All that Drama

He wrapped his arms around my neck and looked at me like I was the cat's meow. "How do you know what to say?"

"I just say what I feel, and right now I feel," I kissed along his neck, "like we were interrupted. But I need to take a shower. Someone shot something all over my chest." He giggled. "How about I meet you in the cafeteria and we'll decide what to do from there."

"Or I could take a shower too since someone shot something all over my insides." I groaned and shook my head.

"The nerve of some people...I swear." We had our showers and on my way out to the quad I passed Kai in the hall and could not resist being evil. He never saw it coming until I had a handful of his ass cheek. "Never said anything about when we're not playing ball." He jumped about ten feet in the air and landed on his butt. He looked up at me like I was going to be dead, but he ended up laughing. "Golly, Kai, why are you sitting on the ground?"

"It's safer." I helped him up and he chuckled. "Dude, I'm glad you two hooked up. Hector's cool and I think you'll be good for each other."

"Not to mention he gives the best blow jobs ever. What did you give him out of ten?"

"He told...I hate the both of you." He spun and stalked away but not before I saw that laughter in his eyes. "Ten, by the way." I could only laugh at his retreating back.

The cafeteria was packed with students all saying their goodbyes. It was the last week of school and those who did not live on campus were making plans to meet up with friends over the Summer vacation/term. The place was filled with conversation and I realized as I looked over at where the "in" Crowd sat that I would not miss them. I had a whole new crowd that I liked a lot more. I found my friends on the stage tables and saw off to one side were Sarah and Seth. "Who introduced those two?" Jerry asked me.

"I did. If I'm reading this right he's been apologizing for the past hour."

"Close. She finally had to shut him up the old fashioned way."

"She kissed him?" Jerry nodded. I was grinning as Seth gave me the thumbs up. I had never seen him happier and Sarah did not look adverse to his company either. There was some actual chemistry there. "Huh. She could do much worse than Seth, and he could not do much better."

"So the fact that he's a crony does not count?"

"I'm trying to get him away from Steven before Seth gets into a jam he can't get out of. Sarah agrees with me and is trying to give him a reason to break away." Jerry nodded and finished his breakfast. I snagged two plates from the counter for me and Hector, but I could not make it back to the group because my former friends were blocking my way. "Guys," I said in a sort if greeting that was part warning.

"Shut up you faggot loving bitch." I nodded like he had gotten a good one on me. "Seth told us you were fucking the sissy boy. Maybe it's the other way around."

"Maybe, but at least I don't bank on Daddy's money to get into college or to pick up on chicks or to afford a new car every year. I don't have to buy friend. Now get out of my way, Steven." My voice was controlled and tight. If he wanted to go a round I would happily oblige him.

"Yeah, get out of his way." Kai and two of the team were standing off to one side. Carl and Rafa were both on the offensive line and easily could take any two of the Crowd.

"You standing up for this punk fucker?"

"Yeah. Justice may be gay, but that puts him way above you." Kai shouldered through the crowd and stood next to me. He put his arm around my shoulder. "I have no problem seeing the fact that he's a cool dude, great quarterback, decent actor and the best damned writer I know. You're afraid to even touch him. Afraid he'll pull you out of your homophobic closet with gay cooties?" Carl was chuckling. Rafa wiggled his fingers and made a ghost like ooh.

"You fucking the sissy boy too, Kai?" I saw it coming, Carl saw it coming, Rafa had been waiting for it, but Steven did not until he was laying on the ground. Kai had popped him one right in the snot box and dropped him with that one hit. Other than football Kai was a boxer.

"That 'sissy boy' happens to be a really close friend, my girlfriend's cousin, and the boyfriend of my best friend Justice. If I ever hear you call him...no. If I ever hear you calling anyone who is gay a faggot or a punk I'll break you in two." I was enjoying this. More so because there was a crowd forming and all of them seemed to be sneering at Steven like he was filth. I remembered some of their faces from the audience the day before and knew my message had been heard.

"Steven, old friend. Leave me and my boyfriend, and my other friends, alone. Everyone can see what a petty, pathetic creep you are. I doubt that any lovely lady here will ever give you the time of day now that your true colors are revealed." Quite a few of the women nodded too. Hell, three of them he had slept with in the past year. "So just get up and walk away." He actually did too, shoving his way through the onlookers and holding his nose to stop the bleeding. The Crowd followed dutifully behind although I did see more than one re-evaluating his position. The onlookers applauded as I gave Kai a rough hug. "You are a brute, Kai. Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Don't mention it, bro." I gave Carl and Rafa high fives. I got a decent shock when Rafa took Carl's hand.

