Sadly, Derek’s joy was short-lived. While he was kind and friendly, he was also shy and still a bit of a loner. Sometimes that got him into trouble. One day in school, David, one of the bigger boys in the eighth grade, shoved him against a restroom wall, looked around to be sure he was unobserved, and then asked, “Hey, Little Prick, do you know what we do to teacher’s pets?”
Since both the boy and Derek were farm boys they were probably about equally strong. Derek said later that he thought he could take him but he didn’t want to get into a fight.
“I’m not a teacher’s pet. I just work hard,” Derek replied.
“And how about you and Mr. B? How about your meetings in his room during study hall? I’ve seen the looks that go between you. Does he fuck you, Little Prick?”
Horrified at the thought, Derek shouted “No!” and tried to push the bigger boy away.
“Well, Little Prick, we’ll have to see about that. Maybe the school superintendent should be alerted.” He released Derek and sauntered out of the rest room.
In tears, Derek tried to wash his face and regain his composure. Finally he returned to class. Fortunately, it was a Friday afternoon so he had the weekend to figure out what to do. He sat in class, unable to pay any attention to history, and fretted about the problem. What should I do? he wondered. Should I tell Greg and Josh? At length he decided he should.
As soon as he entered the house after school Derek said to me, “I need to talk to you and Josh…alone.” Asking Teddy to stay in the house and peel the potatoes, I took Derek to the barn where Josh was working. We went up in the loft and sat on bales of hay before I said, “OK, Derek, what’s wrong?”
Derek told us about what had happened. He finished in tears, saying, “Guys, Mr. B has never, ever touched me and, Greg, I promise I’ve never said anything at school that would make somebody think that Mr. B was gay. I don’t know what to do and I’m so scared he’ll get into trouble.”
First Josh and I tried to calm him down. After he had regained his composure some, I said to him, “OK, Derek, Josh and I need to talk. You get yourself cleaned up and before you go to bed I’ll tell you what we’ve decided.” He nodded miserably and went down the ladder.
“Shit!” I exclaimed. “I was afraid of something like this. What do you think we should do?”
Shaking his head Josh replied, “I’ve no idea. I suppose the first thing we have to do is alert Garrett to the problem. One way or another we’re going to have to fight this. We can’t let this kid get away with it or Garrett’ll be toast.”
“So who do we know who can help us? Certainly the word of two queers isn’t going to clear another one.”
“Well, what do we know about the school superintendent?” Josh asked.
“Not much except that he and Reverend James are great friends.”
“Then maybe we need to approach Reverend James and ask for his advice.”
“And what if he believes David?”
“Then we go to plan B.”
“Which is?”
“I haven’t the foggiest idea. But let’s go make a couple of calls.”
In the kitchen I asked the boys to go do their chores, saying that we needed to use the phone in private. Then we called the minister and asked if we could meet with him sometime Saturday. He agreed to 1:00 PM. After that we called Garrett. I briefly told him what had happened at school and said that Josh and I wanted to meet with him and Reverend James on Saturday at the church. When he asked why the minister I told him of the minister’s friendship with the school superintendent. Although clearly upset, Garrett agreed to attend the meeting.
Dinner that night was nearly silent, Teddy looking from one of us to another trying to figure out what had happened. I finally told him that somebody at school had started a nasty rumor about Mr. B and that made us sad. I told both boys that we were going to meet with the minister the next day.
“Can I come?” Derek asked. “I feel like it’s all my fault.”
Putting his hand on Derek’s shoulder, Josh said, “It certainly isn’t your fault, Derek. It’s David’s fault and we can’t let him get away with this. If he does, not only will it be very hard on Mr. B but it will just make David more of a bully.” He looked at me and continued, “If Greg agrees, I think it might be a good idea for you to be there. That way, Reverend James can get the story first-hand.” I nodded in agreement.
“Can I be there?” asked Teddy, who by now knew some but not all of the story. The “F” word had been carefully avoided.
“No,” I replied. “How about spending the afternoon with Jamie?” Jamie was a school friend of Teddy’s who lived in Lancaster. Teddy agreed and we called Jamie’s parents who thought it was a wonderful idea, saying that Jamie had been a little lonely lately.
On Saturday we drove Teddy to Jamie’s house and then drove to Wemberly, where we saw Garrett’s car already in front of the church. He got out as we pulled up and we all walked into the parish house together. Reverend James was waiting for us.
After I had introduced Garrett and we were all seated, the minister asked, “So, how can I help you?”
