Fanfare (Country Roads #2) - Chapter 26 (Re-Write)

**The last half of this chapter has been completely rewritten to change a subplot as of 11/1/2021**

Considering what happened at the game on Saturday, I wasn’t surprised to get pulled out of first period almost as soon as it started. I swear I heard my teacher sigh in annoyance when the office aide came in with a slip with my name on it. Mrs. Morgan didn’t even say anything to me, just pointed at Vice-principal Keller’s office, since I knew the drill. I sat outside for a few minutes before he stuck his head out and waved me in.

Already sitting inside were Mr. Packer and Coach Dean. I sat in the third seat in front of Mr. Keller’s desk and waited.

“I’m assuming you know why you’re here?” Mr. Keller asked.

“I’m guessing it’s because of more false allegations?”

“Mr. Nelson, I think you should take this seriously,” Mr. Packer said. “Ever since starting at Carr, you’ve had behavioral issues that are, frankly, very concerning.”

“I am taking it seriously. I’ve been brought to the office for cheating on a test. I’ve been here for attacking Aaron and was forced to have my entire schedule rearranged and eat in the choir room. I was benched for attacking Harry Torres and told I was going to get kicked off the team. Do you know what all of those have in common? That I was innocent of every single one. I sent Coach Dean the video of what happened, and I assume you’ve had a chance to look at it by now, so you have to know I was innocent there as well. The thing that’s concerning me here, is that there seems to be some kind of vendetta against me that this school is willfully taking part in.”

“Listen here,” Mr. Packer started to say, before Mr. Keller held up a hand, stopping him.

“All right. Charlie, I appreciate you’re frustrated, but that kind of attitude isn’t going to help you. We have policies that require us to completely investigate these types of incidents. I know where you’re sitting it seems unfair, but they’re in place for a reason.”

I wanted to tell him that they only seemed to be there to help certain members of the student body, since I had witnessed plenty of incidents of bullying and harassment that went completely uninvestigated, but I knew it wouldn’t fix anything. All I wanted was to be allowed to play baseball, and I figured pointing out how their system was bullshit would probably be counterproductive.

“Okay,” is all I said instead.

“I did look at the video and you’re right, I think it shows you did everything you could to avoid a confrontation, and only retaliated when you were backed into a car and could retreat anymore.”

“Hold on. He still struck a student and we have a zero-tolerance policy here, regardless of who the aggressor is,” Mr. Packer said.

“It was after school and in the parking lot. After Aaron attacked me, he didn’t get any kind of punishment because it wasn’t during school. When he and Harry beat the crap out of me at the beginning of the school year, I was told that the school couldn’t do anything because it didn’t happen at school. Why, all of a sudden, is there an issue with the zero-tolerance policy now, when it still didn’t happen at school?”

“He has a point,” Mr. Keller said.

“It was on school property, however. I think we have some leeway in how we handle this.”

“Is Harry going to get disciplined, or just the person defending himself?”

“I’ve spoken with the Principal and we’ve agreed that, since it happed well after school let out, we didn’t have authority over actions of the students, which means neither of you will be punished. You’ll be allowed to continue playing and I think that should be the last of this.”

“You have to be kidding me?” I said, erupting.

“Mr. Nelson, I think it’s best …” Mr. Keller started to say, but I interrupted him.

I knew I was shooting myself in the foot. Vice-principal Keller had been more or less on my side for most of these incidents and had been fair, or at least as fair as the school district would let him. That didn’t matter though. The fact that they were getting away with this shit again while someone threatened to punish me for defending myself had pushed me over the edge.

“Mr. Keller, I can’t believe that Harry just gets away with this. I haven’t done anything but keep my head down and work hard to catch up. I’m in this mess because I stopped three students from beating up a small kid on the first day of school. Since then, they and their friends have been out to get me, and the school has been helping them. Is it school policy to punish a student simply on the word of another student without any proof? Is it school policy to let that student go without any kind of response when that accusation is proven false? If that’s true, then I’d like to know, because I have a bunch of complaints to start filing! Or is it just certain members of the student body? I get that you have policies and procedures to follow, and that’s fine. What’s not fine is when these policies and procedures get followed when it’s about me, but when it’s other students, they don’t seem to apply anymore. Is there a zero-tolerance policy? Is the parking lot part of the school property? Because the answer to both seems to be ‘yes’ if I’m doing something that breaks a rule, and ‘no’ when other people break the same damn rule. I didn’t complain when you decided my schedule had to be rearranged because of that BS restraining order and I didn’t complain when I got suspended for defending myself against Aaron, but I’m done. If you guys want to apply school policies and punish me for defending myself, then you better follow the policy for everyone involved and you better apply those policies all year!”

I wound down and slumped back in my seat.

“Or what?” Mr. Packer said.

