This is the continued story of Simon’s Journal.
I would highly recommend you read the first volume of this story, Thirteen Days
before you begin this novel.
The following narrative is nearly a complete work of
fiction.
Any similarity to actual individuals living or dead is completely
unintentional.
If reading a coming of age story about boys wearing diapers and exploring their
awakening sexuality is offensive or illegal in your area, then might I suggest
you go read War and Peace or something equally stimulating.
Simon's Journal
Volume II
Thirteen
Nights – After the Crusade
Written by
Danny
Author of Thirteen Days
Monday, March 01, 2004 – Sir Isaac Newton wasn’t just some chump!
Several weeks ago in Science class at school we’d been talking about the laws of physics and in particular Sir Isaac Newton’s’ law that ‘For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’.
Now we’d been discussing this in relation to space flight. It went something like this: If you push on anything, it pushes back on you. That’s why if you lean against the wall, you don’t just fall through it. The wall pushes back on you as hard as you push on it, and you and the wall stay in place. If you throw something, you put more force behind it then just leaning on it, so it pushes back with more force. Our teacher explained that this is hard to observe, because usually, if you throw something away from you, the friction between you and the floor makes resistance to keep you in place. However, if you take away the friction and try again, you will move away from the thing that you threw as much as it moves away from you.
The bigger the push, the bigger the push back. That is why cannons and guns recoil. As the cannon ball flies in one direction, the cannon moves in the opposite direction. Our teacher went on to say that if we were to turn to the cannon up on its end, it gets closer to how a rocket works. The force that pushes the cannon ball down also pushes the cannon up. But since the cannon is bigger then the cannon ball it has more inertia acting to keep it in one place. We would need a larger force to push the cannon a great distance. If we could make a long continuous hot explosion in the cannon, instead of one quick one, we could push the cannon a far distance. The air that is heated would push out the back, pushing the cannon in the opposite direction. This is how jets work as well as how rockets get into space. Therefore, since every action as an equal and opposite reaction, something will go forward if it is pushing matter behind itself.
So why am I thinking about this heavy brain bending stuff? Well, something got me thinking earlier today and I started to wonder if Sir Isaac Newton’s law could also be applied to non-matter, such as life or life events. For example; say I am walking down the street and see someone I know from school; I wave to them but instead of them waving back to me they flip me the bird before turning to walk away. That is an action with an equal and opposite reaction, right?
I’m probably not making any sense here at all but here’s what has happened today that’s got me thinking about this sort of stuff. This morning I woke up, managed to get out of bed all by myself and stagger out to the kitchen where I found dad starting to make coffee.
“Morning,” I said through a yawn.
Dad turned to look at me, “Wow, you’re up early!”
I yawned again, stretched and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “What time is it?” I asked.
“It’s not even five o’clock yet.” He said.
“Huh?” I stopped rubbing my eyes and stood looking at him as my brain attempted to comprehend what he’d just said. “It is?” I finally asked.
The left side of dad’s mouth rose in a half smile and then with a twitch of his head he motioned for me to go to him. I moved further into the kitchen and stood beside him as he placed the filter into the coffee maker. He reached his left arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close to his side, giving me a one armed hug. I watched as he scooped the coffee from the canister into the awaiting filter.
“How many do you use?” I asked.
“Two heaping scoops.” He showed me how he scooped out the coffee and then dumped the second scoop into the filter.
I rubbed at my taped up chest, “Oh, I don’t know, I guess I always thought you’d use more then that.”
“Nope, just two scoops is all!” dad said hugging me a little tighter.
He picked up the plastic lid to the coffee decanter and was about to put it back on when I asked, “So now you have to put in some water?”
“I already did that. Now all I have to do is turn it on and sit back and wait!” he pointed to the black switch on the side of the coffee maker, “You want to do it?” he asked.
Without answering, I reached out and flipped the switch - I didn’t hear anything. “Is it working?” I asked.
He was reclosing the cabinet door after having put the coffee away, “Well, sure it is!” he said.
“I don’t hear nothing, though,” I said tapping the side.
Dad laughed softly, “It’s ‘I don’t hear anything’.” He corrected, “You have to give it a minute or two to heat up the water first!” I didn’t even catch his correction of what I’d said right away and when I finally did, it felt too late to comment on it.
He released me from his semi-embrace to go get his coffee cup out of the dishwasher.
“Can I have some when it’s ready?” I asked trying to sound confident and mature.
