When we woke up, it was time for school again. We got ready for school. We went to school again, and did more assignments again. At lunch, Dave sat next to me. We ate our food and chatted amicably. We ate pizza, salad, corn, pineapples, and orange soda.
After eating, there was still about 20 minutes left of our lunch hour. Dave and I went to Student Life Inside, and sat down. When we looked up, we saw the Sneerys again.
Sneery Right said, “I see you two are still friends.” He smiled an evil smile.
Sneery Left said, “After what happened the other day.”
“Please just leave us alone. Like I told you before, we’ve never hurt you.” Dave said. I could see that the fear was back in Dave’s eyes. Dave was really scared of these guys. They must have had some strong hold over Dave.
Dave begun to back away, but Sneery Right grabbed him. “Please leave me alone!” Dave cried again, his eyes as wide as saucers. He sounded and looked frightened. I felt bad for him. “Just let Dave go. He’s a real nice guy and wouldn’t hurt a fly,” I said standing up for him.
Sneery Right let go of Dave. “We’re not going to beat you up again. Max Cartwright would kill us both if we ever touched you again.” Sneery right smiled an evil smile.
Sneery left said, ‘yeah. He cares about you two.” He smiled a cruel smile too.
Sneery Right said, ‘Dave must be his favorite charge. A charge he loves a lot. More than usual for a dormparent.”
Dave’s color drained from his face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said unconvincingly.
“We know that you and Max Cartwright love each other. Like a gay couple.” Sneery Right smiled even more evilly.
“That’s a lie,” Dave said. He backed away a little more.
Sneery Left pushed him back to where he was. He put his face next to Dave’s menacingly.
“There is no place for gays at PBA,” he said very quietly.
Sneery Right said, ‘Only straight students can join our PBA.”
Sneery Left said, “That means you’re not eligible, Dave,” he smiled more evilly too.
“Dave said, ‘I’m not gay. I’m straight.” I could see sweat pouring down his face.
The Sneerys were really scaring me. I wanted to leave. Even leave them Dave with them. But something wouldn’t let me. I knew what it was. Dave had stuck by me when I was getting beat up. He hadn’t betrayed me. He kept getting beat up too, but didn’t give in and betray me by calling me a Nig. I had to do the same thing for him. I stayed.
Just then, Max stopped by. “Hi, Max Cartwright,” Sneery right said.
Max’s eyes held a note of suspicion. “What’s going on?” He asked in a guarded, wary tone.
“Oh, nothing. It’s just that Dave told us you two were dating. Sneery right said, smiling evilly.
That was a lie! Dave denied the whole thing! I thought in shock and outrage.
Sneery Left said, “You know that’s against the rules, don’t you, Mr. Dormparent?”
Skippy said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said in a cool tone. “Dave and I aren’t dating.” He looked at Dave. “Are we Dave?” Dave shook his head.
Skippy said, “I love my job way too much too risk it for dating a dorm resident.” He seemed so truthful, but I knew about them two.
“But, Dave told us you two were dating,” Sneery Left said, grabbing at straws. He seemed kind of desperate and frustrated that neither Dave nor Skippy was taking the bait.
“It’s not true,” Skippy said firmly. “Dave wouldn’t say that because it’s not true. Besides, Dave has a girlfriend. Her name is Allison.” I saw the taken aback look Dave gave Skippy, but the Sneerys didn’t notice.
Dave decided to recover and play along. “Yeah, we’ve been in a long-distance relationship for a while now. She’s the love of my life. Besides, Max has a girlfriend too. Becky. She’s a really sweet girl.”
Max decided to play along too. “Yes, Becky and I have been together for 5 months. We’re in a really committed relationship, and she’s the most wonderful girl I know.”
Sneery Right said, “You guys were making out in Dave’s dorm.”
Sneery Left said, “Yeah, you two were on Dave’s bed, getting it on.”
Max said, outraged, “These allegations are scandalous and ridiculous! I’ll sue for defamation of character!”
Dave said, “These two have nothing better to do than to make up false lies.” He looked around nervously.
“You guys seem pretty defensive,” Sneery Left said, perceptively.
“Yeah, they do. Let’s ask Darryl,” Sneery Right said. He turned to me.
“Are Max and Dave a couple?” I looked into Dave’s eyes, which seemed to say, “Don’t let us out of the closet.” It was a pleading look,
I looked at Max’s eyes next. I saw doubt and fear in them. They both didn’t want to be forced out of the closet.
I said, “No, they are not a gay couple.” I saw the couple smile relieved smiles.
Soon, it was time for class again. Dave thanked me for keeping their secrets. I welcomed him.
We did more assignments. After school we went to the dorm and watched T.V. and did some homework. I fell asleep soon after, and stayed asleep until around 8 that night. I was hungry, and Dave said that he was hungry too, so he and I ate dinner at the dining hall. We ate vegetable soup, some garlic butter bread, some orange juice, and lobster. After eating, we bumped into the Sneerys.
