Omorphi (44 page)

“Interesting knife.”

“Your dad said it’s called a
kopis,
and it’s Greek.”

“How would he know?”

“I described it to him.”

Detective Davis approached followed by Headmaster Sullivan, Mrs. Thomas, and two uniformed officers.

“Michael, Jacob,” Headmaster Sullivan greeted.

“Hey, Mr. Sullivan, Mrs. Thomas,” Michael greeted in return. “Hi, Detective Davis.”

“Hi, Michael.” The detective snapped a latex glove on his hand and moved to the locker. “Did you check your locker before school?”

“No. I just checked it now after first period.”

“No one else has the combination?”

“Only Jake.”

Detective Davis turned to Jake.

“I was with Michael and Christy before school.”

“Does it look as if anything is missing?”

Michael carefully looked through what he could without touching the contents. “No.”

“Do you need anything from your locker?”

“The books, but I can go a day without them.”

Headmaster Sullivan turned to Mrs. Thomas. “Write down what they are and make them available to Michael in the office by tomorrow morning.”

“Will do, Mr. Sullivan.”

Detective Davis turned back to Michael. “What personal belongings do you have in here?”

“Track paperwork and maybe a CD or two.”

“No medication? Anything important that you absolutely must have?”

“No.”

Detective Davis used the tip of a gloved finger to move the squirrel aside, and Michael flushed crimson. The picture showed Christy plying his way down Michael’s abs. The only thing that saved Michael from dying a slow and humiliating death on the spot was that Christy’s oversized T-shirt and long hair shielded Christy’s lace underwear and his body from view. Michael said a silent thanks to the heavens that it wasn’t a picture of one of them going down on the other.

“Can you tell me when the picture was taken?” Detective Davis asked.

“Between five thirty and seven yesterday.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I took Christy to a self-defense class at Wilson College yesterday afternoon, and we didn’t get to his place until around five thirty. The death threat call came in, and we left right after eight to go to the restaurant.”

“You say between five thirty and seven. Why not between five thirty and eight?”

“We were reading paperwork, and I was explaining things to Christy in the hour before we left. We weren’t… doing that.”

Detective Davis nodded. “Does the squirrel have any significance to you?”

“No.”

“Is the knife yours?”

“No. I’ve never seen it before.”

“You can return to class. We’ll have this cleaned up for you within the next couple of hours.”

“May I ask a favor?”

Detective Davis turned to him, stolid in his reserve.

“Can you clean up Christy’s locker first? It really freaked him out.”

“There’s something in his locker as well?”

“There is a Greek word painted on the inside of the door and a Greek letter painted at the back of the locker. Both are in blood. I’m guessing the squirrel’s blood.”

“Did Christy say what the word was?”

“Slut. I don’t think he saw the letter in the back of the locker, but it’s the Greek letter upsilon.”

“Does it have any significance?”

“Not that I know of,” Michael lied.

Detective Davis turned to Jake.

“A lock of my girlfriend’s hair is hanging from the top of mine.”

“Nothing else?”

“No.”

“How do you know it’s your girlfriend’s hair?”

“The look of it and the smell of her perfume.”

“Who has the combination to your locker?”

“Michael and my parents.”

“Do you know if anyone has the combination to Christy’s locker?”

Michael answered. “He said no one did. May I ask a question?”

“You may.”

“Was it Rich and Tony who were with Jason last night when he ran from the parking lot?”

“No. Why do you ask?”

“Jake and I were trying to figure out who was with him last night, and it made me wonder if they might have done this.”

“It wasn’t them. Who do you think they might have been?”

“We don’t know. Do you have any idea?”

“We’re waiting on additional information.”

“But you know it wasn’t Rich or Tony?” Michael pressed.

“We found them at home with their parents. Their parents are very interested in keeping them away from Jason. Do we have the combinations to each of your lockers?”

Michael pulled Christy’s piece of paper from his pocket, wrote his, Christy’s, and Jake’s combinations on it, tore it in half so he could keep Christy’s combination for himself, and gave it to the detective.

“Thank you. You may go back to class.”

“Mr. Sullivan, Christy was really upset when he saw his locker. Do you think you can have it cleaned up soon?”

