Chapter 24

As he had sat down in his seat, Dan could hear a pair of voices raised in what seemed like an argument. They were coming through the closed door of Mr. Robbins' office. Dan assumed that one of those engaged in what must be a hot discussion had to be Mr. Robbins. He wasn't sure who the other person was, but the voice seemed familiar — somehow.

The argument or heated discussion came to end as the last bell rang. Then, the door to the office opened.

Dan watched through Don's eyes as whoever had been in the office emerged into the classroom.

From out of Mr. Robbins' office first came their naked Biology teacher.

And following him out of the office was the naked form of Vice-Principal Malcolm Snottingham.

Dan felt Don's stomach try to drop out onto the floor.

Ooohhhhh SHIT!

What did I ever do to deserve this kinda crazy shit!

Aaaahhhh damn! Maybe it's this damned skewed universe!

He paused and thought his way through that and came up with yet another idea.

Shit! What if it has to do with Henry and his past!?

Hell no! That can't be it — can it?

He suddenly noticed some truly odd things about the Vice-Principal. The man was carrying what appeared to be a riding crop, of all things! He was smiling in what was nearly a leer and swishing the crop about as he looked over the class of shocked Biology students.

Dan's mind suddenly dropped into its analytic mode as he catalogued things and tried to place them into a context that he could utilize to understand what was happening.

The motion of the riding crop was quite interesting. Only the wide, fan-like tip of it was actually moving about with the swings that Snottingham was introducing to it. Otherwise, the whole thing was rigid. Dan focused on the length of it and the apparent shape of its handle. He tracked its movement and noted the width and rigidity of the whole thing. He knew it right off — the crop was really a concealed blade. He'd seen umbrellas and walking sticks with hidden sword blades. Now, he could see the same thing right in front of him. He had to wonder how in the hell the crazy V-P had gotten such an item into the school — if that was really what it was.

Then there was the footwear of the V-P. He was wearing the most unusual sort of gear on his feet. He had on socks with a separated big toe. And he could tell that this was the case because the man was wearing sandals. Dan suddenly recognized the socks as Japanese tabi or whatever it was that they were called. The sandals didn't look too unusual, but were not anything he recognized.

Why the hell is this guy wearing Japanese footwear. Wait! Hell! Wasn't he cursin' in Japanese this morning? What the hell is this about!?

Another thing stood out. The V-P was a bit short and almost stocky. And his very visible skin looked to be tanned — it was a very light brown in coloration. As Dan took in his whole appearance he noted that Snottingham's hair was both black and course. This was the same for both the hair on his head and his pubic patch. But for his facial characteristics, he would have appeared to be Oriental.

No way! This guy can't be Japanese or something, can he? He doesn't look Japanese in the face — not a bit!

That's when he noticed the weird swirls of what appeared to be some sort of subdued scar tissue across the torso, back, and shoulders of the V-P.

What the hell is that? Are those burn scars? Or has he had tattoos removed? They do that with lasers. Is that what I'm seein'?

His focus was so great and Don's vision so good that he actually began to trace patterns across the body of the now strutting Vice-Principal Snottingham. What he was seeing was beginning to set off alarm bells in his mind. He'd never worked in East Asia except for a couple of emergency deployments to the Philippines and Korea. However, with the Korean deployment he'd been briefed and done some independent study on both Korean and Japanese cultures.

And what he thought he was seeing were large body tattoos that had been removed from the torso of the crazy V-P. Body tattoos that he recalled were part of the trademark features of the Japanese Yakuza.

Holy shit! Is this whacko really a Japanese gangster? Is Snottingham a real name!?

He went into a moment of deep memory search and suddenly remembered that the name was real. It had been the original name of Nottingham in England.

Well, at least my Ph.D. in History is still good for something!

But still, what about this whacked out crazy strutting around and swiping the air with a riding crop? Is he real or a fake? Thoughts and questions cascaded through his mind as he reviewed what he had observed and deduced.

