Memoirs of a Diaper Boy

 

Chapter 16

The Four Horsemen

 

Don’t forget to bring your bag with you Ian.” I was told as my mom, brothers, and I headed off toward the car

 

“Let me go grab it. I’ll be right back.” I announced as I headed back into the house and up to my room. Since I didn’t know how long we were going to be gone, I added a few more diapers to the bag before I closed and headed back downstairs. I was kind of surprised to see that Jason was sitting in a booster seat when I climbed into my own car seat. I was feeling a bit jealous at this since this looked a good deal less babyish than the car seat that David and I used. I was tempted to say something to my about this when I saw David shake his head. I guess he had been thinking the same thing I was at one point and was shot down cold. Most of the conversation on the ride to the hospital centered around Jason again as my other brothers tried to find out about their cousin.

 

“Ian, I don’t want you giving Megan any problems about your eye. She feels bad enough that attacked you to begin with.” my mom explained to me as we pulled into the hospital paring lot.

 

Don’t worry. I won’t say a thing about it.”

 

“OH God, Ian. I’m so sorry!” Megan exclaimed when she saw me walk into her room.

 

 Don’t worry about it Meg. Besides most of this happened this morning at school.” I said with a small laugh.

 

 “What do you mean?”

 

 “Your brother had a difference of opinion with some Sixth graders during the first break.” my mom answered as she came in the door.

 

“Why didn’t you one of you guys jump in then?” Megan asked rounding on Brad, Isaac, and David.

 

 “Because they were here seeing you remember. Anyway it wasn’t their fight.”

 

 “I would think that having their brother getting picked on by two Sixth graders they would have made it their fight.”

 

 Seeing that my mom was about to jump in on the conversation at this point, I put my hand up to stop her.

 

“That’s just it Meg. I was the one jumping in to stop the fight. And it wasn’t their brother getting picked on, it turns out it was mine. Not to mention, it was more like six on one before I jumped in than it was two on one.”

 

“What Ian is trying to say Megan is that he jumped in on a fight that was six to one and we found out later that the other person involved was Ian’s brother.” Megan was told by our mom when she saw the confused look on her daughter’s face.

 

“And I was really glad for the help to.” Jason added. Choosing that moment to step around to my side. The look on Megan’s face caused us both to start chuckling a bit since the only way one could really tell us apart was from the length of our hair and the color of our eyes when you could see them.

 

“Boy, when you said you had a twin brother you weren’t kidding.” my sister said with a groan as she slumped back into her a bit. Everyone started laughing at this point.

 

 “What’s so funny?” We all were asked as my uncle came into the room with another doctor.

 

 “Megan got kind of over whelmed seeing Jason for the first time.” My mom answered as she gave my uncle a kiss. This of course brought my uncle up short.

 

“ How about we all go outside while Megan gets looked over.” my uncle said to us.

 

 “I thought the Murphy’s had decided to keep all this quiet?” My uncle asked once the door had closed behind us.

 

 “They did, but things have changed a bit as of a couple of hours ago.”

 

 “How did you manage to get them to change their minds so quickly?”

 

 “Actually, they don’t know yet that things have changed.”

 

“OK, You want to run that one by me again? I’m obviously missing something here.” My uncle stated as he sat down in a nearby chair.

 

 “The short story is that Ian stepped into a fight at school and it turned out that Jason was at the center of it.”

 

 “And have you explained to Ian the consequences of getting into fights, especially at school.”

 

 “I have in passing , but we aren’t going to do anything about it. Since Ian was going to Jason’s aid. So I don’t see it falling into that category.”

 

“Mary, I look at two on one as an unfair fight and all Ian would have needed to do was call a teacher over and let them handle it.”

 

 “What about six on one?” I asked calmly, Causing my uncle to jump a bit since he hadn’t seen that I was there.

 

 “What do you mean?”

 

 “I mean that before I jumped in to help Jason out it was a six on one fight.”

 

 “Six on one?” My uncle asked while looking over at his wife. My mom just nodded at this

 

“OK, that I can understand. What did the school say about it?”

 

“They suspended them till Monday.”

 

“They Only suspended the boys that started this for three days!”

 

 “No, the boys that started the fight got an indefinite suspension pending the outcome of a meeting of the Disciplinary Council. Jason and Ian got the three day suspension.”

 

“And what do you have to say for yourself Ian?”

 

 “Not a thing, other that if it happens again I’ll do the same thing again.”

 

“No, Next time you’ll let a teacher handle it.” my uncle told me firmly.

 

 “Right.” I said simply. I think my uncle believed me almost as much as my aunt did ,but like her, he didn’t say anything further.

 

 “So what have you explained to Jason about all this?” my aunt was asked.

 

 “Everything that we know.” All this got was a nod of understanding. About this time the door to Megan’s room opened up and her doctor walked out.

 

“She’s doing fine and according to her last round of blood work most of the drugs are out of her system. I’m going to keep her one more night to be sure and you’ll be able to take her home tomorrow.” we were told.

 

“Thanks Phil. I’ll catch up with you in a little bit to go over the paperwork.”

 

“No problem.”

 

Jason and I spent the next hour getting grilled by Megan. I wasn’t to surprised by this but I’m sure Jason found it a bit over whelming. All of us perked up when my mom announced that it was time to live so Megan could get some more rest and we could eat.

 

“I want you guys to jump into your swim trunks once dinner is done.” We were told as we sat down to eat.

 

“Uh. Mrs. Miller, I don’t think my uncle dropped any trunks for me.” Jason said at this.

 

“That’s OK Jason. I’m sure Ian won’t mind loaning you a pair of his.” My mom replied as she passed plates around to us.

 

“That shouldn’t be a problem.” I said with a small grin thinking of his reaction when he saw the Speedos that I normally wear. I was glad that my new family was accepting Jason into the family so readily, of course this was probably due to the fact that he was technically family. Though it did seem that he was a bit taken aback by this fact. Once dinner was over Jason, my brothers, and I headed up to change over to our swim trunks as requested.

 

“Catch.” I called as I tossed a pair of my trunks over my shoulder to my brother. I turned around just in time to see Jason turn and catch the trunks right in the face.

 

 “Good catch.” I laughed as I started to get undressed .

 

 “Well, come on. We don’t have all night.” I said when I saw Jason still standing there holding the trunks I had tossed at him.

 

“You’re kidding me right?”

 

“Not at all. All of us wear trunks like that. Why what’s the matter with them?” I asked not seeing what the problem was.

