"High School Blues" part 3
Disclaimer: This story is pure fiction involving humiliation, mild violence, and sexual activity between teenage boys. If you find such material offensive or in violation of the laws of your state/country, please don't read any further.
Breaks in the story (***) indicate major changes in scene/time or of the character who is narrating or speaking.
(c) Art M. Hill ArtHill579@aol.com All rights reserved (2004). If you enjoy this story, please email me.
"High School Blues" part 3: Joe thinks he's out of trouble, but gets an unpleasant surprise...
After lunch in the school cafeteria, I left Terry and Bob to go to my afternoon classes. I was so excited about the possibility of being on the soccer team with my new friends that I didn't see Mike and Jimmy walking directly behind me as I left the cafeteria. Suddenly I felt a hard slap across the back of my head. I was so startled by the unexpected blow that I dropped the books and note pad I was carrying. Turning around I saw my two tormentors grinning at me. I froze.
"Hey, Zit-Man," Jimmy said, "How's it going?"
"Look at him," Mike piped up. "He's so scared he doesn't know what to do! Maybe he's gonna start crying like he did the other day."
"Why did you hit me?" I said in a shaky voice.
"Just a reminder," said Jimmy, a smile spreading over his handsome face. "You have an appointment with us this afternoon right after class, back of the gym. You better be there or I'll really give you something to fuckin' cry about, Zit-Man."
"Will you give me my glasses back then?" I asked.
"You ask me once more about those fucking glasses and I'm gonna make you eat them. Then you'll be able to see out your ass!" They both cracked up at that and gave each other a high-five for being so clever.
Still laughing, they left me to pick up my books and try not to be late for my next class. As I was walking quickly down the hall, I thought to myself that nothing was going to change. Terry and Bob were just trying to make me feel good by suggesting that I could ever be anything but a loser that every bully would see as a walking punching bag.
After biology class, Terry asked me if I wanted to go to the mall when school got out and hang out for awhile. "Come on, man," he said. "It's Friday, your folks ain't gonna care. You can call them from the mall and tell 'em you're gonna be out to the movies with some friends. I told Bob we'd meet him there."
I was half tempted to go. I had no interest in finding out what humiliation Jimmy and Mike had planned for me. This way I wouldn't have to face them until Monday. Maybe by then they would have lost interest in torturing me any more (yeah, sure!) Then I thought about my glasses. Mom said I had to get them back. For sure if I didn't show up those guys would break them and throw them in the woods. Then I'd really have some explaining to do!
Regretfully, I told Terry no, that I had to speak to one of the teachers and then had some errands to run for mom. I said that I was grateful for the invite and that I would like to do it with him sometime soon.
"Whatever, dude," he said. "Just seems to me that you don't spend much time enjoying yourself. You always look so serious, and I thought it would be good for you to loosen up a bit."
Not wanting to loose his friendship, I assured Terry that I would like to hang with him and Bob real soon, and that I was definitely interested in his idea of learning to play soccer. I breathed a sign of relief as he smiled and said: "Okay, see ya on Monday."
All too soon the final bell rang and everyone started running toward their lockers and then out the front doors to make their escape for the weekend. No such luck for me. My stomach got that familiar knot as I went to my locker and took out the stuff I would need for the weekend. I opened my backpack and carefully put everything inside. When I couldn't put it off any longer, I pushed through the school doors and headed for the rear of the building. I passed by the large soccer field and thought about what it might be like to be on the team, to play, and then to party after a big win with all the other players.
Behind the school building there was a large area of woods. Some of the kids used this as a shortcut home, although it was pretty overgrown and muddy in places. I did it myself, and usually ended up with mud-caked shoes. Mom was always yelling at me to take my shoes off before I came in the house so I didn't make a mess. The woods came almost up to the back of the gym where Jimmy and Mike had instructed me to meet them.
When I first got there I was somewhat relieved to see that no one else was there. Maybe those goons had just been yanking my chain, or maybe they decided they had something better to do then torment some geek. Just as I was beginning to relax and think nothing was going to happen, I heard a shout from the edge of the woods.
"Get your ass over here, Crawford!" I found them sitting with their backs against a large tree. They were smoking what I'm sure was weed, and they both looked a bit stoned. "You're late asshole," said Jimmy. "We've been waiting here almost 15 minutes. I think I'm gonna beat the crap out of you."
"Please, Jimmy, I'm sorry I'm late. I got held up talking to one of my teachers and then had to get my stuff out of my locker. I got here as soon as I could."
"By the way, Zit-Man-hey, I like that name; that's what I'm calling you from now on. What d'ya think Mike?"
"Cool," he said. "Ya can see them zits even better since you slapped him around the other day."
"Yeah, by the way," he continued. "I hear you bought Phil's lunch for him today. That was way rad. You're folks must be rich, huh?"
"Uh, well," I hesitated, "yeah, I guess, um, my dad does pretty good with his job."