He didn’t answer right away but he did look up at me as he reached into the dishwasher and raised a single eyebrow at my request.
“I suppose it would be okay for you to have half a cup!” he said.
I beamed back at him and rocked up on the balls of my feet a couple times excitedly. I watched as he got a second coffee cup down from the cabinet. Normally those were only used for company ‘cause dad has his own coffee cup that he always uses all the time.
“So how do you take yours?” he asked petting the back of my hair.
Not knowing what he meant I wrinkled my nose a bit and grunted, “Huh?”
He laughed again, “That was the right answer!”
I still had no idea what he was talking about but he went on to explain, “Some people like their coffee ‘black’; that means they don’t want anything in it. Then there are those that like it ‘regular’ and that means they want both cream and sugar.”
“I don’t know, how should I have mine?” I asked.
“I’d imagine you’d like yours ‘Regular’.” He answered as he reached over the counter for the little sugar bowl.
“Ok, I’ll have mine regular please!” I said smartly and he gave the back of my head another pet.
It was then that I realized mom wasn’t out of bed yet. “Where’s mom?” I asked.
“Your aunt called again last night and needed your mom to come over and help her. She over did it yesterday at your party and her foot is all swollen up again.” Dad said as he put two spoonfuls of sugar into the coffee cup he’d taken out for me to use.
“Can you get the milk out for me?” he asked.
“Sure!” I said moving to the refrigerator.
“So did she stay all night over there?” I asked.
“Yep, but I expect she’ll be home after bit.” He said as I handed him the half-gallon jug of milk.
For the first time since waking up, I looked down at the condition of my diaper and saw that it was sagging quite a bit in the front from being so wet. I don’t think I like cloth diapers so much in the mornings cause when they are really wet they seem to become loose a little. I suppose that if I didn’t have on the plastic plants, it might just fall right off my hips.
Dad must have saw me looking down at myself too ‘cause he said, “You want me to help you get changed?”
I thought about it for several seconds before I answered, “I guess maybe so.”
“Why don’t we go do it while the coffee is brewing?” he said.
“Okay.” I agreed and started to turn but I’d not been paying attention this time and turned my upper body without turning my feet in the direction I wanted to go. I had a quick flash of pain that froze me to the spot.
“You okay?” dad asked, taking hold of both of my arms to support me.
“That was dumb!” I exclaimed.
“No it wasn’t! You just moved wrong is all.” Dad attempted to tweak my thinking.
“Yea but it still hurt!” I countered.
“It looked like it! Your face went white as paper so fast I thought you were going to pass out on me.” Dad said.
“I don’t think I’m going to move like that again!” I said which made dad laugh.
Bending down he scooped me up and cradled me in his arms. “I’d probably avoid it if I were you! It didn’t look like a lot of fun.”
He carried me back to my room, deposited me on my still unmade bed and was just reaching up to pull off my plastic pants when a twinge in my lower back told me that I was about to need to poop.
“Dad?” I said stopping him before he pulled them off, “I think I need to go number-two.”
He surprised me by smiling, “If I get you out of this wet diaper can you hold it until you are sitting on the toilet?”
“Yea I think so.” I answered.
He went a head and pulled off my plastic pants and the stale smell of urine wafted into my nostrils. For some reason he had a little trouble getting the first safety pin opened but after a couple seconds he got it and the other safety pin came right open. I helped him by lifting my bottom off the bed so that he could pull the wet diaper out from under me. My skin was quite damp and the coolness of the morning air caused goose bumps to creep across my skin.
“Cold?” he asked with a smirk. I nodded, wide-eyed.
He then picked me up again; I could have walked to the bathroom on my own but he seemed to want to carry me and I didn’t have any qualms about letting him. In the bathroom he sat me on the toilet and asked, “You want to give me a shout when you are done and I’ll come help you wipe?”
“Okay.” I answered and I could feel the pressure quickly building. No sooner had he pulled the door closed behind him, than my bowels let loose like a cannon into the toilet bowl. I waited several minutes to be sure I was done and sure enough, I wasn’t. I had two more eliminations before I’d finished. “I shouldn’t have had all those hotdogs at my birthday party yesterday!” I thought out loud and made myself grin at the humor of it.
“DAD! I’M DONE!” I called out from our porcelain throne room and dad reappeared only seconds later.
