Chapter 02

School

The first few days at school are a bit up and down because we can’t be put into classes until after we’re assessed. So we spend the week doing exams or sitting in the library reading up on the subjects we’ve not done before, like US History. By the end of the week they’ve got us all placed in the advanced classes for most subjects and we’ve some time each day for individual tutoring on our knowledge gaps. The staff and tutors are sure we’ll be up to speed by the time end of year exams are being held.

Although we’re all repeating half a year, again, most of it is different material so we’re happy to learn something new, despite having to do another six months of a year of schooling we just finished. I’m in Year Ten with Bron in Year Nine and Cadi is in Year Seven. We do get some ragging over our accents and our names, but only for a little while.

In the first week the school bullies try to push me around but they get a surprise when they find they can’t grab me. Instead of fighting them I use my martial arts training to avoid their attempts at contact. Eventually they give up on trying to bully me.

Many of the other students aren’t sure about what school cliques we should be in because we all join some of the nerdy after school groups like the Science Club, but we also join some of the sports teams. The three of us join the school swim team and basketball team appropriate for our year and gender. Also, the girls join the gymnastics team. Due to my skill at dodging the bullies and people on the basketball court I’m asked to join the football team - several times. When the requests get too insistent I check with the school counsellor then I sign up for the soccer team since its schedule clashes with the American Football team. In the US football is what we Aussies call Gridiron, not Soccer or Rugby or Aussie Rules. The next time one of the football jocks pulls me up to tell me to join the football team I say, “I’ve already signed up for football.”

He says, “Idiot, you signed up for the Soccer Team, not football.”

“Look, mate, where I come from football means Soccer or Rugby. No Rugby here so I signed up for Soccer. If you meant for me to join some other sport you should have identified it better. I’m part of the Soccer Team now and I’m already doing more than enough sports.” That ends their attempts to get me to be a running back. I don’t want to do that because I’ve seen how hard they get hit when they have the ball.

The two subjects we’ve tutors for are US History plus Civics and Government. Since we all know nothing about these we start at the same point for these tutoring lessons and we work on them together. With the three of us working very hard to get up to speed we race through the subject material. We’ve no need for constant repetitions the way they do in class, and we even do all of the in-class assignments the students do in each year. When we reach the syllabus point where Cadi is in both she leaves us to join the regular classes for those subjects for her year, the same happens when Bron reaches her current class point. The students get one period a week of each, but while we’re with the tutor we get a few more because two of our free study periods are given up to this and a third of our choice for our other free study period too. The tutors are amazed at how quick we go through the courses. It takes only two weeks to get Cadi up to date, another two weeks for Bron, and by the seventh week at the school I’m up to date and heading back to the normal classes for both of the subjects. We’d been studying the text books before we left Australia, so it we just needed a little clarification and to do the exams.

We keep up with our Taekwondo by practising with each other.

It doesn’t take us long to settle in to get used to most of the school life and the local social life. The hard part is the school dating system as it seems every guy my age has to have a steady girlfriend and I don’t know any of the girls while many of them are already involved with someone.

Socialising

While we’re catching up on the subjects we don’t have much time for socialising. But during my last week of tutoring I’m close enough I can start spending some free study periods as real free study periods.

There are two girls in all of my classes that no one goes near. They’re identical twins who are reasonably good looking with nice figures. Some people are put off by the loose clothes and the large unfashionable glasses they wear. The few times I get to speak with them they seem nice, so I can’t work out why the rest are shunning them. I ask one of the other boys from the Science Club about them and he says, “They’re not bad to look at, but they’re sure-fire status death. They’ve got put downs that’ll knock a plane out of the stratosphere, and you’ll never recover from being put down by them. They’re uncool, very uncool.”

Having been duly warned I approach them at lunch one day. Walking up to the table they sit at in the back corner I just put my tray down and sit opposite them. One looks up and says, “It’s rude to sit down without asking for permission first.”

I smile at her as I reply, “And it would’ve been ruder still to sit down after you said no. So I took the option with the lower level of rudeness because I intend to sit here to talk with you two.” They look at each other and make a few facial muscles twitch before they turn to stare at me. “I’m fully aware being with you is death to my status in the school, and I don’t care. However, we have to submit a major assignment project for the classes of both US History as well as for Civics and Government. The requirements of both projects are for them to be done in teams of three or four. Everyone else is in a team except you two and me. I suggest we make our own team and do a ripper joint project to get an A plus or double plus in both subjects. What do you say?”

After more face twitching one asks, “I hope you’ve a project idea in mind, because we don’t.”

