Link: The Road to Hell Title Page and Description

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Petrified as he saw the bus coming, Josh knew it was too late to get a ride from his mother as she'd already gone to work. Getting a ride with his father, which wasn't an option as he was not due back until that afternoon, would have been more humiliating than getting on the bus in a dress. He honestly respected his parents and their right to express their opinions, but he'd gotten enough of a hard time in Primary and Intermediate school when his classmates would see the rolling campaign ad for the Democrat Party. Not because of their politics, but simply because it looked so tacky.

When the bus pulled to a stop next to him, he queued up at the back of the line and waited for everyone else to get on. As he climbed aboard, the driver noted Tracy's absence.

"Jocelyn?" Mary asked delicately, "Where's Tracy?"

"She's home sick with a cold, Miss Cartwright." he answered shyly. Looking at the seats, he found one that was empty near the front and sat down, not wanting to make eye contact with any of his classmates without Tracy there to support him.

The bus ride was excruciatingly long, seeming to drag on for hours over the thirty minutes it took to reach the school. Several times he saw kids just about to sit with him, only to suddenly change their minds and move to another seat when they saw who was sitting there. When at last they arrived at the school, he was up almost before they stopped and got a minor look of disapproval from Mary. Looking down embarrassedly, he waited for the doors to open, then practically ran into the building.

Making his way to his locker, he opened it to find another note on the same style paper as before. Glancing at it briefly, it was similarly written out with expressions of peace, brotherhood, hope, and kindness. Reading it nearly made him cry just at the sentiment. He didn't know where most of the quotes were from, sure they were from the Bible, but a few he recognized from his History book as being made by Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln. Putting it in his pack, he had a smile on his face as he put things away in the locker and closed it. As the door swung shut, he saw David at his own locker, the two locking eyes a moment before Josh quickly turned away and went the opposite direction, even though he needed to go past David to get to class.

Milling about in the courtyard, he sat down while David took his time. While he waited, he saw Jennifer Healy once more looking at him as she walked to class when she thought he couldn't see her. Wondering what her deal was, and fully expecting her to be someone like Jason who had a grudge against him, he sighed and waited until David finally left and started toward his first class.

Entering the Home Ec room, Josh took his seat and got out the homework from the night before. He wasn't happy with the quality of his work, and felt guilty that Tracy had helped him far more than he'd helped her. Still, he forced himself to shove the feelings aside and re-double his efforts to stay focused in class and keep up. Finding himself daydreaming far too much, by lunchtime was feeling very isolated, scared, distracted, and depressed.

Sitting in the lunchroom and eating alone, he sighed sadly and barely kept the tears at bay. Everyone else there had someone to spend lunch with, but he was now a complete outcast. Picking at his food, he was nearly startled to death when he heard the voice behind him.

"What? No dykes to hang with the freak anymore?"

Closing his eyes, he felt the true terror of loneliness when it mattered most; when you were being threatened. "Tracy's not a dyke, Reggie." he spat. "She likes boys."

Sitting next to Josh, Reggie sneered at him. "Well, I guess that's why she sits with you, huh? The dude in the dress!"

"Leave me alone, Reggie!" he said slightly louder, but still barely audible more than a few feet away.

"Or what?" he challenged. "It's a free country! I can sit here if I like! I think I'll sit next to you every lunch! Whadaya got, anyway?" he asked just as he snatched Josh's lunch bag.

"Give that back!" Josh said more sternly.

"In a minute!" Reggie replied. "I just wanna see what a lady-boy like you has for lunch! Probably tofu and soy yogurt! Heh! Heh! Heh! Oh! Look! You have cookies? Aren't you afraid they'll ruin your girlish figure? How'll you turn tricks at night if you become a fat cow? I better take these... for your own good, of course!"

"Knock it off, Reggie." came a familiar voice from behind the bully.

Turning to see David standing behind him, Reggie chuckled. "Well, well, well! Come to have your share, fag? Here, you can have the rest of its lunch. Just a dumb bologna sandwich, though."

"Give it back to her, Reggie..." David growled as he clenched his fists, "...or else!"