Hell, maybe he was adopted or something. No, that'd be the reverse — wouldn't it. But then, why ain't his eyelids folded over in an epicanthic fold? Plastic surgery, maybe? What the hell am I thinkin'? Do I even believe any little part of this? This is too confusin'! Forget it — pay attention!

His thoughts were interrupted as the Vice-Principal stopped in front of the table that Dan was sharing with Cindy, Donna, and Susie. The man smiled at the two naked students for a moment before the expression was again transformed into a sneer. He suddenly raised the riding crop up into the air above his shoulder and brought it down onto the tabletop in between Cindy and Dan.

Cindy, Donna, Susie, and half of the remaining kids in the classroom jumped in their seats as the wide leather fan of the crop slapped down across the laminate top of the table. It made a resounding slap that no one could ignore.

Dan had begun to slip into his combat mode of perception as he saw what seemed about to happen. Thus, he wasn't the least surprised by the wild V-P's action. Don's body didn't flinch or show any other awareness of Mr. Snottingham's action other than to track his further actions.

This is about to get to be too damned interestin' — I'm beginnin' to think...

While the action had started at the front of the classroom, no one noticed as Abe Rosen raised his hand to the gizmo hanging around his neck and started it up. He began recording what was occurring at the front of the class, catching via its tiny lens what thereafter occurred.

"YOU! Mr. Nichols! Get up! I want you here in front of the class!" With those words the wild-acting V-P gestured to Dan with the riding crop and pointed to the table at the front of the classroom.

Dan examined distances and angles and decided that it was safe for him to get up from where he was seated. He looked to Cindy and saw fear in her eyes. He winked for her benefit and got up quickly before the wacko V-P could decide to try something else.

What happened next came about in a rapid sequence of events that no one in the class could have foreseen but perhaps for Snottingham and Dan. But then, the V-P was acting crazed and Dan was looking out for things that might be wild and unexpected.

So, Dan stood and moved over next to the table.

The V-P smiled in an unpleasant manner. "Stand right there, Mr. Nichols."

Dan moved to the designated spot and took up a relaxed posture. He moved his feet apart and slightly flexed his knees as he ever so slightly turned towards the program official with his weak side. The program official missed how the student took up a modified combat stance.

Snottingham then turned to the class. "The following will be a lesson in human sexuality. I understand that there were problems with covering such coursework in this class yesterday. There will be no such problems with such a performance today. Is that understood by everyone present!?" The man was practically crowing and had looked at Mr. Robbins with what seemed like contempt.

Well, somebody's about to be sorely disappointed.

The Vice-Principal turned around and looked Don Nichols in the eyes.

Dan Rhoderick calmly awaited whatever craziness might ensue.

"Excite yourself, Mr. Nichols. Get yourself hard before your classmates!"

Dan allowed Don's eyebrows to rise up a slight bit before he answered. "Uh, that won't be possible, Mr. Snottin'ham." He carefully didn't allow the least bit of a smile to appear on his face as his naturally voiced contraction modified the man's name.

The program official drew up to his greatest height and looked quite insulted. Or, so thought Dan's observant mind of fifty years age.

"I told you to jack off for the benefit of the class, boy! Now do it!" The man was actually leering as he shouted at Dan & Don.

Dan shrugged Don's shoulders. "I can't do that. I'm on medications that prevent me from experiencing a erection." As he said this he slid Don's eyes to check out the reactions of Susie, Cindy, and Donna. The three girls were watching the play of events with wide-open eyes and didn't react in the least bit to his claim of complete disability.

"Don't lie to me! I know you've got girls falling all over you. Now get to it and show it to all of them in the class!"

That is damned strange! Where is this whacko comin' from?

"Sorry, but as long as I'm on my prescriptions I can't get it up. That's all part of my doctors' orders. I can't help you out with any erection..."

The V-P sneered and shouted. "You little punk! I'll teach to talk back to me!" With that the crazy-seeming program official hauled back with the riding crop and brought it around to teach the brazen boy a lesson he wouldn't be able to forget.