 

 “I’m just not used to wearing something so small.” I was told while Jason still turned the trunks over in his hands some more.

 

“I’m sorry but this is all I have. If you don’t have a set of your own to wear then my mom won’t let you into the pool.” I explained while finishing pulling up my own trunks.

 

“Oh. I guess I could wear them this once then. As long as you don’t tell my mom about it. She’s kind of anal about things like this.”

 

 Don’t worry about it. I won’t say a thing about it if you won’t.” I told him with a smile. With in five minutes time we were both down in the pool having the time of our lives.

 

“OK boys it’s time for you to get out now and get started on your homework.” We were all told about an hour and a half later.

 

“But mom, how can we have homework when we didn’t go to school today?” Brad asked reasonably as we pulled ourselves out of the water.

 

“Sorry I forgot about that. I still want you out of the pool and up getting ready for bed in ten minutes.” I saw Jason stiffen at this a bit.

 

Don’t worry. Nothing will be said about you needing to wear protection to bed. It’s pretty normal around here anyway with me and David.” I told him. I purposely left Brad out of it since I didn’t feel that Jason needed to know about that.

 

“C’mon boys lets get you upstairs and ready for bed.” My uncle announced as my brothers and I walked back into the house after getting our after swim showers.

 

David your mom is waiting for you in your room. Ian, I’ll be taking care of you and Jason tonight.” On hearing this I figured I was going to be in for a bit of a lecture about the fight I had been in earlier that day. I soon found out I was right.

 

 “I’m only going to explain this to you once.” My dad started once he had me up on my changing table getting me prepped for my last change of the evening.

 

“I can commend you for wanting to help your brother out in the fight he found himself in today, but I want you to know that I won’t tolerate any more incidents like this. In the future I expect you to walk away and get help. We’re letting you slide this one time but in the future if something like this happens again you’ll find yourself under hack for three times the length of whatever suspension you receive from the school, losing all of your allowance for a three month period, along with being given extra house and yard work during that time. Do I make myself clear on this?” I was asked as my dad finished bringing up the cloth diapers he had placed under up between my legs and fastened them closed .

 

“Yeah I understand. I would like to say one thing if it’s OK.” I replied as I was handed a pair of plastic pants.

 

“Go ahead.” I heard after a few moments of silence.

 

“I’ll walk away from any fight that I can but if I don’t have that option open to me I will use what ever amount of force I see necessary to end it or give me the option of walking away.”

 

“I can live with that. However I had better not find out that you stuck around instead of walking away if you had the chance to do so.” I was told as my dad finished making sure all of my diapers were safely tucked inside my pants. I just nodded at this as I hopped down from the table.

 

“Now go on down to the game room, Jason and I will be along in a few minutes.” I was told with a smile as my dad gave my padded butt a playful slap to send me on my way.

 

“So what are we going to do?” Jason asked when he and my dad joined us a few minutes later.

 

“I was thinking of us doing a family game night.” my mom said.

 

 “Jason why don’t you pick the game since you’re the guest.” My dad told him as he led my brother over to the closet that we kept the games in. David groaned a bit when he saw that Jason had chosen Trivial Pursuit.

 

Don’t worry David you can be on my team.” my mom said while patting the chair next to her.

 

Several hours later my parents ended the game since Brad, David, and Isaac all had school the next day. I was kind of glad the game had ended when it had. I was starting to get embarrassed by how many of the questions I had been getting right and this was even after my parents had decided to even the playing field out by giving me the questions from the adult cards.

 

“How are your pants doing guys?” my mom asked after she had gotten David taken care of for the night.

 

“I could do with a change.” I replied even with having two of my night diapers on I had managed to soak them pretty well over the course of our game.

 

 “Well, hop on up here and we’ll get you taken care of.” I was told as my mom patted the top of my changing table as she pulled out a couple more of my night diapers and plastic pants.

 

 “What about you Jason?” my mom asked as I walked over and hopped up on the table. When I didn’t hear any reply from my brother I looked over and saw that he had turned a bright red.

 

 Don’t worry about it Jason. That’s part of the reason we had you in them so early. Let me get Ian taken care of here and then we’ll see what we can do about you.” He was told with a smile. I’m guessing my mom was a bit on the tired side herself when she just took care of mine and Jason’s diaper changes without saying much of anything.

 

“I can’t believe how cool your parents are.” Jason commented to me once we had both be tucked into my bed.

 

“What do you mean?” I asked not really understanding.

 

“I mean the fact that you can actually talk to them and have them listen to what you’re saying. I mean like earlier when your dad was giving you the riot act about fighting. He wasn’t yelling or anything he just told you plainly what was to be expected and gave you a chance to respond to what he told you. I can only imagine what’s going to happen when my mom and dad hear about this when they get back Sunday. I mean my aunt and uncle would be more understanding about what happened than my parents will.”

 

“I hope it’s not that bad. If you’d like I can have my parents talk to them about it.” I answered through a yawn.

 

“I’ll think about it. I’ll probably have my aunt and uncle talk to them first though. I’m really glad I’ve had a chance to meet you. I’ve always had this feeling that a part of me was missing.”

 

“I know what you mean.” Jason and I talked for a few minutes more before we both drifted off to sleep.

 

I awoke with a start the next morning feeling more than a little disoriented. Looking around I saw that Jason was still curled up next to me snuggling one of my stuffed wolves to his chest. I chuckled a bit at the irony of this considering the names I had given them and the story behind them. With a slight yawn and a small stretch, I climbed out of bed and after grabbing a clean diaper and a set of sweat pants I walked into the bathroom so I could change without disturbing Jason. After changing , I stopped long enough to grab the bag hold my Kendo gear. I figured that since I had finally got the cast off my arm it was time for me to get back into shape.

 

Dang it Brad, don‘t do that! You scared the piss out of me.” I exclaimed as I held my hand out to help him up from the spot where he had landed after I had tossed him when he startled me a few seconds before by grabbing my shoulder.

 

“Scared the piss out of you?!? I need to go change my pants for god sake.” He panted still looking at the Kendo Stick that was hovering a few inches above his face.

 

“Sorry about that. I just wasn’t expecting anyone to come out looking for me.” I said as I helped him up.

 

“What did you want anyway?” I asked as I grabbed my bag and started to follow my brother inside.

 

“Mom wanted you to get Jason up for breakfast and to get dressed you guys have to appear before the Disciplinary Council this morning.”

 

“Oh OK.”

 

“Brad what happened to your pants?” our mom asked when she saw the dark stain on the front of his pants.