"Or else what, fruitcake?" he said as he stood up and flexed in front of the smaller boy. "Gonna make me, faggot?" he tried to push David away.

Smacking the bully's hand away, David made the boy yelp in surprise. "Don't touch me!" he warned him.

Infuriated that David wasn't intimidated, Reggie hauled back his fist and, much faster than anyone could have expected, landed it squarely across David's jaw, sending the smaller boy flying over the table with a loud crash.

A grin spreading across his face at having laid out Josh's protector with one punch, he suddenly realized he'd be in big trouble if he were caught. Turning to run just as Josh leapt from the table to run to David's prone form, Reggie slammed right into the approaching body of Mr. Tanner, who grabbed him to prevent his escape.

"Hey! Lemme go!" Reggie screamed. "You can't touch me! My parents will sue your ass into oblivion! Let me go!"

Waiting for a school security officer to show up, he calmly restrained the boy while Josh helped David sit up. "Is the boy alright?" he asked.

Josh looked at David and saw the blood seeping from his mouth. "Oh, David! You should have just let him do what he wanted! It was just lunch! I wasn't hungry anyway! You're bleeding!"

Shaking his head to clear it, David looked at Josh like he'd lost his mind. "Of courff I'm bleeding! He knocked a tooff out!" he hissed as he looked around before spotting his wayward dentition under the next table. "Vere it ish." he said pointing at it, causing a boy at the table to crawl under to retrieve it.

Getting back to his feet with Josh's help, he glared at Reggie with a look of raw hatred and fury. Trying to climb over the table to get at his attacker, Josh wouldn't let him.

"Let me go, Joff!" he demanded. "I'm gonna kill that fon of a bitch!"

The Vice-Principal released Reggie as the security officer put handcuffs on him and turned to the furious boy. "David? You need to calm down! I know you're angry, but I'm not going to let you continue the fight!" Looking at Josh, he nodded. "Are you alright, Jocelyn?"

Nodding as he continued to try and restrain his ex-best friend, he was helped when a teacher showed up and grabbed hold of David's left arm.

"You two come with me." Mr. Tanner said calmly. "We'll need you to write a statement about what happened. OK, Jocelyn?" Seeing Josh nod as he was obviously near to tears, the man sighed and started walking with the security officer and a restrained Reggie toward the office.

The teacher started to make David come along when the boy jerked his arm free. "I can walk on my own!" he insisted as he started toward the office, the teacher following close behind to ensure he didn't try to run after Reggie.

Just as Josh was about to follow, he stopped and turned to the boy who'd picked up David's tooth. Grabbing a paper napkin, he held it out to the boy. "Here. Let me have that, please?"

The boy looked at Josh confusedly for a moment before he hesitantly put the tooth in the offered napkin. "Sure."

Wrapping it up, Josh quickly followed the teacher escorting David.

Jennifer watched as he hurried his way across the lunchroom, holding the edge of his skirt as he ran; an ever so slight smile on the girl's face.

Henry Edwards walked into the office at the same time Fred Ryan did, both having been called to the school for their children's involvement in a fight.

Seeing Josh standing in the nurse's station, Fred thought the worst and leapt over the counter to run in. "Jocelyn!" he cried out.

Turning to see his father running toward him, he moved out of the nurse's office just in time to be enveloped in his father's arms. "I'm fine, Daddy! It's Dave! That Neanderthal Reggie... the boy that threatened me on the first day? He punched Dave and knocked out one of his teeth!"

Making his way over, having waited for the secretary to buzz him in, Mr. Edwards approached the two.

"Hank!" Fred said as he released Josh.

Slowing briefly as he nodded to Josh's father, he entered the nurse's office to check on his son. Coming out a few minutes later, while Josh told Fred what happened, Hank sighed heavily and walked over to the two. "Sorry. I needed to make sure he was OK. How's J... Jocelyn?"

"She's fine!" Fred said with a relieved sigh. "David was protecting Jocelyn from that Hughes boy and got caught by a right cross. I owe your son a debt of gratitude, Hank. He saved my little girl!"