Dan had stayed centered and calm as he'd tried to deal with the weirded-out Snottingham. He was annoyed and just a bit mad about being confronted by something so strange, but he kept the anger set aside. He held it in reserve for a moment when he might need ferocity.

Now, he began his reaction to what was only beginning. There was no surprise as his own perceptual world had sped up so that the world surrounding him now seemed to be moving in slow motion. In the background he could detect the beginnings of wide-eyed shouts or screams from some of the other students in the class. Especially notable was the expression on Tasha's face. She was beginning to look fierce in her protest, with her eyes narrowing in focus rather than opening up in surprise. He contemplated the possibility that the little girl might have real potential in this sort of situation.

Dan's mind was in a focused but open form of concentration. He was tracking and reacting to what appeared to be an imminent attack while also noting the actions of those surrounding the building confrontation. His kinesthetic sense and situational awareness were now ramped up and operating at a level that he hadn't experienced since the day when Susie's father had drawn a gun on him.

He caught Susie's expression as he began his move. She looked expectant, he judged. He shut out that awareness as he focused all of his attention upon the snarling V-P.

Mr. Robbins stood and watched in growing horror as his class was reduced to an obscene visage of a nude man striking a naked boy. Vice-Principal Snottingham drew back and swung his discipline prop (as he'd called it) right at Don Nichols' head. His action was that of a fully engaged body. He put everything he had into that action. Mr. Robbins winced in expectation of what he was about to observe and then have to intervene in. He was starting to step into the middle of it when something unexpected happened.

Malcolm Snottingham's swing of his riding crop brought his arm into reach of Don Nichols. As the V-P's right arm came around Don's left arm snaked out in an incredibly fast strike to intercept it. Then, Don's right hand grasped the riding crop, twisted it from the snarling V-P's hand, and threw it in what had to be a planned trajectory. The heavy discipline prop flew straight against the open door of the teacher's office and bounced inward and downward into his office. Mr. Robbins had followed the flight of the crop and watched as it flew under his desk in the smaller, adjacent room. The teacher blinked as he realized that couldn't have happened by chance. It had been planned and executed with forethought.

The class was filled by wide-eyed students shouting and jumping up and a crew of Don's friends who were about to come to his aid as their teacher was tracking what appeared to have just happened.

The teacher brought his attention back to the confrontation between the man and the boy as the crazed program officer's face became even more outraged and he cursed again. "YOU LITTLE SHIT! I'll have you THROWN AWAY for that!" Spittle was flying from the man's mouth as he shouted at the boy.

The man took a step into Don's reach and himself reached out to grab the boy's left arm with his strong right hand grip. Robbins knew that Snottingham was strong, as the V-P had tried to intimidate him the first time they'd met. His handshake had been a test of wills and an attempt to crush the teacher's hand. Now the man had taken hold of the boy's upper arm and was beginning to attempt placing the boy in an arm hold of some sort.

Mr. Robbins was somehow not surprised when the V-P's attempt at controlling the boy failed. Don Nichols simply moved in what could only have been a practiced motion. He broke the man's grip on his arm and simply pushed the man back with a quick thrust of the open hand to his chest. The sneering visage of the crazy program officer disappeared for a moment into a look of surprise as he stumbled back several steps.

Don Nichols stood there as Mr. Robbins looked on, both awaiting whatever next might be attempted by the wild-eyed Snottingham.

Dan allowed himself a moment to think about what was happening. He pondered what the wild V-P might try next. He needed to end this crazy exercise. I've gotta end this quickly. Otherwise, I'll end up in jail for killin' this crazy whatever the hell he is.

Dan eased out of his conscious thoughts and returned to his centered fighting self. He returned to his quickened awareness and prepared for what movements might be required to end the confrontation.

Several of the kids in the classroom had now stepped away from their desks and were starting to move forward to aid Don. They never got the chance to actually come to his aid.

Vice-Principal Malcolm Snottingham shouted out curses in a language other than English as he rushed at Don Nichols. Dan's mind processed the sounds and came up with the same answer as he'd reached earlier. Japanese.