Dave and I tried to run, but the Sneerys were much to fast for us. Dave once again began shaking uncontrollably. Something was going on between all of them. What was it? I thought. Sneery left picked Dave up by his collar and pushed him into a wall. Dave quickly yelped.
Sneery right punched Dave in his temple. Dave groaned and fell to his knees.
“All I ever did was give you kindness,” Dave said softly. Sneery Left laughed cruelly and repeatedly punched Dave’s face. Dave looked like a rag doll.
“We’re gonna beat the “gay” out of you!” Sneery Right said, pulling Dave by his hair and slamming his head into the floor. Dave groaned as a pool of blood came gushing out of his head.
“Please, you’re gonna kill me!” Dave said emotionally. His eyes were rolling to the back of his head.
“Stop!” I screamed, unable to take them beating him up anymore. “He’s never hurt you guys. “Why are you beating him up?” I was finally out of my trance. I had been in a sort of trance while they were beating him up.
Sneery Left laughed cruelly. He continued to pummel Dave’s comatose body.
“He knows what he did,” Sneery right said cruelly. What had Dave done to deserve this? Be gay? Being gay gave a person the right to beat them to once inch of their life? I questioned in my mind.
Just then, Max showed up. When he saw what was happening, he flew into a rage. He angrily choked Sneery Left. Sneery Left begun to gag up blood. To Sneery Right he angrily slammed his head into the hard linoleum floor. Really hard.
Finally, security showed up and took Max away from them. Then he called an ambulance for Dave. As Dave was being lifted into the ambulance, he weakly said, “I’ll see you soon Darryl. You too Max. He gave us a weak smile. We both said it back to him and the ambulance drove off. I couldn’t sleep too well. I was worried about Dave. After about 30 minutes, Max knocked on my dorm. I let him in.
“I’m going to get George and Robert for what they did to my baby.” He looked and sounded very vindictive. “He looked ready to die when I found him! They could have killed him! What would have happened if I hadn’t shown up when I did? His voice choked with emotion. His face contorted with the anger of his emotions.
“Please, no, don’t do anything to them,” I said. ‘You’re a dormparent. You can get into a lot of trouble. You can already get into trouble for what happened today,” I continued solemnly.
I saw the dark shadows in Max’s eyes. “Number one rule of dormparents. “Protect your charges and take care of your charges,” he said solemnly.
“Especially the charge you fell in love with,” I told him softly.
“Yeah, I love Dave, you know?” Max asked. He looked troubled. “And when I saw what they were doing to Dave, I couldn’t take it. I got really angry. I lost it. Dave has never hurt anyone in his life, and didn’t deserve that.”
‘I know. They beat him up before,” I said. Skippy’s eyes got shocked and even angrier. “What they beat him up before? Why didn’t you tell me?” He asked me, looking accusingly.
‘I chuckled weakly. “I thought you already knew. I had just spilled the beans.
“No, I didn’t. It seems as if Dave doesn’t tell me stuff like this anymore.” He looked sad.
“He probably didn’t want you to worry,” I said weakly.
“I am worried. They took him to an ambulance! I hope he’s okay,” Skippy said, wringing his hands nervously. He checked his watch. ‘I’d better go in and check on him. You wanna come with me?” he asked me.
“Sure”, I said. I was sure Dave would be thrilled to see us.
Skippy drove us to the hospital. At the hospital, we went to Dave’s room. Dave looked like hell when we saw him. He was having trouble breathing, so he had tubes up his nose. He had a bunch of bruises on his body too, and his eyes were half-closed.
“Hi, Darryl,” he said weakly, smiling at me. “Hi, Max,” he said, smiling at him too.
“Hi,” we both said.
Max said, ‘I hate what those guys did to you.”
Dave said, “It’s okay.”
Max said, ‘No it’s not okay. Look at you. You’re in a hospital! Look what they did too you.” His voice cracked with emotion.
“I said, “We hope you will feel better soon.”
Max said, ‘I love you, you know, and it hurts me to see you like this. I want to get those guys good. And don’t think I don’t know about the first time you got beat up,” he added.
“You told Max about that?” Dave asked me, accusingly.
‘It kind of slipped out, I said.
“Dave said, ‘I didn’t want to worry you Max.’
“No, I’m not worried at ALL,” Max said with sarcastic emphasis. “My boyfriend is just covered in bruises, breathing through a tube! I’m not worried at all!”
“Dave said, ‘Please. I just want to some rest,” Dave said, looking really tired.
Max said, “Fine. Bye. Feel better soon.”
“Thanks for coming,” he said to both of us.
We both welcomed him. We left.
While Dave recovered, Max spent a lot of time with me. I think he was using me to replace Dave in his life. He obviously needed a friend, and I obliged. We watched T. V. together and played video games with each other, and just hung out and chatted. Max was a really cool guy, not just my dormparent or my dormmate’s boyfriend. We had fun together.
When Dave recovered, Skippy picked him up from the hospital. Dave spent a day in bed, and we tended to him. Skippy fed him soup, and I rubbed his feet. The next day, Dave was okay to go back to school. At school, we saw the Sneerys. And they saw us.