“What?”

“That last part sounded an awful lot like a threat.”

“I don’t think this is productive, Harold,” Mr. Keller said to Mr. Packer.

“I think Charlie’s right,” Coach Dean said, causing Mr. Packer’s scowl to deepen. “We all agree he didn’t do anything wrong and while I understand we have a zero-tolerance policy, this is the first I’m hearing of anyone being punished, and at no time has Harry’s name come up. If we expect students to follow the rules, then we should make sure we apply them evenly.”

Mr. Packer looked to Mr. Keller, who just shrugged and said, “I agree it’s important that these things be handled fairly, but in this case the point is moot. The fight falls outside of our responsibility, which is good because I think you did an excellent job trying to deescalate the situation, Charlie. I know you probably feel it’s unfair that we aren’t punishing Harry; but to do so would also mean punishing you, which would be a shame considering how much restraint you showed.”

“What about him reporting me to a teacher for attacking him, a report that the video should have made clear was a complete lie? Is there any policy about a student lying to try and get another student in trouble?”

“No,” Mr. Packer said. “And I’m not sure I agree with your description. Yes, the video shows that the incident didn’t go exactly as he described, but these things can happen quickly and can cause trauma in adolescence, which can, in turn, lead to a skewed memory of what happened.”

“Seriously, what is it with you?” I asked. “Not two minutes ago you were saying I was a danger to the school, and there should be some kind of punishment for me, even when all I ever do is defend myself. Now you’re saying that Harry isn’t at fault for lying about me attacking him, just so he can get me kicked off the team. Do you owe his family money or something?”

“Now wait a minute,” Mr. Packer yelled, only to be interrupted by Mr. Keller again.

“Okay, I think this has become unproductive and we’ve done what we needed to do, which is to let Charlie know that we reviewed the evidence and he is cleared of any wrongdoing and can rejoin the team.”

Mr. Packer glared at me but didn’t say anything else. Instead, he just got up and left the office followed by Coach Dean.

“Charlie, could you hold back a second,” Mr. Keller said as I started to follow Coach out.

“Uhh, sure,” I said, wondering what bullshit they’d have come my way now.

To my surprise, Coach Dean also paused and turned around.

“It’s okay Miles; I promise I’m not going to give Charlie a hard time. This is about an unrelated matter.”

“Sure,” Coach said.

He made eye contact with me for several beats, almost like he was saying let him know if there were any more problems. It was good to know that at least a couple of teachers here had my back, because I was getting sick of being the school’s whipping boy.

He closed the door behind him and I sat down in one of the seats in front of Mr. Keller’s desk again.

“First off, I want you to know I get your frustration. I know it seems we’re being unfair to you, and you’re right, you haven’t been treated completely fairly. Unfortunately, the schools’ policies aren’t set up to treat students fairly, they’re here to protect the school. I know that’s not something we’re supposed to admit to you guys, but I want you to know that I’m aware of how things have been going for you this year. I know this doesn’t help a lot, since that won’t keep me from having to apply school policies in the future, but I promise I will do everything I can to make sure you’re treated fairly.”

“Okay,” I said flatly.

I probably should have been more charitable, since he was offering an olive branch, but I was still pissed.

Thankfully, Mr. Keller didn’t take it badly, instead just chuckling and shaking his head.

“I guess if I was in your place, I’d have the same answer. This isn’t what I needed you to stay behind for, however. I understand Mrs. Brooks convinced your band to play the Prom. Is that right?”

“Yep.”

“I’ve heard some rumors that you were playing around town and I appreciate that the budget we have for this isn’t a lot, but I need to ask, do you have experience doing this kind of thing?”

“Proms? No. But I play a regular gig every weekend at the Blue Ridge and I’ve played in several clubs in Asheville. If you worried we might embarrass the school, you’re welcome to come see us.”

“While I might take you up on that, no, I wasn’t concerned about your ability, since what I have heard has all been about how good you are. I was more meaning experience playing at a function for the school district. Since there are various laws and rules we have to follow for student safety, there are also some hoops that have to be dealt with for your band to play. Are the rest of the members of your band students here as well?”

“No. They’re all out of high school.”

“That’s what I was afraid of. We have both district-mandated safety policies to follow when it comes to adults coming onto campus, as well as requirements from our insurance company for performances or demonstrations.”

I hadn’t actually considered any of that when I agreed, although in hindsight, it made sense.

“Ohh,” I said. “What do we need to do?”

“We’ll need to get background checks on anyone in your band and anyone else you’re going to need to bring onto campus for this. To get that, we have some forms they’ll have to fill out to get those checks done. We also have forms, liability waivers, and the like, that need to be submitted before you can perform.”

“Should I have a lawyer look at those waivers?”

