The Druid
By: Dark Shadow
(© 2006 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...


Chapter 2
The Dance

I walked beside Brian on the concrete death row, toward my new school, staring at the small colored pebbles that formed the sidewalk beneath my feet. I had hoped to make it past the flag pole and the jocks leaning against it.

I felt the one called Jerid O'Toole walking toward us and I braced myself.

"Yo, Brian!" Jerid yelled, shoving Brian's shoulder knocking him into me. I was ready for it, and stopped Brian from falling. I felt the aggravation in Jerid for not having succeeded in pushing him to the ground.

"What the hell are you doing with 'freak show'?" Jerid asked, while his friends followed, laughing.

I didn't mind a nickname, but this one was definitely not on my preferred list. I watched as they surrounded us. Jerid gave Brian's arm a strong pull, and threw him to the ground, leaving me in the center of them. I tried to go to Brian, to see if he was alright, but Jerid blocked my way and pushed me back. I could feel their hostility as it crawled up the center of my spine.

"So, I hear you live with those two old fags out on Orion Road," Jerid spat at me.

"Four against one, you must be pretty scared of me," I answered, ignoring his question, and let my book bag slide down my arm to the sidewalk. The fag comment didn't bother me, but the fact that he pushed so much hate behind it, did. I was going to get my ass kicked.

"I'm not afraid of any faggot!" Jerid yelled, shoving me backwards, causing me to stumble and fall into the dew soaked grass.

We were quickly drawing a crowd as I rose from the ground and brushed myself off. A breeze pushed through the area and the Uncles' wind whisper came to me. "Dance."

I began the slow fluid motions of the dance of battle. My feet planted into the ground for balance as my arms arced to the sky in slow rounding circles.

"Ooo, the fag thinks he knows Karate," Jerid yelled, and the growing crowd erupted into laughter around us.

It wasn't Karate, it was a dance! I hadn't learned to fight, had I? My heart was pounding and I felt sweat forming on my skin. I dove into Jerid's mind, picking out his most hidden secrets and insecurities.

"What are you doing you stupid fag?" Jerid asked laughing.

"The dance of battle," I said. "You still fishing through your mom's underwear drawer hoping your other testicle will drop, half-a-man?" I was angry and spat out the words.

The crowd stepped back in sudden silence as Jerid's face contorted from embarrassment to complete rage. I could feel Jerid's embarrassment feed a now blinding rage as it coursed through his veins like molten lava.

Jerid ran toward me with an almost inhuman yell as I continued the dance. I spun around him in a crouch and sent him flying into the ring of people with the slightest push to his upper back. The boy had no balance. The uncles had taught me to fight after all. I just hadn't realized it. 'Crafty bastards,' I thought.

Jerid's three friends ran toward me from the crowd. I danced my way through them, sending them to the ground. It was like a strange waltz that only I knew the steps to, as I ducked and weaved between them.

"This battle is over," I said, as the four of them lay on the ground moaning and bleeding.

I walked toward Brian as the crowd parted, giving me a wide birth. I wanted to see if he was alright. I felt Jerid running up behind me and knelt, extending my right leg behind me and into his groin. He fell to the ground with a vicious grunt.

"This battle is over," I said even louder, turning to look back at him. Jerid was in the fetal position, rocking back and forth, groaning in pain.

I know I hadn't done any real harm to him physically. Jerid's pride, however, had suffered a mortal wound. His mind was awash with astonishment at having been beaten so quickly and absolutely, by a supposed 'fag'. His embarrassment was growing exponentially and I could feel his tears pushing against the backs of his eyes. His withering ego brushed my heart like a fragile and tattered thing and I couldn't help the flood of pity that went out to him, from my heart.

I stood again and made my way to Brian. He was nursing a nasty cut on his elbow from where he had fallen. I pulled some cobwebs from the almost skeletal bushes that dotted the front of the school. I gently took his arm in my hand and carefully pressed the cobwebs against the gash, and placed a leaf from the bushes over the area.

"Hold this in place; it will stop the bleeding," I said as I knelt beside him, tending to the wound. I thanked the spider and bush with my thoughts.