“Woah! Son, I think something may have crawled up inside you last night and died!” dad joked as he covered his nose. I guess I was feeling a little uncomfortable about the situation and maybe a little humbled, too; maybe the combination of the two is what made me laugh, more so then what dad had said.
He had me standup, hold on to the sink and bend over so that he could wipe my bottom clean for me and when he was satisfied he’d got the job done, he flushed the toilet and gave my bare-bottom a swat.
“Hey! What was that for?” I jokingly complained.
“Pick something!” he joked back by pinching my ear.
“You ready now?” he asked.
“What for?” I asked stupidly.
“To go finish getting changed maybe?” He said giving me a soft thump on my forehead. “You can’t go running around the house with that hanging out!” he pointed to my boyhood member and I blushed uncontrollably.
I laughed again while rubbing my forehead where he’d thumped me, “Oh yea!” and this time he let me walk back to my room with him right behind me.
I assumed the position on my bed with my legs spread while dad went to my dresser. “What’ll it be this morning?” he asked.
Having not been given a choice since having had to be put back into diapers again, I didn’t expect his question and it took me a moment to decide. “Disposable?” I said finally.
“Tough decision huh?” dad joked as he retrieved one of the diapers.
I watched him as he stood there with the diaper in his hand. He was looking around inside the drawer and seemed to be confused.
“What?” I asked.
“Where’s your mom keep the wipes?” he asked.
“Oh, she just uses a warm wet washrag.” I said finally understanding what he’d been looking for.
“Okay!” he said sliding the drawer closed, “In that case, I’ll be right back!” and as he passed by my bed he dropped the still folded diaper on my face.
“Hey!” I complained and laughed at the same time.
He was back in no time with a dripping wet washrag; “I probably should have just threw you into the shower while I had you in there.” He said as he started to place the washcloth against my skin.
“AAAAHHHH! DAD THAT IS COLD!” I screamed as the wet rag made contact with my boyhood jewels.
“Well I didn’t want it to be hot and scald your skin!” he said in his defense.
“Yea but did you have use only cold water?” I continued to complain.
Dad laughed, which made me think he’d done it on purpose just to make me scream. By the time he’d finished washing my front, and had lifted my right leg to wash my backside thoroughly, I was officially cold and shivering.
As he was lowering my leg back to the bed he asked, “Cold?”
I just glared at him without commenting.
“Right! Then let’s get you rediapered and,” he dropped the cold rag on my stomach just below where the tape around my ribs stopped.
“Dad!” I whined and he laughed harder this time. I took the washrag and tossed it at him but he caught it and set it on the floor.
I think I like having dad change me more then mom or Jamie. For one thing, I don’t have to lift my own butt off the bed so he can slide the diaper under me. He just takes hold of my right ankle and lifts my leg and bottom off the bed with one hand and positions the diaper under with his other hand before lowering me back down onto it.
When he had the diaper taped on me he asked, “Do you want to wear plastic pants too?”
“So many questions!” I thought.
“Na, maybe just some shorts.” I said.
“Actually, why don’t we get you all the way dressed, then we can have our coffee and go out and get breakfast at McDonalds?” dad offered.
“Can we?” I asked surprised and excited at his offer.
“Sure, I’ve taken the day off from work today and McDonalds opens for breakfast at six-o’clock.” Dad said and I looked over his shoulder to my alarm clock to see that it was almost 5:30 already.
“Can I drive?” I asked knowing he’d never allow me but I have a theory that if I ask him enough times, eventually I will wear him down and he’ll say yes. So far, in all the years that I’ve asked, he’s never said yes.
“Sure!” he said.
“REALLY?” I shouted.
“Sure, when you are sixteen!” he said.
“Ah dad!” I whined and he laughed.
So dad helped me to get dressed, tied both of my shoes for me and just as he were finishing he leaned forward and kissed my forehead.
“What was that for?” I asked rubbing his kiss off.
“Just because I love you.” He said swatting my backside once again.
This time I followed him down the hall and back into the kitchen. The coffee was finished brewing and we both sat down at the table with our cups. We talked while we drank; he asked me what I thought about going back to school and I told him I was sort of starting to miss it but I was worried about someone accidentally bumping into me in the hallways. Then he started to ask harder questions; questions about Bull, Tater and the others as well as Peter and his friends. I found it really hard to talk about some of the stuff and when dad tried to get me to talk about what Tater and I’d done the night I had slept over at his and Mike’s house I totally clammed up.
