for each
word!"
      I started to open my mouth again but he didn't stop
talking long enough for me to say anything, which was
probably for the better, "Yes correct spelling, grammar and
punctuation is to be imposed. If you have any trouble
remembering what words you used, I am sure there are
countless numbers of your classmates that can help to jog
your memory."
      I must have really looked baffled because he said
next, "Well I can't very well have all of my students
thinking that it's acceptable to use that sort of language
and I really don't think we are going to have any more
problems of that nature from you." He stopped again and
looked pointedly at me, "Are we?"
      He gave me a smile, "Or would you rather that I just
hung you from the flag pole by your ears for the remainder
of the school year?"
      "Do I get to choose?" I said smartly when it would
have been wise for me to have kept my mouth shut.
      He looked at me over the rim of his glasses and
cleared his throat again, "Hardly! Two Weeks!" he held up
two fingers.
      "Oh and you will be needing one of these." He pulled
an orange hall pass from his pocket and handed it to me
after making several marks on it.
      I nodded my head in agreement as I took it..
      "Now, what about Mr. Alderman and his." He stopped and
put up a single finger and smiled as if to say, "Don't say
it!"
      I couldn't help but to smile.
      "Well?" he posed.
      "I-I-I can t-t-try." The thought terrified me.
      "Wonderful! I'll go put the fear of 'Me' into them and
then have Mrs. Fish bring you in before you leave." He said
walking to the door.
      "Sir, I mean Andy? Can I ask you something?" Despite
all that had happened and despite the fact that I was about
to begin a crusade to change the ways of Peter Alderman and
his gang, I still had it in my mind to carry on my other
crusade despite all that had happened.
      "Why sure!" he said readily.
      I glanced to the other closed door there in the
nurse's office and then back to him, "What is the name of
the boy? I mean the one Peter and his huh, friends were
beating up?"
      Just the thought of the red haired boy and asking that
question re-kindled the passion for my mission and my heart
sang out a long joyful note.
      He took a step toward me, "You telling me you jumped
in the middle of those, those jackals, for a boy you don't
even know?"
      Of course he had no idea that I knew the boy only by
our brief and awkward experience in the next room only days
before.
      I shrugged my shoulders.
      "You are a remarkable young man!" He said giving me a
probing glare.
      "Mr. Hawkins, Mr. Jasper Hawkins and I believe he will
want to thank you personally upon his return. I would
introduce the two of you but his mother and older bother
came and picked him up just after the first bell. He was
understandably shaken by the ordeal as I am sure you can
imagine."
      He stepped back toward the door and it opened without
him even touching it, which surprised us both. The nurse,
Mrs. Fish as I now know her by, came in, "Just one minute
huh?" she said to him with her nose in the air.
      "Ah! Well, we had a lot to talk about Mrs. Fish . . .
as I'm sure you heard." He said making a hasty retreat out
the door.
      I couldn't help but to laugh inside but I did manage
to keep it from bursting out.
      She started toward me when he poked his head back in
and spoke softly, "Oh, and if Mr. Graff give you any more
grief. You come tell me okay?"
      "Okay!" I smiled nervously as it was no secret now
that I was utterly terrified of Mr. Graff.
      "Your mother and father are both here!" the nurse
said.
      "Oh boy" I sighed, "here it comes!"
      I looked at the nurse and couldn't hide my fear, "My
dad's going to kill me! You know that don't you!"
      "Don't be so sure. They both looked pretty worried to
me but I was able to explain everything to them and Mr.
Freeman will talk with them too." She had a way of making
me feel like there might yet be hope.
      She took another rag from a shelf, ran warm water on
it and proceeded to wash my face and neck.
      After several minutes the door opened again and in
came not just my mom and dad but also Mikes older bother
Tate.
      Mom started fussing over me right away. I was
expecting dad to be fire red with anger but instead he
looked prouder then I had ever seen him.
      "Tater? Why are you here?" I asked after I had assured
both mom and dad that I was okay.
      "I came in with Bull and his mom!" he said. "When we
found out your were in here I stayed to make sure you were
alright."
      "Huh? Why were Bull and his mom here?" I was honestly
confused.
      "Wow Simon! Don't you know that Jasper is Bull's
little brother?" he said and things started to fall into
place for me.
      "OH! That's who Bull reminded me of yesterday!" I
proclaimed.
