Playing by Ear (Country Roads #1) - Chapter 20

After a great weekend, I was all prepared for something to derail my week Monday morning. I was surprised when I made it through the whole day and nothing bad happened. No run-ins with Coach Bryant, no bombed math quizzes, no more friends getting cyber-bullied.

By Tuesday afternoon, I was sure the universe was building up for some kind of terrible surprise. Hanna had told me at lunch she would be running late this afternoon and sent a text to Chef letting him know our delayed schedule.

She’d made up with Marcus over the weekend, and they had decided she needed to socialize with his friends more. Other than the one party, most of their time together had been one on one and she hadn’t really spent any time with his friends, who were essentially just the varsity baseball team with a few guys from other sports thrown in.

I honestly thought it was strange that, after the way he treated her, she would be the one needing to make a concession, but she said he had been right. Part of their problem had been she’d kept him somewhat at arm's length, which made it easier for him to believe she was seeing someone else. It wasn’t really my place to judge, since it wasn’t my relationship.

What that meant was that school had been out for ten minutes and I was leaning up against the fence at the back of the parking lot. The school had two parking lots. One between the cafeteria and the sports fields and one on the other side of the school that faced North Main Street. Most students parked here, since the North Main Street lot was half reserved for teachers, making the actual parking available for students smaller than in the back parking lot.

I was partway between the baseball field, which was currently empty, and the football field, which was set up for practice, although none of the team had made it outside yet. I had been looking at the ground by my feet, more than the field, thinking while I waited, so I didn’t notice two people were crossing the baseball field at first.

They weren’t so much crossing as one guy was chasing the other across the baseball field, and it didn’t look to be a fair matchup. The guy in front, running as hard as he could, was not dressed for sports. I don’t know much about fashion, but my guess was he did. Whatever he was wearing, it wasn’t made for running across a baseball diamond.

The guy behind him, I did recognize. One of Aaron’s minions, Harry Torres, was decked out in his football gear and closing fast. I looked around for a teacher and didn’t see anyone, and the running kid was going to be out of room to get away from him soon.

A bucket of baseballs was just inside the fence, probably leftover from the baseball team’s PE class, or whatever they call it. I reached down and pulled out one of the balls. In my current condition, I couldn’t run after them and help the fleeing kid out. I, however, had always been pretty good with a baseball.

I tracked where Torres was going for second and threw the ball, winding back and following through with the throw. It had been more than a year since the last time I played ball, but it felt natural, like putting on a pair of comfortable shoes.

The ball sailed through the air, arcing towards a point that Torres was about to reach. I didn’t actually want to hit him, since I wasn’t looking to hurt anyone. He was wearing pads, so he’d probably be okay, but to be safe I just wanted to get his attention and pull him up short. I aimed instead for a foot or so in front of where he’d be, so he’d clearly see the ball, but wouldn’t be hit by it. He was running at a pretty steady rate, so it wasn’t hard to work out a safe spot to throw it at.

I was a little off on the ball's timing, with it getting there a little closer to him than I wanted. It was still almost a foot away, so he should have been safe. Unfortunately for Harry, he stumbled forward at that moment, leaning out to regain his balance. That lean lowered his head to about where the ball was crossing in front of him, putting him in the contact zone.

The ball smashed him just above the ear and dropped him instantly. His body went limp and his momentum carried him forward, leaving Torres sliding across the grass. The running kid must have heard something, because he stopped and turned around. I could actually see the surprise in his body language as he found the guy who’d been chasing him splayed out on the ground, immobile.

I felt sick. I hadn’t meant to hurt anyone. I started to move towards him when a shout pulled me up short. Coach Bryant and several members of the football team bearing down towards me. I also noticed another man, I assumed a teacher, running towards us from the parking lot.

Coach Bryant stopped right in front of me, inches from my face while the other man dashed around us, heading out to check on Harry.

“Why did you just attack that boy?” Coach Bryant said.

“I didn’t mean to hit him. He was chasing the other kid and there wasn’t anyone around to stop him,” I said, pointing at the kid who was now jogging over to us. “I was just trying to get his attention so the other kid could get away from him.”

“I didn’t see him chasing anyone. I saw you throw a ball at another student's head and knock him down.”

I looked over at the other teacher and saw that Harry was sitting up and okay. It still said wonders for Coach Bryant that he decided to stand here and yell at me instead of check on one of his own players.

“Sir, I …” the kid started to say before being interrupted.

“We’re busy here. School is over and you should go home.”

“Sir, I was …”

“Students are not allowed to remain on campus unless they have extra-curricular activities. He is already headed to the office to talk to the school resource officer. Do you want to go with him?”

The kid gave me an apologetic look and started backing away.