The man surged into reach of the boy and instead of trying to grapple with him brought back his right arm to strike the boy with a roundhouse blow.

Dan tracked the incoming blow and noted that it appeared to be an open-handed strike. As he observed this he slid his left foot outward to trap the raging V-P's right foot toes beneath the edge of his booted foot. The right foot of Snottingham slid into the stop formed by Don's boot. And as the open palm moved forward into the plane of where Don's head should be was when Dan initiated his own movement of passive avoidance.

Dan ducked Don's head.

And as Snottingham's arm passed over Don's hair Dan reached out with his left hand and lightly pushed against the V-P's shoulder. As he did that, Dan still had Don's booted foot firmly planted atop the toes of the program official and that formed a pivot point for what then happened.

The snarling V-P was outstretched and over-balanced. And his foot was caught in place. The man was still cursing in what really did sound like Japanese as he fell to the floor — hard.

Mr. Robbins watched as the raging V-P's head struck the linoleum covered floor with a hollow-sounding THOK! The forehead struck and then bounced up and fell down again. The man's body shuddered and then stilled. The teacher started forward and suddenly became very worried as he started to see blood spreading across the floor from underneath the program official's face.

Dan had observed the last moments of the action from within his calm center. The loud report of the man's skull impacting against the hard floor brought him out of his combat mode and back to post-fight concerns.

Shit! Now I've done it!

The class was eerily quiet, now that the raving V-P was knocked out cold and lying on the floor. Half of the class were on their feet, with Don's sister and girlfriends having gotten around their table in an attempt to assist him. Tasha, Abe, and Vince had also moved towards the front of the classroom. Now, they were held in a frozen tableau of surprise at what they'd just witnessed.

Dan looked up to see Mr. Robbins starting out of a frozen posture to move over to the prostrate figure of the V-P. Dan had already withdrawn his foot back from the position he'd been in. Now he stepped over the V-P and turned his body over to observe that the man had what seemed to be a broken nose. Blood was pouring from it. And there was a swelling area of edema forming across the man's forehead just above his right eyebrow. Dan processed this and stood up to look Mr. Robbins in the eye.

"I'll call 911 and the offices to tell them that Mr. Snottingham had fallen and injured himself. That OK with you?"

The teacher nodded. The man was simply amazed at the sangfroid of the kid. He himself was ready to start gibbering gobbledygook at this moment. And here was a kid who'd just been attacked and had the presence of mind to suggest that he call for assistance for the very individual who'd attacked him.

Dan swung around the table and desk at the front of the classroom and dashed into the teacher's office. As he did so Mr. Robbins observed the economy of motion and seemingly trained manner in which the teenager moved. The teacher's estimate of the boy had been heightened by the incident in the lunchroom on the previous day. Now, he didn't know what to think. He turned and kneeled down by the prone figure of Vice-Principal Snottingham.

As Dan entered the office he saw a first aid kit hanging from a set of hooks by the door. He grabbed it and looked back into the classroom to see Cindy heading towards him. He held it out to her and shook his head. "Not now. Help Mr. Robbins with this. Ask the class if anyone's had first aid training. Now move! Please!" He tried to smile but couldn't pull it off.

Cindy looked at him for a moment and nodded as she took the kit from him. She turned away and Dan heard her ask if anyone had training in first aid.

Once again no one noticed the gesture as Abe Rosen raised his hand and quietly turned off his solid state video recorder. He'd just captured and saved a couple minutes or so of very interesting video to his imaging stick. The gadget just hung there on a lanyard draped around his neck. He'd usually kept it tucked down under his shirt during most of the day. But on this day he'd twice had a use for it. Tasha had made good use of it earlier in the hallway. And he'd just left it hanging out and so when things started turning really strange he'd begun another video capture. This latter instance was an excellent usage of the little tool, he judged. He smiled as he looked about and decided that someone should be at the door of the room and so he went to stand in the hallway.