"It must be catching." They pulled me into a three way hug and I got a noogie from Carl.

"These two actually told me they'd been dating since they were freshmen in HS. Introduced them to Hector who helped them tell their families."

"God, have I been blind?"

"No, you just weren't looking." Hector came over with a smile and kissed me in front of the few remaining onlookers. They gave a few cat calls and some rather lewd comments, but it was not meant to hurt. They were letting us know that they were not like Steven, and I felt really lucky to have pulled my head out of my ass before it got stuck. "Want to join us for breakfast, boys?"

"Sure." It must have looked very odd to those who still believed that cliques were supposed to be separate. The drama geeks were eating with some of the jocks, I was of both worlds so I did not count, two of which were dating and had been for eight years. There were also a few of the exchange students hanging out with Gina and Jerry. Sarah and Seth were still off in the corner chatting up a storm. Life was better for all of us.

By the end of the week every student had seen my skit and I gave an interview for the local newspaper on why I wrote it. "Call it karma. I was a real jerk in high school that I wanted to put the message out there that it's not cool to be that way. Call it my personal penance and community service. If one person sees it and changes their thinking then I did my job." The guy from Berkley came back up and he brought the entire drama department just to see my skit. That way they can see what the author wanted it to be like. He offered me a nice sum of money to write a full length stage script. It would be my work, my name on it, but used solely by Berkley...for now. He seemed to think that quite a few schools would want their own copies.

"Are you going to do it?" Hector asked me. We were in the dressing room for our last performance of our skit and of the year. One more time we had to say those campy, silly lines and kiss in front of everyone. One more time I had to worry Steve was going to go Columbine on me and Hector.

"I think so. Not for the money, but just to say 'I wrote that.' To be able to look back and say I did something right." He shook his head fondly and gave me a kiss on my nose as the door burst inward.

"Guys, don't go out there." Seth, the ubique barging expert at his finest.

"Why?"

"Steven's out for blood." Our elation died with those four words.

"How do you know?"

"C'mon, Justice, I know what you guys say about me. That I'm slow, that if I was any dumber you'd have to water me twice a week." I know I felt ashamed. I was guilty of thinking him slow, but the last line was just cruel. "I'm not bright, I know that, but I see things. I'm great at jigsaw puzzles. I get them. This entire semester had been one big puzzle that I finally knew more than the rest. So don't go out there." His puppy eyes were glistening with tears. He was so adamant that both of us nodded. The sunshine came out as he smiled and gave us both quick hugs and dashed out again. "I'll tell Jerry."

I looked at Hector and he nodded. We stripped out of our costumes and into regular clothes. All of my things had been shipped to my Father's six bedroom, two story house in northern California for my stay there during the summer, so I did not worry about leaving anything. The two of us slipped casually out the PA wing and into the music hall. God bless the thousand exits of any college. Even if Steven suspected we would leave he could not cover all the exits. Running for my car we were in and gone in under a minute. I thought we had made it, but no.

In my rear view mirror I saw Steven in his Tundra barreling towards us at top speed. "Hold on," I said and took the turn onto the highway at close to eighty. My car was not the fastest, his Tundra would catch us in a straight run, but mine was suped up to corner like a dream. I did not have to worry about rolling her even at ninety.

"Where are we going?"

"The place where there will be the most witnesses." This would be the final showdown and I could tell Hector knew it too. The car jerked as he hit the back of it. "Shit!" I changed lanes to avoid another collision and took the on ramp to I-5 south. He had to slow way down to make the turn so we gained some much needed distance.

That was when the CHP flashed their lights. "Not now!" Hector cried. I pulled over and sat there tapping my steering wheel while looking in my rear-view mirror for the missile that was a Toyota Tundra.

The officer got out of his car and sauntered up to the window. "License and registration please." I handed them to him. "Mister Anderson, do you know how fast you were going?"

"Probably about eighty-five considering there is this psycho who is trying to run us off the road." The officer took a breath to comment and it was his last.