"You okay?" I asked as I peered into his gold-flecked green eyes.

Brian sat for a moment looking at me wide eyed. "Uh, yeah," he finally stammered. His lips curled into an almost imperceptible grin. He was astonished and filled with triumph from what I had just done. He was overflowing with the sensation of vindication and I worried. He had enjoyed Jerid's humiliated too much.

We made our way to the front right pair of double doors of the school, when the principal, Mr. Kard, came bursting through the door. He grabbed my right fore-arm and sleeve, tearing my shirt.

"You'll come with me young man!" he growled.

"Get your hands off of me!" I said, brusquely, surprised by the lower tone of my own voice. I spun my right arm in an arc around his, planted my feet, and slammed my left palm into his chest. He flew backwards nearly three feet and shattered the glass of the metal door with his impact. Luckily, the window was made of safety glass and didn't follow him to the concrete below, where he now sat slumped, in a daze.

The disorientation was quickly leaving Mr. Kard. I rushed past him as I pushed Brian through the door, heading toward the principal's office. It took a few moments for me to grasp the severity of what I had just done. I was quickly filling with dread, still not sure how far I had crossed the line.

"You better make yourself scarce. I'm not sure what's going to happen now," I said to Brian, softly.

I went through the office doorway, past the unit secretary, and straight to Mr. Kard's office. As I was turning the doorknob to his office Ms. Sanders said, "Mr. Kard is not in at the moment. You're not allowed in his office."

"Trust me, he's going to want to see me after he gets back up," I mumbled and went into his office. I stood in front of his desk waiting.

It seemed like only seconds later that he came storming into his office and slammed the heavy wooden door behind him. He was seething with hate.

I changed my stance, sensing his desire to do more than just yell at me. Mr. Kard had been completely embarrassed and had lost any control over the anger he might have had moments ago.

"Who in the hell do you think you are!?" he bellowed.

The phone rang and he all but ripped it from his desk before speaking.

"Hello!" he answered with too much hostility.

The expression on his face changed almost instantly as I heard the words, 'arrest,' 'assault,' and 'son of a bitch.' I didn't know who was on the other end of the phone, but they were tearing up his ass! Mr. Kard's once blazing red face was now quickly losing its color. I heard the word 'blowjob' and knew it was Uncle Trent. They were keeping a close eye on me, and it made my heart yearn for their company and the quiet of our home.

"Yes," he hissed into the phone and slammed it against the plastic base.

His eyes blazed with hatred as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his billfold.

"That's for your shirt," he grumbled, and threw a now crumpled twenty dollar bill at me.

"Now get the fuck out of my office," he growled.

If the man didn't calm down, he was going to have a heart attack. While he wasn't my most favorite person in the world, I didn't want him dead. I picked up the wadded bill, stuffed it into my pocket, and headed to class.

The bell sounded, signaling the three minute mark before class was to begin. The halls roared with noise as lockers slammed and whispers of this morning's events traveled from mouth to ear.

Euphoria choked the air as Brian walked up behind me.

"In three minutes, you are going to be the most famous student this school has ever known," he said in an excited but quiet voice. Brian was so timid.

"Try to behave yourself." The wind whispered Kent's message through the open classroom window as we walked to our seats.

Brian turned and gave me the strangest look. "Me? I think maybe you should try to behave before you get expelled," he said with a smile.

"What?" I said. 'Did he hear the wind whisper,' I thought to myself as the second bell sounded.

I sat in my seat and tried to sort out what was going on while Mr. Franks took attendance. Brian gave me a small push from behind and pulled me from my daze.

"Ty Charleson." I hard my name as my zoology teacher stood staring at me. I would bet this wasn't the first time he had called my name.

"Here." I answered.

"Ahhh, thank you for joining us," he said, staring at me.

"Thank you for having me, Mr. Franks," I answered sincerely.

A few giggles swept across the room as he peered at me through squinted eyes. He turned and continued taking roll.

"Man, you're really pushing it today, aren't you," Brian whispered into my ear from the desk behind me.