      "Wow!" my voice cracked. "No I didn't know that!"
      "Yea, I was at their house this morning and we were
about to leave for school when your school called to say
someone had beat up his little brother," he explained.
      "Man when Bull gets a hold of those guys he's . . ." I
cut him off.
      "Not going to do anything!" I said with more
confidence then I felt.
      All three of them looked at me dumfounded.
      "No one is going to touch Peter or any of the other
boys that did it! Anyone messes with them will have to
answer to me! Got it?" I was surprising myself and dad was
making a face at Tate that said, "Would you listen to my
son go!"
      "Well said Simon!" Mr. Freeman, the Principal, had
walked back into the room.
      He put his hand on the back of Tater's neck and gave
him a little squeeze, "Tate! You have certainly grown up. I
hope you are not still getting into trouble like you used
to do when you were here in my school?"
      "Ah, no, Mr. Freeman, Sir!" he said this time his
voice cracked and his face flushed white.
      "Good, let's keep it that way. You're at Jefferson
High now, right?" he asked.
      Tater nodded and said, "Yes, Sir!"
      "Good, Good! The Principal there is an old friend of
mine! I might just drop him a call just to see how things
are going over there!"
      Oh Mr. Freeman was enjoying this too much.
      "Ah, no Sir, that won't be necessary!" Tater's voice
was cracking all over the place.
      "I am very glad to hear that!" without letting go of
Tater's neck he smiled at me.
      "Mr. and Mrs. Leonard, may I barrow Simon for a few
more minutes to take care of what we were just talking
about?"
      "You okay with this idea?" dad asked me.
      I shrugged my shoulders, "No not really but I think
I'm the only one that can do it." I said reluctantly.
      "Amazing kid, isn't he!" Mr. Freeman said to Tater
giving his neck another squeeze and thumping him on the
chest before letting him go.
      Tater looked like he wanted to melt into the floor.
      I jumped down from the medical exam table and followed
Mr. Freeman out. However before he had opened the door to
his office Mr. Graff came up to me.
      I instantly felt weak in my knees and looked to Mr.
Freeman who was looking at Mr. Graff with the sternest of
faces.
      "Mr. Leonard, I'm sorry I gave you a fright earlier."
Mr. Graff said as he offered his hand to me.
      "Friends?" he said.
      I looked at his hand for a second before Mr. Freeman
said, "Go ahead Simon, he looks like a Monster but he
really only smells like one!"
      I took his hand trying not to laugh as he shot Mr.
Freeman a dirty look, "Okay, Friends!" I said, jerking his
arm up and down.
      He gave my head a push to the side jokingly with his
other hand and said, "Now go whip 'em again for me!"
      In the Principal's office stood four boys being lorded
over by a short fat gray-haired lady who stood behind Mr.
Freeman's desk looking like she was about to rip every one
of them to sheds with her bare hands. When we walked in,
this short fat gray-haired lady spoke and sounded like
someone's sweet little German grandma. I was taken back
that someone could look so intimidating yet could sound as
gentle as a morning flower.
      "Thank you, Mrs. Regal. We'll take it from here!" said
Mr. Freeman.
      "Okay, but if you need me, I'll be back in my kitchen
making the goulash." And that is when I realized she was
one of the lunch ladies but I had never seen her without a
hairnet, ladle in hand and a big pile of some slop that she
was serving in front of her.
      As she passed me she put a hand to my face and kindly
patted it, "You need tongue scrubbed but are good boy! Next
time I give you extra helpings!" and gave my chin a squeeze
before she left.
      "EYES FRONT!" Mr. Freeman barked causing me to jump at
least a foot backward.
      He started raging on the four boys for several minutes
while I stood behind them feeling very uneasy. My feet kept
sending messages up to my brain asking why they had not
received the message to run like heck.
      I heard my name somewhere in the barrage of words
aimed at the boys. "Every last one of you owes Mr. Leonard
here a huge thank you. I wanted to throw you out of my
school but he talked me into giving you one more chance!"
      I couldn't believe what he was saying, or more
accurately shouting, but he was saying it with such
conviction that I was starting to believe I had done just
that!
      "You can also thank him for calling off that other
boys older bother and his friends! Do you have any idea who
his older bother is?"
      Every one of them shrugged their shoulders.
      "Does the name John Ross Hawkins ring any bells in
those empty heads of yours?" by their reaction every one of
them knew who John Ross Hawkins was and so did I.
