Chapter 23
Josh woke up slowly, cracking one eye open to
glance at his clock on the bedside table; 11.36 it read. It was almost noon!
He really slept this long?
No wonder he thought. He’d been exhausted, pain and
fear would make anyone exhausted, especially the pain and fear he’d felt last
night. He tried to move but couldn’t. He was very sore, not only his ass was
but his entire body was sore from laying in the same position all night. Even
in his sleep he’d known he couldn’t roll onto his back and now he was sore and
stiff like a board. He sighed deeply and brought his hands up on shoulder
height, using them as a leverage to push himself up.
A couple of minutes later, minutes full with
hissing, shooting pains, crying tears and biting his lip, he was standing
beside his bed, still breathing hard through the pain. He slowly limped towards
his mirror and carefully grasped the waistband of his lose pajama bottoms,
pulling it down with difficulty. He’d avoided pulling on boxers, it was just
too painful, the more linen the more it could brush against his skin.
He twisted his body so he could look at his behind
without too much pain. It had become a twisted ritual for him, inspecting his
wounds after a beating and now it looked bad.
Really, really bad.
He now understood why it was burning so much, hell
it was glowing like a local fever or something. The whole area was red like a
tomato, it was pretty clear what Henry had been aiming for the whole time.
Although there where also a few marks on his upper legs and lower back the main
spot was his ass. The diamonds from the racket printed into it but that was not
all, on top of that lines criss-crossed his ass as well; surely that had been
the belt’s doing. There were a few spots where the skin had broken but it
mainly looked just red and blistered.
This would be hell; today was Sunday so that
wouldn’t really be a problem, he could avoid sitting down as much as possible,
maybe could lay down on his bed all day, sure Henry wouldn’t make him go over
to Lance in this condition.
Henry was evil but he wouldn’t go that far would
he?
Josh surely hoped not but either way he would have
to face his friend eventually. If it wasn’t today it would be tomorrow at
school. School, he sighed pulling his pants back over his ass, yes that would
be very bad. Seven long hours in school and he would have to spend five of
those; sitting down. Sitting down on his sore ass. He was sure he wouldn’t be
able to make it, sitting down that long but he knew he had to. Henry wouldn’t let
him stay home and frankly he didn’t want to stay home. As much as he hated
going to school, staying home would mean being in the same house as the man who
did this to him and he didn’t want to spend one extra second longer than he’d
have to in the presence of this man.
No way!
He limped back to his bed and lowered himself, face
down, on it. He needed today to let his ass heal so he would have the least of
pain from it tomorrow. He knew it wouldn’t heal that fast but anything that
would make it heal just a bit was welcome. If only a little it would make the
long hours less painful… he hoped.
***
Although he did rest the whole Sunday his behind
didn’t hurt less when he woke up the next morning. Henry had left him alone
till Josh’s happiness and he’d spend the whole day laying on his stomach on his
bed. Listening to some music and doing a little bit of homework. Small things
he could do while his ass healed a bit. It felt better that night but it was
not enough. As he walked with Lance to school the next morning, the pain was
back from moving around and it took every ounce of willpower to walk straight;
to keep the limp out of his walk and to not make Lance suspicious.
“I thought you were coming over yesterday” Lance
said casually, noticing the slight limp in his friends walk and the pain in his
eyes, although he was trying very hard to keep it out.
“Yeah sorry, I didn’t feel good” Josh shrugged,
wincing as soon as he did so.
“You ok?” he asked concerned.
“Yeah” Josh said, smiling a little.
Lance eyed his friend, he was not totally convinced
Josh was indeed fine but he let it go, if he said he was fine…
They neared the school gates and they were making
small talk, Lance telling Josh about his weekend and he asked how Josh’s
weekend had been. Josh however wouldn’t tell him that much; sure he couldn’t
tell him he was at the mall all day, stealing, then he got caught, got arrested
for it and when he got home his dear old step dad whipped him with a tennis
racket and then a belt to top it all off. Oh his weekend had been fun, he
thought bitterly.
He was totally lost in his thoughts but he hissed
loudly when a few kids smacked into him from behind, causing his backpack to
press against his ass. Lance’s smile turned into a frown.
“Whoa you ok?” Lance asked concerned as he put his
hand on Josh’s upper arm. Josh flinched, almost, but depressed it just in time
for Lance not to notice.
“Yeah…” he grinded his teeth, “Fine” he hissed,
ignoring the pain. Lance frowned at his answer he was definitely not ok. When
Josh caught his friend’s questionable look he made up the umpteenth excuse,
covering up his pain.
“I just… I pulled something in my back” Lance
nodded but he was not sure.
“You want a massage?” he offered.
“No, that’s ok” Josh told him calmly, he needed to
react casually.
“It’ll pass I’m sure, but thanks anyway” Josh said
reassuringly as he smiled at his friend, praying he would buy it and wouldn’t
sense something was wrong.