"Well, I'll tell you what Zit-Man: my buddy and I need some extra cash. Maybe we can work out a deal. You help us out and we won't smash your face in. Sound good?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess," I said...Had I lost my mind? This was pure and simple blackmail, but at the moment I couldn't think of anything else to say. "How much money do you need, Jimmy?"
"Don't know yet, Zit-Man. Got to think about it, but don't worry, you'll know Monday for sure. One thing I can tell you: we're not talking about just once; we're talking about once a week."
Damn! What had I gotten myself into? Okay, let's not panic. Maybe it won't be too bad. These guys don't look like they've ever had too much. Probably just lookin' for beer money.
"Ya know, Zit-Man," said Mike, "We might just end up buddies. You're not so bad. Just keep doin' what we say and we'll get along fine. Now let's have a drink to seal the deal."
He pulled out a flask from his leather jacket, took a swig and passed it to Jimmy, who passed it to me. "Try the weed too, man," said Jimmy after taking a generous toke himself. "It's real good stuff."
I was ready to decline, but then thought better of it. They were being nice and I didn't want to do anything to provoke them. "Okay, but how do I do it?" I asked.
"Man you never tried this shit before? Where the hell have you been, Zit-Man? Just inhale, hold it in your lungs as long as ya can, and then blow it out real slow. You should be used to blowing," he smirked. "Here, le'me show you."
After he demonstrated his technique, he handed the reefer to me. Of course I was reduced to fits of coughing on the first drag. When they stopped laughing, they said to try it again; that it took some practice. Pretty soon I was getting the hang of it. I was also feeling buzzed from the weed, plus the stuff in the flask. I was getting so out of it that I didn't see Mike drop a small pill into the flask (I figured it out later) and pass it to me again.
"Drink up buddy," he said.
I was starting to feel pretty good. These guys weren't so bad once you got to know them. I'll bet everybody had the same experience with them at first. They seemed kind of rough, but you could deal with that. And so what if they wanted a few bucks? Why not share. My old man made plenty and he was pretty generous with my allowance. Plus, I had that part time job at the supermarket. The pay wasn't bad, and I could get overtime when I wanted it. Dad and I had agreed that I would save up my job money toward a car which I hoped to get right after I turned seventeen-less than two year away!
Anyway, I did drink up. I mean, what the hell! I took a good long swig of what the guys said was tequila. When I looked up my vision was somewhat blurred (maybe it was from the horn rims.) I saw that Jimmy was wearing my glasses and smiling at me. This cracked me up. I laughed and laughed rolling around on the leaf covered ground. Jimmy and Mike just stared at me with frozen smiles on their faces.
"Looks like Zit-Man is really having a freakin' good time for himself," Jimmy remarked.
"That's cause he likes the way his glasses look on you. Makes ya look like twins," Mike laughed.
"Fuck you!" Jimmy said. "I think it's time to show Mr. Zits how to really have a good time."
Meanwhile, I was still rolling around on the ground, totally stoned from the booze and drugs I had unknowingly swallowed. Everytime I stopped laughing I looked up at Jimmy with my glasses on and started laughing my head off again.
"Okay, Zit-Man," Jimmy said. "Now I'm gonna give you your glasses back, just like I promised. There's only one little condition...you gotta catch me first."
I got up, still laughing, and began to walk toward Jimmy. I was weaving more and more and found it hard to stand, much less try to catch Jimmy. I gave it a good try though. I knew that when I was sober I could run faster than the two of them put together. So why did my legs feel like they were attached to cement?
Jimmy began to back away and then started to run further into the woods. I went after him, but got winded almost immediately. Suddenly I went down on my back and everything started spinning around me. Damn, I had landed right in a pool of mud and felt like I couldn't even move. I felt the cold water and slimy mud all around me. Yuck!
"Hey, help me you guys," I said weakly, "I can't get up."
"Why do you want to get up?" Mike asked. "I think you're right where you belong, just like a little piggy." They both laughed at that and started making snorting noises-bad imitations of a pig! They were stoned for sure.
The last thing I remember was the muddy treads of Jimmy's boot pressing down right onto my face and pushing me further into the bog.
"I'm markin' ya faggot," he said, and then added mysteriously, "And this is just the beginning." Then, as I started to black out I though I heard:
"You were right, dude. That little mix of yours sure fixed his ass."
When I woke up my head was pounding like a son of a bitch. I was somewhere in the woods and it was almost dark. Not only that, but I was lying flat on my back in some kind of bog that was half mud and half water. I was covered with mud from head to foot. It took me a moment to realize that the mud was covering bare skin. I didn't have a stitch of clothing on my body! And to top it all off I still didn't have my glasses, and now even the substitutes were gone! I looked at my wrist to see what time it was, and saw that the expensive watch that my folks had given me last Christmas was also missing.
(to be continued)