 

“Nothing.” He said embarrassedly as he hurried past his mom and headed up to his room.

 

“Ian?”

 

“I kind of caused Brad to wet his pants.” I said turning red myself as I explained what happened.

 

“OH OK. Well, go on up and wake Jason up I need you guys showered, Dressed , and back down here in Thirty minutes.” I was told with a barely concealed smile. This told me that I wasn’t going to get into trouble for tossing Brad around

 

“Hey Jason, Time to get up.” I called as I walked into my bedroom.

 

 “Just a few more minutes dad please?” my brother said before burrowing further under the covers.

 

“None of that now. It’s time to get up.”

 

“Uh Huh.”

 

“Jason this is your last chance to get up before other methods are used.” I said while shaking his shoulder. All I got was a groan in reply to this.

 

“OK you asked for it.” I told him with a grin that he couldn’t see thinking it was too bad that Heinrich wasn’t here.

 

“Is Jason up yet.” my mom asked as I walked back into the kitchen and got a small cup of ice.

 

 “Not yet, but give me a few moments and he will be.” I told her as I walked out room and back up to my room.

 

Jason was still dead to the world when I walked in. Without any preamble I yanked the covers off him, lifted up the waistband of the plastic pants he had on, and preceded to dump the cup of ice down his already pee soaked diapers. I would have bet you could have heard his scream from the street.

 

“Aunt Mary said it’s time to get up.” I said with a smile as Jason was hopping around the bed trying to shake the ice out of his pants. Since I was now sure that Jason was awake, I waked into the bathroom and after stripping off the diaper I was sporting I climbed into the shower.

 

“That was totally uncalled for!” Jason announced as I walked back into my room ten minutes later.

 

 “Not really. I did tell you other methods would be used.” I said as I walked over to my changing table to get a clean diaper.

 

“You’ll need to hurry. Aunt Mary wants us dressed and downstairs in Fifteen minutes.” I told my brother’s retreating back. I didn’t bother to tell him about the meeting we had this morning. I did decide to get him out some of my own clothes when I saw that he didn’t have anything nice enough to wear in his own bag.

 

“What are these for?” Jason asked when he came out of the bathroom a while later.

 

“We have a meeting to go to at the school this morning and I didn’t see anything nice enough in your bag to wear for it. Now get dressed, we have five minutes to be downstairs.” I guess that Jason was shocked by how hard my voice was since he didn’t say a thing to me while he reached for the clothes I had set out for him.

 

“Well, you boys look nice.” my mom announced as Jason and I walked into the dining room. My brothers though were looking at us strangely. I guess it was taking them a bit longer to get used to the sight of Jason and I sitting together especially when you took into account that we were dressed in almost identical suits. Not much was said while we ate. I could tell though that Jason was nervous about the meeting we were going to be attending inside of an hour.

 

“Now I want you both to listen to me carefully. No matter what happens in there I want you both to tell the truth. No embellishments. Just tell them exactly what happened.” my mom told us as we stood outside of the room that the meeting was going to be held in.

 

 “What if they ask us something that we don’t know about?” Jason asked nervously.

 

“Then you tell them that you don’t know. Regardless of what happens, I still feel that you both did what was right.” We were both told as my mom gave us a small hug. About this time, Dr. Allison opened the door and motioned for Jason and I to come in.

 

I was glad to see that the lights in the room had been lowered to a level that would be comfortable enough for me to remove my sunglasses. Jason did the same when he saw me do this. I could tell that several people were staring at us as we took our seats. Not two seconds after we had sat done, a stern faced man rapped a gavel down and called us to order.

 

“This session of the Disciplinary Council will come to order. Madam Secretary will you please read the charges.”

 

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman, the charges are as followed. That on 25 September of this year Eric Jansen, James Miller, Aaron Close, Derek Hanson, Devon Malkovic, and Harold Porter Assaulted Jason Murphy with the purpose of extortion and intimidation.

 

“Very well, Mr. Anderson you may make your opening statement.” At this point in time I understood that they handled this more like a court of law than anything else.

 

Halfway through Mr. Anderson’s opening statement, I felt that I was about to break out laughing from the level of B.S. he was laying out. I mean if his clients were half as innocent as he would have us believe then I was Mary Queen of Scots. After another ten minutes of this Mr. Anderson finally shut up and handed the floor over to the prosecutor.

 

“We’ll stop here for a one hour lunch break. I must stress to all the students involved that these preceedings are not to be discussed with anyone and if it is found out that they have been the punishment will be most severe.” We were told as the council chairman banged his gavel and announced the start of the break.

 

“Well that was quick.” My mom said as Jason and I walked out of the room.

 

“Oh, we’re just on an hour lunch break. They haven’t even gotten to us yet.” I told her.

 

 “Well, how’s it going so far?”

 

“We were told not to talk about it so I can’t say.” I told my mom sheepishly.

 

“OK then let’s go get some food into you guys.”

 

 “Can I stop by the Nurses Office for a moment there’s something I need to take care of first.”

 

 “Sure.” I was told with an understanding nod. I happened to luck out when I walked into the office and found that I was the only one in line at the moment. Because of this, I was done inside of Five minutes.

 

“So how are you boys getting along so far?” Jason and I was asked as we sat down for lunch.

 

“It’s taking some getting use too. I mean for so long I felt like there was some part of me that was missing. And now I know what it was.” I said while giving my brother a small smile.

 

“ I have to agree with that. I think it’s kind of funny how much Ian and I have in common even though we’ve never really known each other.”

 

 “What things do you have in common?” we were asked with interest.

 

 “Well, since my mom’s family comes from Italy she wanted me to know the language a bit, and I found out that I seem to pick it up fairly quickly. And from what Ian said he does pretty well with languages as well. Not to mention we both seem to enjoy sports even with our small size.” My mom seemed to warm up to this conversation at this point.

 

 “What kind of sports do you like?”

 

 “I’m not that bad at baseball, but Soccer and Swimming are my two favorites. My dad also insisted I take some self-defense classes because of my small size. Though I have to admit I was never really very good at it because of my size.”

 

 “Size doesn’t matter all that much depending on the technique you’re using.” I said on hearing what my brother said.

 

 “Sure it does. My instructor tells me this all the time.”

 

 “He’s feeding you a load of crap. Look at me. I’m not more than an inch taller than you and you saw what I was doing the other day. Besides, from what I saw you weren’t doing too bad yourself.” I said with a grin.