“K” Lance smiled although not wholeheartedly.
Josh sighed inwardly, relieved Lance believed him
but he would have to pretend he was fine all day and that was a job in itself.
He now had two things to do; make sure he hurt his ass in the least bit and
make sure no one would suspect a thing, it would definitely not be simple,
neither would….
***
By lunch Josh was exhausted; his legs felt like
jello, his arms hurt and his ass stung. Nobody had noticed though, no one had
seen how he’d supported his weight by resting his elbows on the table, keeping
himself up while his legs applied counter pressure. He’d sat on his butt the
whole first period but after the hour it felt like he was glued to the seat. It
hurt so much Josh knew he had to think of something else and somewhere during
History’s class World War 1 and 2 he’d shifted his entire weight onto his
elbows. It didn’t make it easier because those soon started to hurt as well but
they weren’t already sore. It was one thing or the other and he preferred the
pain in his arms because his ass already hurt; with or without sitting on
it.
Josh walked alongside Lance to the cafeteria, ready
for lunch, Lance was talking about some assignment he hated but Josh was more
focused on getting to the lunchroom. A strict male voice, startled them both.
“Joshua Chasez, come with me” he ordered as he
stepped in front of Josh.
He’d been staring at the floor and now followed the
pair of feet in front of him with his eyes, traveling upwards he found his
principal standing in front of him and he sighed wearily, wondering what he
wanted now. The principal stared at Josh expectantly, his eyebrows raised and
his foot tapping in impatience.
“I’ll catch up with you later Lance” Josh turned to
his friend.
“Come on” the man urged, already walking ahead.
Lance shot him a questionable look but Josh
shrugged; he didn’t know either.
“Sit down” Mr. Henman ordered as they walked inside
his office. Josh hesitated, afraid if he would it would make him suspect
something but the warning look told him that that was the least of his worries
so he sat down. He couldn’t control the hiss though and the man frowned at him,
a small bit of concern flashing in his eyes.
“Are you ok?” the principal asked almost friendly.
“Yes sir” Josh said, trying to smile.
Mr. Henman nodded but he was far from convinced,
however that was not important right now. This was not the reason they were
here and the man even had the suspicion Josh would pretend to be hurt to get
him off track, well he wouldn’t stand for it so he dismissed it and revealed
the reason they were here.
“I heard you got arrested” Mr. Henman got straight
to the point. He saw no reason to beat around the bush, it would only take more
time since Josh was the master at avoiding questions and discussing in circles;
always coming back to the question after a very long story without actually
giving any answer to clarify anything, with Josh all it did was add more
questions.
“How do you know that?” Josh asked astonished this
man knew about what had happened to him last weekend, unconsciously his
protective armor appeared.
“Does that really matter?” the man asked
rhetorically. Josh didn’t answer, what use was it?
“It’s none of your business” Josh mumbled.
“Everything that happens with my students is my
business”
Josh once again said nothing, what was this guy
expecting, what did he want?
“You want to explain to me what happened?” Mr.
Henman asked, spreading his arms in invitation before clasping hem together in
front of him.
“No” Josh said sullenly.
“Joshua” the man sighed but Josh didn’t react to
it, apart from the fact that Josh cringed when Mr. Henman called him Joshua,
and Mr. Henman didn’t dig deeper when he should have.
Josh slouched in his chair carefully and turned to
look away. His body language clearly said; back off but the man should have
seen through it. He should have seen there was more to it but he didn’t.
He sighed once again.
“Fine. You’re on detention as of today” he simply
said, that got Josh’s attention but what did he really accomplish with that?
What was a punishment good for when he didn’t even
know what this boy had done?
Punishment solved nothing but it was the simplest
way and he was obviously tired of dealing with this thief. He didn’t want to
put in the extra hours it would take to help him, instead he punished him and
that rally didn’t solve the problem. It probably only made it worse.
“What?!” Josh exclaimed, shooting up, wincing as he
did so. He was just barely able to hold in the moan that threatened to escape
his lips.
“You’re on detention as of today” Mr. Henman
repeated calmly.
“What the hell for?” Josh exclaimed.
“I did do nothing!” he protested angrily, Mr.
Henman raised his eyebrows.
“I was already punished for that” Josh growled.
More
than you know he added in his mind.
“Yes I know you got a warning as it was your first
time getting arrested”
Josh just stared; shocked.
“But we both know the stealing part wasn’t your
first time… far from it actually” the man told him, a hint of anger in his
voice.
Josh had never been caught red handed at school.
Never had they been able to prove Josh stole from them. They all knew he did
but knowing it and proving it were two totally different things and the man had
never been able to press charges or punish him; he apparently saw this as an
opportunity. He could use this.
“You can’t do this!” Josh told him.
“You can’t punish me for things that happened ages
ago and you don’t even know for sure I did them” he defended himself; this was
not fair!