“Both are looking at the lead up to, and the start of, the War Between the States. So let’s do a major project that goes into the fine detail on the political activities for a ten year period starting eight years before it started. We also include a full analysis of the governmental actions plus how the politics and actions were shaped by the economics of the period. That should do for both of the subjects.” They both smile and nod to me. “Good, that gives us a very good reason to spend a lot of time together at both of our houses, so I’ll have plenty of opportunity to seduce you both and to talk you both into being my girlfriends.” This surprises them, then they look at each other and laugh - very long and very hard.

After a moment one says, “OK, you get your chance. But by the end of the project you have to be able to identify each of us and call us both by our right names all of the time. Do that and you’ve got two lovers.”

I smile, “Let me get this straight. If I can correctly identify you both on sight you’ll both go steady with me as my girlfriends and lovers, and that includes sex?” Both nod in reply while they give me knowing smiles as if they already know I can’t do it. “Are you on the pill?” They nod again. I point at the one on the left, “Mary,” switch to point at her sister, “Peg, and I’ll do the same again tomorrow because I already know how to tell you apart.” They both look very shocked at my statement.

Mary says, “Well, you got us right today. But we’ll see if you can do it again tomorrow. Meet you in the library during Free Study with some notes and a basic layout of what you see as the project. We can then sort out who’ll do what part.” I nod agreement. Having finished the food while we talked I stand and leave them to chat.

Stopping at the table where a few of the Science Club members are sitting I say, “Mary and Peg aren’t that unapproachable if you smile and speak nice. I think I’ll make them both my girlfriends.” They all stare at me with wide open mouths while I walk over to dump my rubbish, put the tray in the returns stack, and leave. Due to my lunch encounter I’m the centre of a lot of gossip in the classes for the rest of the day.

Every time we meet I correctly identify the girls, and I upset them by doing so. I don’t tell them, but their earlobes are a little different. We soon start work on our joint project as well as going out as a group of three.

First Trouble

Just after school on the Wednesday of our tenth week I’m leaving school when I see a few of the football players from Year Ten blocking Bron’s path and not letting her pass by them. I walk up and say, “Hi, Sis, any problems?”

One of the players butts in with, “Move along, nerdy, we’re just making sure this girl doesn’t go anywhere until after she agrees to go to our party on Friday night.”

Bron says, “I’ve told you four times, I’m not going to any party with any of you this Friday or any other day, ever. Now move aside and let me go.” Bron tries very hard to avoid confrontations and fights.

One of them reaches out and grabs her arm. I immediately grab his thumb and apply pressure to make him let go of her. He gives a squeal at the pain and he pulls his hand back.

Turning to me with a menacing look he says, “OK, shit for brains, that hurt so I’m going to really hurt you.” Both Bron and I step back a couple of paces to give him time to rethink his behaviour.

I look about, and I see one of the parents watching us real close while she holds the door open for some kids from Years Seven and Eight to get into the car. I touch Bron’s arm and I hand her my bag. She takes it and backs up another four steps while I move back two more steps to be a barrier between them and Bron. I see the woman tell something to the kids in the car when she shuts the door. She reaches in the car front window to take something out of the glove box while the goon in front of me produces a knife and the others reach into their pockets too.

When he steps forward he waves the knife while he tells me what he intends to do, so I wave Bron back to give me more room while I get set to deal with his attack.

The woman is about halfway to us when I can see a gun in one hand and a small wallet in the other. I think she intends to help, but I know I’ll need to deal with this first idiot because she’s still too far away.

The goon swipes the blade across in front of him, going from his right to left in an obvious attempt to cut my stomach a bit. I don’t know what sort of people he’s fought to make him think such a move would be any good. Instead of jumping back, which is most people’s first reaction to such a swipe, I move to my left to avoid it then I step forward with my left foot while I turn the right side of my body a little away to bring my right hand up and across. The knife slices air just a hand’s breadth clear of me while my right hand passes over his right hand. I move my arm down to grab his right hand at the wrist with my right hand then I pull him forward and a little to my right. This pulls him off balance. When his arm reaches full extension and just before he moves his feet to stop from falling on his face I’m very fast to bring my left arm up and forward to hit his right arm very hard right at the top of the arm, just at the shoulder joint while still on the arm. He screams beautifully when my strike punches the arm joint out of the socket. I pivot as I transfer my weight to my left foot to bring my right foot through to kick him hard on the outside of his right thigh. This causes another scream and he drops down, twisting the arm to force it further out of the socket. By twisting the arm more I cause the hand to open and the knife to drop out. As soon as the knife falls free I let go of him while I kick the knife out of his reach. The whole thing is over so quick the others still have their hands in their pockets.

From a few metres away the woman shouts, “Police. Barnes, you’re under arrest for assault with a deadly weapon. If I see anyone else waving a knife around they’ll get arrested too. Nice disarm, son. Miss, will you run inside and ask the staff to call the station for a car, please?” Bron nods then she dashes off. She leaves our bags on the ground.