Grimacing, he looked down at the small boy in the blouse and skirt. "I'm glad you're OK, Jocelyn." he said with a sigh. Looking up, he saw trouble coming. "Uh oh." Nodding toward the front of the office, the three looked over to see a heavyset man in a business suit, red in the face with anger.

"I want to see that Vice-Principal now!" demanded George Hughes. "If I don't get some action soon, I'll own the whole lot of you! Where! Is! That! Man!" he yelled, punctuating his last four words with beats on the counter loud enough to rattle the windows.

"Mrs. White?" Mr. Tanner stated from his office door. "Would you please show Mr. Hughes, Mr. Ryan, Mr. Edwards, Jocelyn, and David, if he's up to it, into my office, please?"

Buzzing George Hughes in, she barely kept pace with him as he charged forward toward the Vice-Principal's office. Fred held Jocelyn back until the large man passed them and only then followed him into the room, while Hank checked to see if David was up to joining the conversation.

"How dare you call in the middle of a workday to tell me you're suspending my son... again... and that you've called the police!" George barked. "I'll have you know my law office is one of the biggest in the area and my time is valued at over five hundred dollars an hour!"

"Good." Mr. Tanner stated. "You're going to need a lawyer, Mr. Hughes. Won't you sit down?"

"I don't have time to sit, you pompous cream puff!" he yelled. "I just came down to warn you that if you suspend my son and cause me to miss more work, I'm gonna sue the school district, and you personally, for lost wages!"

"Mr. Hughes!" the administrator barked. "Your son is currently under arrest and on his way to Juvenile Detention for assault and battery against a student of this school, as well as for theft, threats, and harassment of another student! Sit! Down!"

Finally cowed, the large man lowered himself into a chair in front of the Vice-Principal. "So what happened? They get in a tumble and you blow a gasket? Boys will be boys! You have to allow 'em a little leniency to blow off steam! I'm sure the other boy got in his licks! Is he under arrest?"

"My son didn't hit yours, Mr. Hughes." Hank spat from the doorway where he stood with David, who was holding an ice pack over his swollen cheek. "He was standing up for his friend and your son sucker-punched him!"

Turning his bulk in the seat to see who it was that was speaking to him, George Hughes eyed the man and then looked at David. He then swept his gaze over Fred and Josh. "So? Reggie was hitting on your son's girlfriend and your little brat couldn't take the competition, huh? Ha!"

"Mr. Hughes!" Fred barked. "Your son stole my daughter's lunch, threatened her physically, and is the same girl that he was suspended last Tuesday for threatening with bodily harm! That makes it criminal harassment! David, in full view of dozens of witnesses, tried to make him stop, and your son punched him without provocation!"

Confused, he looked at Josh and then at Fred. "No! That can't be right! Reginald was suspended for allegedly threatening some gay boy named Joshua! Not a girl! Friggin' pansies! I actually read the suspension form! Think I'm stupid or something?"

"The name on the form was incorrect, Mr. Hughes." Mr. Tanner explained. "Ms. Ryan there is the person your son threatened and was suspended for three days for harassing."

"So then I'll sue the district for suspending my son on false accusations; for threatening a boy that doesn't even exist! You people are all idiots!"

Looking at Josh expectantly, Mr. Tanner asked the child wordlessly for permission to 'out' him.

Shaking his head in fear, Josh looked up at his father for help, only to see Fred looking down at him hoping he would be brave enough to see justice done. Lastly, Josh looked over at Hank and David, hoping one of them would take his side, but both looked away, meaning it was up to him.

Taking a breath, he stepped away from his father and walked over to the desk to stand by Mr. Hughes. Shaking with fear, he stiffened and raised his chin. "Sir? Last week, my name was Joshua Ryan. Now it's Jocelyn."

Looking at Josh up and down, he saw what appeared to him to be a totally normal, if pretty, twelve-year-old girl. Dismissing the suggestion with a huff, he smiled at the ridiculousness of the idea. "Huh! Please! Do I look like I fell off the turnip truck yesterday? You're a girl!"