“No sir.”

“Good. You lot,” he said to the players behind him. “Go start running laps until I get back. Nelson, you’ll be coming with me. Assaulting another student is a crime. If you’re very lucky, they’ll only kick you out of school.”

He grabbed my arm and started dragging me towards the school. I let him drag me away, not even trying to fight back. It was all I could do to keep from tripping as I used one crutch to try and swing my bad leg as we walked. My arm hurt from where he was squeezing it, lifting me up slightly, which actually helped me move, even if it hurt like hell.

The realization of what I’d done set in and my stomach started doing flips. I thought back to my dad and his drunken, spur of the moment fight with the guy he killed. I could have killed Harry.

Even if I didn’t, I’d just committed a serious crime. I didn’t know if there was some kind of ‘protecting others’ statute to assault, but Mom and I could never afford an attorney even if there was. Mom would try, and we’d go even more broke keeping me out of jail.

With that one moment of carelessness, I quite possibly ruined our lives. I thought about my dad again.

We got into the office and Coach Bryant hauled me past the secretary.

“I going in to see Vice Principal Keller,” he told the secretary on his way past. “Could you call Officer Peck to come to the office?”

With that, he dragged me through the office to a door marked Vice Principle, and barged in. A middle-aged man with glasses and a goatee sat behind the desk.

“Coach Bryant?” the man, presumably Vice-Principal Keller, said in a confused tone.

“I just witnessed this student assault another student. I’ve asked Officer Peck to join us.”

“Slow down and tell me what’s going on.”

“I …” I started to say until Coach Bryant jerked my arm hard and began speaking over me.

“I walked out of the training room with some of the players to start practice, and I see this student throw a baseball at one of my players already outside, hitting him in the head, knocking the boy out.”

“My God, have you checked on this other boy?”

“Coach Dean went to check on him. He was sitting up and seemed fine when we left.”

“Why did you throw a ball at the other student?”

“He has been a trouble maker from day one. This is the boy that got into a fight with Aaron Campbell, Harry Torres, and Paul Adams on the first day of school. In fact, Harry Torres was the boy he assaulted. I can only assume this was some form of retaliation.”

“Thank you, Coach, but I was asking the student. What’s your name, son?”

“Charlie Nelson.”

“Okay, and why did you throw the ball at Mr. Torres?”

“I was waiting in the parking lot when I noticed Harry chasing another kid across the baseball field. It wasn’t, like, a playing chase. He was running all out and the other kid seemed terrified. I looked around for a teacher, and couldn't find one; and because of my foot, I couldn’t go try and break them up. I wanted to surprise Harry and distract him so the other kid could run away. I aimed to miss him, I swear. I just wanted to get his attention, but he tripped and fell into the path of the ball.”

“I was out there and I didn’t see any students being chased. I just saw this boy hit another boy in the head with a baseball. That’s assault in my book.”

“Hold on, Coach,” a voice came from the doorway behind me.

The man who’d run past me was standing in the doorway, with the kid who Harry had been chasing standing next to him.

“Coach Dean!” Bryant said, surprised. “Where’s Harry?”

“I left him with the nurse, he’ll be fine. Martin,” Coach Dean said to the Vice Principal. “I was coming to the baseball field to collect some equipment, including the bucket of balls, and saw what happened. Harry was chasing Mr. Barnes here. I saw this student throw the ball and if Harry hadn’t of tripped, it would have missed him.”

“I didn’t see that,” Coach Bryant said.

“Maybe it was a bad angle for you. I clearly saw it.”

“Mr. Barnes, is this what happened?” Vice Principal Keller asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Why was Mr. Torres chasing you?”

“He caught me as I was walking to the bus. He made some homophobic comments and said he was going to … umm … beat the gay out of me. He chased me from the bus drop off on the other side of the school to the baseball field. I tried to tell him,” he said, pointing at Coach Bryant, “but he told me to leave, that I wasn’t allowed on campus after school.”

“Is this true, Coach?”

“Well, I didn’t really hear what he said. I was focused on Mr. Nelson and the policy is that students aren’t allowed on campus after school unless they’re in an after school activity.”

“Yes. Well. I will talk with Mr. Torres, but considering the circumstances, I think no one is going to want to involve law enforcement in this.”

“You aren’t going to let him get away with this, are you?” Bryant asked. “We have a zero-tolerance policy in this district. What happens if we start bending the rules for one student?”

“Right,” the vice-principal said, sounding unconvinced. “I guess you are correct. I’m sorry Mr. Nelson, but starting tomorrow, you are suspended for three days. You are not allowed on campus during that time, and may return to school on Friday.”

There was the briefest of smiles on Coach Bryant's face until he realized that Vice Principal Keller was continuing.