“As soon as the police are through with it, we’ll see that the janitor takes care of it first.”

“Thanks, Mr. Sullivan.”

M
ICHAEL
made a beeline for the library to collect Christy before lunch and found him sitting with an elated, flushed, and whispering Jerry. Michael motioned to him from the library doorway, and Christy stood and packed up his books. Jerry followed, looking pleased as punch.

Michael bent to Christy as they made their way through the milling students toward the cafeteria. “Missed you.”

Christy looked up at him, sparkle in his beautiful eyes.

“Your locker should be clean now.”

Someone came up behind Jerry, shoved him hard, and shouted, “Homo!” Jerry went sprawling, his chin made a sickly thud on the polished floor, and his books and backpack slid away to come to rest at the foot of the lockers.

Michael turned to find the four idiots who had attacked Christy the day before. “I’ll give you a ten-second head start! Run!” They took off, and Michael turned back to Christy. “Stay with Jerry. I’ll be right back.”

Michael took off after them. He only needed to catch one of them to make his point. He reached the shortest, pudgiest of the bunch before he made the door. Michael grabbed the back of his hoodie and spun him around. “What’s it going to take to get it through your thick skull to stop hassling us?”

The kid fought to get away and spat at Michael. Michael shook him hard. “Don’t you freakin’ spit at me, you little twerp! What’s it going to take? Do I have to thump your ass again? Huh? What’s it going to take?”

“Maybe a dead squirrel!” the kid taunted, laughed, and spat again. Then he saw Michael’s fury and began trying to break away in earnest.

Holding tight to the kid’s sweatshirt as he beat on Michael’s arm, Michael withdrew his phone and made a call. “Are you still on campus, Detective…? Because I have a little twerp in my hands who seems to know something about dead squirrels…. I’ll see you in the office in five minutes.”

Michael dragged the kid down the hallway while the kid called him every gay epithet in the English language. When he reached Christy and Jerry, he turned the kid to face Jerry. “Say you’re sorry!”

“I ain’t apologizin’ to no fuckin’ fairy!”

“You aren’t going to be free of me until you do, you friggin’ little homophobe!”

“I ain’t no homo!”

Michael shook the kid hard again. “I said homophobe, you idiot! Look it up! Here’s something else you should know. You just committed a hate crime, and if Jerry wants to press charges, you’re going to jail! Get it?”

“My daddy will get you!”

Michael laughed. “What are you? A sophomore?”

“A freshman!”

Michael shook his head. “Figures. Say you’re sorry.”

“No!”

“Fine. You can discuss it with the police.” Michael began dragging him down the hall again.

“No way!”

“Yeah, way.”

Christy and Jerry followed Michael and the now wholly panicked kid to the office. Michael shoved him through the office door, and he fell to his knees.

“Easy, Michael,” Detective Davis cautioned.

“The jerk shoved Jerry, and he fell and hit his chin. Are you okay, Jerry?”

“Just a busted lip.”

Detective Davis helped the kid up and held on to his arm. The kid tried to pull away, and Detective Davis gave him the hairy eyeball. The kid stopped moving. “Do you want to file a complaint, Jerry?”

“He’ll think about it, Detective Davis. This is one of the four guys who beat Christy up yesterday morning. You already got the report. He found it quite friggin’ hilarious to shove Jerry hard enough to make his face smack the floor. Tell him what the punishment is for a federal hate crime, and ask the little homophobe what he knows about dead squirrels.”

“I told ya! I ain’t no homo!”

“And you!” Michael jabbed a finger at the kid. “Stay the hell away from us! The next time I won’t tell you. I’ll impress it on you. Understand?”

Detective Davis held the kid firm as he tried to wriggle away. “What did he say to you about the squirrel, Michael?”

“I asked him what it was going to take to get it through his thick skull to stop harassing us, and he said, and I quote, ‘Maybe a dead squirrel.’”

Mrs. Thomas motioned to the conference room, and Detective Davis signaled to one of his officers to escort the kid into the room. The kid’s eyes went wide when the officer approached with flex-cuffs at the ready, turned him effortlessly, and cuffed his hands behind his back.

“Mrs. Thomas, can we have a Kold Pak for Jerry’s lip?”

