Belonging to Lust

Chapter 31: Something Far Worse

Principal Quinn didn’t want anything to get out of control between any of the parents, or the students he had brought down to the gymnasium after the fight in the locker room, and yet it looked to him that Zaiyia’s guardian was about to beat the life out of the security guard for not handing him the small keys that were hooked to his belt so that he could release the young girl. Even though the guard was fingering his taser as a means to protect himself from his tall heavy built opponent, Principal Quinn was fairly certain that the weapon wouldn’t stop him, and so he felt it was his responsibility to swiftly step in-between the two with his hands held up to prevent the two men from getting any closer to each other. “Whoa whoa, sir! I’m going to need you to calm yourself down or I’ll be forced to call the police down here to get control of you. You don’t want that now, do you?”

“Fucking call them then! Bring them all back down here, I’d love a fucking challenge.” Heath snapped at him like a lion, forcing the two men to step back in fear and the mothers in the gymnasium to fan themselves due to all of their ovulations syncing up in that exact moment from watching him.

Sir, I implor-”

It didn’t matter what anyone else had to say about the matter, Heath was already too far gone. He knew that it would take a miracle to bring him back to sanity, and he was right about that until out of nowhere he heard a small weak voice call out to him. “Heath…”

Recognizing the voice, Heath snapped back into reality, and turned around to retreat back to Zaiyia’s side without hesitation, as if she was his only concern in the entire world.

Now, that Heath was finally calm and out of the way, Principal Quinn straightened his tie before gesturing to the guard to go to Zaiyia. “Release her, please.”

The officer hesitated with uncertainty before convincing himself to put his fear aside and do what he was told. He still kept his hand on his taser as he closed the distance towards the couple, until of course, it was time to unlock the cuffs around the young girl’s wrists, but even after that he jumped back with his hand hovering over the weapon and his eyes on Heath, just in case.

The seconds Zaiyia’s cuffs were off, Heath carefully lifted her out of her chair, and into his arms where he held her protectively close to his chest. They sat together on the floor, ignoring everyone and anyone around them. Zaiyia wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, but made sure that nothing touched the wounds on her wrists, as she whispered her apology to him that she had been trying to rehearse in her head. “Heath, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Heath gentle shushed her as he ran a soothing hand up and down her back. “Shh honey, shh. Don’t apologize for anything, you hear me?”

The moment he felt that they were no longer alone in their own world and that someone was patiently standing nearby, Heath guessed that it had to be the Principal since the security guard was too afraid of him now to bravely step forward. “What happened to her?” He asked him, while keeping Zaiyia’s small frame tightly pressed against his, refusing to let her go, incase she’d fall into pieces without him, or him without her.

“SHE WAS TRYING T-” Sarah began to shout from across the gym from where she defiantly jumped out of her seat, but was quickly cut off by her parents before she could finish what she had to say.

Principal Quinn returned his gaze back to Heath and Zaiyia. “Earlier today at the beginning of 5th period, the gym teacher Mr. Edgar had noticed that some of his female students were missing from class. It’s not an unusual thing you see, there’s usually a few students that linger behind in the lockers room. Mr. Edgar sent one of his student, Chasity Bennett to go and clear out the locker room of any of the missing students. When she walked in she found those missing girls having an altercation.”

“ZAIYIA ATTACKED ALICE BECAUSE SHE’S JEALOUS OF HOW BEAUTIFUL SHE IS!” Bella screamed in defense until her father told her to shut her mouth and sit down.

“YEAH, AND SHE’S KNOWS ALICE COULD TOTALLY TAKE ALAN AWAY FROM HER IF SHE WANTED TO!” Grace joined in too until she was also silence by her parent.

Heath pulled away as his head snapped in the directions of the girls. Who was this Alan guy, and why hadn’t Zaiyia ever mentioned him before in the past? Before he could ask those questions, Zaiyia spoke up from within the confinement of his arms to call the other girls out on their lies. “THAT’S BULLSHIT! They attacked me because they have it in their dumb ass brains that I stole that idiot from her! These stupid bitches have been bullying me since the first day I got here, and that’s the goddamn truth!”