      John Ross Hawkins also known as 'The Brahma Bull' and
the all Star Quarterback for the Riverside Panthers High
School Football Team.
      "HOLY COW! BULL IS JOHN ROSS HAWKINS?" I screamed in
my head! Of course, he said his name was J.R. but everyone
called him Bull.
      "Mr. Leonard here might have also bought you a stay of
execution with John and his team mates. He told Tate
Winston," it was obvious they knew that name well, too,
"that no one is to touch any of you. Had he not put himself
directly between you and them you can be sure that none of
you would make it through the day!"
      It was obvious that lights were going on it their
heads. They were finally realizing that their good friend
Mike was none other then the younger brother to Tate
Winston, friend and teammate to J.R. Hawkins and I could
also tell that all four were looking good and scared.
      I still can't believe that I didn't figure that out
for myself when I had met Bull, Tater and Runt the other
evening as I was leaving Mike and Taters' house.
      "You four really messed up this time! Oh, and you
might not want to venture too far without Mr. Leonard right
by your side!" he gestured to me and I thought, "Why did he
have to go and say that?"
      He continued, "Oh, and in case you get it in your
heads that you can push Mr. Leonard around; you might want
to try remembering what happened this morning and know that
he's got just a wee bit of a kamikaze attitude to fighting
and will take one of more of you down with him. Oh and he's
also got something from me, a get out of jail free card. So
anytime he feels like whipping any of your collective
butts, HE HAS MY BLESSING TO DO SO!"
      I jumped again as did all four of them as Mr. Freeman
shouted out that last part so loud the pictures on the wall
were moving.
      He leaned over his desk, pressed a button on the
phone.
      "Yes, Mr. Freeman?" came a voice through the phone.
      "Could you send them in now, please?" he said
pleasantly yet with authority.
      "Yes sir, right away." The voice said.
      He leaned over his desk, propping himself on his
knuckles looking like he was about to start screaming again
but instead he sounded calm and together. "I have four more
people I would like you to meet."
      And right on cue the door opened and four of the
biggest police officers I have ever seen in my life walked
in. It wasn't until they were all the way in that I noticed
the second one was an African-American woman and I thought
that maybe she was one of those Legendary Amazon Women.
      "These here are four of this cities finest!" Mr.
Freeman said straightening up and fixing his tie as each
officer walked over and stood in front of each of the four
boys making the boys look like little children compared to
them.
      "These happen to be four very good friends of mine!" I
could hear Mr. Freeman talking but I couldn't see him past
the wall of cop-flesh.
      He continued to talk, "I've received signed documents
from each of your parents giving me full permission to deal
with the four of you as I see fit! So, my four friends here
are going to be keeping an extra close eye on you as a
favor to me."
      "Simon?" I heard Mr. Freeman call my name.
      "Yes Sir!" I shouted back a little caught up in the
moment.
      "These four officers will be checking with you from
time to time to be sure you are not having any trouble with
these four boys."
      "Yes Sir!" I shouted again.
      "Very good!" he added
      "Officers Mecums, Davis, Hansom and Fry, I want to
thank you for coming down here today and thank you in
advance for keeping an eye on my five boys here! Treat
these four as you see fit in the coming years."
      "Years?" I heard one of the boys whimper.
      "I don't believe anyone asked you to speak!" the
female officer exploded into the boy's face who has spoken!
      "Don't you say another word unless you are asked to
speak, is that understood?" she was barking so loud that it
was hurting my ears and I actually felt sorry for the boy
she was chewing out.
      "ANSWER ME BOY!" she was right in his face screaming.
      "Yes Sir!" he sobbed.
      "SIR! DO I LOOK LIKE A SIR TO YOU?" I had never seen
an African-American turn red before but I sure did today.
Her face was almost glowing it was so red and her eyes were
bulging out of her head like they were about to pop.
      "No Mam!" he sobbed.
      I know I shouldn't have been, but I was reeling
watching those boys cower for a change.
      She backed off a few inches, "That's more like it!"
      Mr. Freeman came around his desk to where he could
again see the four boys. "One last thing boys. I told you
that Simon here bought you one last chance and that was
true. But know this! This IS your last chance!"
