Squires-34

*Before…

The VP came over. “Jessie, Brian, and Kenyon the windows were broken out of your car doors. What do you three want to do?”

Brian said. “We should get in contact with our insurance companies and the schools.”

The VP nodded but didn’t look pleased.

The officer looked at the boys then at the VP. “We’ll need to see the video footage from outside and to talk about pressing charges.”

The VP didn’t say anything right there but nodded. “If you’ll come to the office officer and boys you should come and file the complaints too with the school.”

Jessie nodded and looked at the guys and then looked at Dan who gave him a thumbs up. “We got this.”

The boys got up and headed to the office and jessie looked over to the Alpha’s and at the young man who was sitting at the middle of the table behind what he thought was the popular table and he seemed to be talking to a bunch of non alphas and not The Cammo kids or The Wholesomes but a few others that really didn’t look like they travelled in the same circles as the Alpha’s did.

There was a momentary look between the two of them again and this Bradley smiled a little and then let his girlfriend this Heather feed him some fries.

He took a breath. “Just a little while longer.”

*And Now…

Jessie sat with the police and the folks from the school office and the security officers and they went through the footage of the parking lot.

“There’s footage for this but not of the things that go on inside the building?” Jessie commented.

The actual cops were looking on and were sort of frowning.

The VP made a face. “Stone, there’s reasons for that, privacy ones.”

“More like protecting certain groups it seems like.” Jessie said.

“Stone…” He said warningly.
Jessie held up his hands. “I’m not the only one saying it though.”

Brian and Kenyon were nodding too and Brian says. “It sure would help curb a Lot of the bullying and racism here.”

He did enunciate the word Lot.

They watched the cameras until the seen three boys in hoodies with the hoods pulled up over ball caps wearing army jackets using what looked like hammers to smash the cars.

There was no real way to tell who they were but the army jackets said a lot. It could definitely be The Cammo kids, they certainly thought they had a reason to cause this sort of damage.

They looked at it again and again and then the boys were asked to go back to class while the insurance people talked with the administration and the police.

Jessie nodded and left with the guys. “You call your parents?”

Kenyon nodded. “Yeah Dad’s likely on his way over once he gets clear of work.”

Brian shook his head no. “Naw I told my folks it was handled and they should just get ready for the meeting.”

Jessie looked at him. “You think this was a stall?”

Brian nodded. “I think they know if we’re not there early we’re not getting in at the meeting considering they shifted the time and stuff. I think that it’s something someone else thought up because The Nuges aren’t that smart.”

Kenyon looked at Brian. “Nuges?”

Brian grinned. “About as brave and as factually patriotic as Ted pants-crap Nugent….Nuges.”

The three of them laughed as they got to their lockers and headed off to finish their classes.

It started harder between classes.

There was Wholesomes trying to literally block the hallways to keep the “Kweer” kids from getting to classes. Greg White leading a First Amendment “prayer” meeting there shouting down all the abominations that were ruining their school, ruining their country. The “Nuge's” with them adding voices and slurs ranging from islamophobic stuff to bigoted anti-LGBT things hurling “Mooslems” and “Fags” and “Dykes.”

Instead of an outright fight and shouting match Danny and Johnny led the kids through two ground floor classrooms right out the windows to get to other doors and going around them.

The security officers and the police that were called there for the cars had to come out into the halls and break up the rushing Wholesomes and Cammo kids from rushing through the halls and trying to stop Danny and Johnny from getting past them.

There was a lot of swearing, a lot of yelling which got worse as Honey and Yasmine along with the other girls that were now wearing the gadsden protest hijabs through the halls only there was this time an escort of the latino kids and some of the other students of color.

Donny led a group of his skater friends usually a bunch of slacker kids to block some of the blockers. Noah Anderson one of the Wholesomes got made enough to jump Donny through the skaters and landed on top of him. Security busy elsewhere Noah got a few blows in before he was grabbed by Donny’s friends and four guys tossed the struggling and swearing butt first into an open garbage can making his legs stick up past his arms embarrassingly.

Nick along with Sam went through and caught as much footage as they could.

Last class of the day saw an extra three police officers there making sure the hallways were safe and quiet.

The Principal and VP watched on as it all happened with other faculty and there were frustrated and angry looks on their faces as the school was filled with tension.

Then shock as Kenyon’s dad who had shown about the cars and to talk about all of this showed up with several work utility vans at the end of classes.

There were some of the Wholesomes, Cammos and Alpha’s looking shocked as well as these vans came with some tough looking construction guys. And some of them were wearing things that looked like it came right from Pride.

And Jessie and Johnny and Danny led a whole coalition of students carrying protest signs out from lockers painted on bright poster board with big letters in bold marker.

SAVE US!

STOP THE BULLYING!

RECORDING ABUSE IS A RIGHT!

STOP RACISM!

LISTEN TO US!

BULLYING ISN’T CONSTITUTIONAL!