This is the kind of thing I could have used a manager who knew how to deal with this stuff for, because this was way out of my experience. I was sure it was all routine, but that didn’t mean the school wouldn’t try to screw us in some way if something happened.

“I’m not allowed to advise you on things like that, but if you feel you need to, then by all means do,” He said, handing me a closed manila envelope. “I put in several copies of the background check forms, but if you need more just ask. While the Prom isn’t until May, I’m going to need those back by mid-April at the latest, so we can get everything done.”

“I’m surprised you’re giving these to me, since y’all put Karen in charge of the Prom.”

“While we do believe in giving students the opportunity to experience leadership by doing things like planning and running dances and the like, there are some things we still need to manage on our own.”

I read between the lines and assumed it’s because they knew Karen Brooks was an idiot and didn’t trust her with the really important stuff.

“Okay,” I said, taking the envelope. “I’ll get them to sign it. Is that it?”

“Yes. Get a late pass from Mrs. Morgan, and get to class. And Charlie,” He added as I was getting up from the chair.

“Yeah?”

“You’ve really made some great improvements this year, and I for one am very glad you ended up here at Carr. Keep your head up.”

Okay, so maybe Vice-principal Keller wasn’t all bad.

****

I finished up practice and found Hanna waiting for me out in the parking lot.

“I just wanted to make sure we still had a deal. You’ll wait until tomorrow, right?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I’m still deciding. The day’s come and gone. If her dad was going to go back to work today, he would have done it already and he’d probably be back on his way home, or at least he will be by the time I get to the Blue Ridge.”

“Charlie, you said Tuesday.”

“I know, but …” I started to say, until my phone rang.

It actually kind of startled me. I hadn’t had it for very long and I hadn’t actually had that many calls on it yet, since usually, I was the one calling out, so I still wasn’t used to it.

“Hello?” I said, answering.

“Charlie,” Kat said in a whisper.

“Kat! Are you okay? What’s happening? Did your father leave? Has he hurt you? What …?” I had ten more questions flood into my brain, but Hanna whacked me on the shoulder, interrupting me.

“You have to give her time to answer. Put her on speaker.”

“I’m okay,” she said as I put it on speaker. “Daddy’s still at work, but he has my aunt here watching me. She’s not really my aunt, she was my mom’s best friend and she still looks in on me and stuff. He told her I was doing drugs, and would try to find a way to get more, so she’s been watching me like a hawk. I convinced her to go on a long hike with me today and made her really tired. She just fell asleep.”

“Are you ever going to come back to school?” Hanna asked.

“I don’t think so. I had a phone interview with a private school in Raleigh this morning. Daddy says I should start there in two weeks. Charlie, I’m really scared. I can’t go that far away. What if someone finds out about me? Who’s going to look after me?”

“It’s okay Kat, we’re going to figure this out. I’m going to go talk to Chef, maybe he can figure something out.”

“NO!” Kat said. “I don’t want to go into the system. You don’t understand. I’m so close to getting out. I just want everything back to the way it was.”

“I know, but we can’t make that happen. It’s either this or we talk to someone and they tell the authorities.”

“What if they don’t even believe me. Daddy’s friends with the sheriff. They’ll just tell him what I said and he’ll get mad again.”

“Not if we contact child services directly. That’s why I want to talk to Chef and not just call the police, since he’ll have a better idea of how to deal with it.”

“Charlie, I’m so confused. I want out and to come back and be with you and Hanna, but I’m so close to getting into the junior Olympics and my coach says I could make the Olympics. I’ve worked so hard, and if I get thrown out or taken away, I lose all of that too. I know it’s stupid, but I’m so confused.”

“It’s not stupid, but you have to think about your own safety, and not just your physical safety. It’s not worth putting yourself through this.”

“I don’t know what to do. I’m so confused. I just want things to go back to how they were. Please, Charlie.”

“I know, and I’m sorry I let this go on so long. I know you’re scared, but we don’t have any more time to just wait until you turn eighteen and can move out. The only way out of this is to get help. Real help. I’m going to Chef, right now.”

“He’s right,” Hanna said.

“Okay. I was so close,” She said, her voice starting to break.

“I know, and it sucks, but we’ll figure it out. Who knows, maybe Chef will think of something we haven’t and he’ll find a way out of this.”

“I hope so,” Kat said, sniffling.

“Keep your phone off and I’ll send you texts when we have updates. When it’s safe, you can get them and respond. That way you don’t have to wait until your Aunt is asleep to contact us. Just be calm and don’t do anything rash. We’ll figure this out.”

“If you say so,” she said, and then paused. “I think she’s getting up. I’ve got to go.”

She hung up before we could say anything else and I looked at Hanna.

“I should have gone to Chef when we first heard about this. I’m kicking myself for waiting.”

“You only did what she asked. Do you think he can find a solution that doesn’t include the foster system?”