Dan dialed for an outside line and then punched 9-1-1. He immediately got a dispatcher. As he described the situation to her he realized that the dispatcher already knew his name. She recognized him right away from the previous incidents that had involved him. As they finished she asked him if he was OK. He told her he was. He then mentioned that he had to call the school office. She replied that she understood and that an ambulance and the police were already on their way to the school. He thanked her and said goodbye.

Dan then dialed the school's central office. He got the receptionist and asked for Dr. Prescott. He explained that he was calling from Mr. Robbins' office and that there had been an accident in their class. She immediately put him through to the Principal. Dan related that Vice-Principal Snottingham had fallen over and knocked himself out. He told Dr. Prescott that he'd already called 911 and that an ambulance was on its way. The Principal said that he was immediately on his way to the Biology classroom and hung up on Dan.

Dan moved back into the classroom and looked around at the various kids gathered around the front of the classroom. One of the guys from the football team was assisting Mr. Robbins with the unconscious figure on the floor. Yeah, that figures. Some jocks do take first aid training. Better him than me! No one around here has any record of my cross-training in battlefield wound treatment. I'd give myself away in less than a minute if I started treating that idiot Snottingham.

He looked over to the door and found that Abe was standing just outside the door, looking towards the front of the school. He was likely there to make sure that the classroom wasn't passed by. He sighed. This is likely to come down on my head like a ton of bricks. I'm gonna end up spending the night in jail.

He became lost in thought about how things could turn out. A hand came down on his shoulder and he turned to find Vince standing alongside him. Don's old friend looked concerned. "Are you gonna be OK?"

"Yeah, I hope so. Well, whenever I can get bailed outah jail. After this — it may take a while..."

Vince shook his head a bit and smiled ever so slightly. "Well, that was clever how you did that. I really don't remember you studying any martial arts before your accident. But, you must have been studying with somebody. You were really smooth in how you dumped him onto the floor. If anybody asks me I'll tell 'em it looked like that nutcase tripped over your foot when he tried to punch you out." Vince grinned for his old friend's benefit.

Dan allowed his grim sorta grin to play across Don's face. "Thanks. Maybe you can visit me in prison sometime."

Vince chuckled. "You won't go to prison. You ain't even goin' to spend the night in jail. You've got a whole classroom full of your friends and other classmates who witnessed what just happened. Everyone's gonna say that you were attacked."

Dan grimaced. "Yeah, maybe. We'll see." He barely got that out before he was swamped by four female forms and Vince found himself being pushed towards the door where a smirking Abe Rosen was watching what unfolded.

Tasha Thomas had been the second of the girls who so admired Don to overcome her shock at the sight of the V-P laid out on the floor. Cindy had been first, but she'd been distracted by Dan's instructions to aid their teacher.

Now Tasha had gotten to him and wrapped her arms around him in a fierce hug. Her head came up only to his chest, but her eyes were gleaming with mischief as they looked straight up to his face. She pulled his head down and whispered into his ear. "That was wicked, Don. You've got to teach me how to do that kind of stuff." She gave him a quick kiss on the lips and then let loose of him to follow Vince out the door to wait alongside Abe. That left Dan encircled by Cindy, Donna, and Susie.

Dan watched Tasha join the two guys and start an animated discussion with them. He'd been right to think that Tasha might be amenable to training in what he knew about so well. Maybe if I beat her up enough on the training mats she'll drop that intense lust she has for Don — or is that me?

While he ran through those thoughts he was surrounded and taken into a group hug by three girls. Over most of his body he felt the press of the clothed bodies of Donna and Susie. However, Cindy pressed and ground her own naked body against his. Again there was the feeling of excitation from such intimate contact with a naked girl of such attractiveness as Cindy possessed. And once again there was the lingering sense of frustration that arose from his new body's inability to react to such stimulation — what with the drugs he was taking.

Cindy and Donna were holding onto his front while Susie had come up behind him. Don's stepsister was whispering into his ear about wanting him to teach her how to defend herself while the other two girls were trying to speak at once. He couldn't quite process everything that they were trying to tell him as he tried to understand what he'd just experienced.