      He held up four sheets of paper. "I hold here in my
hand what is in essence, your death warrants. Again signed
by your parents and witnessed by a juvenal court judge
stating that anytime I or any of these four fine officer
deem it to be necessary, you will be detained and sent to
Pine Valley Military Academy where you will remain until
you graduate from High School, which at the rate you four
are going won't be until you are very old men!"
      He turned to the four officers. "Thank you again!" and
shook each of their hands as they filed out.
      As they were leaving they each stopped and shook my
hand too. The female officer shot me a wink and patted my
face, "We'll be seeing you sweetie." And I think I blushed.
      Mr. Freeman looked at me, "Mr. Leonard?"
      I walked over to him, "Yes Sir?"
      "I would like you to face these boys, please." He said
gesturing to them.
      I did as he said and turned toward them. My heart felt
like someone was squeezing it from inside my chest.
      "Boys! Look at him." He snapped.
      "Think of Mr. Leonard here as that little voice in
your head that tells you when you are about to do something
that you shouldn't and listen to him! He might just be the
only thing that is going to keep the four of you out of
prison, which is where you will end up if all else fails.
And remember, don't let anything happen to him, because
without him, I don't think anything or anyone is going to
keep John Hawkins and his teammates from putting you four
in the ground."
      "Now, I want you four out of my office and back in
your classes NOW!" he barked and all four of them nearly
fell over each other trying to escape from his office.
      Peter stopped at the door, turned and looked at me and
then to Mr. Freeman. "Uh?" is all he said.
      "Mr. Leonard is going to be staying here with me a
while longer!" he said calmly.
      Peter looked at me again and then took off out the
door like his tail was on fire.
      Mr. Freeman walked over to his door, poked his head
out and then came back in shortly followed by my parents
and Tater.
      I fell into one of the chairs in front of his desk and
put my face in my hands.
      "You did great Simon!" Tater said coming over and
patting me on the back.
      "We heard everything!" Mom said.
      "Actually I would say most of the school heard
everything!" Dad said beaming with pride and rocking on his
heels.
      I got up from the chair and walked over to mom and
wrapped my arms around her!
      "Yes! I believe we might have scared the bad right out
of them, Simon." Mr. Freeman said.
      Still clinging to my mom I turned and looked at him,
"You scared the . . ."
      Mom covered my mouth so that I couldn't say what he
scared out of me.
      Mr. Freeman went over to his desk, opened a drawer and
pulled out an old brown leather book that looked as though
it had seen better days.
      "Come here a minute, Simon, and you too, Tate, I want
to show you both something." He said sitting himself down
on the corner of his desk and opening the book.
      In very small writing were hundreds, no thousands of
names. He ran his finger through the book, "Ah, here you
are Tate!" he pointed to a name written in black ink and
circled in blue.
      I started to notice there were some names circled in
blue, some crossed out with red and some not circled at
all. He flipped though a few more pages and then pointed to
my name. It was not circled or crossed out.
      "Every child that has ever come through the doors of
this school since I have been here is in this book. The
ones with a red line through their names have passed away.
The ones with the blue circles were my trouble makers."
      He gave Tater a glance over his glasses.
      I noticed a star next to one name and asked, "What's
it mean if there is a star?"
      "I'm glad you asked." He said reaching around Tater
and snatching a pin from his desk.
      He proceeded to put a star next to my name, "Stars are
for those special boys and girls that I have had the
wonderful pleasure of working with personally."
      He smiled at me and elbowed Tater in the stomach.
"Don't you wish you had a star?" he said jokingly to Tater.
      "No Sir!" Tater said and everyone laughed but him.
      "I expect you to keep Bull and the rest of your team
mates in check!" he said to Tater.
      "Yes Sir, I will try." Tater said.
      "No, you will do or you will have to deal with me!
Clear?" he sounded like he was about to go off on Tater.
      "Clear Sir!" Tater was obviously still very much
afraid of Mr. Freeman.
      Before we left Mr. Freeman told us that he had one of
the staff lock my bike up with the others behind the
school. We stopped and put it in the back of dad's car.
Tater and I left with mom and dad went back to work. We
dropped Tater off at his home and his and my mom talked for
about 20 minutes or more while Tater and I told Mike
everything that had happened. Mom then took me to our
doctor where he checked me out from head to toe and was
told the whole sorted story including the one of how I
ended up with the lump on my head. He told me I was fine
and told mom to keep putting ice on my head and if it
didn't go down within the next two days to bring me back.
