Dissonance - Chapter 48

My schedule for the next several weeks became packed, as we put in as many practices as we could between my school schedule and performances at the Blue Ridge. I even canceled most of my training with Chef, although he insisted I still come by at least three days a week, to keep my conditioning up. I agreed, although they’d be after the dinner shift on weekdays, after band practice, which meant getting home late.

On top of that, I also had midterms, which Kat had me studying hard for. Between how hard I’d been pushing myself this semester and all the stuff with my parents, I’d let my academics slide. It was ironic, since I was almost doing the thing Dad wanted me to do, putting my schooling aside for my career.

The worst part of my schedule change was it meant that I was going to miss going with Kat to the Pan Am games. We still had a lot of work to do getting ready for the New Year’s Eve show, which had to go perfectly. We’d gone so far as to send clips of our run-through to both Rowan and Linda to get input on what we should change, since we’d never played any show remotely this big before. Considering the trouble I put the band through over the last few months with my dad and everything, I couldn’t let them down this time just because I wanted to see my friend compete.

Second, if I was going to keep up my practice schedule, I needed every minute I could squeeze in to study. Especially since Kat couldn’t help tutor me this time, because she was as busy as I was. She did point out stuff I needed to work on and gave me some suggestions on how to tackle all the stuff I’d let pile up, but that was as much as she could do, which meant my studying was going even slower.

As it was, I was already a distraction for her, since she felt she was letting me down by not helping me study, to the point where she suggested she skip some swim practices. I vetoed that idea outright. I knew most of that had to do with her illness, and I was proud that she didn’t suggest it again, and kept focused on her own training, rather than trying to help me.

But, I would be home, alone, studying for midterms or practicing with the band, while Kat, Hanna, and Mrs. Phillips flew up to Canada. I get that sacrificing for my responsibilities was part of being an adult. I’d asked for this, but it sucked.

As if that wasn’t enough, my mother, of all people, showed up at practice on Tuesday, which was an added complication I didn’t need. I was shocked when I looked out of the garage and saw her car pulling up in front of the house the band was renting. She’d never come to any of my practices before, and it really made no sense for her to come now, when I’d essentially cut ties with them.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, intercepting her halfway up the driveway.

“I’m sorry, I know you said you didn’t want to talk to me again, but I have a letter from the school I thought you’d want to see.”

I took the letter but didn’t open it. She was still living in her own little make-believe land, where there was a chance she could have both me and my father in her life.

“Mom, I didn’t say I didn’t want to talk to you again, I said I didn’t want to have a relationship with you as long as you were still with my father. I love you and would love to have a relationship, but you have to pick. It’s me or him.”

“Yes, yes. I know. I didn’t come to talk about that,” she said, once again sticking her head into the sand. “I just wanted to bring you this letter from the school. That’s all.”

I held in a sigh. Her inability to deal with things because of my father was maddening. I didn’t understand it. The fact that she couldn’t choose me over a man who insulted her daily, beat on her whenever he felt like it, and only ever thought of himself was, frankly, insulting. Mrs. Phillips had tried to explain that this was common for abused women, who tended to have a harder time breaking from their abuser the longer it went on, but it just didn’t make sense to me.

“Fine. Thank you.”

She paused, and it almost looked like she was going to hug me, before her shoulders slumped and she turned to go back to her car. Again, I just wanted to give her a hug and tell her everything was going to be okay, but that would just make things worse. She’d probably see it as a sign that I was willing to give in and let her have me and Dad in her life at the same time. I had to keep up the tough love, as much as it ate me up inside.

If that wasn’t enough, I then read the letter and got pissed. I’d thought it was some kind of official communication, maybe a notice that my grades had fallen, although I hadn’t thought they’d dropped so much as to warrant a letter being sent. Instead, it was a letter from Mr. Packer to my mother, and there was nothing official about it.

Mrs. Nelson,

I am writing you this letter in regard to Charlie and his future here at Julian S. Carr High School. We have spoken a few times in the past, and I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye on what is best for Charlie’s education, but I know ultimately we both want what’s best for Charlie, and I can’t sit idly by while he ruins his chance to graduate.

Charlie’s behavior, both in and out of school, has continued to decline, and is in real danger of interfering with his graduation. I know you are aware of the altercation he had with students last year, and I am sad to say those altercations have not ended. The administration has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to violence and bullying, and Charlie has gotten very close to breaking that policy on multiple occasions.

I think there is still time to correct this situation, however. Nearly all of Charlie’s recent altercations have been with other students in the athletics program. I think the best way to support Charlie is to remove him from all athletic programs, and any other extra-curricular activities, for his own good. As educators, our goal is to make the best decision for the kids in our care, rather than making decisions simply to placate them. As a parent, you have the same responsibility. I believe, if we work together to make the right decisions for Charlie, we can ensure he doesn’t derail his own graduation.

