Pied Piper IV-The Conclusion

[mjcmmv]

PART IV: Aftermath

Chapter 21

Sonny was out of surgery and lying on a stretcher in the recovery room. The nurses allowed Gina to sit next to him. She was the first thing he saw when he woke up. 

“Hey there,” she said when she saw him open his eyes.

“Hey.” His voice was still heavy from the anesthesia. 

“How’re you feeling.”

“Swell.”  He smiled, then flinched when he tried to move. “How ‘bout you?”

“It was just a scratch. I got stitches in the ER and they let me go.”

“Hmm,” he murmured. “Lucky…” 

He fell back to sleep.

That afternoon, he woke up and saw Billy. The boy’s chin was resting on the bed’s metal siderail. 

“Hi, Dad.” The boy was tired, but his eyes were bright. 

“Hello, son. How’s it going?”

“Good.” 

Caroline came over to the bedside. “Sonny, thank God.”

“Caroline.”

“The doctor says you’re going to be fine. After some PT, your trigger finger will be as good a new." Sonny frowned at her little joke but gave her a chuckle anyway. 

“One of the gunman died. They arraigned Derrick Connors this afternoon. From what I hear, he’s got lots of trouble ahead.”

“He sure does. He’ll be going away for a long time.”

“You know, they took you away in the ambulance pretty fast. You never got the chance to hear what almost happened.”

“Almost happened? Man, what we went through was bad enough. What else could there have been?”

“Derrick Connors tossed a grenade at you and Billy.”

Sonny’s eyes widened. 

I never saw it …

“They found it under a bench in the courtyard. The pin was pulled. But it failed to detonate. 

“Thank God!”

Caroline smiled. 

Yeah. You’re right … thank God

They sat there for a time, lost in their own thoughts.

“Tell me, Caroline. How many casualties?”

“Fifteen dead, including one gunman. Twenty wounded, including you and Gina. The school will be closed for a while. They have a mobile counseling unit set up. The lines have been around the block.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet.” He looked over at Billy. “You went to the counseling,  right, son?”

“Not yet. I wanted to stay here with you.”

Caroline put a hand on Sonny’s arm. “I’ll take care of it, I promise. We have to go, Billy. Dad needs some rest.” She saw the alarm on Billy’s face, and she sat back down. 

“It’s okay,” Sonny told him.  ‘If you let me sleep a little, you can stay as long as you like.” 

Sonny closed his eyes.

Chapter 22

“Comfy?” Caroline asked Sonny as Gina adjusted the shoulder strap across his chest. She was grinning from ear to ear.

“Do I really have to wear this?” There was a glum expression on his face. 

“Yes, you do!” Gina scolded. “All you need now is to be thrown forward and you’ll be right back in the slammer!”

Sonny was sure he heard his son stifle a laugh. “You’ll pay for that, wise guy!”

“Sorry, Dad. It’s just funny to hear someone order you around. Gina’s pretty tough.”

“Yes,” Caroline chimed in. “We should all take notes on how she manages to get you to listen. Lord knows, I’ve been trying to make you wear a seat belt for years.”

Gina settled in beside him and examined her handiwork with a satisfied smile. “Good. Now I have you right where I want you,” she told him. She had a devilish gleam in her eye. 

 “You’ll stay a couple of days with us, before you even think about going back, Sonny, right?” Caroline asked. She knew Sonny would be on the mend for a while and this would be the perfect opportunity for him to be with his son.

 “Yeah, that would be great,” Sonny said without hesitation. “I’m going to call Castillo in the morning.”

Caroline’s face registered instant shock.

“Really, Dad?” Billy shrieked. “You mean it?”

Sonny felt a sharp pain in his right ear. “Pipe down, buddy! Now on top of everything else, I’m deaf!”

“Sorry, Dad. It’s just, well, you’re always so tied up with work and all. I’m just happy, I guess.”

The remark hurt.  Why did it take a tragedy to make him wake up and realize how important he was to his son?

“No harm done, kid. Just promise me, not too many of those video games, okay? I’m not sure I can compete with this bum shoulder.”

“Oh, yeah! Excuses, excuses! You don’t want me to show you up, that’s all.” 

Caroline looked in the rear-view mirror and saw Sonny looking back with love in his eyes.

“Thank you,” she mouthed, giving back a loving look of her own. 