I looked into Dave’s eyes. I was expecting to see anger for what they did to him, but I didn’t see anger. He actually looked compassionate for them. And he fear too.
“Hey, Dave, nice stay in the hospital?” Sneery left said asked evilly. Sneery Right said, “We gave you a little vacation.”
Dave asked, sounding weary, ‘why are you picking on me?”
Sneery left said, ‘You know what you did.” Sneery Right answered and grinned nastily.
Dave looked at me with chagrined eyes. But to them, he said, ‘That was a long time ago. Leave me alone.”
Sneery Right said, ‘We can tell your “friend” Max about what happened.
“Don’t you tell him anything!” Dave said, said, sounding outraged.
‘You don’t want your gay lover to find out you used to snort crack? That you were a serious crack head who was going around stealing money to support your habit?” Sneery left asked.
“Leave Max out of this,” Dave said sweating.
“Huh. Dave, you didn’t deny that Max is your lover,” Sneery Right said.
Even I noticed that.
Dave said, “Max is not my boyfriend.”
Sneery Left said, “And Rupaul is not a cross-dresser.
Dave said, ‘I already told you I’m not gay.”
Sneery Right said, “We have gay radar. And our gay radar is going off around you.”
Sneery Left said, ‘Yeah. And it’s beeping really loudly around you.” Dave and I both tried to run, but the Sneerys were much too fast for us.
“Where you going, you little fa? “ Sneery right asked Dave, pushing him into a wall.
Sneery Left said, “Yeah, you homo, you’re not going anywhere.” Dave tried to leave, but Sneery Right held his arms, while Sneery Left prepared to kick him in the stomach.
Dave’s eyes held a lot of fear in them again as he anticipated Sneery Left’s kick in the gut.
“Stop!” I screamed again. “Let go of Dave.”
“So, the little thug from North Miami is stepping to Dave’s defense,” Sneery Right said with a sneer. ‘The little mugger from North Miami.”
Sneery Left said, “Yeah, the criminal who hijacked cars, robbed stores and houses, and mugged people before he got here is sticking up for another thief. “
How’d they know that? The color drained from my face. How did they know that I used to be a thief?
“You two deserve each other. Two thieves should be great company for each other,” he continued.
Did Dave tell? I thought. I looked into Dave’s eyes. He slightly shook his head. He hadn’t.
Sneery right said, “maybe we should just leave them alone.” Sneery Left agreed, and they left.
I looked at Dave. “How’d they know about me?” I asked.
“Dave said, “How’d they know about Max and me?”
I answered him. “At lunch one day, Max put his arm around your shoulder and you were happy. Max did that in plain view of a lot of people. Maybe one of them told.”
“But, that was only a few seconds, “Dave said, making an excuse.”
“Yeah, but those few seconds did happen. Anyone who was watching could have told.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” Dave said.
“The real issue is how’d they know I used to be a criminal?” I asked. I began to tremble out of fear.
“I don’t know, “Dave said. “I never said a word to anyone.”
“I know. I believed Dave. “Maybe our dorm is bugged?” I suggested.
Dave’s eyes got big in shock. “You think that could be true?” He asked, looking scared.
“Yes. That’s the only way they could know about me.”
Dave suddenly realized something. “Remember what they said yesterday?”
“What?” I asked/ answered him.
“They said, “Max and you were on your bed, in your dorm kissing.’ How would they know about that?”
“That’s true, “I said thoughtfully. “Let’s go check it out.”
We walked to our dorm, searching for the ‘bug.” We frantically looked in all our draws, in the bathroom, under the T.V stand, and the closet, both nightstands, and even in the mini-fridge, but with no luck. I said, ‘No such luck.” Dave said, “We haven’t checked under the beds yet. ‘Yeah, we haven’t,” I said. We looked under my bed, and found nothing. Then we looked under Dave’s bed, and found nothing.
We were about to get up, but Dave suddenly said, “Look, there is something hiding under my card.” Surely enough, we picked up the card and found the “bug.” We picked it up. Dave looked violated. I didn’t blame him. I felt violated too. Into the bug, Dave said, ‘Leave us alone!” Dave took the bug and threw it out the window.
“Wait, what are you doing?” I asked him. “You should have kept that for evidence,” I said.
“Oh yeah,” Dave said sheepishly. We both went outside into the dorm yard to look for it. We miraculously found it in some grass. I picked it up and put it in Dave’s pocket and went to our dorm.
Dave looked upset. “Why don’t they just leave me alone?” I could see the shadows in Dave’s eyes. I wondered something.
“Dave, why are you so afraid of them? What kind of hold do they have over you?”
Dave looked away from me.
“Are you in some sort of trouble Dave?” I asked. I could see Dave stiffen. I knew he was hiding something.
“Dave, I’m your friend. You should be able to tell me your problems,” I said soothingly.
‘I can’t tell you”, Dave said chokingly. Aha! I knew there WAS something he was hiding.
Thank you Dan! 
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