 

“If you’d like I can help you out some on this if you’d like me too.”

 

“I’ll have to see what my parents have to say about this.” I nodded my understanding at this as we went on to others subjects.

 

“Court is now back in session. Mr. Delaney you may call your first witness.”

 

“Thank you Mr. Chairman. I’d like to call Jason Daniel Murphy to the stand.” I gave my brother’s arm a reassuring squeeze when his name was called.

 

“Please state your name for the record.” Jason was asked after they had sworn him in.

 

“Jason Daniel Murphy.” my brother said nervously.

 

“Now Jason why don’t you please tell the council what happened yesterday morning?”

 

 “ I had Just gotten out to the playground with my class when Eric and Devon took me by the arms and forced me over to a hidden corner of the playground were the rest of their group was waiting. After I was pushed into the middle of their group I was asked it I had the money I owed them.”

 

 “And what money was this?”

 

“They told me at the beginning of the year that I was going to need to pay them some money for protection each week and that I would have one week to come up with the first payment.

 

 “I see. And why didn’t you report this right after they first made this request?”

 

“I was scared. I thought they would beat me up.”

 

“And did you plan on paying them?”

 

 “No.”

 

“Why?”

 

“I knew that if I did they would keep wanting more. I also figure that if they did beat me up then I would have a more convincing case against them.”

 

“No further questions. Your witness.” Mr. Delaney said as he walked back to his chair.

 

 “We have no questions for this witness.”

 

 “I’d like to call David Ian Miller to the stand.” I soon found myself going through the same motions that Jason had about thirty minutes earlier.

 

“Now Mr. Miller, why didn’t you just call for a teacher then go butting in on a situation that you had no knowledge of?” Mr. Anderson asked after I had told my version of what happened and questioned by Mr. Delaney.

 

“I had one of my friends go get a teacher. I wanted to make sure that I was around to help out.”

 

“I see so you wanted to be a hero then.”

 

“Not at all. I just felt that if an extra hand was needed before the teachers got there then I’d be in a better position to help.”

 

“And you didn’t feel that Mr. Murphy was able to handle the misunderstanding himself without your interfering?”

 

“At six to one odds I wasn’t sure but let’s just say I wasn’t going to take any chances.”

 

“I see. Why didn’t you just walk away when Mr. Malkovic asked you too?”

 

 “It wouldn’t have been right.”

 

 “I’m sorry?”

 

 “I said it wouldn’t have been right for me to leave at that point.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Jason was asking for help at that point. I couldn’t just turn away at that point. As I’m sure you heard a short while ago, I tried to reason with your clients before doing anything else. They decided to disregard my advice.” I said plainly.

 

 “I see and I take it this was when you decided to assault Mr. Malkovic?”

 

 “No. I hit him after he decided to give me a bloody nose.”

 

“And how is it that my client didn’t have any of your blood on him from this supposed bloody nose of yours.”

 

 “Couldn’t begin to tell you. Maybe it got mixed up with his own blood.”

 

“So you’re admitting you hit my client.”

 

 “No, I’m saying that the blacktop hit your client.”

 

 “And how is it that no one else saw this event?”

 

 “They probably couldn’t see it because of your other five clients were ganging up on me at that point.”

 

“Yes, right. Now maybe you’d like to explain to us how in this supposed “gang up” you only managed to get a bloody nose, fat lip, and a black eye when all the rest of my clients walked away with far more serious injuries.”

 

“Sure, I was in a generous mood.”

 

 “I don’t really follow. You were in a generous mood. Perhaps you could explain that to us.”

 

“It’s simple, they were able to walk away with minor injuries.”

 

“Meaning what?”

 

“Meaning if they had made themselves seem like a greater threat than they did I would have been forced to reply in kind to that threat.” Before Mr. Anderson could reply to this Mr. Delaney spoke up.

 

“Mr. Chairman, I fail to see what Mr. Miller defending himself in a six on one fight has anything to do with this matter?” Mr. Delaney called from his chair

 

“I’m inclined to agree with Mr. Delaney. If you don’t have anything relevant to ask this witness I’m going to have to ask you to move on.”

 

 “Nothing further Mr. Chairman.” At this I was excused.

 

“You better watch your back from here on out pipsqueak.” Devon called from his seat. This caused all conversation to stop.

 

 “Mr. Coleman please escort Mr. Malkovic from the room.” The chairman announced a second later.

 

 After this happened, the rest of the hearing went by quickly and ended up with all of the sixth graders being expelled. Jason and I also got a strong lecture but nothing else was done aside from our three day suspension.

 

“You’re really going to have fun with this assignment Ian.” David said when he got home that afternoon.

 

“What assignment?” I asked as Jason and I got ready for a self-defense class I was going to give him

 

“Mr. Perez asked us to either write something ourselves or find something that has already been written to describe something on ourselves that deals with color and we only have two weeks to have it ready to read to the class. He also wants us to be able to show it in class or if it’s in a place that’s covered up to have a photo to show in class.”

 

 “That shouldn’t be to hard to do.” I said as Jason and I started for the door.

 

“Yeah, easy for you to say.” I heard David mumble

 

“Watch it David.” I said coldly.

 

“Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.” David said quickly when he saw the look in my eyes.

 

“Hey Brad come here for a second. I have a favor to ask you.” I called a few hours later when I saw him come out in to the back yard.

 

“What is it?”

 

“I’m showing Jason some things and I need someone taller than both of us to show him how it’s done.”

 

 “What do you need me to do?” I was asked wearily. I guess Brad was remembering this morning a bit to clearly.

 

“Act like you’re going to attack me.” I told him.

 

“Are you sure about this? I don’t want to get into any trouble.”

 

 “You won’t get into any trouble. Now come at me and don’t hold back.” Brad still looked really skeptical about what I told him but did what I asked him to do.

 

“As you can see Jason you being on the small size doesn’t really have much to do with what you can and can’t accomplish if you know what you’re doing. In fact, with several styles being short is an advantage.” I explained as I helped Brad to his feet.

 

“Ouch.” was all Brad said as he got to his feet.

 

 Don’t worry that was the last full speed demonstration we’ll be doing for the day.” I said with a chuckle. And over the next couple hours was spent showing both Jason and Brad some moves that I had picked up while staying with my maternal grandfather.

 

“Ian, once you’re done beating up Brad it’s time to eat so all three of you need to get a shower.” Isaac chuckled from the back porch.

 

“OK, thanks.” I replied to my brother’s retreating back.

 

“Hey Brad, did you bring your gear home with you?” I asked as we headed back inside.