“I know it’s embracing for you to talk about Simon, but I really wish you would.” He said placing his hand over mine.
“I-I r-really d-d-don’t w-want to.” I stuttered so softly that it was barely audible at all.
“It’s not your fault!” Dad said and I honestly didn’t know what he meant, well not at first.
I looked up at him, I’d been staring down into my nearly empty coffee cup and trying desperately not to make eye contact. However, his last comment caught me off guard, I looked up from my cup and into his eyes, and that is when I saw that he was crying.
“Dad?” my voice broke, “Why are you crying?” I asked fighting against the lump that was forming in my own throat.
“Oh Simon! I am so very sorry! I just didn’t have any idea! I would have done anything to protect you from it!” the tears were running down his cheeks and dripped off his chin.
I couldn’t hold back anymore as my own tears burst from my eyes as if Hoover Dam had busted. I got up from my chair and he swept me into his arms and held me tightly as we sobbed together for what seemed like hours but was more like ten minutes.
When we both finally were able to stem the tides, he sat me on his knee with my head still resting on his shoulder and he started to tell me some really hard things. He told me that Bull, Tater and Two-Toe’s were not going to be sent to the Military Academy as Mr. Freeman had hoped but were going to be charged as adults and more then likely would be going to prison for a long time. He also said that if, or when Runt comes out of his comma and recovers, he will likely be charged with attempted murder of a police officer along with all the other charges against him and the other boys.
If hearing that was not hard enough, he then told me that he’d spoke with his lawyer and he’d said that there was a good chance I might be brought up on charges too. His words scared me so badly that my tears instantly dried up and my body went ridged in my father’s embrace. He went on to say that at the very least they might charge me with ‘Withholding evidence to a criminal investigation’, which I didn’t really fully understand but then he went on to explain to me just what I’d done wrong. As dad talked my tears began to flow again and my entire being became infused with a fear so strong that I thought I was going to die and without my knowing it, my bladder had let go and soaked my diaper. It wasn’t until later when I was getting in the car to go to breakfast that I realized just how wet I really was.
Dad and I talked, well dad talked and I cried into his shirt for a lot longer then I think either of us expected. It was nearing seven when dad had me calmed down enough to get me to stop crying. He’d explained to me, that even if I were charged, his lawyer felt that I’d get nothing worse then probation. Then dad had to explain to me what probation was and how it worked.
As I sat there on his knee, I realized that I’d thoroughly soaked the right side of his shirt with my tears as well as dampening my own somewhat. Dad finally gave me a smile and said, “What say you and I go change our shirts, go get some breakfast and then go spend some time together today, just you and me?” he asked wiping my face with his hand.
I nodded but instead of getting off his lap I fell on his neck and hugged him with what little strength was left in my young body after having cried so hard for so long. He hugged me back for a good while before I got up from his lap and the two of us walked back to my room again.
With shirts changed, coats on and mom notified that we were going out together, we left the house and started getting in the car. At first I thought about getting in the backseat and lying down since I seem to get carsick really easy since getting all busted up. However, I didn’t feel like being alone in the backseat and I ended up deciding to climb in the front-passenger-seat next to dad. No sooner had I sat down on the seat and felt my diaper squish a little under me than I realized just how wet I was. Dad started to buckle the safety belt around me when I said, “Uh oh!”
“What?” dad asked and I could tell from the look he had that he thought he’d accidentally bumped my ribs or hurt me somehow.
“I just realized . . .,” I said looking down at the crotch of my pants that were bulging in the front due to my diaper.
Dad’s eyebrows rose in understanding, “Do we need to go back in and get you changed again?”
Now that would probably have been the best thing to do but honestly, now that I was fully dressed and in the car, I didn’t want to have to go back into the house and start all over again.
“I think I’ll be ok for a while?” I said in such a way as to hopefully, get him to agree.
“Are you sure?” dad asked.
I nodded even though I wasn’t so sure.
Dad finished buckling me into the seat and closed my door but instead of walking around to the driver’s side of the car, he went back into the house and reemerged a few minutes later carrying a paper grocery sack with the top all rolled down. He went around to the trunk, opened it and put the sack in before closing the trunk again and joining me inside the car.
“What’s in the bag?” I asked though I could already have guessed had I thought about it.
“Insurance!” dad said with a smile.
“Oh!” I said realizing just what he means, “Good idea!” I said and he started the car.