Steven and his Tundra plowed into my car and the officer was caught in between them. He died instantly. My car was thrown over the guard rail and it tumbled down the embankment...I blacked out for a few moments and came to when someone pulled me out of the wreckage and smashed their fist into my face. "You fucking dick sucking bitch! I'm going to kill you for that little play!" I was so out of it that I could not even lift my arms to stop him.

But I could muster up one last retort. "I've won," I choked out. "No matter what you do to me everyone will always know what you are." I coughed up blood and spit it in his face. "You will be locked up for the rest of your life, and Hector will be safe."

"He's dead, you punk fucker." He spun me so I could see Hector laying motionless at the base of a tree. Beyond him the car was totaled. "I win." I felt cold. My body was shutting down and my mind was getting sluggish, but I had one last act in me. One last parting shot. I took a shard of glass out of my leg, it no longer seemed to hurt really, and stabbed him in the gut. The wind whooshed from his lungs and he looked at me in shock.

"But I'm not going down without taking you with me." We both fell over.

Hector was in the ER for two days just to make sure he would live. He had a concussion, two broken ribs, a broken jaw and a new scar on the side of his head. Otherwise he was fine, physically. He had heard what Steven said but could not move to help Justice. He heard what his boyfriend had said. Justice was dead. Sarah had broken the news to him and only by sheer force of will did he not cry. "He...did he kill Steven?" he asked through a wired jaw.

"No. He's in ICU, but he'll live." The man nodded and shut his eyes. He could see Justice there. He saw the first time he walked into Homeroom their junior year in high school looking like a Mr. Hard Body calendar model. Hector had wanted to talk to him, to welcome him to the school, but the ramrod posture, brutal haircut and cold look in his eyes told Hector he would like to talk to a queer.

He saw him pulling Steven off of him through the blood red haze of his beating and wondered why the guy did it. Why help someone you obviously hated? He remembered the look on his face when Hector had thanked him for saving his life. He had been so shocked but so relieved that Hector was going to live. Then Hector saw how much he had changed over that summer. He still ran with the Crowd, but he did not seem to be a part of it any more. Whenever Steven was not looking his face was troubled. It was obvious to Hector he did not like the politics any more. They had sat next to each other at graduation and Justice had offered his congratulations on being valedictorian. He seemed honest.

Hector stopped trying to think about him at least for a moment and opened his eyes. "He's getting charged, right?"

"Murder, stalking, harassment, hate crimes...the works. He'll be someone's prison bitch for the rest of his life." Hector nodded and turned away. Justice had prevailed then, but the cost was too high. "I know you miss him. It's okay to cry." Sarah was trying to be comforting. She wanted him to grieve, to get that part over with, and remember the good times.

"He would want me to move on and forget him. To smile...this is the best I can do right now." She nodded. That was probably what he would want too, but it was not what Hector wanted or needed.

Hector was at home dressing for court. He had offered his testimony and statements to the cops and the DA. There would be no trial, Steven was urged to take a deal by his father so Steven would go on living in prison instead of being put to death by lethal injection. The sentencing hearing would be short, there was no way he could even appeal it with his past. "Honey, you have a letter from Berkley."

Hector was fixing his tie as he walked to the living room. His Mom held out the letter. It was from the admissions office. He opened it and read, his jaw falling open. "I've been asked to attend on full scholarship." His voice was a whisper. "Mom, Justice...he said that they needed to consider me for acceptance or they could not have his play." He took a shuddering breath. Then he sobbed out all the pain he had kept bottled up for the past month and cried. Even in death Justice had done his best to make sure he was happy and secure. How, he was not sure, but Justice had done it. Hector cried out his hurt and wailed out his sorrow until he could not shed another tear and he was drying his face as they entered the court. All the drama department was there, Seth holding Sarah's hand. "You two get hooked up?" he asked, his voice so raw.

"Yeah." Seth pulled him into a hug, which was kinda awkward since he was almost a foot shorter than Hector. "You got your letter?" Hector nodded. "Sarah got one too. Me too. I'm on a Criminal justice scholarship. Forensics." Hector could not even stop himself from gaping. Seth laughed. "Hey, it's all one big puzzle. I get it, you know?"

So Justice had made sure his friends were all given an opportunity to move on. "All rise." As one the courtroom audience stood. "The honorable judge Clark Luther presiding." The judge walked in and sat.

