4: Inadvertent Bullying

Taylor was standing with Boomer and John Brooks, another football player, by their lockers. It was only a few minutes until the next period, when a small freshman walked by. He was focused on his schedule—marking him as a new kid—and wasn’t paying attention. He passed the three guys, crossing closer than most students did. Boomer grinned, pointing him out to his teammates. When he was directly in front of them, he stuck his foot out.

The boy tumbled, his schedule flying as he tried to halt his fall. John helped by shoving him as he fell. He’d have fallen on his face, but instead he sprawled across the hallway, his backpack opening and his papers fluttering around him.

Boomer and John laughed, and after a moment, Taylor joined in. When the kid, Phillip Chen, recovered, his eyes went wide and he scrambled to get back on his feet. “I didn’t mean any trouble. I’m just...”

“Go back to China, freak!” Boomer’s voice did as it always did, echoing down the hallway. He stepped forward, reaching for the kid, when one of the papers caught his eye. It was a magazine, open to a spread with half-naked guys wearing nothing but speedos.

“Whoa. I didn’t know China allowed gays. What do you think of gay Chinamen, John?”

“I think it means he gets a double beat down,” John suggested with a smirk.

Phillip gathered his papers, hoping to flee before things escalated. He reached for the magazine, instead of his schedule or books. John nudged Taylor, nodding his head towards the kid.

Taylor glanced down the hall, looking for an easy out. Seeing none, he advanced and stepped on Phillip’s hand, which was clutching his magazine, holding him in place.

“We don’t like no chinks taking our jobs and screwing the grading curve,” Boomer thundered. “But we really dislike deviants!” Taking a step, he kicked Phillip hard, knocking him over again, but Taylor’s foot held him in place.

The hallways took on a different feel at that point. A group of older students surged forward to see what happened, while the younger ones, or those who stood out, scattered.

When Phillip looked up, his eyes wide, tears streaming down his face, still gasping from the kick, Boomer raised his foot. “Let me see if I can knock some common sense into you.”

He raised his boot, clearly intending to stomp on his head, when the next period’s bell rang. Everyone watched, to see whether the attack would continue, but Boomer hesitated.

Seeing his chance, Phillip yanked his hand back. With Taylor distracted, he lost his grip and Phillip slid a short distance, just as Boomer’s foot descended.

“Think you can get away that easily?” Boomer yelled, pulling his foot back and kicking him in the chest.

Taylor pulled on his arm. “Come on. If we’re late, the teachers will start asking questions. We can always pay him a return visit.”

Glaring at Phillip, who scooted away clutching his breast, Boomer shrugged. “You’re likely to bleed on my boots. We’ll come back after I scotch guard them.” Turning, the three stalked off, laughing, as Phillip scrambled to his feet, his homework, schedule and books remaining where they were.

Taylor was dropping off books in his locker when Jacob marched up, clearly pissed. Rather than keeping their distance, Jacob zeroed in on him.

Without saying anything, Jacob grabbed Taylor’s arm, leading him down the hall. Not wanting to expose anything, Taylor shrugged him off, which only drew more attention. Sensing a confrontation, the kids surrounding them stopped what they were doing and watched.

“We need to talk,” Jacob whispered, pointing down the hall. Rather than waiting, Jacob led the way. Shrugging, and rolling his eyes for the gawkers, Taylor followed. Jacob entered the men’s room several doors down. Taylor blushed, but went in as well, imagining what those thinking would make of a bathroom liaison.

Inside, Jacob knelt, counting the feet under the stalls. “Everyone out! We need privacy to hash something out.” When his order produced no immediate response, he glanced at Taylor, raising his eyebrow.

Taylor took a more direct approach, pounding on the metal wall of the toilet. “OUTSIDE, NOW!”

That approach had the desired effect as two kids left, still zipping up. “Don’t worry, this won’t take long.” Jacob waited until they left. When they did, he walked to the far end of the room and turned towards Taylor.

“What the fuck were you thinking?”

Taylor didn’t need to be told what he’d done wrong. “I couldn’t help it. If I didn’t participate, they’d turn on me.”

Jacob planted his hands on his hips. “And their casting aspersions is worse than being pummeled by an opposing team? Let me paint a picture for you. Gays don’t abuse gays. Standing up doesn’t label you as gay, it means you’ve got your own mind and don’t follow the crowd.”

“It’s not so easy,” Taylor mumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Okay, not a clear picture yet? Let me draw you another. Who gets ripped apart in the news? The football star who stands up for the little guy, or the lowlife who attacks gays while sneaking quickies in public parks?”

“The guys expect certain behavior from me.”

“All right, one final picture. You either stop picking on other gays, or I’m publicly outing you. You got it? Seems to me I’ve got some physical evidence at home on my jeans which almost brought down a president. Now if I can only find a CSI team to check it for me. If they don’t, every gay kid at this school will back me up. We don’t pick on our own. We’re all persecuted. We’ll only survive if we stop battling each other and stand up for ourselves.”

Taylor pulled his hands from his pocket, balling them into fists. “Are you threatening me?”

“Only because you’re forcing my hand. I don’t care whether you live in the closet the rest of your life, but I refuse to accept homophobic behavior from fellow gays.”

Taylor glared at him, and then arched one eyebrow. “If I do, will you hand over your evidence? After all, I don’t want this hanging over my head indefinitely.”

“I’ll tell you what, I’ll hold onto it until graduation. It’ll be your graduation present. At the moment, I’m not sure I can trust you not to revert to your previous behavior.”

Taylor tossed his head, placing one hand over his chest. “Be still my beating heart.”

“Look, I didn’t plan this, and I’ve got no plans to embarrass you, but this is ... beyond the pale. If you think your friends are applying pressure now, wait until you’re publicly exposed.”

Taylor considered it before running his hand through his close-cropped hair. “Okay. I knew it was a mistake, but there wasn’t time to plan an appropriate response.”

“How about ‘doing the right thing’, or basic human decency?”

“Fine! I agree. You don’t have to keep beating a dead horse.”

“Good.” Jacob walked past him, heading out. “I’ll spread the word that I took you to task, but I’ll keep the details private. Again, I wouldn’t normally out someone, but I’ve got no compunction about standing up to bullies.”

“Noted,” Taylor answered, watching him walk out. He waited for a minute, and exited just as the bell rang. There were still a couple kids hanging around, so he shrugged once again. “The kid took me to task. I respect bravery, in whatever color it’s dressed in, even in a hot-pink skirt.”

Taylor and Jacob entered Jacob’s bedroom, each bearing one of Ruth’s cookies.