It was really a nice morning today and nearly all traces of the snow had melted away again. It was still a little cooler then it had been a week or so back but it wasn’t so cold that I had to zip my coat shut.
I don’t know why, but in the car the fear and dread I’d been feeling just sort of fell away. The two of us went to McDonalds and had our breakfast while sitting in the car. We then went to the Autobody Repair where mom’s van had been towed to, to check on it. Dad said he was surprised they already had it on the lift and were working on it.
As we were getting ready to pull out of the parking lot of the Autobody Repair Shop dad’s cell started to ring. It turned out to be his work and after he got off the phone he said, “Mind if we make a quick stop by my office?”
“Not at all!” I said, “Can I come in and say hi to everyone?”
“I think they’d be offended if you didn’t!” dad joked and slapped my thigh but not so hard that it hurt, just somewhat in jest.
At the office, people kept asking to see my taped up ribs but I knew if I lifted up my shirt then they’d see, not just my ribs, but also the diaper I was wearing. The diaper stuck out of the top of my pants several inches and there was no way I wanted all those ladies to know I was wearing diapers! So to compromise I just unbuttoned the top two buttons of my shift and pulled it open. All the ladies in the office were saying stuff like, “Oh you poor dear!” or “You are just so brave!” and my personal favorite, “But you’re still just a baby!” A couple off them seemed to feel it important to bend down and kiss my bad eye that really wasn’t bad anymore, it was just yellow with a hunt of black in the corner next to my nose.
I managed to find dad, who had-after we got out of the elevator-abandoned me to all those gushing women; he was sitting at his desk and talking with someone on the phone. Whoever was on the other end of the phone, must have really screwed up something ‘cause dad sounded like he was about to jump into the phone and throttle them.
It was maybe another ten minutes before dad finally got off the phone. “Sorry about that.” He said to me while hanging up the phone.
I only smiled back to let him know that I didn’t mind waiting. However, I was a bit concerned that those women might find me and want to pinch my cheeks some more.
“You want to do me a huge favor?” Dad asked.
“Sure!” had I been able too, I would have jumped to my feet excitedly ready to do whatever he asked.
Dad reached out an overstuffed manila envelope that was held together with crisscrossing rubber bands. “Can up take this up to the fourth floor for me?”
I took the bundle of papers from him and asked, “Where at on four?” I’d been up there before when he’d brought me to work with him.
“When you get out of the elevator go straight ahead down the hallway until you reach the other elevators and then turn right. John Kutter is in the last cubical on the right. Got it?”
“Got it!” I said and took off for the elevators. I was just about to press the button to call the elevator to dad’s floor when someone behind me, it was a ladies voice, called my name.
“Simon?”
Not thinking anyone would be calling for me, and that there must be someone else on the floor with my name I didn’t bother to turn to see who it was.
“Hey Simon!” the voice called again and this time I went ahead and looked. I recognized the ladies face but for the life of me, I had no idea what her name might be or why I knew her. Without saying anything, I pointed to myself as if to ask if I was the one she was calling for.
“Well of course you! Come here! I’ve not seen you in so long!” I walked over to where she and another lady were standing.
“Hello!” I said trying to be polite and to not show my ignorance at not knowing who she was.
“You have grown so much!” she gushed and then turned to the other lady, “This is Simon,Leonard’s son.”
“Oh my goodness! You mean this is little Simon? Why he looks just like his daddy!” the other lady said and the way the two of them talked it reminded me of the way Mike’s mom talked to me, like she was trying to slower sweetness on me through words.
The two ladies continued to gush over me for a couple more minutes before I said, “Um, I’m sorry but I got to get these up to Mr. Kutter right away!”
“Oh yes, you run along!” The first lady said with a dismissing wave of her hand and I didn’t wait around for anything else to be said. I got back to the elevator; hit the button and much to my relief it opened right up.
I got to Mr. Kutter’s cubical without any more delays and I apologized for taking so long. I explained to him about the two ladies, which made him laugh and say, “You have to watch out, there are some seriously man-hungry ladies that work in this office building.”
I smiled politely but, inside my head, I had the vision of those ladies trying to roast me like a pig!
“If you can hang on for a minute I’ll walk you back down so that you won’t get waylaid again.” Mr. Kutter offered.
“I’d like that very much!” I said realizing that I sounded like I was scared of being someone’s lunch.