“Who’s going to stop me?” the man asked challenging.
Josh opened his mouth to reply but realization sunk
in quickly. Who was going to stop him? He for sure couldn’t and no teacher
would stick up for him, even if they did; this man was in charge of it all and
so he decided. He was stuck and screwed and he knew it. He closed his mouth
defeatedly, ducking his head. Mr. Henman smirked.
“That’s what I thought” he grinned, satisfied.
“You’ll serve two weeks in detention and I’ll make
sure you’ll have something educational to do. If I find out you’re slacking off
I’ll add a few extra days, do you understand?”
“Yes. Sir” Josh forced out through gritted teeth.
“Good then off you go” Josh stood slowly and walked
to the door, glaring the whole time.
“Oh and Josh?” He turned expectantly but with an
angry scowl on his face.
“Don’t ever let me hear about you getting arrested
again or I’ll triple that detention… when you get out of prison. Got it?”
Josh nodded, “Yes sir” before he disappeared out
the door.
Oh
believe me, he thought, I’ll
never get caught again.
***
The bell rang when Josh was making his way to the
cafeteria and he growled angrily, fuck, no lunch. That man owed him a diner but
it was no use thinking that way, it wouldn’t help him so he sighed defeatedly
and shuffled to class. Lance looked at him questionable once again but Josh
ignored it. He didn’t want to tell Lance, maybe later, definitely not in school
and if he could he would avoid it all together. He knew it wasn’t realistic but
he didn’t want to think about it. He would tell him later, at home.
However Josh’s plan didn’t work. Somehow by the end
of the day everyone heard about Josh’s arrest. As he saw Mr. Zaggery and Brad
smirking at him when he entered his last period of English he knew exactly
who’d spread the word. He ignored Brad as he made the noise of a police siren
and got to his seat, sitting down carefully. Everyone in class laughed but as
he cast a glance in Lance’s direction he didn’t see a smile.
Lance…
Lance looked… disappointed… maybe even angry.
He ducked his head quickly as he met Lance’s eyes
and blocked out the shouts from Brad; “Freeze!” and “Put your hands in the air”
as if he were a cop.
Mr. Zaggery allowed the taunting for five minutes
longer, then added a few of his own before he got everyone quiet and started
his class.
***
Lance walked out quickly as the bell rang. Josh
walked after him as fast as he could, calling his name in vein as he was
ignored. When he wanted to go after him Brad blocked his way.
“Loosing your only friend Joshy?”
Josh took the name calling, he could not go up
against Brad. Justin had been bigger as well but Brad would beat the crap out
of him and he’d had enough of that. He needed time to heal before they could go
beat him up again.
“Is he losing faith in the thief? Can’t blame him”
Brad smirked.
“You’ll find yourself outside in the cold again
real soon if Lance isn’t around to protect your sorry ass anymore”
Josh shuddered but he wasn’t really listening, he
wanted to get to Lance and explain. Explain what really? What was there to
explain? He couldn’t explain when he couldn’t say anything that could clarify
the situation.
“I’d steal myself a warm coat if I were you” Bad
told him sarcastically before he turned and left. Josh ran, the best he could,
in the opposite direction as soon as Brad was out of the way. He went towards
Lance who was pulling on his jacket to go home.
“Lance!” he yelled, stopping him. Lance sighed but
waited. Josh walked around him so they were facing each other.
“I’m sorry” Josh said.
“For what?” Lance asked simply, crossing his arms
over his chest, waiting.
“For not telling you” Josh said, hoping that would
be enough.
“So you’re not sorry you stole anything?” Lance
asked.
“That too” Josh blushed.
“Why didn’t you tell me you got arrested?” Lance
asked angrily.
“I… I was ashamed”
“You should be!”
Josh ducked his head.
“How could you do this Josh, how?”
Josh hung his head lower. Lance really was
disappointed in him.
“Why… Fuck! I just… I can’t fucking believe this!”
Lance said dismissively, walking around him to the school’s exit.
Josh too stunned to react at first, stood there for
a few seconds before he awkwardly ran after him. Lance had already disappeared
through the door and Josh was standing with his hand on the door handle, ready
to push it open and run after him.
“Where are you going, Mr. Chasez?” the principal’s
voice came from behind, inquiring sternly. Josh turned, cursing inwardly.
“You are supposed to be in detention Joshua”
“Sir, I know I just really have to…”
“I don’t care what you have to do. I want you in
that room within the next two minutes or I’ll double it, you hear me” he
warned.
Josh gritted his teeth. He twisted his head
slightly to stare through the glass of the door, watching as Lance disappeared
in the distance. He let go of the door and turned back towards his principal,
he hung his head, mumbled a yes sir as he walked dejectedly into the detention
room. Explaining to Lance would have to wait, first he had to sit through this
torture hours of extra, unnecessary pain.
