Doves and Crows

Despite catching Luke and me first, the cops eventually rounded up the rest of the gang with the exception of Lilith.

They held us in a cell together till sunrise, which was when all of the parents were allowed to come in to bail us out. However, none of us were charged with anything. Instead the Monday we all faced our judgment separately in front Principal Bartley. Something about the man always rubbed me the wrong way. He had piercing green eyes and a nasty habit of incessantly popping his jaw right before he ate something. As my parents stood on either side of me in chairs directly in front of the principal, I sat at attention.

“This isn’t good Robert, you’re in quite a bit of trouble” he said, the thin lining of shine repelling the light off his slick bald head. My mother nodded and continued outlining the floral print on her dress, refusing to look in his gaze.

“I can assure you there is no legal standing to punish my son for an accident,” Father insisted with silent confidence. His superior defense attorney skills came out at the best of moments. “No one got hurt, just boys being boys.” My mother looked up that moment and nodded hesitantly once more.

“Patrick,” Principal Bartley said softly. “There may be no legal charges against the team, but I’m still in charge of things here at Liberty and I say Robert broke the rules.” I bit the inside of my cheek. It wasn’t like we killed somebody and the hangover the day after was punishment enough.

Bastard.

“Alright, so what do you recommend?” My mother asked timidly ringing her hands tightly, her gloves coming close the tearing. I put my hand on her shoulder and smiled as politely as I could to calm her down.

“Well, I’ve recommended-” and by recommended he meant sentenced, “-Robert to do community service with that hospital around the corner. An old friend of mine works there now I believe, Mrs. Delilah, she will show you how things work.”

“I don’t want my son being some nurse,” my father insisted with a glare. Principal Bartley laughed quietly, causing my mother to become less tense.

“Of course not, of course not,” he muttered and grabbed a pen as he began signing some papers. “He’ll begin after school.”

“What about practice?” my father asked in a short burst of fury. My mother turned with a solemn expression.

“Patrick, I think this is a bit more serious than him missing some silly baseball practice,” she said attempting a comforting smile.

“Hush Mildred!” my father hissed and she shut her mouth slowly.

“I know he’s a vital part of the team. He will be able to attend all practices and any other practice will be done in his own spare times. I suggest the weekends, his only days off pending the eight month… service,” he answered.

“Why so long? It’s not like we hurt anybody,” I said in disbelief and the volume of my voice frightened my mother so much her shoulders shook. I lifted my grip and placed both my hands on my knees.

“You should be thankful,” my principal said closing his eyes. “Most people would be facing expulsion. Now school is starting soon. You should be getting ready for class, shouldn’t you?” I obliged with clenched teeth. I stood up and grabbed my backpack.

“Oh don’t forget this, dear,” my mother whispered pulling a small book from her purse. It was a copy of the Scarlet Ibis.

“Thanks,” I mumbled kissing her cheek and booked it.

I didn’t receive that sort of scorn from anyone else in my classes. They all said it was unfair the kind of treatment I was getting, I of course agreed. By English class Todd and I had the girls clinging to us as we told the story.

“You should have seen the thing, the flames just burst out of nowhere!” Todd said standing up and making sound affects to the explosion.

“It was the craziest. But if I remember right you were the first one to run off screaming,” I laughed shoving him. He scoffed as the class let out a small murmur of laughter.

“I believe that was you my friend,” he barked punching my arm. I stood up and we both started pretending to fight one another.

“Settle down, boys,” Mister Lonker announced as he entered the room, his glasses basically falling off. “I’ll be handing back your tests from Thursday on Romeo and Juliet.” A single moment of groaning erupted as he went around the classroom placing the papers face-down on the desks.

“Damn,” Todd cursed silently as he glanced at his paper and then slammed his head down on his desk. “My parents are going to kill me.”

“You couldn’t have done that bad. You had that study date with Shelby, didn’t you?” I asked as Mister Lonker placed my test on my desk. He lifted his head slightly from the desk and smirked as under the desk he made a vulgar hand motion that earned him a high five. “What did you get?”

He lifted up his paper to show a big red D+ next to a 69%. Both of us began laughing hysterically.

“So how did you end up?” he chuckled raising an eyebrow. I peeked at it from under the table to see the large red A+ and 95% before putting it back down.

“Like crap,” I grumbled with a sigh. I was an expert liar. I caught Mary Beth give a malevolent smile as she showed her 92%.

“Suck-up,” he whispered and turned around to face me. “Hey do you want to go throw the ball around with the guys after school? Coach canceled all the practices till this whole mess gets cleared away.”

“I can’t,” I sighed rubbing the back of my neck. “I start community service at that hospital over there. What’s it called again…?”

“Bell Tower, I think. Man that’s rough. Thank God for your father, though. If it weren’t for him we might be in prison,” he said with a dark tone, his voice hard with fear. I just shrugged and had a moment of self-loathing. Once the bell rung I began walking to the hospital, my parents had driven me to school today since we had the meeting with Principal Bartley. It was on the darker side of town, but I gave no complaints and just kept walking for ten minutes or so.

When I did arrive at the hospital, doctors were flying across the floor in there white coats, like strange angels. I went up to the receptionist with cats-eye glasses.

“Excuse me, I’m Robert Emerson,” I said leaning my elbows on the counter. The elderly woman with white hair just continued to gaze at her papers with dulled eyes. “I’m here to see Mrs. Delilah,” I said louder. Frustration started bubbling up from my stomach as I drummed my fingers furiously. “Hey, excuse me!” She looked up finally and blinked her beady little eyes.

“Oh, who are you?” she asked quizzically, as she leaned forward. I took a deep breath to calm myself.

“I’m Robert Emerson, Ma’am. I’m here to see Mrs. Delilah.”

“Oh, well then you’re in the wrong building,” she said politely. I rolled my eyes.

“You must be mistaken. Just go tell Mrs. Delilah I’m here. She’s a nurse right?” I asked, trying to jog the old fart’s memory. She stared down at her papers and adjusted her glasses.

“Yes, here we are: Mrs. Delilah. She’s a nurse in the tower.”

“… The tower?” My body went cold and a shiver ran up and down my body. I thought I was supposed to be working with sick patients, not them.

“Yes, Bell Tower Insane Asylum.”