Please contact my office at your earliest convenience to discuss this.

Sincerely,

Harold Packer

Vice-Principal

Julian S. Carr High School

To say I was stunned by the letter would be an understatement. This was some first-rate bullshit, and it had nothing to do with “furthering my education.” I wasn’t even sure the few run-ins I’d had with Harry had even been reported to the administration, and so far I’d had no physical altercations with anyone this year. As far as I could tell, he was just making things up now, and apparently trying to get me kicked off the baseball team.

The only thing that made sense was that this was some kind of petty retaliation for what happened with the SALT tests. From the rumors I had heard, he was in serious trouble with the district, and I knew he blamed me. It was the only thing that made sense; otherwise, he would have tried something like this earlier in the year. It was a weird move, though.

Even if I wasn’t emancipated, he and my mother had already gotten into it several times, and she’d made it clear she didn’t agree with his view of me, so it didn’t make sense that he’d suddenly think a ham-fisted letter like this would work with her. Maybe he was just angry and lashing out, or maybe he was desperate and thought that if he could show that I was behind the article and by discrediting me it would make his problems go away. If that was the reason, it was idiotic. Even if he could convince the district I was behind the article, it wouldn’t make its existence go away or get rid of what he did.

Of course, he could just be angry and lashing out, trying to hurt me. Either way, it didn’t matter. Mom couldn’t pull me out of anything anymore. I wouldn’t have expected him to know about my emancipation, since it wasn’t the kind of thing that was publicized. It would have eventually come up when it came time to get waivers signed for sports, or the first time we had something that needed to be signed by a parent, but that hadn’t happened yet.

He was going to find out in the morning, though, I thought, smiling to myself.

The first thing I did the next morning was make a b-line for the administration offices. Mr. Packer was usually there first thing in the morning, and I wanted to get this out of the way.

Mrs. Morgan tried to send me away, since it wasn’t long until the first bell, but I pressed her, saying it was important and needed to be taken care of right away. I still had to sit there for ten minutes, waiting well after the tardy bell rang, until he finally came out of his office to get me. There hadn’t been anyone else in there and I suspected that he was just keeping me waiting for the fun of it, but I guess it was possible that he was on the phone with someone before eight in the morning.

“What do you need, Charlie?” he asked, seeming exasperated.

“I wanted to talk to you about this letter you sent to my mother,” I said, holding up the letter.

“That’s between me and your parents. If you have any questions, you can feel free to ask them.”

“No, I can’t, or at least I won’t. I sent a copy of the emancipation notice to the school district and the administration two weeks ago, so any letter like this should have been addressed to me and not my mother,” I said, handing a copy of the emancipation notice to him.

He snatched the paper from my hands, and looked at it, almost dismissively.

“Come with me,” he said, turning and heading to his office.

I followed him into his office, already expecting a confrontation. Really, there wasn’t much that should have needed to happen, since the emancipation was pretty black and white. The only reason he wanted to talk about it in his office was because he was going to try and throw some BS at me, maybe because he thought he could still talk his way around it or maybe just because he could.

“We received your notice, but this kind of discussion is not appropriate to have with a student. A parent or guardian is needed to decide what is in the student’s best interest.”

“The courts have officially said my parents aren’t capable of deciding what’s in my best interest and have given me that right. I’m not sure why we’re even discussing this. That is a legal order, and one the school is going to have to follow. Maybe I messed up in how I provided the notice. Should I talk to someone at the district and see what their policy is on this kind of thing?”

I could see him fighting a scowl. The last thing he wanted me to do was call the district, since he was almost certainly already on their shit list. He knew the district wouldn’t want to pick a fight with a family court judge over a single student, and would be annoyed he’d unilaterally chosen to ignore a court order on his own.

“No, you don’t need to call the district,” he said, throwing the copy of the order on his desk.

“Good. I’d be happy to talk to you about what is best for my schooling, but I am not planning to pull myself out of my extra-curricular activities.”

“Don’t get smart with me,” he said, scowling for real this time. “You may not have a legal guardian, but the school administration still gets to decide what activities you’re allowed to participate in. Since there isn’t a responsible adult we can appeal to, I think it would be best if we make this decision ourselves. Your behavior this year has been unacceptable, and you have become a distraction to the students who want to attend school here.”

“How has my behavior been unacceptable? I haven’t had any write-ups or suspensions, and the only time I’ve been talked to by the administration was when you warned me not to cause problems when you and Principal Snyder tried to get me to cancel a news story that you found embarrassing. How exactly is that distracting to other students?”

