Johnny Gets His Wings

Chapter 6

Officer Ken stuffed me into the back of his car before pulling out of the parking lot with a squeal from his tires. Then he gunned the engine and kept swerving in and out of traffic like a madman. The station wasn't far away, and I took a few heavy breaths in anticipation. I wondered if I'd have to spend the next several months in jail awaiting my trial. My mother and father didn't have a dime to their name, so there was no way in hell that I was ever going to make bail.

All these horrible images of forced anal sex kept racing through my brain. Raped in the cell. Raped in the prison library. Raped in the showers. Well, you get the picture. My asshole was practically on fire just thinking about it. Damn. One stupid mistake might screw up my life forever.

But officer Ken never pulled into the station. Instead, he drove right past the building.

I cleared my throat. "I think you missed the turn."

He looked up into the review mirror. "We're gonna handle your crime in a different fashion. Let's call it an extra-judicial affair."

"I'm not following."

"You're a juvenile. You'll be out in no-time flat. It's better to handle this man to man."

"Man to man?"

He nodded and smiled. "That's right, tadpole. Man to man."

"I'm still not following."

He lit a cigarette and cracked the window. "I spoke with Colonel Bradley before coming to the school. Just a short conversation over the phone. He has no plans on pressing charges against you." There was a short pause. "In fact, he feels sorry for you. The colonel told me that your dad is a deranged pervert and that your mother is a basket case. So he wants to work it out like gentlemen."

"Like a duel or something?"

Officer Ken chuckled derisively. "What? You think he's gonna shoot you over a bump on the head?" He laughed some more. "The colonel says you punch like a pussy anyway. He simply wants to have a conversation in an attempt to get you back on the right path. That's the kind of righteous guy he is. God doesn't make too many men like Lieutenant Colonel Bradley. He's one of a kind."

"So I'm not going to jail?"

"Do I look like a fortune teller? Who knows what will happen down the line?" He took a heavy drag from his cigarette. "The colonel has a big heart. He thinks being expelled from school is punishment enough."

"Then I've been officially kicked out by the administration?"

"That goes without saying. Hell, your dad got fired, and you struck your English teacher all on the very same day. I doubt if you'll ever step foot in Saint Mary's again. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. But don't worry. There's always the public school system. Maybe it will be more to your liking."

"I'm actually thinking of dropping out and getting my GED. That way, I can work and study at the same time."

He took another long toke from his cigarette before throwing it out the window. "Well, kid, I'm not a social worker. Your future is in your own hands. But you ain't exactly the brightest crayon in the box. In fact, you strike me as a complete idiot."

"Complete idiot? I have a B average in school."

"I'm talking about common sense. True. Maybe you're passing all your math courses. I'll give you that. Yet you don't have the brains that God gave a goose. In the long run, your stupidity might even get you killed."

I didn't have an answer. In fact, I suspected that he was probably right.