Chapter 64

Midnight, Sunday

The next hour brought a parade of parents into the school. Leslie's mother had been called and she arrived before she headed for work. She saw her daughter sitting on a chair with Andy Drayton and two women in red dresses.

Melinda Amos hustled over. Her daughter had been crying but she seemed to be OK — except for the ripped dress.

"What happened?" Melinda asked urgently.

"It was Brian," Leslie confessed. "He snuck booze into the school last week and left it in the locker room. You know he's been crazy for the last couple of months. Tonight he was worse. There was a girl who..."

"Has some issues with self-esteem," Andy cut in. "She invited Brian to join her in the locker room."

"And he accepted," Leslie said, picking up the story again. "I told him if he did, we were through."

"You should have been through a year ago!" Melinda said.

"I know," Leslie agreed. Andy decided it was the perfect time for him to make his getaway. Joy and Ruth quickly joined him.

"This was more exciting than our dance," Joy noted.

"I could do with less excitement, I'm afraid," Andy said.

Elizabeth and Regan were trying to calm down Abby Barnes' mother, who came to the school despite the fact that she had been told her daughter was to be transported to the hospital. Abby had regained consciousness long enough to confirm that the trio in the locker room had wrapped a belt around her neck and choked her when she made fun of their inability to get it up a second time.

They finally got the woman headed in the right direction and joined the rest of the group, Paul and Chris having just concluded giving their statements to the police. Thus they had a front-row seat for the next portion of the night's entertainment.

Brian Newton's father stormed into the school, his face red with anger.

"What in the hell happened to my boy?" he yelled. The dance had ended and no one had left. For the first time in many of their lives, people were willing to speak to the police about something they'd witnessed — because there was a video that showed the whole thing anyway. It also let them stay around to see what happened next.

The young police officer intercepted Allen Newton before he could reach his son — who was now awake and sitting on a gurney — with his right wrist handcuffed to one of the bars.

"Your son has been arrested on suspicion of domestic assault, battery on a student and suspicion of gross sexual imposition on a minor," the young officer said.

"What!?" Allen exploded. "That's bullshit. I won't stand for something like that."

"He's also been suspended from school effective immediately pending expulsion," Anita cut in. "He will not graduate next month. He will need to retake his entire final semester to get a diploma. If you wish, the school district will make arrangements for this to occur during the summer — at your expense."

"Bullshit!" Allen said. "I'll sue!"

"That's unfortunate," Anita said with a shrug. "The entire domestic incident was captured on a video. It's irrefutable. The sexual assault is still being investigated and that should be your bigger worry. If it's proven, he won't just be expelled from school. He'll be expelled from society for about 20 years. You might think about saving your money for a criminal attorney."

Allen Newton searched the faces until he found Leslie Amos.

"You did this!" he yelled.

"No, you did this!" Leslie screamed back. "It's those steroids you put him on. They make him crazy."

"We've already found trace amounts of what we suspect are steroids in his locker and a hypodermic needle on his person," the officer said. "Your son will be drug tested at the hospital. We've performed a field sobriety test and he failed. We thought it might be because of the beating he took so we brought in a portable Breath-a-lyzer test. He failed it too. His blood-alcohol level is six times the legal limit for someone younger than 21. We're waiting until the toxicology reports are returned before we add additional charges."

"I didn't authorize you to search anything or to perform any tests on him!" Allen said. "He's a minor. I have to consent."

"I gave the consent," Jennifer Simmons said. "He is a student at a school function. That means the school acts in loco parentis, in lieu of the parent. I thought, given the severity of the charges, a search of his person and the premises was warranted."

"Your son is going to be transported to University Hospital to set his jaw and his nose," the officer said. "Right now, he is in custody but I will permit you to speak to him so long as an officer is present. He has been read his rights but we will read them to him again once a doctor determines that he sustained no neurological damage."

Allen Newton looked at his son. Brian's shirt was crimson across the front from a broken nose that was shifted awkwardly on his face. His jaw was already swollen and both of his eyes were starting to blacken.

"What about the boy who did this?" he asked angrily. "I want him charged, too."

"Mr. Erving has been suspended pending expulsion as well," Jennifer Simmons stated.

"No," Anita cut in. "He has been suspended for the remainder of the semester. I have determined that he acted in defense of another so the board will not hold an expulsion hearing."

"Bullshit!" Allen said again.

"Mr. Newton, your son created this entire problem," Anita said flatly. "I have no doubt that the hospital will find evidence of drug use or of masking agents. The entire episode was captured on video by another student. Your son drew back his fist to strike his date. He tore her dress and he left bruising on her upper arm — not the first bruises he's left on her, I might add. Although he did not strike his date, he did hit another student who stepped in to protect her. We've had a young woman transported to the hospital who appears to have been choked unconscious in the locker room. She also appears to have been sexually assaulted. Am I not making the severity of the situation plain enough? Your son is in a great deal of trouble. Any of these incidents would warrant his expulsion. Piled one on top of the other, you're going to be fortunate if your child doesn't land in a youthful offender program or in prison."

