Good Old Boys

29 - A Meal and A Reveal

While Will had reservations (no pun intended) about eating in the Dining Hall that evening, he was exhausted after the incidents of the past few nights. The new persona he'd adopted to 'fit in' and appear to go along with the whole 'Seeds of Priapus' cult nonsense grated on his beliefs and morality, and the violent followers ought to be behind bars, not to mention committed to a psych ward. But a school? Even if it were a private academy, there were state and national laws it had to follow.

He'd called Dr. Goodfellow, who'd assured him that Matt Stone was recuperating, but he wasn't ready to communicate with anyone. Writing by hand - while uncomfortable, slow and awkward – appeared to be his preferred method; sign language, even if he knew it, required all ten digits for some spellings, and typing was more irritating than helpful.

As Will walked to get his tray, some of the seniors got in line behind him, while some freshmen and sophomores got out of his way, looking at him fearfully. The table at which Cadet Lee was seated stood up and moved as one to the back of the dining room. Will could see that it would take months to gain back some students' trust. Assuming he and Derek managed to have the current leadership arrested and charges brought. Then again, the courts were likely stocked with a few Boxton graduates in high places.

Cookie looked at him sternly and addressed him coldly. 'What will it be this evening, Sir? Rump Roast, tenderized and slathered with white sauce? Or a young bull, sauteed in humility and punishingly simmered?"

"Cookie?" Will asked.

"I had high hopes for you, young sir. But you hurt that boy's manly pride. and he may never recover."

"Eli Hamilton was murdered. Murdered and dismembered. Before that, he was gang-raped on the football field. Jebediah Lee may have also been gang-raped and object-raped. Do you know Starkwether found that idea funny? Ask any of his classmates, and they'll back me up. Have you ever been raped, Cookie?"

He looked down, his anger gone. Replacing it was sorrow.

"It isn't funny. Lee is missing. And when someone is missing at Boxton Academy, there's a good chance foul play figures into it. I know you know that. Now," Will said, ditching his angry tone, "I don't have much of an appetite after that. I'll take some of your excellent cornbread and some butter, please. To go." He lowered his voice so the seniors behind him couldn't hear. "Gerald will be fine. He told me where Lee was, which is all I wanted. He wouldn't have given me that information otherwise."

"I don't trust you anymore, Mr. Poulet," he said, handing him a medium-sized bag with my meal.

"Good," Will said. "Nobody on this campus should be trusted 100 percent."

He walked past the table of fellow teachers that he once thought to be friends, and out of the Dining Hall. Will found his way into the gymnasium and made it to the doorway to the school's secret stairwell. He ate his cornbread in silence. He was finishing the last bite when the door opened.

Will looked around down below, judging the best place he could jump without breaking a leg, shattering a kneecap or breaking an ankle, spotting none. As it turned out, he needn't have worried. It was the Three Stooges, come to apologize. Will wasn't in the mood for excuses, though. The reason for their betrayal: self-preservation.

The Academy had photographs of them with Juniors and Seniors. Some were doctored, some were not. In each instance, Headmaster Lee had threatened each one of them, in private, with exposure and having sex with a minor. Something clicked in Will's head, however.

"How long ago were these taken?"

"Seven, eight years ago," Tanner grumbled.

"How old was the youngest in any of these photos?"

"Seventeen. One was a junior, so maybe sixteen?" said Grant.

"Do you know that the age of consent in this state is sixteen?"

"In other countries, maybe. It's eighteen in the U.S., isn't it?" cried Carter.

"Not all states," Will said. "Provided – and I better not find out otherwise, or I'll see to it you're put behind bars myself – provided everything was consensual, Boxton can't touch you."

Tanner started to laugh. "Shhhh!" Grant whispered, "It's after sundown, and I'll bet you can be heard all around campus. Son of a bitch, Will. Lee was bluffing this whole time, and we've been dancing to his tune never knowing any better. Man, when I get through with him..."

"No!!!" stressed Will. "I can't emphasize how important it is that the Headmaster suspects nothing! He has to completely believe that everything is all in his control. Don't say anything to anyone about anything. Got it?"

They nodded. "Seeing that Initiation night is less than forty-eight hours away, I want you to tell me everything you remember about it. I have to be certain that either I'm prepared for it, or that it's something I have to skip."

Grant placed a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, I wouldn't recommend skipping it."

"Why's that?" Will asked.

"I think Huck would probably go off the deep end. You'd be out-and-out rejecting him. And it might end up with you being in that torture room for weeks."