'What!' I thought. I was going to have to block out all of this emotional noise. It felt like half the school was climbing out of their skin with the new story that would have to wait another 45 minutes to tell.

I closed my eyes and pushed away the emotions that jabbed at me like a thousand needles. I imagined an impenetrable second skin around myself that sealed me away from the chaos. The room had become deathly quiet and I opened my eyes.

It didn't take any empathic skill to recognize the scowl on Mr. Frank's face. The brown haired girl, who I later found was named Krista, was handing me a stack of text books. I quickly grabbed the pile from her, took one, and passed the remainder back to Brian.

"Copy the notes from the board," he said, "and read Chapter 1. There will be a quiz at the beginning of class tomorrow."

Mr. Franks centered his dark brown eyes on me. "I will expect complete silence for the rest of the class."

My barrier was holding, but it was strange. At home there was still nature to feel in the silence. With this 'second skin' in place, however, it made everything seem almost fake. Everything had suddenly become tangible, but plastic. Even the breeze blowing in from the nearby windows didn't seem to reach my skin. It was like making a snowball with gloves on. You could feel the cold, and firmness of the snow, but you didn't experience the crunch and frozen bite as the flakes melted against your skin. Even though it was so foreign, I was thankful for the small bit of peace it brought my mind.

I opened my text book and stared at the first page of Chapter 1. I didn't really read the words; instead, I followed the curve of the black lettering as my mind wandered. I wondered if Jerid and the others were okay. I was also a little worried that they would seek some form of retaliation, and if this was going to become a daily ritual. I wondered if Shadow was okay. She didn't like being left home alone. Lastly, I wondered if Brian had actually heard the wind whisper, or if I had somehow imagined it. I was grateful I had missed this class yesterday. If it was this boring today, I can't imagine what kind of mind numbing experience yesterday would have been.

I had been lost in my thoughts when the bell rang, nearly causing me to jump out of my seat.

"Come on, time for PE," Brian said, slamming his book shut.

We stopped at his locker and he spilled his things into the bottom, without a care. A few lockers down we stopped at mine and I did the same. I was about to walk away, when I decided to give them a quick shove, giving them a little more order. I would have to get them back out eventually, and I didn't like the mess.

We walked down the hallway and into the large gym. This school had two. In the winter the girls would occupy one, and the boys the other, or so Mr. Durgo had explained yesterday. Only on rare occasions would there be coed gym class. It was fine by me. I didn't have any problems being around girls, I simply had no taste for them.

We trudged like cattle across the gym. The echoes seemed to bounce from every surface and back again. I could see the glances of the other students when they thought I wasn't paying attention. I hadn't noticed yesterday, but this group of boys seemed to revel in their own chaotic look. There were about thirty of us in all. There were a few well dressed young men. I have read it described as preppy. There were about eight or so that looked like they missed the class on personal hygiene, and the rest were in the darkest clothes. A couple even had makeup around their eyes and black painted fingernails. They were clean, but made an incredible attempt to look just the opposite. I had read about it. They were called gothic, and some articles called the style Emo. They didn't care what anyone thought of their appearance, but went to great lengths to look a certain way. It seemed a little hypocritical to me.

One of the darker, more painted boys walked past me, gave a small nod, and grinned.

"That was epic. Nice job," he said and continued to the area just before the entrance to the locker rooms.

The second bell sounded, indicating the beginning of class. We continued our stroll toward the rest of the boys now gathered. We finished the last few steps as Mr. Durgo walked through the locker room entranceway carrying a large cardboard box.

"Okay gentleman. Indicate your size, grab a lock, find a locker, and change for class. Now line up!" he yelled.

We merged into a single file line against the waist high wall of the stage that was the front of the gymnasium. Black metal framing and heavily varnished wooden collapsible bleachers lined the sides of the large basketball court. The far wall held a center hung blank score board, pennants of some kind, a couple of poorly painted murals, and a side entrance to the cafeteria.

"Size," he said.

"Size," he said louder.

I looked up to see Mr. Durgo staring at me.

"Size," he practically yelled.

"Huh? Oh, uh, 30 shorts, medium shirt." I answered.