Oh and then he really made me anxious when he told her that
if I started to show signed of dizziness, nausea, loss of
memory, and a slew of other things that got progressively
worse as he continued to list them that she should take me
to the Emergency Room at the hospital. To hear him tell it,
it sounded like I could keel over at any moment.
      We were back home at lunchtime and mom made me a
grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich, the favorite
food of the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. She
doesn't make them for me very often so seeing how I had the
opportunity I asked and got it, along with a nice cold
vanilla-Coke.
      Just about the time school let out our doorbell rang,
I had been setting on the couch wearing a Goodnite under a
pair of jean shorts with no shirt or socks on while
watching reruns of the cartoon, Futurama in TV. I had
convinced my mom that I would be all right and that she
should go on over to my aunts like she had planned. I was
also lucky that I had not wet my Goodnite yet because what
came next might have exposed my little secret.
      "Coming!" I called to the door as I got up to see who
was there. I was nearly knocked over by the flood of
muscle-bound jocks that came flooding into our living room
screaming, hooting and shouting. They rooted, cheered and
carried on about how I was so brave and nuts at the same
time for taking on four guys that were bigger then I am.
      Runt, Tater and Bull finally got the guys to bring me
back down to the floor and got them all to quiet down too.
Bull took something from one of the other guys and handed
it to me. I held it up and saw that it was a Panthers
Football Jersey, Black with Red lettering outlined in
white. Every member of the team had signed it, even there
coaches too.
      "You are now an honorary Panther!" Bull said and that
sent all the guys into a frenzy again.
      It took a few seconds for Bull to get them to quiet
down again, "Simon! You did a good thing for my little
brother today and if you ever need anything just give the
word." And the whole group of guys in unison shouted,
"Panthers Hoowa!"
      Bull motioned with his hands for the groups' attention
again, "Tater here also told us all that you say those
slimes that jumped my brother are not to be touched." All
the guys growled. "I will be honest, I was planning on
breaking every bone in their bodies this afternoon but
Tater here explained what's going down! So you got my word,
they won't be touched."
      A few of the guys groaned like they were really
looking forward to breaking some heads.
      "But!" Runt added looking ferocious, "If they mess
with you or Jasper again!"
      "Then you have my permission to make them dead!" I
added.
      And the guys picked me up again and started chanting,
"Make 'Em Dead! Make 'Em Dead! Make 'Em Dead!" as they
carried me around the house.
      Dad arrived home not too long after that; the Panthers
were all just leaving shouting various Panther War Cries; I
explained to dad what had just happened and introduced him
to Bull, Runt and Tater. Dad thanked them for being mature
enough to not go after the boys that attacked Jasper.
      Before the three of them left I was able to get Bull
to tell me that Jasper was okay. He said Jasper has a nice
black eye, one broken finger and was pretty sore all over
which honestly made me want to set the whole team loose on
Peter and his band of nasties.
      Eventually the Panthers were all gone, I was parading
around the house wearing the Panther Jersey they had given
me like it was majestic royal garb. When mom came home I
got to tell her all about the Panthers and reenacted a lot
of it too!
      Dad kept commenting about my head getting too big to
fit through doorways if I wasn't careful but I didn't get
that until just now.
      I am setting here on my bed now, wearing my Panther
Jersey and a lightly wetted Goodnite and writing all this
down! I can't sleep. I am too wired! Mom and dad sent me in
here a couple hours ago because I was making them tired and
crazy with all my constant chatter. I had called Mike
earlier and he let me tell him all about everything all
over again.
      He was pretty upset with Peter since Peter is one of
his friends, well sort of; I found out why they are
friends. It seems that back when Mike was in third grade he
let Peter cheat off of him which is how he managed to pass
third grade his third time around. Mike has been helping
with and in most cases doing Peters homework ever since. He
said he never minded doing it because no one messes with
someone that has Peter Alderman as a friend. Mike also said
that he didn't know that Bull's little brother was Jasper
and until today didn't even know Bull has a little brother.
      That's about all I can think of that has happened
today. I think it was a pretty full day, if I do say so
myself. I think I am going to turn off my light and try to
sleep. Who knows, now that I know who the red haired boy
that I saw changing in the nurses office is, I might get a
chance to finally meet him. I mean, I did save his life,
surely that will endear me to him, won't it?