 

Chapter 23

Billy lay on the chaise lounge on the deck, staring at the pond behind his house and thinking over last night’s get together with his teammates. 

He was sure that anyone who was a stranger to these parts and unfamiliar with recent events, would never have guessed that the fifteen boys gathered together in the local pizza parlor, had just witnessed a heartbreaking tragedy just two weeks ago. They had been talkative that night, almost raucous. 

It wasn’t that they didn’t care or that they didn’t feel the horror any less than the adult members of the community. It was just that they were very young and for a little while, they needed to return to normalcy. It was important for them to experience a few of the old familiar pleasures they had left behind in a previous life; a life without bloodshed and death.

Jack Butler lived nearby and after they’d finished eating, they all shuffled out together, walking single file, to his house. The friendly banter was gone now, replaced by a grimness one might see on the faces of experienced soldiers, marching back from war. 

When he came into the family room, Billy headed for a chair by a window, while the rest of the guys huddled close together on the floor. He remembered seeing the coach study him closely. 

Butler had invited the kids to meet with him; to talk about their feelings and their fears. Billy knew he'd fought in Viet Nam, just like his dad. Billy imagined the massacre at Southside High School had been just as bloody as any battle on the fields of war.  He shuddered when he closed his eyes and saw the bodies of his fallen teammates staring at the sky. 

The talk went well at first. 

“It’s natural to feel guilty,” the coach told them. “When someone we care about is a victim of violence and we ourselves have survived, we begin to ask the question, ‘why’? We are afraid we let our loved ones down. Or maybe we’re afraid someone will think we ran and let someone else take a bullet for us. Now that’s a heavy load to be carrying.  How many of you saw someone you know hurt that night at the game?”

Most of the hands in the room were raised. 

“How many saw someone killed?” 

A few hands went down, but a few still remained, including Billy’s. Jack’s eyes softened. 

“Why don’t you tell us about it, Billy?” 

“No. No, I don’t think so, coach,” he mumbled. “I … I don’t want to talk about it yet.”

John Saxon had turned around and Billy remembered feeling relief flood over him when he saw John’s friendly smile. John was one of the halfbacks on the team, and he also sat next to Billy in Math. They had shared notes before a test a few times. 

“Hey, Bill!” John called out in a friendly tone. “You and your Dad were sensational!”

The rest of the boys turned around, and Billy felt his cheeks burn. 

“It really was my Dad. He told me what to do.” 

“How’s Dad now?” Jack prodded. 

“Better.” 

“Is he still staying with you?”

“Yeah. He’s on medical leave.” He wondered why the coach was making him tell the group about his Dad. Some of the guys lost people they loved or knew. Wasn’t that more important? 

Then, it hit him. 

“I … I almost lost my Dad,” he stammered. “Damn that shit, Derrick!”

At that moment, it felt like someone had taken possession of his body and his mind. He fought to catch his breath. He remembered standing then. 

“He tried to tried to kill us. And he tried to take my Dad away!” he shouted. “My Dad!”

And that was all he could say. No more words would come out of his mouth. He heard himself begin to sob. He looked at the faces around him. Some of the boys were embarrassed for him and turned away.  Others watched, their eyes, full of compassion. Jack Butler came over and put an arm around him. 

“Bill?” he asked with concern. “It’s okay.” 

John was standing next to him, too. “Hey, buddy. I’m sorry. I know how much you care about your Dad.”

One of the other guys got up and came over. 

Helen, the school nurse, had been sitting on the sidelines watching and now she was there in the circle that had formed protectively around the boy.

“Billy,” she asked in a soft voice. “Do you want me to take you home?”

Billy was beginning to feel panic stricken that he couldn’t control his emotions in front of these strangers and for a moment he wanted nothing more than to disappear. But through it all, he kept hearing his father’s voice, soothing him, helping him to regain his balance. 

“Show them, buddy. Show them what you’re made of!”

He breathed in slowly, his hands opening and closing into tight angry fists. “No,” he said in a quivering voice. “I want to stay. I need to tell you everything.”

It all came tumbling out. How much he missed his father over the years and how his father’s absence had hurt him. His voice was strong and steady as he told them how he tried to win his father’s approval.

He hadn’t planned on telling them the rest, but the terrible secret had been festering inside for too long.