A fatter man stood beside him. Mr. DePorter, the assistant PE coach/instructor, also taught the special education classes when not helping in PE. He rifled through the cardboard box, and shoved an ugly pair of green shorts, and a green and white shirt toward me.

"Medium," he said as I took them and looked around for Brian. He was waiting at the entrance to the locker room.

"You're really not with it today are you," he asked me.

"No, I've never been in a school before," I said.

"No shit?!" he gawked at me.

"No shit." I answered with a grin.

"Get moving you two," Mr. Durgo bellowed.

I followed Brian past the coach's office and into the last doorway that led to the locker rooms. Inside the door was a metal basket with a pile of used and somewhat rusty combination locks. Brian grabbed one and I did the same, following him. We went to the row of lockers closest to the entrance to the showers, but about halfway down the row.

"Quick in, quick out," he said to me.

I knew why I wouldn't want to be in here long with a lot of beefy naked men, but I didn't know why he would want to make it a quick visit. Now was not the time to try and feel what these guys were thinking. I was getting nervous. I couldn't do anything that would make these people think I was gay. Just keep my eyes to the floor and get the job done. I resented the idea that I should have to hide it. By the time I had resolved myself to changing my clothes, Brian was already pulling down his pants. Woah.. look the other way. I busied myself with changing my clothes and looked up to see Brian waiting.

"The combination is on the tape. Memorize it, and throw it away." He said.

"Oh, okay." I answered.

I pealed the old brown tape from the bottom of the scratched up combination lock and hoped that the sloppy scribbles in blue ink were actually the numbers I thought they were. I tested the lock combination and pulled it open on the first try.

"Looks like you've done this before," Brian said, popping open his lock.

"Nope, first time," I answered, stuffing my clothes into the small tan locker next to his.

I followed Brian into the gym. Over half the class period had been spent getting us situated. We had finally all gathered against the risers.

"Well, since you spent most of my class changing clothes, I think you'll run laps for the rest of the period." Mr. Durgo bellowed.

Several groans were heard and we began a seemingly endless jog around the gymnasium. Working in the garden and around the house had kept me in shape, but it wasn't long before I was panting like the rest of them and sweating up a storm. I was quickly beginning to build a dislike for Mr. Durgo.

"Okay, gentlemen, hit the showers," he yelled and disappeared into his office.

We filed back into the locker room and landed on the bench in front of our lockers. People were undressing and wandering through the aisles to the shower area. Okay, rinse off, and get dressed. I fumbled with the combination lock, not having the same luck as my first try. I was nervous and uncomfortable. Nudity had never been an issue at our house but it was an issue here. I finally got the lock opened and fished out my regular school clothes and laid them on the bench. I stripped down and walked into my first high school group shower.

The speed at which they rinsed was amazing. I learned the skill after watching for a few quick, covert moments. Walk into the spray of water, close your eyes, spin around a couple of times, and get the hell out. Fleeting glances told me Brian was a true blond, and that most, if not all, of these guys were circumcised. I was not, and reminded myself that this really wasn't the best time to think about it. Moments later I made it out of the locker room, clothed and without incident.

I found Brian leaning against the concrete wall near the locker room entrance as I walked out.

"Not bad for your first time," he said grinning at me.

It seemed strange to me. Yesterday he had felt so cut off and beat down, and today he seemed almost, happy.

"Thanks," I said, "Lunch time?"

"Yeah, they try to call it that," Brian said as we started walking toward the cafeteria entrance.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that this city doesn't have a single stray cat," he said.

"What!" I yelled, hearing my voice echo off the concrete walls.

"Relax!" he hissed at me, "it was a joke!" He stopped walking, flashed his green eyes at me and shook his head before starting again toward the line that was forming at the cafeteria entrance.

Yesterdays lunch period wasn't a happy memory. I had gone through the line and collected my tray and slid it onto the metal rail. I stood in front of Doris as she glared back at me. She gave me the image of a very unhappy Viking woman whose hairnet was missing horns. She is a short thick woman of about 5 feet and the shoulders of a linebacker. We didn't hit it off.

--------

"Lunch?" Doris barked at me.

"Yes please, salad," I answered.