“Since Mr. Torres was chasing another student with the intent to do bodily harm, and is a party to this, he also falls under the zero-tolerance policy. After I speak to him and make sure he’s fine, I will inform him of his three-day suspension as well.”

“Wait a minute,” Coach Bryant said, sounding shocked.

“No, you were right. We have policies and we must abide by them. Mr. Barnes, you may go. I’m sorry, but you will probably need to call a ride, since I think the busses have already left. Mr. Nelson, I am giving you this warning. No more throwing baseballs at other students. Consider yourself lucky that you’ve only ended up with a suspension. This situation could very easily have gone another way.”

“I understand,” I said.

I was split. Part of me was thrilled I was only suspended. I’d been picturing multiple doomsday scenarios where Mom would be forced to sell her car to pay for my bail. Suspending was by far the better option here. However, tonight I was going to have to tell Mom what had happened. Considering our talk the other day about me needing to prioritize my school work if I wanted to keep playing at the Blue Ridge, there was still a chance this could all go very badly.

“Okay, you may go. I will have Mrs. Morgan send a note to your teachers informing them of your suspension and requesting your homework.”

“Thank you, Principle Keller.”

I beat a hasty retreat out of the office. Hanna had probably made it to the car by now and was wondering where I went.

“Hold up a second,” Coach Dean said, catching up to me. “That was a hell of a throw. You were aiming to miss that kid, weren't you?”

“Yes, sir. I was trying to put it a foot in front of him, so he’d pull up short. It was closer than I wanted, but I swear I would have missed him if he hadn’t tripped.”

“Yeah, I know. You also had a lot of velocity on that. Have you considered trying out for the baseball team?”

I was confused. I’d just barely avoided being arrested and was now suspended after beaning a kid, and here was a teacher asking me to join one of the sports teams.

“I … uhh … I just got suspended for attacking another student. I’m confused.”

“I watched the whole thing happen. I saw where you threw the ball, and I know you weren’t trying to hurt Mr. Torres. You would have missed him completely if he hadn’t of tripped and fallen forward like he did. Considering you were trying to help out another student, I’m assuming you aren’t actually a trouble maker, so I think we can put this incident aside. I’m the coach of the junior varsity baseball team, and we always need good players. So I’ll ask again, have you considered trying out for the baseball team?”

“No.”

“We’ll have tryouts after Christmas. Do me a favor and come out for them, okay.”

“Umm, I guess.”

“Good. Just consider it, okay,” he said as he walked away.

I turned and headed towards the parking lot, still baffled by the whole conversation. Hanna was waiting on me, annoyed that she had to wait, at least until I explained what happened. I had to then tell it again, this time to Chef, to explain why I was late.

Chef was not amused. I pointed out I’d been aiming to miss him, and only a fluke accident had caused him to get hit, but that didn’t fly. Chef pointed out, forcefully, that accidents are a lack of focus and preparations. By the end, I wasn’t quite sure if Chef was mad I’d hit someone or just mad that it had been by accident. The only thing I was sure of was he was upset, which he showed by working me out extremely hard. I was drenched in sweat by the time we were done, with every inch of my body hurting.

When I got home I did my homework, and then sat on the couch to wait. Dealing with Chef had been bad enough, but the part I was most worried about would be coming in the door at any moment. I still hadn’t told Mom how I was doing in math, but there was no way to postpone the fact that I wasn’t going to school for the next three days.

I almost bailed when she came in the door. Normally when she comes home from work she’s dragging, tired from the day, and just wanting to go to bed. Today she slammed the door behind her, holding something in her hand, reading it. She seemed furious.

At first, I thought maybe it was something from school about my suspension, except that didn’t make sense. They couldn’t have actually mailed something to her already and I’d never heard of mom printing out an email before.

“What’s that?” I asked when she came through the kitchen into the living room.

“What?” She asked angrily, before softening. “Sorry, it’s nothing. Just something I have to deal with. Why are you still up?”

“Is it about Dad?” I took a guess, since he was the only thing that I’d ever seen make her this angry before.

“Yes.”

“Can I see it?”

“No. Charlie, this isn’t about you. I promise if it was I would show it to you. Now, what are you still doing up?”

This was the point I almost bailed. Even though she softened her tone, she was still pissed.

“I have some … uhh … news.”

“I’m assuming this is bad news, yes?”

“Yes. I got suspended from school for three days.”

“You WHAT!”

“I can explain.”

“I sure as hell hope so.”

“I was waiting in the parking lot for Hanna, and I saw one of the football players chasing a kid I didn’t know. The guy being chased looked scared. I couldn’t run out and help because of my foot, and I couldn’t see any teachers. There was a bucket of baseballs nearby. My plan was to throw one in front of the football player and distract him, so the running kid could get away from him. I threw it, and it would have missed him, except he tripped and kind of fell into it headfirst.”