A few minutes later Principal Jensen returns with Bron, followed soon after by a police car and an ambulance pulling up in the car park.

The paramedics check the goon over and take him away with a police officer in the ambulance to keep an eye on him. The other officer takes statements from the other goons, Bron, the woman, and myself. I’m last. The officer taking the statements says, “Funny how these things go. The other two boys say you attacked them. Your sister and you say they were harassing her and then attacked you. Officer Mills says she heard voices, then she saw you and your sister backing up as the other three advanced on you. She saw Barnes draw a knife while she was on her way over to see what the trouble was and you neatly disarm him, almost removing his arm in the process. I think we’ll believe Officer Mills and your sister on this. Watch out for yourself as those boys are known to hold grudges and to do some real damage to people they don’t like.” I thank him, and we go to where Cadi is waiting for us. We’ve missed our bus so I use my cell phone to call us a taxi to go home because I don’t feel like waiting around for the next scheduled bus service.

Flow on Effects

Barnes is in hospital for some weeks and he’s out of football for the rest of the year because the doctors say they won’t pass his shoulder as fit to play for several months. The football team is upset at losing one of their best linebackers, whatever that is. When Barnes is let out of hospital he goes to court for a preliminary hearing, and he’s still limping. His whole thigh came up in a big bruise in the days following the incident.

A few weeks later the case goes to court for a full hearing where he’s found guilty of various charges, fined, put on a good behaviour bond, and sentenced to one hundred hours community service. He also cops a mandatory six weeks suspension for having a weapon on the school grounds.

I get hit with a mandatory three weeks suspension for fighting. I get legal advice then I sue the school district for denial of my basic human rights because I’m being punished by them for being a victim who defends himself when faced with a dangerous situation after the school failed to provide Bron and me with proper protection on the school grounds while walking to the school buses. If they’d let the matter alone as a case of self-defence my parents wouldn’t have supported me in any action against the school. However, with the school punishing me for not becoming an injured victim of an assault they’re as angry as I am over the suspension given out due to their stupid Zero Tolerance policy to punish all involved without any regards as to what actually happened.

Life Goes On

I continue with my schooling because Dad hires tutors. We keep a record of the costs for the court case. I also get some more driver training. When I went for my licence in Australia Mum and Dad paid for an Advanced Driver Training Course for me. But over here they drive on the wrong side of the road, so I use that as leverage to get them to pay for a new Advanced Driver Training Course.

The good courses aren’t cheap, but I notice the Evasive Driver’s Course is only a couple of hundred dollars more so I add some of my own money to do that one. It takes up two weeks of my suspension, so it helps to fill in the time. Boy was it a fun course to do and I learned a lot while gaining confidence as a driver. The third week is all studying.

I never tell my parents, but the reason I want the additional driver training is one of the cops who interviewed me later told me the group Barnes was part of were suspected of having forced two cars of teens off the road in the last few years, thus putting the kids in them in hospital for many months. He’d heard Barnes is talking about killing me for hurting him and embarrassing him so much. I don’t know how true that is or how much danger there is, but I’m taking the warning very seriously, so I’m doing what I can to ensure our safety when I’m out driving.

I’m soon back at school and things go on with a few changes. Bron, Cadi, and I are persona non grata to the football crowd, which worries us not. The bulk of the school thinks I’m a hero for dealing with Barnes as he was the school’s worst bully, but not now as you can’t bully if you can’t use your arm and you limp a lot. His crowd loses a lot of status and the groups I hang out with gain a lot. A very funny thing is school status.

Mary, Peg, and I finish our joint combined project and lodge it for both subjects. We get an A plus in Civics and Government with an A plus plus in US History to make all of our parents happy with the marks.

We all do well in the end of year exams and the family celebrates by spending the Memorial Day long weekend at the Ohkay Casino Resort in San Juan Pueblo. It takes nearly two hours to drive north through Santa Fe as it seems as if half of the city is heading north in the afternoon and traffic is heavy until we leave Santa Fe. The pool and whirlpool are great and there’s lots of local attractions in the way of scenic and historical things to see during the day with plenty of good entertainment at night.

We spend most of Friday night in the water: pool and spa. Most of Saturday we’re out walking around the various historical sites and great scenic wonders then we watch the live show at night. Sunday is a repeat of Saturday with a new list of historic sites and of natural beauty. I don’t know about the oldies, but the girls and I have a great time. Sunday night Mum and the girls watch a singer the ladies love but us men find not so good a singer, so we men visit the casino.

We’re asked for identification and I’m allowed in with Dad, but I’m not allowed to make bets because I’m under age. I’ve no intention of betting so I don’t mind. But having the security staff constantly watching me is a bit upsetting. I fully understand why, but I still don’t like it.