“I believe her!” Chastity spoke out from across the gymnasium where she sat with Mr. Edgar the gym teacher. “I really feel like Zaiyia’s the only one telling the truth here, Mr. Quinn.”

“Oh screw you, Chastity!” Hannah barked, earning a slap to the back of her head by her mother.

Principal Quinn’s brow furrowed as he looked at Chasity before scouring the rest of the students in the gymnasium that were also involved. He had known the other students much longer than he had known Zaiyia. In fact most of them lived in his neighborhood, or had attended the same middle school he was in charge of two years before. It would seem that he should trust their words more because of that, but he didn’t. Chastity didn’t believe them, which only caused him to question them too. Chastity was a perfect model student that was both intelligent and mature unlike Alice and her friends. She was more focused on her grades and getting a good education instead of flirting with the boys that were interested her, or trying to figure out which dress she wanted to order for prom that year. The fact that Chastity was siding against them was enough to persuade him that he had to re-investigate this case even further, just to be sure.

Turning to the families in the gymnasium with his arms up in the air, Principal Quinn finally came to a decision. “Everyone, please listen up! What happened today was a very serious situation that I plan on getting to the bottom of. I know I’ve already heard the girl’s stories, but I’m not yet convinced. I’m sure that a few things were left out here or there. I’ve decided to continue on with this investigation, and would appreciate if the parents could set aside some time where we can speak privately on each of your child’s involvement in this altercation.” With that, Principal Quinn stepped forward to each parent so that they could work together on scheduling an appointment. He was also planning on getting ahold of the security tapes outside the locker room, and within the gymnasium to see if anything suspicious had gone on earlier that day that could give him a lead.

From within the strong hold of her protector’s arms, Zaiyia softly whispered to Heath so that no one would hear her. “Heath, take me home…take me away from all of this.”

Heath looked down at her with concern as he gently caressed the soft curve of her cheek with the back of his long fingers. “I will, Zaiyia, I promise you I will.” The bruises and the slight busted lip didn’t help to quell his anger, and so to make sure that Zaiyia didn’t see it, he aimed it straight across the gymnasium to where the other young girls sat with their disappointed father’s and overly aroused mothers. One look at his glare sent all of the young girls cowering in their plastic chairs. They could have sworn his rage was literally making the floor vibrate beneath their feet. Hell, it even intimidated the fathers when they caught sight of his anger, but it only succeeded in turning on the mothers even more.

When Principal Quinn finally made his way over to Heath and Zaiyia, the construction worker only had one question for him. “So what happens now? Can we leave?”

“Well, until I can figured out what really happened in that locker room for myself, I will have to temporarily suspend everyone involved in the altercation, innocent or not.” Principal Quinn informed him with his hands behind his back.

Zaiyia simply shook her head, not wanting to listen to him anymore. “Heath, please take me out of here. Please!”

“Sir, there is also something else I need to discuss privately with you, if you don’t mind.” Principal Quinn informed him quietly as the others families were leaving the gymnasium with their unruly child.

Heath nodded, getting the hint. He carefully helped Zaiyia back into her seat before dragging another right over to hers. He sat down and placed his arm around her shoulder in comfort, with pain still in his eyes for all the suffering she had been through. “It’s okay, honey. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Zaiyia cuddled up against him to seek his protection, and strength. Heath’s eyes lifted up to the Principal who had gestured for the security guards to leave the gymnasium as well. “Officers, you can leave us now.”

Once they too had left, Principal Quinn also grabbed a chair and placed it right in front of the couple. He leaned over in his chair so that his elbows rested on his knees and his hands were clasped together anxiously. “Look, Mr….”

“Sullivan, Heath Sullivan.” Heath informed him quickly, wanting him to just get to the point.

“Look Mr. Sullivan…I honestly don’t know how to say this gently so, I won’t.” Principal Quinn started out slowly saying.

Heath impatiently nodded. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. Just tell me what else going on, will you?”

Tightening his grip on his hands, Principal Quinn took a deep breath and said a little prayer up above that the man across from him won’t end up killing him for what he was about to tell him. “Something else had taken place with Zaiyia after her altercation with those young ladies...something far worse.”
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Zaiyia