 

“Yeah. Why?”

 

 “Good because tomorrow morning I’m going to start training you as well.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

 “I mean I’m going to start training you for your Kendo matches.”

 

“But my class is already getting taught by Yoshi and his grandfather.”

 

“I know, I’ve also seen that Yoshi tends to your class as practice dummies. If you were to go into a match trained like he’s been doing you’ll get you ass handed to you. Now would you like the extra help or not?”

 

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt. I don’t think Yoshi will like it though.”

 

“Brad I don’t give a hang about him. I just want to make sure that you can get into the circle and make out off in one piece. Besides, I could use the practice myself.” I told him with a smile. With that said all three of us headed inside to get the requested shower before joining the rest of the family for Dinner.

 

“Brad, I want to thank you for helping out your brother and cousin outside.” my mom said once we had all started eating.

 

“It wasn’t any problem mom. I knew that Ian was going to need some help and I didn’t have anything else going on at the time. Besides I managed to learn a few things myself.”

 

“You mean aside from how to fall down?” Isaac asked with a laugh.

 

“You know Isaac, if you found Brad “falling down” so funny, I could always give you a few pointers as well.” I said jumping in before Brad could say anything.

 

“Uh, I’ll pass.” we were told before Isaac hurriedly returned to eating his meal. This caused everyone else to start chuckling.

 

“Ian, David told me about the assignment your teacher handed out today. Have you given any thought to what you’re going to write about.

 

“Yeah, I thought I would write about the right hand side of my chest. I’ll need you to take a picture for the report though if you don’t mind.”

 

“I guess that shouldn’t be a problem.” I could tell that my mom wasn’t to thrilled about my choice but I felt that the tattoo in question held the least painful memories for me.

 

“Mom, if it’s OK I’d like to take Jason and Ian to the mall tomorrow. I’d like to kind of make amends to Ian for that eye I gave him.” Megan announced.

 

 “Megan, I appreciate the thought, but it isn’t necessary. You weren’t exactly in your right mind when it happened.” I told her feeling that the apology she had already given me was enough to settle the debt already.

 

“I think that’s a great idea Megan, that’ll give your father and I a chance to be alone for a while.” I frowned at being overruled like this but I knew I no longer had a choice.

 

Once dinner was over, all of us kids had decided to split up into our rooms for the night to give my parents some time alone for the evening.

 

“Ian, could I ask you something personal?” Jason asked

 

“I might not give you a full answer but you can ask.” I told as I set up the game Jason said he wanted to try.

 

“What does it feel like to need to wear diapers all the time?” Of all the question I was thinking I might be asked, this wasn’t one of them.

 

“I don’t really know. I never really thought about it that much. I guess it’s like wearing thick underwear all the time. While I don’t really care for needing them it’s better than taking the chance of having an accident without having one on. Why?”

 

“I don’t really know. I mean I’ve been resisting wearing them to bed for so long because I thought it would make me feel like I was still a baby or something and after these last two days of wearing them and how your family still treats you like a normal kid because of it I guess they aren’t all that bad.”

 

“Well, you might think differently if you needed to wear them all the time, but I think that if I just needed them for bed it wouldn’t be so bad. I mean it seems like it would be a lot better waking up in a wet diaper and a dry bed than a wet bed.”

 

“I can tell you from experience, it feels a lot better. Do you think my parents will be disappointed if I ask them to let me start wearing them to bed again?”

 

“I don’t think they will. From what I gathered from your uncle, they had tried a few times before to get you to try them. I think they’ll be relived that you’re finally going to give them a try.”

 

“You’re probably right.” After a few moments of silence, Jason picked up his controller and the games began.

 

“Time to get ready for bed Ian.” Megan announced a few hours later as she walked into my room..

 

“OK.” I said as I paused the game and walked over to my changing table. Since she didn’t leave after announcing it was time for bed I assumed she was going to do the honors of getting me ready for bed.

 

“You don’t really mind that I’m wanting to take you to the mall tomorrow, do you?”

 

“Just the part where you feel that you need to do this to make amends to me because of the incident a few days ago.” I told her as I felt my wet diaper being pulled off. I guess this gave her something to think about since the rest of my change and all of Jason’s was spent in silence.

 

“You guys can stay up a little longer then mom wants you both in bed asleep.” Megan told us as she gave Jason’s diapered rump a light slap as he got off the table.

 

 “Ok. Thanks.” I replied as I turned my attention back to mine and Jason’s paused game.

 

I woke up at what was starting to get to be a regular time for me. After changing into a clean diaper and my work out clothes I decided to get a glass of juice and a light snack before starting my morning training routine.

 

“Is everything OK Ian?” I was asked by my dad when I walked into the kitchen.

 

“Yeah, everything is fine. Why?”

 

“I was just wondering. I normally don’t see to many kids your age up at six in the morning.” I was told with a grin.

 

“I normally get up early to get some exercise in before school. And I wanted to let Brad sleep in a little longer before his training starts.” I replied with a grin of my own.

 

“What training?”

 

“I told Brad that I would help him start training for his Kendo matches.”

 

 “I don’t know about that Ian. I wouldn’t want you to get him into any trouble with his teacher.”

 

“I can see your point. Would it be OK then if I just started him out on the basics till I can talk to his teacher about it and make sure it’s all right with him?”

 

“I don’t see a problem with that. If you’d like, we can invite him over later in the week.” I was told after my dad thought for a few minutes.

 

“You can if you’d like. But I’d like to talk to him alone first.” before my dad could answer me on this I broke out laughing when I saw Brad walk up behind him.

 

“Brad go upstairs and change. A pair of sweat pants , your sticks and hand gear will be fine. I don’t plan on going full contact on you yet.” I told him while still chuckling. On turning around, my dad started smiling as well when he saw Brad standing there in full armor

 

“But..”

 

“Brad, just do what your brother asks. I’m sure he’ll explain everything before you start.” My dad said cutting Brad’s protest off. Twenty, minutes later we were out in the back yard getting ready to begin.

 

“I thought you were going to be training me?” Brad said as I started us off in stretching.

 

 “I am. Providing you drop that attitude, quickly.”

 

“Then why did you have me take off the gear?”

 

“Because it isn’t needed at this point. Besides with how you were wearing it, it would have been more of a hinderance than anything else. Now show me what you’ve been shown so far.”

 

“Stop. You’re still holding the sword too tightly and your stance is too rigid.” I told him after almost an hour.

