Chapter 14

TJ and Benny were in their freshman year. Try as they would to be discreet about their gay relationship, that kind of thing is impossible to keep secret forever. Being gay doesn't carry the stigma it used to and most of the kids just considered them an item and forgot about it. Not all, though.

There was this one dude who considered himself kind of a tough guy and thought he could get some mileage out of giving the guys a hard time. Any time he saw them together, he'd come up with crude comments like, "Hey, do you guys trade off being the bottom?" or "Hey TJ, you're walking like you still have Benny's dick up your ass." Most kids would just roll their eyes and walk away, knowing the guy for the shithead he was.

Before I got my cast off, we were zapping aliens on the X-Box one afternoon when they started talking about the jerk. Benny goes, "Shit, Randy, we've been trying to ignore the guy but he just won't let it rest! I mean he's like a fucking broken record."

"I can't tell you what to do but I know what I'd do."

"Come on!" TJ urges, "Share, will you?"

"Well, sometime when you're together and he starts in with his shit, I'd just clock him hard enough that he never forgets the lesson. Of course, you might get suspended for a few days but I'm betting he'd keep his mouth shut after that."

Benny says, "I don't think either one of us is much of a fighter."

"You don't have to be. It'll be a total surprise to him and if you hit him hard enough, he isn't going to be too excited about taking on both of you once he knows you'll fight back. Bullies like him don't usually go after guys who might hurt them. You should do it when there's a bunch of kids around because you'll probably find you have a lot of allies."

I have to say they didn't waste any time. Next day, I'm reading my book when they get home from school – three hours early. I look at the clock to make sure I didn't zone out and ask, "Somebody call in a bomb threat to the school or what?"

They both got big grins on their faces. Benny says, "Nope! We just did what you suggested and got sent home for the rest of the week."

"All right! Come on, man, give me all the gory details!"

TJ's all excited as he tells the tale. "Well, me and Benny were standing in the hall by my locker when the big duffus walks up behind me and grabs me around the waist and starts humpin' my ass like he's screwing me. He looks at Benny and says 'Is this some pretty good ass, Jew-boy?' I twist around out of his grip and about that time Benny puts a fist on his nose. At almost the same time, I put my fist in his fat gut as hard as I can. As he drops to his knees trying to breathe, both of us clock him on the side of the head. About that time, Mr. Jeffers comes running up to put a stop to it. Of course, shithead is screaming that we ganged up on him for no reason but one of the other kids who saw it says shithead started it and that he'd been harassing me and Benny all year. Well, we all go to the principal's office and get a week's suspension but get this; I'm looking at the principal as we get up to go and he smiles and winks at me. Oh, and he tells shithead that if he hears anything about any more harassment, his suspension will be an expulsion."

We all bust out laughing and I say, "Yes!! Gimme five, Dudes. You are my men!"

Well, the guy never came back to school. Word is that when the principal told his parents what he'd been up to, they shipped him off to live with his brother.

Beth and Dad were pretty upset about the suspension and having to accompany the guys to a meeting with the principal but after they heard the story, Beth goes, "Shit, Guys! If you knew you were going to get suspended anyway, how come you didn't kick him in the nuts?"

Dad can't keep from laughing and adds, "Here, here!"