Mr. Kutter laughed at my comment. “I need to get up and stretch my legs anyway.” He said as he opened the overstuffed folder I’d brought to him and began riffling through the papers until he found what he must have wanted. He made one quick phone call before handing the folder back to me and walking me back to the elevator. We talked about my school as we waited for the elevator until two other men I didn’t know came up behind us and were talking loud enough that we could hear them.
“There are three missing now?” one of the men asked quite strongly.
“And with absolutely no trace whatsoever!” The other man said.
Mr. Kutter turned around and asked, “You talking about the missing children?”
At his question, I too turned to face the men.
“Oh hi John! I didn’t realize that was you standing there.” The man on my right said as he reached out to shake Mr. Kutter’s hand. “And is this your new assistant?” he smiled wider and extended his hand for me to shake which I politely did and then shook the other mans hand as well.
“Na.” Mr. Kutter said patting me on the back, “This here’s Simon. He’s Simon Leonard’s boy from downstairs.”
“Oh yea! How is your old man? Hardly see him anymore since he moved down there!” the second man said. I couldn’t help but take offence with him calling my dad an old man but I didn’t have to answer as Mr. Kutter did it for me.
“Oh he’s doing great! Really great!” and then restated his
previous question, “So were you talking about those missing kids?”
“Oh yea! I just heard on the radio that a third boy came up missing this morning.” The first man said.
Mr. Kutter put his hand to his chest and looked genuinely disturbed at this news. I on the other hand was thinking about the conversation that I had overheard yesterday morning when mom, dad, Jamie and I had gone to the IHOP for breakfast. I’d heard someone saying something about someone being kidnapped and now it seemed there had been two more kidnappings since then.
The elevator door opened and the four of us got in. The three men continued to talk about the missing kids and I found out that all three were young boys, one was 10-years-old and the other two were both 11-years-old. I stayed quiet and listened unfortunately the two men were going all the way to the basement, so Mr. Kutter and I got off on dad’s floor and managed to meet dad just around the corner.
“Oh hi dad!” I said nearly running into him as I turned the corner.
“Oh hello John!” dad said to Mr. Kutter, “Did you find what you needed in there?” dad motioned to the folder I was still clutching to my chest.
“Yes and thank you very much for sending Simon here, right up with it!” Mr. Kutter was saying as he looked down at me, “I was just walking him back down back down to you so that he didn’t get caught and coddled by any more women.”
Dad looked down at me and chuckled, “Oh is that what took so long?”
“Some lady saw me and knew me but I don’t know who she was!” I said animatedly.
Dad took the folder from me, “Uh, red hair and painted on eyebrows?” he asked.
“Yea! How’d you know?” I asked in complete astonishment.
Dad only chuckled again along with Mr. Kutter this time.
“Well, if you both will excuse me, I have a meeting in a few minutes.” Mr. Kutter said looking at his watch.
“Right, and I need to get out of here before they end up keeping me all day!” dad said shaking Mr. Kutter’s hand.
Mr. Kutter shook my hand too; “You take care of yourself, okay?”
“Yes sir!” I answered.
Dad and I walked back to his office where he dropped the folder on his desk and grabbed our coats so we could make our escape. Unfortunately it took another ten minutes just to get off the floor as people kept stopping us to say hello and ask dad questions about work related stuff.
As we were riding down in the elevator I felt the need to pee and before I could acknowledge it in my own mind I found myself already rewetting my diaper. I reached out and took dad’s hand to get his attention. He looked down at me with a smile, “I think I’m going to need the insurance.” I whispered as if we were not alone in the elevator.
Dad was really cool about it. He squeezed my hand reassuringly and asked, “Okay, can you wait a little longer?” I nodded that I could rather then risk replying audibly.
I actually thought we might get out of the building without getting stopped again but just as dad was about to push open the big glass door someone, sounding urgent, called out from across the foyer, “Hey Leonard!”
Dad and I both turned to see who’d called out our last name. A slightly overweight man with jet back hair and a bushy mustache like you might see bikers wearing was half-walking and half-running to catch up to us from the other side of the foyer.
“Wait up!” He called as he slowed to a fast walk when he’d realized we’d saw him.
“Oh hi Jim!” Dad said extending his hand to the man that was breathing a little hard. I could tell that his little jog across the foyer was probably the most exercise he’d had in years.