 

“But this is how Yoshi’s been showing us.”

 

“Brad, Like I said before he’s using your class to be practice dummies.”

 

“You haven’t seen him work out. He knows what he’s doing.”

 

 “Fine. Come at me.” I said taking up my own position in front of him.

 

“What?”

 

 “Attack! Now!” I yelled. Before Brad knew what was going on I had him disarmed and on the ground with my own sword resting against his neck.

 

“If this had been a real match, you would have just lost and it would have only taken three moves to do it. Now are you going to stop wasting both our time or are you going to start listening to me?” I asked heatedly. I’m guessing at how quickly I brought him down taught him that reach and strength played only a small part in Kendo.

 

“I’ll listen.” Brad stated in shock.

 

“Good.” I said as I helped him to his feet. What I didn’t know was that our parents had been watching the whole thing from the back deck.

 

“We’ll stop here for now.” I said after another two hours of practice.

 

“How’d I do?”

 

“Once you started listening, not bad for a beginner. I plan on asking your teacher if I can start watching your practices at school so I coach you better here at home. That is if you’re really serious about this.”

 

“I’m not going to quit if that’s what you mean.”

 

“That’s all I wanted to hear. Now let’s go in and get cleaned up. You smell pretty ride and I could use a change.” Both Brad and I came up short when we saw that everyone was out on the back deck.

 

“That was a very interesting approach you took with your brother earlier.” my dad said as I came back into my room after getting a shower.

 

“Which approach was that?” I asked nervously.

 

 “When you had him attack you. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn you were holding back.”

 

“I was holding back. I just needed to get his attention, and prove a point about what I had been telling him about what Yoshi has been showing him.”

 

“I can see why, but I did ask you to take things easy to start with.”

 

 “Assuming you watched the whole training time you’ll have to admit I did take it easy on him. All the bruises will do is remind him what he had done wrong and not to repeat those mistakes.” I answered as my dad finished putting a clean diaper on me. Since nothing more was said, I assumed that my answer met with approval.

 

 “Hurry up and get dressed. Your sister is wanting to get to the mall.” I was told with a smile before my dad left the room. I started chuckling a bit when I saw that the clothes that had been laid out of me were the exact opposite of what Jason was wearing .

 

“I hope you guys don’t mind but we’ll be meeting up with some of my friends.” Megan announced as we pulled into a parking spot at the mall.

 

 “Like we have a choice?” I asked with a smile. Megan just chuckled at this as we got out of the car.

 

Did you have to let the shrimps tag a long?” One of the boys asked snidely.

 

“I didn’t let them “tag” along Rene I asked them to come.” Megan replied with a cold voice. I could tell right then that there was very little love lost between these two.

 

“Whatever, All I have to say that he better stay out of my way for what he did to my brother.”

 

“What are you talking about Hanson?”

 

“I think, Megan, he’s referring to my kicking his brother’s butt a few days ago.” I said with a smile.

 

“Oh OK.” Megan said simply as we let the subject drop and started to walk away. Of course Renee wasn’t going to be quite so forgiving as he spun me around and pushed me up against a nearby wall.

 

“What is it with people trying to solve all their problems with force?” I asked rhetorically in a tired voice.

 

“Oh so you think you’re some kind of tough guy huh? Let’s see what you make of this.” I was told as Rene pulled his hand back to hit me. Of course this gave me the opening I needed. In less than two seconds Rene was on the ground gasping for breath while yelling that he couldn’t feel his arms.

 

“Oh quit your whining. They’ll return to normal in a couple of hours.” I said as I started walking away. Since we were in a nearly deserted part of the mall the only people to see this exchange were the people we came to meet. And none of them were showing any sympathy for what had happened.

 

“Jeez, Ian what did you do to him?” Megan asked in awe as we walked away.

 

 “Nothing really. I just stunned a couple of nerves. The effects will wear off in a couple of hours.”

 

“But what’s this about you kicking his brother’s butt? His only brother is in Sixth grade.”

 

“Yeah, I know. Derek and some of his friends were trying to shake down Jason a few days ago and I happened to get caught up in it. That’s how come I looked so bad when we came to see you the other day.” I explained.

 

“Oh. Well, I’ll tell you what, if you don’t mention anything about this to mom and dad I won’t either.”

 

Deal.” I said with a smile.

 

“Now, let’s get something done about your hair.”

 

“What’s wrong with my hair?” I asked in confusion.

 

“To be honest, it makes you look like a girl. I’m surprised mom and dad have let you keep it this long for as long as they have.”

 

“I guess I could do with a slight trim.” I soon found myself getting herded into a hair salon.

 

“Now you just have a seat here while I go have a talk with Carol about what would look good on you.” Megan said with a smile as she walked off.

 

“Jason, why do I get the feeling that I’m getting set up here?” I said looking over towards my brother.

 

 “I don’t know but I think you could be right.” Several minutes later, Megan and Carol returned.

 

“Yes, I think that could work quite well. Let’s just take these sunglasses off and we’ll get started.” Carol said while reaching for my glasses. I of course stopped her before her hand got half way there.

 

 “Sorry but my eyes are really sensitive to bright lights.” I explained while letting her hand go.

 

Don’t worry about that Ian. I brought a sleep mask with me.” ,Megan said as she pulled the mask out of her purse,

 

 “Now go ahead and take your glasses off and put this on.” Once I had the mask on and saw that it completely blocked out my sight I knew I was getting set up for something.

 

“OK, Ian take the mask off and tell me what you think?” Megan announced what seemed like an hour or so later.

 

“OH Jeez.” I mumbled as I looked at my now closely cropped hair, what really got me were the blonde highlights that Megan had them add. Looking over at Jason, I saw that he was now also sporting the highlights.

 

“This is really going to mess people up.” I said still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Jason and I now really did look like one another. I soon found that this was just the beginning.

 

“What’s going on Meg?” I asked a few hours later as I saw all the things that were being done.

 

“What do you mean?” Came the innocent response.

 

“I mean I don’t care how guilty someone feels I highly doubt that they’ll spend the kind of money that you have so far to day. Now don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate what you’re doing , I just want to know what’s going on?”

 

“It’s a surprise.” was the only answer I got. Figuring that I wouldn’t get any other answer from Megan I let the matter drop.

 

“Whoa, Take a look at that.” Jason said in awe as we walked past a computer store a few minutes later.

 

“You’re telling me.” I replied as He and I started looking at the items that they had in just the window.