"You may be seated." The scraping of chairs and the shuffling of feet was the only sound. Everyone was here to see Justice win postmortem. "Will the defendant please rise." Steven stood somewhat. He could not stand up straight with a hundred stitches in his stomach. "In the case of The State of California versus Steven Anthony Jackson the sentencing is as follows. On the count of Murder in the Second degree you have plead guilty. You will receive no less than fifteen years in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. On the charges of stalking of more than four people you will receive no less than twelve years to run consecutive of charge A. For the charges of harassment of the same victims you will receive no less than eight years to run consecutive to Charges A and B. The minor traffic violations have been waived. And finally for the crimes of discrimination against a creed, gender, race and sexual orientation which led to the Death of one person you will be sentenced to no less than twenty-five years. The total is no less than sixty years with a life cap because your juvenile record dealt specifically with two of the victims. Do you have any final words?" Steven shook his head. The gavel thundered in the room. Justice had prevailed.

Hector and the rest of Berkley's drama department had been studying their lines for months. It was the opening night of Justice's full stage play and many people were there who had as much influence as the Governor. They had come to see what sparked such an upheaval in the north state. The piece was titled "Let Justice be Done," and Hector had never been so nervous. He and Sarah were playing the parts they had in their community college to keep the style what the author wanted. The house lights went down and Sarah rushed onto the stage to take her place on the couch. When the curtain parted and the lights came on Hector gave one last inaudible sigh and stormed on stage. "I hate him!"

The play went perfectly and as the curtain fell and their mics were turned off Hector ran over to Sarah and fell into her arms. He was so emotionally drained, so wrung out like a wet dish towel, that he did not want to even take his bows. "He would be so proud of you right now." He nodded but stayed there for a moment longer. All she could do was hug him and rub his back. "C'mon, star, the curtain can't open until you're ready." The applause was deafening even muted by the curtains.

He nodded and they formed a line as the curtains parted for their bows. Hector could see his family was there, all of them. His old college pals were there. Even a few of the Crowd were there looking on with new outlooks on life. Everyone was there...even Senator Anderson, Justice's Father, was front row. Hector had never spoken to the man and did not really feel like having it out with him over the death of his son. "Tonight is a very special night for this cast," said the Dean of Arts. "Justice Anderson, the author of this piece, wanted to get out a message. You will see in your bills that two of our cast were in the original short skit and I think they kept us on track." There was thunderous applause again and Hector nodded...but they were not looking at them. They were looking stage right. "We have a surprise gust here tonight. Justice Anderson." Hector spun to see Justice limping in with the help of a cane.

* * *

I watched Hector's eyes go from numb to disbelief and then to such joy that I hated not telling him I was going to live. I knew it would come long before he moved so I was able to get my good leg back to brace for impact. He launched himself at me and I caught him in a hug that had the audience cheering. I was crying on his shoulder even as he was soaking mine. "I hate you. Why didn't you tell me?" he asked so quietly I almost did not hear him.

"I'll explain later." I pulled back and let him know that I was not going to leave him and held out my arms for Sarah and Seth. "All of you guys did great. I am so proud to say I wrote this." The entire cast came over to shake my hand and pat me on the back even though I had only met them once. I was wiping away more than my tears as I took Hector's hand and hobbled to the podium. My leg hurt something fierce and I did not want to stand on it longer than I had to. When I got there I was beaming my best smile. Gradually the audience quieted. "Thank you all for being here for the opening night. As you can see the reports of my demise were a bunch of hype. But seriously. I've been asked what inspired me to write this. The reason is not a what but a whom." I smiled over at Hector who had not taken his eyes off of my face since he saw me. "Hector is that reason. I was as bad as the Steven character in high school and I made this man's life hell. It took him almost being killed by those I called friend to bring me to my senses. I was not a good person if I let them beat Hector for simply being gay. He thanked me for standing up to them when he could walk no better than I can right now." He wiped away a tear and smiled. "His example of forgiveness even of his least favorite person changed me. Then by some twist of fate I simply had to have Fine Arts credits. Can't sing, hate the trumpet, sorry dad," that got a chuckle and a small smile from my Father, "so I chose the least of all evils. I took drama. I learned so much from Hector and Sarah and the rest of the class on being not only a better actor but a better person.