Allen continued to glare at the entire room while his son was wheeled out of the gymnasium. Then he turned without a word and stalked away behind the gurney.

Andy had hoped to get away from the dance but Elizabeth, Regan, Joy and Ruth had slipped off to the restroom. That left him standing near the entrance when Melinda and Leslie Amos departed.

The mother stopped first and pulled him into a hug that would have gotten her fired if it happened at work.

"I've told her for the last year that she made a mistake in letting you go," Melinda told him. "No one has come right out and said it but I see your hand in this. I know how your mind works. You tell those boys if they ever need anything from me just to say the word."

"Wyatt has an application for summer work," Andy told her. "I told him I'd give you a recommendation. He grew up on a farm and he's used to hard work."

"He'll get the job if I have to falsify his background check," Melinda declared. "Thank you, Andy."

"I didn't do anything," he said.

Leslie also gave him a hug but added a kiss on his cheek.

"If things don't work out, you know where to find me," she said.

He nodded but didn't speak.

"Take care of yourself," she added.

"You, too," Andy replied. "I'll get my jacket from your mom at work next week."

He watched as they left, Leslie stopping at the door and looking back in his direction one last time.

Wyatt Erving's father passed an ambulance on his way into the school. He was the last parent to get to the school because he lived the farthest away.

"God damned boy," he muttered. He had to leave his pocket knife with the police officer out front so he was even madder when he got into the gymnasium.

"Where in the hell are you, boy?" he yelled. Instead of his son, he found another young man in front of him. The kid looked somewhat familiar but he didn't know him.

"I'm Andy Drayton, Mr. Erving," the kid said. "I used to live out your way. Wyatt and I played together when we were kids."

"Yeah, so?" Melvin Erving said. "Like I give a shit. Where's my son?"

"He's giving his statement to the police," Andy told him.

"The fucking cops are involved?" Melvin said, shaking his head. He was a large man who'd spent his entire life working the farms near the county line. Andy knew from Wyatt that the man had been drinking heavily for several years — and he smelled the alcohol on his breath now.

"The police are involved, yes," Andy said. "I wanted to talk to you ... to explain what happened. I remember you from when I was a kid and I know your temper gets the best of you sometimes."

Paul and Carl Jackson had moved behind the large man in case he made a run at Andy. Andy didn't think he would but he was beginning to reconsider when he saw Melvin's eyes narrow.

"Wyatt didn't do anything wrong," Andy said quickly. "There was a guy who tried to hit his girlfriend. Wyatt stepped up and defended her. That's all."

Melvin's gaze flickered for a moment and he tilted his head.

"Then why is he in trouble if that's all?" he asked. To Andy, it was a reasonable question.

"It's those stupid 'zero tolerance' rules," Andy said with disgust. "He protected to the girl. She wasn't hurt at all. But because there was fight in school, Wyatt is in trouble, too."

"Jesus Christ!" Melvin hissed. "He was this fuckin' close to getting out of here."

"Mr. Erving?" another voice said. It came from a small Latina about Melvin's age. He figured she might be a teacher or a social worker.

"Yeah," Melvin answered.

"I'm Anita Lopez," she said, extending her hand toward the huge man. "I'm the school board president for this district. I want to reiterate what Mr. Drayton has told you. Your son acted in defense of another student. He was not the aggressor. He did not start the fight. He intervened after another student had been struck."

"He said the girl wasn't hurt," Melvin stated, gesturing toward Andy.

"She wasn't," Anita confirmed. "One of your son's friends, Stanley Dalton, managed to push her away. In doing so, he was struck and knocked unconscious. He's been transported to the hospital but the paramedics think he'll be fine."

"Stan did that?" Melvin wondered. "He always struck me as ... a queer."

"Uh, perhaps he is," Anita said, wondering exactly what sort of home life Wyatt Erving could have possibly had. "I don't know for certain either way but it doesn't matter. He was very brave — as was your son and another of his friends, William Green. They intervened and kept the situation from becoming much worse, I believe."

"Is he under arrest?" Melvin asked. Again, Andy found this to be a reasonable question.

"I don't think so," he answered.

"No," Anita stated firmly. "Although the family of the attacker might ask for charges to be filed. Right now, your son is not under arrest. Another student was making a recording for her parents and caught the entire incident."

"But he won't graduate," Melvin said with a frown.

"It's true that he won't be able to attend the ceremony next month," Anita said with genuine remorse, Andy thought. "I wish he could. But you have my word that the district will pay to have him complete his schooling at home. I will send tutors out to monitor his progress. Once he completes the assignments he's given, your son will get his diploma. His name will be read as a graduate of this school on graduation night. You have my word on that."

Andy tilted his head toward Anita but she only nodded to him. Elizabeth had filled her in on the deal Andy had made — and she was willing to go along with it. Other students had been given "gift" diplomas just to rid the school system of their presence. She found this cause to be far nobler.