“Certainly. I’ll be right back.”

“We’re going to get something to eat, Detective. Mrs. Thomas can page us on the loudspeaker if you need us, and I’m on cell.”

M
ICHAEL
escorted Christy and Jerry to the cafeteria, grumbling under his breath all the way. Jerry pressed the Kold Pak to his lip periodically but mostly held it to his chin. Fortunately, he’d stopped bleeding. Christy looked up at Michael and mouthed, “Thank you.”

Despite his anger, Michael winked. “I’m glad I was there when it happened. How’s the lip and chin, Jerry?”

“Okay. Do you always get so mad?”

“No, but those guys attacked Christy yesterday, and Jake and I laid them out. They should have known better than to try something again.”

“They’ve always been jerks.”

“You know them?”

“We live in the same trailer park, and I went to middle school with them. They come from rough families. My parents tried to talk to them once, and that kid’s dad threatened my dad with a broken beer bottle.”

Michael shook his head. “Sorry, man. You be sure to stick with us or Stephen at school.”

“Can’t.”

“Why not?”

“My dad’s a preacher, and my parents are real religious. If they found out I knew you, they’d probably perform an exorcism on me.”

Michael gaped at Jerry.

“They’re a little backwoods, if you know what I mean.”

“How’s that going to work out with you and Stephen? Did you like him, by the way?”

“Yeah, I’ve always liked him, but I don’t think it’s gonna work out.”

“Why not?”

“Stephen’s father’s a preacher at a different church. My dad knows him.”

Who knew Stephen’s father was a minister? “It’s a church thing more than a gay thing?”

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know what would make my parents freak more. They don’t know about me.”

“Does Stephen know that your dads know each other?”

“We didn’t get that far. That’s what Christy and I were talking about in the library.”

“Right now, let’s just get something to eat. Stay close to one of us for the rest of the day, if you can.” Michael held the cafeteria doors open for Christy and Jerry and guided them directly into the line at the counter. They were short on time thanks to the little freshman twit and needed to eat fast. He set a tray on the counter for Christy and handed one to Jerry.

“There you are,” Jake said as he joined them. “Where have you been? I was about to send out a search party.”

“The jerk who punched Christy yesterday shoved Jerry. He fell and split his lip. I grabbed him and, what do you know, he seems to know something about dead squirrels. Luckily, Detective Davis hadn’t left yet, so I took the kid to him at the office.”

“What does he know about the squirrel?”

Michael shrugged. “Detective Davis will figure it out.”

Christy tugged on Jake’s shirtsleeve.

“What, man?”

Christy held his pad up.
Michael was tough
.

Jake laughed. “Did he kick the guy’s butt?”

Christy nodded as he set a bowl of red Jell-O on his tray.

Jerry leaned close to Jake and whispered. “He got real mad.”

Jake chuckled. “Good.”

Michael ran a fingertip over Christy’s wrist. “You need to eat more than Jell-O, babe. What else do you want?”

“Potatoes and macaroni and cheese,” Christy whispered.

“Hey, Jerry, what’s up?” Stephen asked as he joined them in line. “What happened to your face?”

Jake turned to him. “The guy who punched Christy yesterday hassled Jerry. Michael handled it.”

Anger filled Stephen’s expression in seconds. “Where’s the guy now?”

Michael set a salad on his tray. “I handed him off to the office. Hey, Stephen, I didn’t know your dad was a minister.”

Stephen grimaced. “Over at St. Luke’s. Don’t remind me.”

“Jerry’s dad is too.”

“Yeah? Where?”

Jerry squirmed. “You won’t like it.”

Stephen smiled. “I won’t care.”

“Deliverance at Spiritual Crossroads.”

“That’s a tough row to hoe.”

“Tell me about it. Our dads know each other.”

“Doesn’t surprise me. My dad gets around.”

“At least your dad is okay with gay people.”

Stephen huffed a laugh. “Until it comes to me.”

Michael turned to him. “Serious?”

“He has double standards, so I haven’t told him.”

Lottie’s warm voice interrupted them. “Well, now, how is the handsomest young man in school, Christy? Where you been?”

Christy smiled and whispered, “Hi, Lottie.”