He told them about his relationship with Derrick, and how the charismatic student had lured him into believing that a gun would make him strong. It hadn’t taken much to convince Billy this was true. His father was the best marksman he'd ever seen. Maybe being good with his father’s weapon of choice would finally make him sit up and take notice. 

“I … I knew Derrick was bad news, but I had no idea he was so dangerous. I heard kids were buying guns from him. I didn’t think it would be so bad. I just wanted to practice out in the woods. Get good like my Dad, and then surprise him when he took me to the range. I knew it was a mistake as soon as I brought it home. It didn’t feel right, hiding it in my closet. All I could think about was how to get rid of it."  

"My Dad was visiting here for the game," he continued.  "He almost found it in my backpack. He knew I was hiding something when I grabbed the bag out of his hands. I couldn’t stand the disappointment in his eyes." A few tears ran down his cheek. "He’s a cop, and I was afraid he’d snoop, so, I brought the bag to school the night of the game and hid it in my locker. When the shooting started, I knew someone had to take charge, so I gave the gun to my Dad. I was sure he would save us … and he did. But now, I’m sorry I didn’t tell him about Derrick. Maybe someone could have done something before this happened. I’m sorry… I didn’t know.” 

The room had gotten quiet. Billy knew he had shocked them and suddenly, he felt utterly alone. He was sure all of them would hate him, blame him. He began to regret being so open. His mother and father seemed very far away, and these strangers owed him nothing.

John broke the silence and put his hand on Billy’s shoulder. “I bought one from him,” he said. “The jerk had some beauties and I like to target practice with my Dad, too. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, except I kinda knew Derrick must have gotten them illegally. He was selling them for a song, and it was the only way I would ever be able to afford it, so I turned my head the other way.”

One of the other boys cleared his throat. “I did, too. And my older cousin from Denton bought one.” 

A murmur went around the room, and Billy’s eyes grew wide when he realized seven of his teammates had been taken in, too. 

The coach put up his hand and stopped them from going any further. “This is serious stuff, boys. A crime has been committed and some of you bought weapons from the boy responsible for the injury and death of quite a few people. The authorities will want to know all about this, and I suggest you discuss this with your parents before the police come knocking on your door. You all need to go home now. We’ll meet again next Thursday, same time, at the pizza joint and then my house. Take it easy and if you need to talk to me, you have my number. My door is always open. Those of you who need rides, come on over here and we’ll call the parents who offered to car-pool.”

The group broke up after that, and Billy began to calm down as the boys filed past, some shaking his hand, others clapping him on the shoulder, telling him to hang in there. One even told him they were all in this together.  He remembered how amazed those words had made him feel. The guys didn’t hate him! They respected him! It had been quite a night. He had learned a lot about himself and about the new community he now called home. 

The coach dropped him off in front of his house, and before he left, he leaned out of his car window and said, “It’s going to be okay, Billy. Your Dad’s recovering well. Both your parents love you very much. They’re there for you, son. And so am I.”

Billy felt such a rush of affection and admiration for this man, he almost choked when he answered. “I’ll call you, coach. Thanks for saying that.”

The kitchen door had just slammed, startling him out of his reverie, and he turned his head when he heard the footsteps on the deck. 

“Mom?”

His stepfather was standing there with Peter in his arms. 

“Hey, I thought you were Mom. Where is she, anyway?”

“She’s in the living room, Bill. Your Dad’s there, too. They’re with some people who want to talk to you.”

Billy’s heart began to thud painfully in his chest. “Who?” he asked.

“Federal agents. They’re here to ask about the gun.”

“I…do I have to? I didn’t mean to do anything wrong. Can’t you tell them I’m just a kid?”

“I called the family lawyer. He says he’s on his way… just in case.”

Billy couldn’t believe this was happening.

“These men are waiting. We’ll  protect you, I promise. Now let’s get in there before they think you’ve got something to hide.”

Chapter 24

Once the plane reached cruising altitude, Sonny and Gina started to relax. Both of them were exhausted. 

“Close your eyes,” Sonny said to her. 

“Not yet. I want to hear what you else you said to Billy.”

“I told him I loved him,  and I’d be coming back at Christmas. Then, I told him again how proud I was to have him as my son.”

She smiled. “He told me he was sad you were going, but he did seem okay when you turned to wave that last time.”