He was standing there with the three girls pressed up against him and wondering how this could be happening to him after what had just occurred. He felt himself again slipping into that sense of craziness and unease that he'd managed to overcome just prior to walking into this scene of insanity with the V-P. His renewed worrying was interrupted from the hallway.

Abe stuck his head into the class nearly shouted. "Mr. Robbins. The Principal and the nurse are headed this way. They just turned the corner at the end of the hallway."

The teacher looked up and nodded. "Thank you Mr. Rosen."

Dan started turning and tried to pry himself out of the grip of the three girls. "You've got to stop this. You can't be confusing things by being seen holding onto me. Head back around the desk. Please! You don't want to be seen with me if this turns out badly for me. Now move!" He pushed and cast his eyes towards the doorway through which Principal Prescott would be entering the room within seconds.

The girls seemed reluctant but they did heed his warnings and drew back away from him. They took hold of each other by their arms and withdrew from Don to a point back around the desk. This took the three of them to a position where they were behind Mr. Robbins. This had been the position that Cindy had just left and so they fit into the small crowd of students circled around where the Vice-Principal lay upon the floor.

Dan observed this and hoped that no one would mention that the three had rushed over to hug him after what had happened. He was relieved to be left standing on his own for the sake of the others who might be splattered by the shit that he was certain was about to hit the old fan. 360 Degree spread of excrement from the ol' rotary air circulation device — the oldes' of the kinda thing that can happen to someone standin' nearby.

He looked to the door and saw that Tasha must have watched what he'd just done. Her head was tilted a bit as though she were processing what he'd just done. Then her head straightened up and she looked him in the eyes and nodded. She must have just processed what he'd done and the why of it. She smiled and winked at him before turning to Abe and linking her arm with his. Abe turned to her for a moment while she quietly said something to him. He glanced up at Don and slowly nodded to what the young girl was saying. He then looked down the hallway and grinned for a moment before he hugged Tasha to him. They were standing that way for a few seconds before they stepped away from the doorway.

Vince had been looking on and he nodded to Don with a tilting of his head to whoever must be approaching the door. He too had stepped back to make room for the two people who now entered through the classroom doorway.

Dr. Prescott, Principal of Morgan County High School entered the room and immediately smelled blood in the air. He looked around and observed that the Nichols boy was standing away from the small crowd that seemed to be surrounding a person lying on the floor. That made sense if he was the one handling communications for the situation.

Dan noticed that the nurse was the same woman who'd assisted Jan when she'd been hurt the previous week. He moved to where several of his classmates were standing and looking onto the scene laid out upon the floor of the classroom. "Hey guys! Let the nurse through! Don't block her!" He nudged and pushed aside the kids and gestured to the woman to come on through the gap that he'd made in the press of kids.

He looked up to observe Dr. Prescott's eyes nearly bulging out of his eye sockets as the man recognized that it was his new Vice-Principal and the official program officer who was laid out on the floor. But then, too — the man was lying in a pool of his own blood while wholly naked. Dan had told him the V-P was injured and unconscious, but had refrained from mentioning that the crazy program official was as naked as his charges.

The Principal observed that Mr. Robbins was assisting in caring for the naked V-P and decided he didn't need to bother the teacher about why the program official was laid out naked, unconscious, and bleeding on the floor. He looked to the Nichols boy. That's where he'd start, as he was the individual who'd called his office with news that something had happened.

Dr. Prescott caught the boy's glance and jerked his head, indicating that Don should join him.

Dan would have groaned if possible, but he kept his silence. He looked to the Principal and gestured to Mr. Robbins' office. The older man caught the meaning of the apparent boy's gesture and nodded. He moved to the teacher's office and caught up the boy's arm in passing and pulled him along with him. Dan just went along with the Principal, knowing that any hesitancy or other action on his part would just make things worse.

"Don, I want to express to you my sincere thanks for helping Mr. Robbins with this situation. Knowing you called 911 first and that an ambulance is already on the way here is a great relief to me. Thank you."