 

 “You guys can go on in and look if you want. I want to go into the shop across the way. Just remember not to leave the shop without each other and to wait for me. Understood?” The look Megan was giving us told me that she was very serious about this.

 

“Yeah. We understand.” I told her.

 

“So have you found anything you like?” Megan asked, startling me.

 

“Jeez Meg, Make me wet myself why don’t you?”

 

“Sorry about that. I thought you heard me come up.” Megan chuckled.

 

“It’s OK. But Yeah, I’ve found a lot of things I would like to have. Just it’s kind of hard to get them without any money.”

 

“What are you talking about Ian? What about your weekly allowance?”

 

“What allowance?” I asked not understanding what she was talking about.

 

Didn’t mom and dad give you a card shortly after you moved in with us?”

 

“Well, yeah they did, but I thought it was for emergency use only. So I looked it up at home so I wouldn’t be tempted to use it.”

 

“Ian, that card is what they use to put your allowance on. Are you telling me that you haven’t used it once since you were with us?”

 

“I guess so. I just never really saw anything that I needed that mom and dad hadn’t already supplied.”

 

“But surely there were thing that you’ve seen that you would have liked to have?”

 

 “Yeah, there have been things I would have like to have but I viewed those as a want not a need. So I didn’t bother with them.” I could tell that once again my previous life shocked everyone in our group.

 

“Sorry.” I mumbled while looking at the ground.

 

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about. My uncle on the other hand is a different matter.”

 

“He’s doesn’t matter either. You can be certain he’s already being taken care of.”

 

“Good point. Well, lets get you cleaned up and fed then we need to be getting home.” Megan said as she steered me towards a family restroom, after saying goodbye to her friends.

 

“I guess I really did make you wet yourself.” Megan Chuckled as she pulled my shorts down exposing my extremely wet diaper.

 

Duh.” I answered with a smile of my own as the first tapes were pulled open. I turned a beat read when I started getting an erection as Megan was rubbing the lotion into my groin.

 

Don’t worry about that Ian. It happens to all guys at one point or another.” Megan explained as she pulled the front of the diaper up between my legs and fastened it close.

 

“There all done.” I was told as I felt my shorts being pulled back up.

 

“You know guys, since it’s getting late how about we just grab a quick snack to tide us over till dinner.”

 

“OK.” Jason and I answered in near perfect unison. This got Megan laughing.

 

“All Right Meg, what’s going on?” I asked as we pulled up to the house and saw a number of cars in the drive way.

 

“I couldn’t begin to tell you.”

 

“Can’t or won’t?”

 

“Either way works for me.” Megan told me as Jason and I undid the harnesses to our booster seats.

 

“Really, Megan what’s going on?” I asked again as we got out of the car and started taking the things we had bought into the house.

 

“Fine I’m going out back to work out for a bit.” I said grumpily as I sat the bags down on my bed and grabbed the bag I kept some of my gear in.

 

“SURPRISE!!!” a crowd of people yelled the second I stepped through the back door.

 

“Aw, Jeez.” I mumbled to myself when I saw the “Happy Birthday Ian and Jason” banner strung over the patio.

 

“Happy Birthday big brother.” Jason told me softly as he gave me a hug from behind.

 

“Jeez.” I mumbled again before I started crying in earnest.

 

“It’s OK. Ian.” My mom said while pulling me into a hug as well.

 

The rest of the evening was one of the happiest of my life to that point. I could tell that my mom must have talked to the parents of my friends since none of the gifts were very expensive. Of course, even if no gifts were brought at all I still would have been happy. I think this probably stemmed from the fact till this point in time I had never once celebrated a birthday.

 

“Ian, there is just one more gift to hand out.” My mom called when there were only a few family members and family friends left hanging around.

 

“This one is from your grandfather. He wanted you to have it when he died.” My mom said softly as she handed me on oblong box.

 

“Oh man.” I whispered to myself. I was too overwhelmed to really say anything when I saw what was in the box once I opened it up.

 

“My god.” I heard a voice behind me say as I lifted the sword from its box a unsheathed it.

 

“Tell me about it.” I answered as I re-sheathed it after examining the blade for a moment.

 

“May I?” the same voice asked a moment later. Getting a nod from my parents, I turned around and handed the sword to a middle aged woman.

 

Do you have any idea as to what you have here?” she asked me in an awed voice.

 

“Yes, I do.” I answered.

 

“I don’t think you do. You see these markings near the hilt. These symbolize who made the sword and when.”

 

“Masado Katsumoto in the Sixth Century A.D.. Presented to the Emperor Kammu in 765 A.D. It was returned to the Katsumoto Family shortly after Kammu’s death.”

 

“Yes, that’s correct but how could you know that?”

 

“Because Hirosito Katsumoto was my grandfather.” I said while removing the watch I had covering up a tattoo on my right wrist.” The look on the lady’s face was priceless when she saw the tattoo.

 

“Ian, why don’t you show Dr. Long your room.” my mom said with a wink.

 

“OK, I’d like to lock this up anyway.” I said as I gently took the sword back.

 

“Please follow me.” I said as I motioned for her to follow me.

 

“Are these real?” Dr. Long whispered as she looked around my room.

 

“I would hope so.” I replied.

 

“I’m not sure if your mother told you but I work at the local museum. We’re currently going to be hosting an exhibit on Ancient and Medieval Japan. After seeing this, I was wondering if I might be able to talk you into allowing us to borrow a few of these pieces.”

 

“I might be persuaded to do this on one condition. My name is not brought up.”

 

“We can do this. All we would need to say that it’s on loan from the Katsumoto Family estate.”

 

“I can live with that. Let me get your number. I’ll need to have this go through my grandfather’s attorneys in Japan. The final say is up to them but I’ll put a favorable endorsement on it.” I told her as we left my room.

 

“That would be fine.” Dr. Long said still looking around my room in awe.

 

“I can’t begin to express my gratitude for this afternoon.” I told my parents as they tucked Jason and I in later that night.

 

“You don’t need too. We already know.” My dad said as he gave my forehead a light kiss.

 

“Just consider this as making up for Eleven years of birthdays you should have had.”

 

“I just wonder how I’m going to explain all this to my parents when they pick me up tomorrow.” Jason wondered aloud.

 

“What would you need to explain? You were celebrating your birthday.” my mom said.

 

“I know but as far as they’re concerned my birthday isn’t for another three months.”

 

“Look at it like this, you actually have two birthdays. One is the day you were actually born and the other is the day your parents adopted you and brought you home.”

 

“Yeah, I guess that would work.” Jason said through a yawn.

