Quads-and-Sods: Chapter 3

Pot steaming away on the oven, Kittie Moon skirted about the kitchen with her pink stock and pepper stained apron in a frantic search for spices when she heard the phone ringing. The soup needed stirring and a tiny bit of parsley, and it was most stressful and difficult to grab the ringing demon before that evening's dinner scorched to the bottom of the pot.

"Hello?" she said hurriedly, phone tucked secure between her ear and her shoulder, one free hand stirring while the other tipped the spice into the soup.

"Mrs. Moon?"

"Yes, this is she."

"I'm the headmaster of your son's school, Mr. Finch. I...think you should come up here."

Dinner instantly forgotten about, she dropped her spoon to the side and placed her full attention onto the voice of the man on the other line.

"What about him? Is he okay?" Kittie asked breathlessly, images of her son lying dead on the classroom floor flooding her brain, chest heaving.

"Yes, ma'am, he is alright. Calm down. It's just concerning his very...abnormal behavior on the playground."

"Abnormal? What, has he been bullying?"

"No, it's nothing like that..." Mr. Finch answered hesitantly, voice raspy in his nervousness. And, was that a hint of disgust that Kittie detected? "Ma'am, I just ask that you come to my office at once."

"Alright, I'm on my way."

-----

The corridors seemed eerie to young Roger, his fragile young mind so easily warped by the tortures of youth and the fears held within it. So easily could that lake monster man he saw in a movie the night before step around the corner at the far end of the hall. How much time would he have to run if a werewolf were to come chasing towards him? Where would he go if he saw the headmaster again approach him and yank him away from his innocent hobby of monkey barring at recess? At least, he thought as his blue eyes swiveled over to Keith who was perched beside him and picking at a fingernail, he had a friend to sit it out with.

"What do you think is going on in there?" he asked his brown eyed friend.

Keith looked beside him to the glass window of the headmaster's office door, inside seeing his mother, Roger's mother, and the headmaster in what appeared to be a heated argument, tears streaming down the women's faces and a vein pounding in the temple of the male's.

"Dunno. Whatever it is, our mum's don't like it. They're crying."

The blonde pushed himself off the bench seat, most uncomfortable on his chubby backside, stomach bouncing with his curls as his feet hit the floor. He began to pace four short steps forward and back, eyes still flitting towards the far end of the corridor, still expecting the worst, yet trying to make the best out of his fear. There was still much room for hope in the eyes of a child. Keith did nothing but watch Roger. It was unnerving; the pacing on top of the tension in the room they were standing outside was enough to make a young boy cry, which was very much what he wanted to do. Something was going wrong in that room…
----

“How can you insinuate such things?! They are just little boys! Wha--!”

“Mrs. Daltrey, please, calm down and just listen to me.” Mr. Finch said coldly, index fingers massaging at his temples, age besotted face and drooping cheeks elongated more so from his deep frown and heavy white eyebrows darkening his eyes.  “The evidence shows it, we’ve been watching them all term long. I’m sorry, but we cannot have those kinds of children in this school. It’s harmful not only to the other students, but to our reputation.”

“Oh, bloody fuck your reputation, you hypocrite! All you bleeding care about is your reputation! Do you not give any recall towards those two little boys’ education? Who have they hurt but your pride?” Kittie cried sharply, jabbing a finger at the headmaster, eyes blazing as furiously as her heart was fuming.

“Now, listen here, woman! I--!”

“No, you listen, you filthy man! My son has done no harm to you or your students. You call us here to persecute my son for making a friend, for doing what comes natural to him? What kind of animal are you?!”

“Mrs. Moon, I am just doing my job in keeping this a proper school to educate the youth. This is a learning facility with a prestigious name, wonderful staff, and society fitting students. This school’s name will not be soiled by homing two advancing homosexuals! I won’t have it!”

“You devil!” Evelyn Daltrey screeched, smashing her palms on Mr. Finch’s desk top with enough force to knock over the pencil holder and have a stack of papers fall and flutter to the floor. “How dare you!”

“Ma’am, I have witnessed it for myself!” the headmaster said sternly, standing to his feet and swelling to his full, bulking size, a massive boulder in his gray tweed suit against Evelyn’s petite form. “Your son has been seen inseparable from Keith Moon since the first day of term! He has even been witnessed kissing Keith Moon’s face when the two return to class from recess.. Do not give me that look, madam. I know what I saw, and I will not have the abomination in my school. I’m sorry, but your sons have to leave this school at once.”

Silence weighed heavy in the air as the two women and the headmaster stared each other down in their fury. The power of the news seemed to sink in as the room seemed to compress. Kittie was beginning to feel Closter phobic from such. After two minutes of seething, hearts racing and breaking, she took Evelyn’s arm and began to lead her towards the door. She didn’t turn to the headmaster as she said her farewells.

“Best of luck to you, sir.” she said sadly, tugging Evelyn out of the door to face their children.

Keith and Roger looked up at their mothers as they exited. Roger’s smile at seeing his mother left him immediately at the dark and saddened look in her eyes. Something really had went wrong in that room, and it was bad enough for both young boys’ eyes to overflow with tears and run to their mothers’ aid.

“Mummy, what’s wrong? Did he give you a bad report about us? What did we do wrong, mummy?” Keith asked Kittie, clutching her legs in a tight hug and looking up to her with his puppy eyes swimming and magnified behind his glasses with the same sadness mirroring her own.

“It’s…time to go home, love.” she replied lightly, removing her son’s hold around her and taking his hand. “Let’s go…”

“Can Roger come over and play with me? I want to show him my new toy!”

Kittie casted a look over to Evelyn, blonde curls mimicking her son’s. Both women were thinking the same as the other, both were as upset to do what they were about to do.

“No, love… I’m afraid that…you and Roger cannot play together anymore.”

“What?! No! But why, mummy? Did we do something wrong?” Keith asked, eyes wide in the shock of this news. He couldn’t be separated from his best friend; Roger was all he had. No other kids took much notice of him, wanted to play with him. Roger was the only one, and the only one he would ever want.

“Let’s not discuss this here, Keith. Come on, it’s time to go home.”

“I don’t want to go without Roger! Mummy, please!”

“Keith, stop making this harder than it has to be. Come!”

“Mummy…”

“Now!” Kittie shrieked sharply, the sound making Keith flinch and bottom lip quiver as he watched his mother violently run a hand through her hair and a single tear drip down her cheek.

“Can I…can I at least say goodbye, mummy?”

Kittie softened; the longing gaze on Keith’s face told her she would be cruel and a hypocrite herself if she didn’t allow that much. She nodded quickly, letting go of Keith’s hand and watched him walk the few feet between he and Roger.

Roger hadn’t spoken a word through the entire conversation; he already knew what was happening, he had sensed it the second Mr. Finch had called them away to his office. Instead, he stayed with his arms locked around his mother’s waist, silent tears staining his rosy, round cheeks, letting her go only to take Keith into his arms.

“Goodbye, Rog.. I miss you already..” Keith whispered.

“Me, too… Bye, Keef…” he replied, planting a single, lonely kiss on his one and only friend’s cheek, letting the boy go and watching him walk away, hand back in his mother’s and swooped out of the door.

The corridor never seemed so formidable or terrifying as now.