“I’m glad I was able to catch you before you left!” Jim said not bothering to take dad’s extended hand. The moment was kind of awkward for about three seconds until the man then said, “I just wanted to thank you and your fine son here!” He motioned to me with a swing of his left hand and I nearly had to step back to not have him hit me in the face but I don’t think dad noticed.
Dad dropped his hand finally, “So what’s so urgent?” dad asked and his concern was showing on his face.
“Well, it seems your son here has single handedly destroyed any chance my son has at getting a football scholarship this year!” the man said with his face begging to turn read with anger.
Instantly dad and I both knew what he was talking about. With the gentle directing of dad’s left hand he moved me so that he was now standing between the angry fat man and me.
“Jim, can we talk about this somewhere else?” dad said calmly.
The man now nearly shouting said, “What the fuck was your kid thinking?”
Dad took a step back into me and I had to step back myself so as not to be stepped on. In a whirlwind of blue uniforms two security guards came from out of nowhere and had stepped between dad and the big man dad had called Jim.
There was a bunch of shouting and cursing, which Jim was doing all of as dad and the two security guards were trying to calm the guy down. He kept saying stuff about me, and about how I destroyed any change the Panthers had at going to the championships this year. He also said something that I didn’t understand until later when dad explained it to me. He’s said something about how I’d lied about their coach and that he’d never have been mixed up in anything illegal.
Later, dad explained that Jasper and Bull’s father, who was also the high school football Coach had been arrested Sunday night at his home for trafficking in illegal sports enhancing drugs. However dad told me that it wasn’t my fault that he was arrested as the news had said that police had been investigating him for over a month in this matter.
After a while the two security guards had been joined by two others, a short squat woman that looked like she could kill a bear with a single punch and a totally bald man with big black glasses. The four of them were able to get the big guy Jim calmed down and taken elsewhere. Two police officers showed up a short time later, I supposed security had called them and they wanted to know if dad wanted to press charges against Jim for assault. That was when I found out that Jim had took a swing at dad but dad had stepped back into me and Jim had missed him.
“No, I don’t think so.” Dad said, “He’s just upset right now. I’m sure in a few days he’ll calm down and regret all this.”
I was both surprised to hear dad say that and a little proud at how cool he was despite everything. From the time we’d come out of the elevator until we finally got back into the car was just over a half-hour. Both dad and I had forgot about the condition of my diaper as we sat in the van and dad explained to me about Jasper’s father, how he had been arrested and why Jim had reacted the way he had inside.
Honestly, the confrontation with Jim was probably a good thing, because he woke me up and made me aware that more then likely there were going to be people that were not going to understand what Bull, Tater, Runt and Two-Toes as well as there coach had done was so very bad. Football people can be nuts when it comes to there favorite teams.
I remember a couple years ago when dad, mom and I had gone to professional football game. We ended up leaving the stadium before the first half was over. One of the referees had made some call that the fans didn’t like and they got rude! They were cursing and carrying on, throwing stuff onto the field and just being plain stupid! So dad got us out of there really fast! On the news that night they’d said that the game had been ended when fans started fighting with one another in the stands.
Dad said one thing that I think scared me more then Jim had, “Simon, I think for a while, you’d better plan on staying close to home. I don’t want you going anywhere without your mother or me with you. At least until this all blows over, okay?”
I told him I would but inside I was thinking that once we got back home, I wasn’t going to come out of my room ever again!
Dad started the car and the clock on the car radio came on telling us that it was after ten in the morning. “Well that’s one good thing; we still have about forty-five minutes until your doctor’s appointment.” Dad had said.
“I didn’t know I had to go to the doctor today!” I said with a hint of fear in my voice.
“It’s okay! It’s just a checkup to see how you are healing.” Dad reassured me by petting my hair.
“They better not give me any more shots!” I threatened.
I expected dad to say that they wouldn’t but he only smiled, put the car in gear and backed out of the parking space.
When we headed in the opposite direction of the hospital I got confused, “Aren’t we going to the hospital?” I asked.
“Oh sorry, you’re appointment is with your regular doctor!” dad said.
“Oh no!” I groaned.
“What?” dad asked.
“He always gives me shots or makes me take nasty medicine!” I complained.
“You know, I think there is some kind of law that says that medicine has to hurt, taste really bad or smell even worse.” Dad joked.
“It’s not funny!” I continued to complain. “I think he does it on purpose!”
“That’s okay! It builds character!”
Next Installment:
Chapter 2 - PART 2 – Knighthood and the dawning of the armor!
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