"Nevertheless," Mr. Tanner explained, "last week his name was Joshua Ryan, and now her name is Jocelyn Ryan."

Turning ashen as he looked at the scared child unbelieving, then over at Fred who simply nodded, he turned back to Josh with a look of horror. "You mean that... thing... is a boy?"

"No, Mr. Hughes." Fred explained. "We mean to say that Jocelyn was mistaken for being a boy at birth, but now we know better."

Knowing he was on a legally unhelpful topic, he dismissed it. "Irrelevant! The issue is Reginald being handed over to the cops like a common criminal! Do you know what this will do to my firm's reputation? I want the charges dropped or I'll sue all of you for damages in the tens of millions!"

Hank stepped forward. "Oh, I doubt your firm will be willing to have its name dragged through the mud in costly litigation with ties to hate crimes, Mr. Hughes! You see, my son, the boy your son assaulted, is gay. I think on balance, since I know you're only a junior partner in the firm, they're more likely to distance themselves from you before any damage can be done."

David smiled at his father's defense of him. "Yeah, they'll just fire your aff!"

"That's quite enough, David." Mr. Tanner said, holding up his hands.

Flustered to near apoplexy, Mr. Hughes looked at the two men standing near the door, then Josh standing next to him, and lastly to the Vice-Principal. "Damn leftist pinko-commies!"

"I think you'll find, Mr. Hughes," Hank said with a smile, "I'm a member of the Ohio chapter of Conservatives Against Discrimination and the Cleveland chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans!" Looking over at Fred Ryan, whose face had turned pale at the revelation, Hank smiled. "Him you can call a leftist! I don't know about Vice-Principal Tanner."

The administrator sat back in his chair and regarded the large man sitting in front of him. "So Mr. Hughes, if you are quite through making threats, I have a form for you to sign which will result in your son being expelled from this school for repeated acts of violence, threats against student safety, and harassment of protected minorities. If you fail to sign, the district will begin legal proceedings to have him removed by court order. Please just sign on the indicated line and you'll be free to go to Juvenile Detention to sort out your family problems on your own."

Taking the pen and signing the form, George looked ready to explode. "At least this will keep his name out of the courts!"

Just as the Vice-Principal took the form, Hank shook his head. "I'm afraid not, sir. I intend to press charges. Your son is a bully and attacked my boy. I'll do whatever it takes to see to it David and little Miss Ryan there remain safe from his anti-social behavior by putting your son in jail!"

Growling as he stood up, George Hughes stormed out the door without saying another word.

As the five remaining people stood in the room regarding one another, Fred looked over at David and nodded in gratitude. "Thank you for protecting my Jocelyn, David." Seeing the boy look down embarrassedly, he turned to Hank. "And thank you for not letting that Reggie boy get away with it!"

"I'm sure you'd have done the same for me if our positions had been reversed, Fred." he stated, hoping it was true.

"As for the rest of the issues..." Mr. Tanner continued. "Mr. Edwards? The district has a 'no tolerance' policy on fighting that states anyone involved in a fight on school grounds must be suspended for three days at a minimum."

Josh's eyes went wide. "You can't do that, Mr. Tanner! Dave didn't do anything except stand up for me and get hit! It's not fair!"

"Jocelyn, please. Settle down." Fred tried to ease his son's ire. Walking up and putting his hands on Josh's shoulders protectively, he looked at the Vice-Principal with a pleading expression. "Mr. Tanner, surely you have some degree of leniency due to special circumstances! David didn't do anything wrong! In point of fact, he did everything right!"

David walked up to the desk still holding the ice pack on his cheek. "I'll underfand if there'v nothing you can do, fir. I knew what I wav doing."

Grimacing, Mr. Tanner nodded. "In answer to your question Mr. Ryan, yes I have the authority, in special circumstances, to mitigate the standard policy. The issue though is that young Mr. Edwards was already on probation for cyberbullying. He sent a very slanderous email to Miss Ryan last Wednesday that was forwarded to my office. While I can mitigate the punishment for the fight, I cannot mitigate the three-day suspension for violating his probation. The district policy simply does not allow less than that. I'm sorry, son."