“I don’t know,” I said, my head hurting from everything I was feeling.

I was angry at myself, worried for Kat, and scared that Chef wouldn’t be able to save us this time.

I told Hanna I wanted to deal with it myself and left to go to Chef's. He was still in the kitchen when I got there, giving Vinney enough instructions so he could get everything prepped for the dinner rush while he was outside with me.

“Go ahead and start your warm-ups, I’ll be out there in a moment,” he said without looking away from the prep station he and Vinney were working at.

“Chef, I need to talk to you. It’s important,” I said, not moving.

He stopped what he was doing and turned to look at me.

After seeing my expression, he said, “Go up to my apartment. I’ll be there in a second.”

I bowed my head slightly and left him and Vinney, going upstairs. I didn’t sit down and paced the small living area instead, going over how I was going to explain this to him over and over until I finally heard his footsteps on the stairs.

“Okay, what’s going on?” he said when he came through the front door.

“You remember my friend Kat, right? The one you had Dr. Rothstein talk to?”

“Yes.”

“A month or so ago she told us her father was abusing her, both physically and sexually. It’s apparently been happening since she was little. I’ve wanted to come talk to you and get your advice about it, but she’s scared to go into the foster system, especially with her condition.”

“If she didn’t want you to talk to me about it, why are you bringing it up now? What changed?”

“Did Dr. Rothstein explain what her condition is?”

“Not directly, no. Even though he’s not officially her doctor, he is a big believer in not breaking a patient’s trust. He only said she had some serious issues and should start seeing someone very soon, before they could cause her any more harm.”

“I think it might be too late for that, and I think it’s my fault.”

“Charlie, if you want my help, you’re going to have to stop beating around the bush and start telling me what’s going on.”

“Kat has a condition where she has trouble telling people things they don’t want to hear, like ‘no.’ It’s why she was dating Aaron, and I’m pretty sure based on what the doctor said, it was caused by her father’s abuse. He’d warned me that she was becoming attached to me, and that I should be careful to keep that from happening, because it could make her recovery harder in the future. Instead of listening to him, I talked her into trusting my judgment over the people she had been listening to and got her away from Aaron. I know it sounds bad, ignoring the doctor like that, but her dad’s never going to let her get help, and Aaron was building up to start getting her into serious trouble.”

I paused so he could tell me what a bad idea that was, but instead he said, “Just explain it all for me and then I’ll comment.”

“Okay. So I told her she didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to again; and if someone told her she did, she could come to me and I’d make the decision for her. Basically, I was taking the choice from her. I’d originally meant it for Aaron and his friends, since they were the problem we were trying to solve at the moment, but she took it to mean everything, period. After Christmas, her father came to her to … and she said no, which I guess she’d never done before. He hit her, but she kept saying no. That’s when he made the rule that she could only go to school and home and she didn’t want her hanging around with anyone else again. I think he figured out that someone else was the reason she was saying no. Since then, she’s been sneaking out and hanging out with us when he’s out of town, which is pretty often. Two weeks ago, though, he came home early. When she wasn’t home, he went looking for her and found her talking to me outside the school. That’s when he pulled her from school entirely and is looking to put her in some private school in Raleigh. We’re worried that once she’s gone, she won’t have a support structure anymore, and she’ll go back to being an open target for people like Aaron, and that the abuse from her father will keep going on. To make matters worse, apparently, her father knows people in the Sheriff’s office and she thinks if we go to the police, they’ll take his word over hers, and things will get worse.”

I wound down and Chef was quiet for several minutes. I didn’t say anything. Although I’d finally laid everything out like I should have done two months ago, I didn’t feel the weight of everything lift from me. If anything, I felt worse.

“You should have come to me or someone else you trust like your mother when you first found out she was being abused,” Chef said.

“I know. I know I should have, and I’m kicking myself for it. Can you help her?”

“I don’t know. My first instinct is to just call Child Protective Services, but your comment about the sheriff does concern me. You go warm up while I make some calls. If you finish before I’m done, I want you to spend the time going through the entire conditioning routine. The long one.”

“Chef. I’m really sorry. I should …”

“I know you are, and I appreciate that. I’m trying to remember that you’re still a kid and these are the kinds of mistakes people your age make. I would have hoped that I’d shown enough good judgment with you in the past for you to trust me now, but I know sometimes it’s hard to get past the moment and think clearly. Next time though, if you think you’re in trouble, just come talk to me. Or your mother. Or anyone else you trust, like Hanna’s mother. Part of being mentors is helping you, but you’ve got to let us do that for it to work.”

“I understand. I won’t mess it up again.”

“Sure you will. That’s how we learn. It’s okay to screw up, Charlie. The important thing is you learn from it, and try to do better the next time. Now go. I’ve got calls to make.”