 

“Well, you boys get to sleep you’ve both and a long day.” my dad told us as he stood up and walked towards the door. Jason and I spent a couple of more minutes talking before drifting off to sleep.

 

“You have very good taste in clothes there Jase.” I laughed when he walked into the dinning room the next morning and I saw that he had managed to choose the exact same outfit I had on. Jason and my parents started chuckling at this. We really started laughing when Megan and my brothers walked into the room looked at Jason and I and started groaning.

 

“See what you started Meg?” Brad said as he took his seat .

 

“I didn’t start anything. Besides I think they look cute like that.” Megan shot back.

 

“OK kids, enough.” our father announced stopping the fight before it could really get going.

 

“Jason your uncle called last night ,after you went to bed, and said that you’d be picked up around Three or so this afternoon.” My mom said.

 

“Also, we’ll be having a small family BBQ over at Dean’s place today. Jason, I’ve already extended the invitation to your family as well. Like it or not you are part of our family now.” My mom said.

 

“Well, we need to hurry up or we’ll be late for services.” My dad said after looking at his watch.

 

All through the service I could sense people were looking at where my family was sitting. Or more to the point it seemed like they were staring at where Jason and I were sitting . Not that I really cared one way or the other, but you get the idea of how annoying something like that can be.

 

“Uh, Ian what are we doing here?” Jason asked as we pulled up to the front gate to the Governor’s Mansion.

 

“Like my mom said at breakfast were going to a family BBQ. Oh, did we forget to mention that my mom’s brother is the governor ?” I asked with a malicious smile.

 

“Yeah, as a matter of fact you did.” Jason shot back.

 

“Oopps. Oh, well. Too late now.”

 

I started smiling to myself a short time later as we got out of the car and were mobbed by our cousins. I knew I had come a long way since the first time I had met them because I didn’t jump out of my skin any longer when they did this. Jason and I both started laughing when they stopped short on seeing us together. With the exception of John and James. I did smirk a bit at them when I noticed that they were both still in diapers.

 

“So James, I see your mom and dad are still mad at you and John.” I told my cousin with a smile.

 

“OH, shut up.” came the terse reply before my cousin walked off.

 

“What was that all about?” Jason asked not understanding my smile.

 

“The first time I met James and his brother they both gave me a hard time about needing diapers so their parents decided to teach them what it’s like and have them wear them as well for punishment. I guess my aunt and uncle are still mad at them.” I explained.

 

“Oh, OK.”

 

“Uncle Brandon, Aunt Jenn what are you doing here? I though my mom and dad were going to pick me up?”

 

“Your mom and dad got called up for some reason. So you’ll be staying with us for awhile.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Hey don’t worry about it kiddo. I’m sure it’s nothing serious. Besides your cousins are looking forward to seeing you again. Not to mention meeting your brother.”

 

“You mean you don’t mind that I stay in contact with Ian?”

 

“He’s your brother we would be mad if you didn’t stay in contact with him.” His aunt told her nephew joining the conversation.

 

“Now why don’t you introduce us to everyone?” She continued. Once the introductions were made, my brother’s aunt and uncle acted like everyone were friends that they hadn’t seen in years instead of strangers they were meeting for the first time. For mine and Jason’s part we were both glad that we weren’t going to be kept a part. In fact it had been arranged for Jason and his cousins to come over to my house after school till his aunt or uncle got off work in the evening.

 

Do you boys have everything ready for your reports today?” My mom asked at breakfast a couple of weeks later.

 

“Yes, mom.” I told her. Before helping myself to the cereal and milk that were in front of me.

 

David, what about you.”

 

“Yeah, I have it ready. But I still don’t think it’s very good.”

 

“I’m sure you’ll both do fine.”

 

“Ian, don’t forget the letter as well.”

 

“I won’t I just hope I don’t need it.”

 

“I know.”

 

I don’t know where the morning went. It seemed I was walking in to school and the next thing I knew I was getting called up to give my report.

 

“OK, Ian. You’re up next.” Mr. Perez said as David sat down after giving his report.

 

“I’ll be describing some markings I have the right had side of my chest. The description comes from the book of Revelations.” I said as I handed Mr. Perez both the photo of me from the waist up and the letter my mom had prepared to go along with it. I could see how skeptical my teacher seemed on this. I hope this didn’t mean I was going to have to provide further proof but I found that I was prepared to do so if needed. After taking a few deep breaths, I began speaking in a force full voice.

 

 “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the

 noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

 

 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a

 crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

 

 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and

 see.

 

 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that

 sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one

 another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

 

 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and

 see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of

 balances in his hand.

 

 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat

 for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not

 the oil and the wine.

 

 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast

 say, Come and see.

 

 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death,

 and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part

 of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with

 the beasts of the earth.”

 

Unlike when the other people before me had finished, not a word was said.

 

“Ian, I must sat that that was very well presented, but I was asking for you to write about something that on your person, not someone else’s. Because of this I’ll need to fail you. Maybe next time you’ll pay better attention to the instructions.” I was told.

 

“But sir, He’s not..” David started to say before I held up a hand to stop him.

 

“Sir, may I talk to you in private about this for a minute?” I asked politely.

 

“Anything you need to say you can say right now since you still have some of your time left.”

 

“I’d rather do this in private sir.”

 

“It’s now or never Mr. Miller. Just like every one else.”

 

“Understood sir.” I told him as I started to unbutton the shirt I had on.

 

“What do you think you’re doing?” The last couple of words died on Mr. Perez’s lips when I opened my shirt to reveal the tattoo I had just got done talking about. I heard a couple of people sound like they were going to be sick when they caught a glimpse of my chest and the upper portion of my back.

 

“You can feel free to try and remove it if you’d like.” I said simply.

 

“No, that won’t be necessary. It’s almost time for recess so why don’t we just stop here for now and head on down. Ian, I’d like to talk to you for a moment out in the hall.” We were told as I buttoned up my shirt.

 

“Certainly sir.” The last thing I expected was an apology, but this is exactly what I got. This also got me thinking that I needed to get over the need to cover up my body around others aside from my family.

 

MY mom was less than thrilled to learn what had happened at school concerning my report but I managed to get her calmed down enough that she decided not to report it to Dr. Allison. Of, course she found out about it anyway from how much people were talking about it. I guess I shouldn’t be to surprised about that either. From the times I had met her, Dr. Allison seemed like the person that didn’t miss much of the things that happened at her school.

 

Chapter 17

Money, Money