“I think we need your advice,” I replied. “Something happened to Derek at school yesterday and we’re not sure how to handle it.”
At Mr. James’ urging, Derek repeated his story. He was reluctant to say “fuck” but I had told him he had to because that was part of what had been said. By the time he was finished he was again in tears, an unusual state for him.
This was the first time Garrett had heard the complete story, and he was visibly shaken.
“Tell me what you do during your study hall time when you’re with Mr. Browne,” said the minister. So Derek told him about writing and how Mr. B was helping him and how he was helping Mr. B with his writing.
“Whenever Derek is alone with me in my room,” put in Garrett, “the door is always open and we are very visible from the hallway.”
“Garrett has become a good friend of our family,” added Josh. “He often comes to the farm for Sunday dinners and we have also been to his place in Lancaster for dinners. We have gotten to know each other well.”
Mr. James nodded and thought for a few moments. Finally, he said to Garrett, “I’m afraid I have to ask you a question which you may not like.”
“That’s OK,” replied Garrett.
“Are you gay?”
Josh and I exchanged glances, concern reflecting in our faces. What if Garrett said yes and the minister assumed then that he must be guilty?
But Garrett did not hesitate, although he knew what the stakes were. “Yes, sir,” he answered. “I am. But I can assure you that I’m not a pedophile. When I was thirteen I suppose I was attracted to thirteen-year-olds, but I’ve always searched for relationships with boys and later with men my own age. I have absolutely no sexual interest in any of my students, Derek included. I’m interested in them as a teacher who cares about his kids and who wants the best for them, but that’s all.”
“Thank you for being open with me,” the minister said. Turning to Derek he asked, “Did you say this happened on Friday?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you know if the boy said anything to anybody else?”
“No, sir, but he was certainly threatening to.”
“Then this is a matter for school officials. For one thing, it involves a teacher and for another the boy was clearly bullying you. Wouldn’t you agree?” he asked, looking at me and Josh and Garrett.
“I do agree,” I replied. “But I’m worried about Garrett as well as Derek, and I don’t know a school official who would necessarily be open-minded enough to really hear us.”
“Well I do. Superintendent Barkley is a good friend of mine and I’m sure he would give you a very fair hearing. I think we need to do something before Monday, however, so that this doesn’t get out of hand. Do you agree?” We all nodded. “Then I’ll contact Richard Barkley and see if he can meet us after church tomorrow. Would that work for you?”
We all said it would and thanked him as we left.
Outside the church, Garrett thanked first Derek, and then Josh and me before asking, “What do we do if the superintendent doesn’t believe us?”
“We go to Plan B,” I said, smiling at Josh.
Josh laughed and said, “We have no idea yet what Plan B would be, but I guess we’ll have to think of one if this doesn’t work.”
“Anyway,” I added, “you should come to dinner at the farm after the meeting. If we need to think of a Plan B we can do it then; if not we’ll just have a good Sunday dinner together.”
Garrett agreed and drove off, while Derek, Josh, and I went to pick up Teddy from Jamie’s house.
In the front yard, Teddy, Jamie, and some neighborhood boys were deep in a game of cops and robbers, pointing fingers and shouting, “Bang! Bang! I got you.” The lawn was liberally sprinkled with dead bodies which soon sprang to life and began shooting again.
Jamie’s mother saw us arrive and invited us in for some cider and donuts. When it was time for us to leave to do chores, we called Teddy, who was reluctant to go but we promised him he could return some other time.
Arriving at our kitchen door, I heard the phone ringing. I raced in to grab it before whoever it was hung up. It was Mr. James, who said he had set everything up with Superintendent Barkley. I thanked him and called Garrett, telling him the news. Garrett said he would go to church that morning with us. He thought a little prayer might be in order. I gave him the time of the service and then hung up.
Supper that night was less subdued. Derek asked if he’d have to talk to the superintendent and I told him I thought he would, again so that the story could be told first-hand. After supper Derek retired to do some writing, Josh and Teddy played chess, and I washed the dishes then kibitzed over the game.
When the boys had gone to bed, Josh and I discussed again both the problem and the hoped-for solution. We were grateful to Reverend James for hearing us and trusting us but we were still worried about what Mr. Barkley would say and do. If he didn’t believe us, there could be real trouble for Garrett.
Finally we went to bed. We kissed and caressed each other but, because our minds were still on our problem, we didn’t feel like going any farther, so after a time we snuggled together and went to sleep.