“He’s going to need a lot of counseling and support. This whole thing has devastated him. Caroline is beside herself with worry.”

“I don’t blame her. But at least the penalties for buying the gun weren’t too severe.”

“Yeah, Georgia’s laws aren’t that tough. He was charged with a misdemeanor. He could have gotten time in a juvenile detention center. But the judge heard the lawyers argument and agreed this was a good kid who’d made a mistake. And, more importantly, he’s a good kid who’ll never do it again. Community service will give him something to think about it. Jack Butler told me the other boys got the same.”

“I guess the judge took the massacre into consideration. Maybe he felt they’d been punished enough.”

“Maybe. If it happened in Florida, they may not have been so lucky. I know a few judges down there who would have thrown the book at them.”

“Well, there’s one reason to be happy he moved.”

“That’s the only reason I can think of, Gina.” He gazed out the window for a minute. “I’m not going to complain, though. And I’m not going to avoid getting involved anymore. Bob’s okay, I guess, and he means well. But he’s not Billy’s dad. I’m his Dad.”

Gina squeezed his hand. “Yes, you are,” she said. “And you’re a good one, too.”

“Thanks.” He squeezed her hand back and closed he eyes with a sigh. “So, can we get some shut-eye now?”

“I guess so. But we’ll be on the ground before you know it.”

“Are you saying you want to talk some more?”

“Sure, why not? How often do we get the chance to have an uninterrupted conversation?” 

“Not often enough, that’s for sure.”

“So, now that I have your undivided attention, I thought we could talk about the honeymoon. You know, like where we should go and all.”

He wanted to roll his eyes, but he didn’t dare. 

“How about a weeklong cruise on the St. Vitus?” When she didn’t answer, he looked over at her. It was all he could do to keep a straight face. “Guess not, huh.”

“You guessed right, bucko. Okay so you’re not in the mood. Fine. Go to sleep, then.”

She opened a magazine and pretended it didn’t matter. He grinned and shut his eyes. 

“See you in Miami, sweetheart.” 

He said it with that awful Bogey imitation he used whenever he wanted to tease her. It usually made her laugh. 

This time, he was sure he heard her groan. 
 

Edited September 16, 2019 by mjcmmv

[mjcmmv]

I want to thank  Robbie and Vicegirl for their suggestions and support. You guys are the best! 

And also, thanks to my friend Amy, who helped me dream up this idea. She gave me a hand with the plot, as well. Thanks, buddy! 

Edited September 16, 2019 by mjcmmv

[vicegirl85]

10 hours ago, mjcmmv said:

We are afraid we let our loved ones down. Or maybe we’re afraid someone will think we ran and let someone else take a bullet for us. Now that’s a heavy load to be carrying.

Love that the coach helped the boys express their feelings, and helped them put those feelings into a context.

10 hours ago, mjcmmv said:

He told them about his relationship with Derrick, and how the charismatic student had lured him into believing that a gun would make him strong. It hadn’t taken much to convince Billy this was true. His father was the best marksman he'd ever seen. Maybe being good with his father’s weapon of choice would finally make him sit up and take notice. 

So sad, and I wonder how many other troubled kids have had similar motivations.

I really liked how the football coach supported the boys, and how Billy (and Sonny) saw that Bob and Caroline also just wanted the best for Billy.

10 hours ago, mjcmmv said:

“See you in Miami, sweetheart.” 

He said it with that awful Bogey imitation he used whenever he wanted to tease her. It usually made her laugh. 

This time, he was sure he heard her groan. 

 Loved this and I'm so glad Sonny had the chance to rebuild his relationship with his son, in spite of the terrible thing that happened.

[mjcmmv]

31 minutes ago, vicegirl85 said:

Love that the coach helped the boys express their feelings, and helped them put those feelings into a context.

So sad, and I wonder how many other troubled kids have had similar motivations.

I really liked how the football coach supported the boys, and how Billy (and Sonny) saw that Bob and Caroline also just wanted the best for Billy.

 Loved this and I'm so glad Sonny had the chance to rebuild his relationship with his son, in spite of the terrible thing that happened.

Ah, I love and appreciated your remarks, Vicegirl85.

I wanted this coach to be there for his boys and he was. And when Billy realized it, it gave him another man to turn to when he needed guidance. 

This was fun to write. Glad you enjoyed it!