“Let me get this straight, you threw a baseball at another student and hit him in the head? Is he okay?”

“Yes, he got knocked out, but the baseball coach checked on him and said he was fine.”

“What were you thinking?”

“That he was about to hurt someone and I needed to help.”

“Did you consider any of the consequences before you threw the baseball? Not just school, which you’re lucky is only a suspension. They could have expelled you for that. You could have killed the kid. A blow to the head is no joking matter. Do you want to go to prison? What about his family? Even though he’s okay, what if they decide to sue us?”

“I didn’t think about any of that. Honestly, I was trying to miss him.”

“You didn’t think, is the problem. Charlie, I’m glad you’ve decided you have this need to protect people all of the sudden, but you need to think about what you’re doing before you just jump into something like this. Actions have consequences. Now that you’re getting older, those consequences are serious. I thought you, of all people, would have figured this out. You know where your father is.”

“I know, but what am I supposed to do. If someone is being attacked or hurt, am I supposed to just stand by and let it happen?”

“I didn’t say that. You just need to think through what you’re doing and realize there are consequences.”

“I did think about the consequences. I wasn’t trying to hit him. If he hadn’t of tripped I wouldn’t have. He was catching up to the other kid and I couldn’t just let him hurt the guy for no reason. You say it’s good to take action to help someone else, but even when I actively try to hurt no one, I still do the wrong thing. It can’t be both ways, Mom! I can either try and help people or stay out of it to avoid any consequences. Which type of person should I be?”

I was starting to get mad! What I’d done was what I’d learned from her, growing up. That we always stand up for other people and that we always try and help those in need. Now I was being called out for doing exactly that.

“Charlie, I know it’s frustrating, but this is what it’s like being an adult. It was only a little more than a month ago that you got into a fight and hurt your foot. If Mrs. Philips hadn’t stepped in to help with the bills, we would be in serious trouble. Now there’s this.”

“Mom, I will try and be careful, but I’m not going to stop doing the right thing because it could come back on me. I know that if I am doing things for the right reason, God will look after us, like he already has.”

I didn’t mention religion often and my family wasn’t particularly religious, since Dad was an atheist, but Mom grew up Methodist and had taken me to church when she could. I honestly wasn’t sure what I was, but I did believe in God and I meant it when I said he was looking after us. For as bad as that morning against Aaron and his friends had been, a lot of good had come out of it, since I met Hanna because of it, and through her Willie and Chef.

“For the rest of this week and next, you’re grounded. No going out on dates, no practicing, no playing music. You can go to work and school and that’s it.”

“I have to play on Saturdays!”

“No, you don’t have to do anything. You’re sixteen years old. All you have to do is go to school.”

“Mom, I made a commitment to them. They’ve changed their entire music nights around me, and they’ve started getting crowds out specifically for me. Besides, my paychecks are based on the crowds and crowds have been getting pretty big. My check on Friday will be even larger than the last one. You know we can use the money, especially if it’s growing.”

Her mouth narrowed as she considered. She clearly didn’t want to let me play, since she knew that would be where would I hurt the most, but she couldn’t deny the money was important.

“I guess you’re also going to argue you need to practice with the band on Friday to be ready for Saturday.”

“I was going to.”

“Fine, but that’s it.”

“Can I call Chef and tell him I won’t be there except for work. He puts aside time for training me, and it would be rude to just not show up.”

“Yes, but do it quickly then go to bed.”

I went to the phone and punched in Chef's number, quickly explaining what was happening when he answered. Instead of saying okay, he asked to talk to Mom. The surprising thing was after listening to him for a second she told me to go get ready for bed and she would speak to me after she got off the phone.

It was almost ten minutes later when she came into my room.

“Your Chef and I have come to an understanding. You can go work out after school for the next two weeks. For the days you are suspended, he will pick you up at nine AM. You will work with him and do training on those days. Hanna will bring your missed classwork and homework. You are still grounded from any dates over the next two weeks, as well as any additional outings that aren’t to school or the Blue Ridge.”

She knew the only outings I’d been doing besides going to the Blue Ridge was going out with Rhonda. I’d kept my schedule pretty full since the beginning of the year, so there wasn’t time for much else. Not getting to go out with Rhonda was a blow, but I would still see her at school once my suspension was over.

I was glad I would get to play and train still, but I was surprised that she’d changed her mind so much. The only explanation was that Chef had told her he would make sure it was a punishment. Considering how hard he’d worked me today, I couldn’t imagine how he’d push me harder, but I did not doubt that he would.