She took her hoof of a hand, clenched the two pronged spit, and stabbed it into the stew of dead cow and some kind of brown sauce that swirled in a deep square metal pan.

"Look kid, we don't have salad here. You want lunch or not?" she asked, as her hand flexed on the skewer handle.

"I can't eat that!" I said.

"What, you too good to eat my cooking?" Doris barked.

"It's not that, I don't eat meat. I can see a head of lettuce on that table behind you. Can I just have some of that?" I asked.

The fat puffy lids of her eyes almost squeezed shut as she turned and snatched the head of lettuce from the table behind her. She slammed it onto my tray, sending out a small spray of shattered green leaves.

"There you go, one salad, now move it. You're holding up the line." Doris growled.

'A truly lovely woman,' I thought. 'I've seen more joy in a rotting carcass.'

I only ate a quarter of the head of lettuce and returned the rest to Doris after I had finished my 'salad.'

"Excuse me," I said softly.

"The names Doris, waddya want," she gumbled without even turning around to see who she was speaking to.

"Could you save this for tomorrow?" I asked.

"Huh?" she said, turning. "Oh, you. Yeah, sure," she said, snatching up the left over head of lettuce and chucked it into the large grey plastic trash can."

"Beat it," she snapped, turning back to her work.

'Oh yeah... I could definitely feel the joy.' I thought.

-------

I had my tray again, and stood before Doris, trying not to stare at a large brown mole above her left eyebrow. Is that a hair? Today she stood behind a large metal tray of flattened breaded slabs of something.

"Lunch," she barked, twisting a spear in one of the brown things.

"Yes, please, salad," I answered.

Those fat lids pressed again for a moment while she stared at me. She turned around and this time presented me with a large bowl of lettuce, cheese, and chopped meats.

'Well, she did try,' I thought.

"Thank you, Doris," I said.

"Move it kid, you're holding up the line," she snapped.

I looked out at the sea of tables and saw Brian waving me over to his. No one sat with him as he seemed to huddle in a nondescript corner of the room. That served me just fine. I walked through the ocean of students, riding their stares until I finally made my way to Brian's table.

"What is that?" Brian asked, his jaw gaping open, as I sat down across from him.

"It's a salad," I answered as I picked the chucks of ham and, I suspected, turkey from the top of the lettuce.

"Doris made you that?" he asked, staring at me.

"Yeah, I don't eat meat though," I said as I finished fishing through the remaining cheese and lettuce.

"No fucking way!" he said quietly.

"She's not very friendly, is she?" I said more than asked, as I began eating my salad.

"What?!" I asked, looking at him as he still stared.

"I'm waiting to see if it kills you," Brian answered.

"Eat your dead animal, Brian," I snapped.

We finished our lunch and the bell was due to ring soon. I stood up and started back toward Doris.

"What are you doing?" Brian asked.

"I need to talk to Doris," I answered him.

"I have to see this," he whispered.

We made our way to the serving area where Doris was busy at work at the table again. She was scrubbing on something. The movement from our angle was not very complimentary to her 'figure.' It reminded me of too many pilled up rubber toys in an earthquake.

"Excuse me, Doris," I said softly.

"What is it?" she barked.

"Thank you for the salad but," I paused as she seemed to hover and spin in place to glare at me.

"Well, I hate for you to go to so much trouble, when I don't eat meat," I said.

"Get the hell out of here kid," she growled and turned back to her scrubbing at the table.

The bell rang and the next few classes seemed to drone on with nothing of importance I cared to remember.

I walked out the front doors of the school, behind Brian, as the last bell of the day rang. I whispered across the winds to my uncles, "Well, I made it through another day."

"Barely," Brian answered.

I stopped walking. That was twice he'd done that. He shouldn't be able to hear. How could he be Druid and not know it? How could he be Druid and eat meat?

Brian turned to find I wasn't still following. "Hey, you want a ride?" he almost yelled.

"Uh, no thanks, maybe tomorrow?" I asked.

Brian shrugged and continued walking toward the parking lot.

I found my bus and rode back to my garden, Shadow, and a lot of questions.

TBC