Good Old Boys

22 - The Hidden Faces of Eli Hamilton

It was to his great surprise that almost every cadet had written something about Eli. Unsurprisingly, the freshmen were exempt from that, for obvious reasons. Will sat down cross-legged, away from the occasional light wind that could nonetheless blow a pile of papers off the roof. It was essential that Headmaster Lee didn't find out about this side purpose of his questionnaires.

He'd made certain their authors remained anonymous. He was planning on identifying them later, comparing the handwriting to the pop quiz he intended to give them next week. He began with the sophomore year, the ones who likely knew him the least.

But Eli Hamilton, rather than being a scary junior who viewed freshmen as inferior human beings worthy of derision, turned out to be someone they looked up to – someone who, with a very small group of his classmates – protected them from the practical jokes and often cruel treatments dished out by the sophomores. There were comments such as:

Will knew that Boxton Academy as a whole was a sauna full of hot, horny, mostly gay or bi teenagers and teachers – and that, in an odd way, it was a refreshing change for someone like himself who'd felt alone the first two years in a private Manhattan high school.

But there were too many questionable practices going on. Admittedly, all-male military academies are found throughout the South. But they were your average Kinsey mix of kids, 1 out of every 10 students being gay, with possibly more being bi – but a school where boys were mainly obsessed with other boys? What if the behavior of the Senior cadets implied that non-participation in same-sex he-nanigans was unacceptable? What would that be like for a 100% straight cadet?

Next up were the Juniors, and they painted a very different picture. Their comments confirmed that Eli and his small crew were crusaders for the underclassmen. Their memories were raw and occasionally vicious:

Then there was one anecdote that made me rethink every scenario I'd come up with.

I could imagine Huck saying such things. And I'd noticed Chad looking longingly at Huck once or twice during class. What I couldn't imagine was either of them killing and maiming Eli's body.

There were only three questionnaires from the Seniors. The comments read as follows:

Will's phone alarm startled him. It was dinnertime. And, six hours later, Will is supposed to be on that same football field that had seen Eli Hamilton and his friends' gang-rape, to witness Jebediah Lee's punishment. Maybe, he mused, it might be wiser to plead illness and stay in his cottage? Or would he alone be able to prevent a similar fate being dished out to Jeb?

True, the cadet might be a self-important, foul-mouthed jerkwad, but nobody deserved that kind of treatment. A thought occurred to Will – maybe, just maybe it was a set-up? Jeb would make it look as if he were being gang-banged, while someone took a picture of him standing by and watching it? Would that photo wind up online, or worse – in the digital hands of his cyber bully?

Gathering his papers, he put them in his briefcase and headed down the secret staircase to the dining room. He needed help in coming up with a strategy, and he knew just the people to help him brainstorm one.