LGBT SUPPORT!

STOP ISLAMOPHOBIA!

W CHICAGO HIGH HAS A BULLY CULTURE!

STOP KILLING TRANS KIDS! Johnny looked surprised at that one as it wasn’t her that was holding the sign or Brian. Instead it was one of the kids from Kenyon’s party and they weren’t the only ones.

He was smiling and he held up a sign in one hand. ALL AMERICAN MEANS ALL AMERICANS...PoC and LGBT!

He took her hand with his free one.

She held up her own sign. LISTEN TO YOUR STUDENTS! lISTEN TO YOUR KIDS! LISTEN TO THE VICTIMS! All written in big letters and fitted with a popsicle like shield handle that Donny and Danny had added to so many of peoples protest signs like shields.

She held her’s up over her head as they left the halls out into the front of the school and into the parking lot.

“STOP THE BULLYING! STOP THE PAIN!” She yelled.

“STOP THE BULLYING! STOP THE PAIN!” Jessie, Danny, Brian joined in.

“STOP THE BULLYING! STOP THE PAIN!” Yasmine, Honey, Kenyon joined in.

“STOP THE BULLYING! STOP THE PAIN!” Over a hundred voices thundered it out.

Kids loaded into vans and vehicles some from Kenyon’s dad’s construction company and there were some that were the cars of the students and there were parents there as well.

One of the city police was on the ball enough to get out there and directed traffic as there was definitely some folks that were figuring out to try and block the traffic.

Other police there had to literally move some of The Wholesomes from bodily blocking some of the vehicles from getting out of the parking lot.

Jessie got in his car with the broken windows using the sleeve of his jacket to clear away the broken glass and the other were doing the same and they paused sharing looks between the cars.

Jess looked at all the protesting kids. “Tilt.”

Danny, Johnny, Brian, Yasmine, Donny, Honey, Nick and Sam all nodded and said. “Tilt.”

And Danny yelled out. “Saddle up!”

They climbed into the cars and pulled out and joined the literal convoy of vans and family and student cars and drove off heading towards the meeting.

Jess pushed a CD into the drive and music started to play as they drove.
Danny reached over and cranked the volume up really high as the song played.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGXeTEGWCP0

*The Lost Boy* By Greg Holden.

I left my home still as a child
I walked a thousand soary miles
To wait for my father, to gather up his truth

He said my boy you've got to run
Don't wait for me, don't wait for mum
We'll come get you, when it's safe for us to move

So I waited many years,
held back the pain behind my tears
For my father, to come find me like he said

And in that time I was alone,
so many years without my home
I made brothers of a different kind instead

[Instrumental break]

And in the time I didn't know,
just how hard the wind could blow
Towards disaster, and the things that I would see

I never found my father,
I never found my mother
Even would I know in my lifetime I will be

A hero into the masses,
to those born without chances
There's a freedom that everyone deserves

I know there's greed and there's corruption
I've seen death and mass destruction
But I'm telling you, and I hope that I'm heard

And I will not be commanded,
And I will not be controlled
And I will not let my future go on,
without the help of my soul

And I will not be commanded,
And I will not be controlled
And I will not let my future go on,
without the help of my soul

And I will not be commanded,
And I will not be controlled
And I will not let my future go on,
without the help of my soul

I will not be commanded,
I will not be controlled
And I will not let my future go on,
without the help of my soul

They sang along as they drove through the traffic and eventually pulling up to the hall where the meeting was going to be at and while there was room there was a good number of the press here and there were other people there protesting and some of them were yelling at the kids and the parents.

“NO BIG BROTHER BULLSHIT!”

“DON’T LIKE AMERICA THEN FUCKING LEAVE!”

“GO BACK TO YOUR COUNTRIES.”

“NO GOVERNMENTS IN SCHOOLS!”

Jess looked at Danny.

“It’s going to be rough right.”

Danny nodded. “Tea party’s out in force here. Lots of folks getting worked up here.”

“Too much?”

“Naw, besides I signed on for this, I mean what are lab partners for?”

They got out with the others and took up their signs and Johnny got a box out of Brian’s trunk and he carried it inside for her. Nick brought his laptop and a bookbag of things and met with his dad and they actually took the lead to head inside.

There was a determined mood as the kids met parents and started heading inside and there were shouts from some of the protesters on both sides now and there were a lot of hostile looks from the parents of the Alpha kids and all the others and a pretty big crowd that they had trotted out to fill as much space as they could and there were some press inside as well as several city police and some officials that looked like more than just from the school board.

There was a good deal of chaos in getting seats as those that got here first were quietly making it as difficult as possible for people to sit or pass through to get to seats.
It still never stopped anyone though it got really tense.

Jessie and the others sat together under threat of Brian and Andy’s sheer size and keeping folks from starting stuff.

They just sat down and the board came in and sat with the chair banging his point of order gavel to get things started.