“This isn’t a debate, Mr. Nelson.”

“No, this is unfair retaliation by the school administration and a violation of my rights and district policy. But you’re right, this isn’t a debate. I think the best thing I can do is just accept whatever you decide until my lawyer can clear everything up with the district as far as the policy for extracurricular activities goes.”

He stood there staring at me for a second, and I gave it fifty-fifty on whether my threat would cause him to back down, or he’d feel he had to stand up for himself and actually follow through with it. I’d already watched him shoot himself in the foot a few times over pride, and he’d almost done it again in the principal’s office before Principal Snyder shut him down and had me leave. It was wild that no matter how old the bully got they always acted the same.

“Just get out of my office,” he said.

“So am I still able to participate in baseball?” I asked, not moving.

I was pushing my luck, but I wanted to make sure there was no misunderstanding this time.

“Yes. But if you step even so much as a toe over the line, you can kiss your participation goodbye.”

I didn’t see any reason to respond to that threat, since I knew he was always looking for ways to get to me. I’m not even sure he knew, at this point, why he’d started to take a dislike to me, but now it was more a matter of pride for him. I’d stood up to his authority too many times and guys like him took any kind of pushback as a personal attack.

Friday night Hanna showed up just in time for all of them to head for the airport, barely giving me a chance to say goodbye. It sucked I couldn’t go with them, but we only had twenty-two days until the concert, and we hadn’t even finalized what our set list was going to be yet. The whole band was nervous, and I couldn’t leave them now, no matter how much I wanted to. I wasn’t even seeing Sydney for the next several Saturdays, although she was stopping by practice several times a week to hang out, and understood I needed to focus on work until the end of the year.

It was weird, being at home by myself, but I had enough to do to keep me busy. Besides, I wasn’t home very much anyway. After seeing them off, I headed straight to band practice, which we did right until it was time to move our equipment over to the Blue Ridge.

One side benefit of being on my own and emancipated was that I didn’t need to rush back home Friday nights after the show. I hadn’t gotten many chances to see Willie play, so it was nice to watch the second set that happened after ours. Marco had made some suggestions that we talk to Chef about taking that set too, now that I could stay out later, and make a little more money, but I vetoed it. Besides the fact that there were still people in town who liked Willie’s music and most of our audience wouldn’t stick around for two full sets, since they saw us every weekend, Willie and his guys needed to get paid too.

Marco was annoyed, since he saw it as a missed opportunity for him to make money, but we were doing okay, especially after I heard how much we were getting paid for the New Year’s Eve show. It was the most we’d ever been paid for any gig, by quite a margin. Warren had also booked us shows in Knoxville the following Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, where we’d play the same set that we were doing on New Year’s, as kind of a live rehearsal. We were doing that this weekend at the Blue Ridge of course, but this was friendly ground, so it wasn’t exactly the same. This next week was my last week before winter break, so I’d be out of school starting the next Monday, which is what made the Sunday night show possible.

Before I knew it, Willie was finishing up his set and it was two in the morning. Lyla had taken off with Tabitha at some point and Marco and Seth had left around one, which meant I was the last one there. Even Chef had gone upstairs to get some sleep. Considering I was the first one to leave most regular weekends, I was definitely seeing a new side of the late-night Blue Ridge crowd. The entire vibe was completely different than it was for our sets, and I was glad I hadn’t listened to Marco, because I don’t think this crowd would have appreciated us much.

Once the lights came up, I even stuck around for a little bit helping Vinney clean up. He was usually on his own, by two. He’d done me so many favors in the past, it was the least I could do.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” Vinney finally said at two-twenty. “I can finish up the last little bit. I appreciate the help, but get out.”

Vinney always cracked me up when he got all tough, since it was about as opposite from his actual personality as you could get.

“Yes, boss.”

“Don’t start with me,” he said, but laughed. “You’re parked out front, right? Let me throw on the front lights for you.”

Vinney always parked around the side, where there were motion-sensing lights, since that’s where the stairs to his apartment were, and the front parking lot was dark as hell once all the cars were gone.

His helpful gesture was probably the only reason I saw the attack coming. Unlike the attack at school, where there had been bushes to hide behind and it had been pitch black, the parking lot was well lit and I came out of the door onto the porch, which stood a good six inches above the ground.

The lights coming on must have surprised them, because two guys were half-standing and clearly visible when I came outside. It wouldn’t have been hard to guess who the guys waiting outside were once the fighting started, but I didn’t need to wait for that after seeing Harry, Paul, and two other idiots from the football team. How Harry had convinced anyone to join him in coming after me after all of the times I kicked his ass was beyond me, but here we were.