Looking in surprise at his father, Josh stepped back and away from him. "You turned in the email Dave sent me? Daddy! How could you!"

"I had to, princess!" he defended his actions. "At the time, he seemed to be a threat to you!"

Glaring at his father, Josh narrowed his eyes in anger. "You always mess everything up! You think you know everything and what's best for me, but you don't! You thought I was gay for seven years, Daddy... and you were wrong! I don't even like boys! And now you... you..." Overcome, Josh broke down and cried, never able to get to the part where he would tell his father that he wasn't a girl and he'd been wrong again.

Everyone assumed Josh's breakdown was in response to David's suspension and he was only angry with Fred because he'd turned the email in. Looking at one another as Josh dropped to his knees, each of the three wondered what they could do to console the 'girl' openly bawling in the office, but none felt in a position to do so. Fred was the target of his anger, while Hank and Mr. Tanner both felt it inappropriate to comfort a 'girl' not their own.

David solved the problem by going over to Josh and helping him up off the floor. As soon as he did, Josh latched onto him in a desperate hug.

"Oh, Dave!" he cried into the larger boy's shoulder. "It's not fair! It's just not fair!"

Holding Josh as well and trying to comfort him, David laughed. "Well, at leaft now I know it wavn't you who got me in trouble, Joff. I'm forry I wav fuch a jerk to you!"

Without thinking, Josh lifted his head and kissed him on the cheek. Instantly, both boys' eyes shot open and they looked at each other in horror, splitting apart like the same pole of two magnets.

"You kiffed me!" David complained. "That is fo disgufting! Kiffed by a girl! And not just any girl, a girl who ufed to be a pretty awesome guy!"

"Oh, that is so gross! I kissed a boy, and it was Dave! Eww! I kissed Dave! That is just so wrong!" Josh simultaneously huzzed.

The three men in the room laughed at the sight, eventually all calming down to discuss the matter. While there was nothing that could be done to prevent the three-day suspension for violating his probation, Mr. Tanner agreed that there were extenuating circumstances in that situation as well, so David would be barred from campus, but could still be given his assignments. Josh even agreed to take them home with him from school and drop them off for David to work on over the rest of the week. He also gave David's father the boy's lost tooth.

When the four left the Vice-Principal's office, Fred noted the time. "Looks like you missed all your afternoon classes, princess." he said to Josh.

"I can get a note from Mrs. White excusing it, Daddy. I'll get my makeup work tomorrow. I just wanna go home!"

It was then that Fred realized something while Josh was getting a note from the secretary. "Holy... Um... I just realized! I was coming home from the airport in a cab when I got the call! I had the driver bring me here!" Racing out front, he saw that the cab was gone and his bags sat next to the curb.

The other three joined him out front, Hank slapping him on the shoulder. "That's OK, Fred. I'll give you two a ride home!"

Smiling weakly at the father of the boy who had defended his child, Fred sighed. "Thanks, Hank. I appreciate it."

As the four rode in the minivan Hank had driven to the school, Fred was dying to know something. "Um... Hank? Mind if I ask you something?"

"Go right ahead, Fred!" he said, knowing what the man in the passenger seat was going to ask.

"Were you serious with that guy? I mean, about being a conservative and a... a Republican?"

"Honest as Abe!" he admitted as he turned a corner with a wide grin.

"But... but how? How can you support people who are so... so cruel to your son? Isn't that... well... moronic?" Fred stammered.

Laughing, Hank just shook his head. "Because I believe in liberty and limited government, Fred! I believe everyone, including my son and your daughter, has the right to make their own way in the world, to succeed... or fail... on their own merits and not on the work of others. The best way I can see for getting that is to make my party that I mostly agree with more accepting by sticking with them, not jumping ship for one that I only agree with on one subject. After all, we all deserve decent treatment from our neighbors..." He paused and glanced over at Fred who sat in shock at his answer. Smiling, he turned back to the road and added, "...even if they hold the moronic ideas you have, Fred!"