I didn’t try to talk them down this time. You don’t show up with three other guys if you are going to be talked out of it, and I had a moment of surprise on my side that would give me a chance against the greater odds. Besides, I knew Chef had cameras out front that would catch most of it, and it would show they were out here waiting to attack someone.

For a second, they all froze in place, which worked to my advantage. Although I hadn’t been specifically expecting anything, I’d been thinking about David’s warning for the last week and I’d been a little paranoid about going out anywhere by myself, especially when it was dark, since that’s when the last attack occurred, so I didn’t hesitate.

I dropped my guitar and rushed straight ahead. The stairs were actually off center a little from the front door, I think to keep people from crowding the front door and blocking the steps, so in this case, straight ahead of me was the railing, which I vaulted over, my foot connecting with the side of the head of one of the football players.

Even before I made it to the railing, Harry snapped out of his surprise and yelled, “Get him.”

It didn’t matter for the first guy, who went limp as my foot connected. I had to adjust to keep from landing on his head, which put me off balance enough for the guy next to him to regain his composure and take a shot at me. Had I stepped on the guy’s head, I could have probably blocked or dodged him, but I wasn’t trying to permanently injure any of them if I could help it.

His friend was a big guy, I think maybe one of the linemen on the team, although I couldn’t remember for sure, and I didn’t doubt he could do some serious damage if he hit me when I landed, so I chose to let my balance go and fall in the direction my leap took me, mostly robbing him of his power. He hit me just below my left shoulder, which sent me spinning as I fell.

Because I dropped forward, the punch didn’t hurt at all, but I was now lying on my stomach on the ground as Gigantor leaped for me, pissed as hell after seeing his buddy dropped. Harry and Paul were also coming for me, pretty fast too, and I needed to get up off the ground.

Flipping over, I saw that the big guy was close, but not so close that he could just lean down and start pummeling me, so I swept out with my right foot, catching his ankle and pulling it. He was on uneven, rocky ground, and he was standing, instead of crouched down, so he was top-heavy, making it easy to trip him up. He wasn’t going to be out, but his falling diagonally from me gave me some time, since I still had Harry and Paul to deal with.

I continued turning my foot around and pushed up with the arm closer to the ground as I leaned over, giving me enough room to plant my sweeping foot and continue twisting and pushing up, until I was in a half-standing position. My back was to Harry, which wasn’t good, but at least I was on my feet again.

I’d checked his position as I’d come around before turning my back on him, so unless he made a juke at the last moment, I knew where he was. Thankfully, Harry was a brawler and rock dumb, so that wasn’t something that was likely to happen.

I kept my weight on my right leg and looked back as I adjusted my weight, sure enough, they were lined up in a nice little row with me, Harry leaning forward like he was going to tackle me. I continued my motion, snapping my left foot back and then out in a side kick, catching Harry in the collar. He screamed in pain and fell to the side, tangling with Paul as he fell, bringing both of them to the ground, hard.

The move finished, I recovered and bounced back, now facing my attackers on sure footing. Gigantor was back up, and Paul was working on it, but Harry stayed down, writhing on the ground, a hand on his shoulder, howling in pain.

Paul paused to check on Harry, which was dumb, since it allowed me to take them on one at a time, but I wasn’t going to complain about the advantage. Seeing he wasn’t getting up and moving toward me for now, I put my focus on the big guy as he threw a haymaker. It was wild, projected, and slow. This guy had always relied on his size, clearly, and had no idea how to actually fight. Unfortunately, he was big enough that even not knowing what he was doing still made him dangerous. I needed him out of the picture, and fast.

I easily dodged back and grabbed his wrist as he swung around, putting one hand on his wrist and gripping his fingers with my other hand, I twisted in the opposite direction, pushing his wrist into a sharp right angle and behind while stepping back and around with my right foot, pulling him with me. When he started to stumble and lean forward to relieve the pressure on his hand, I let go and reversed my movement. Grabbing the back of his head with both hands, I brought his head down hard as my knee came up.

His nose exploded in a shower of blood, and there was no doubt it was broken. He wasn’t unconscious, but I stepped away just to make sure he wasn’t going to try and grab me. I didn’t need to. He seemed to try to alternate between holding his busted nose and his wrist, which was still at a bad angle. I’d put too much pressure on it as I pulled him, either dislocating or breaking his wrist.

Paul was up, but he’d seen enough, and dashed towards the other car in the parking lot, which I assumed was theirs.

“What’s happening?” Vinney said, coming out the front door in a rush.

He hadn’t been fast enough. Everything was over in thirty seconds, which probably explained why he was surprised to see one kid running for his life to his car while three others lay on the ground, two of them writhing in pain and the other out cold.

“Call the sheriff,” I said, knowing the shitstorm that was about to happen.