Eye Of The Beholder-BWWM

Chapter Two

 Chapter Two

Gavin

"Where have you been?" Lawrence demanded. He sat slumped in his recliner, beer can in hand.

"Mark's," Gavin mumbled.

"Not with that dog?"

"Don't call her that. She has a name."

Lawrence sat up and his blood shot eyes narrowed, "And I'm sure her father has a name for you too. A few of them. Like traitor perhaps or cat. Don't get too attached to those mud-eyes. Your mother did and look where she's at? Look at your sister!"

"Don't talk about my mother like that!" Gavin shouted. He ran to the room he shared with his sister and slammed the door. Immediately, he turned to see his sister sleeping.

"I'm sorry, Diamond," he grimaced.

She barely moved. Only her long curtain of black hair was visible above the quilt she laid under. He sighed and kicked off his shoes.

Chessa always wanted him to pretend he was a prince. He hated the game. She would make Penelope the princess and force him to kiss the stupid rag doll repeatedly. She would pretend to be Penelope's handmaiden.

He never understood why Chessa insisted on being a maid. She had everything. If only he were a prince. What he would give to never go hungry again or to sleep on anything besides the box spring he had. He tossed himself on his bed. She was a silly girl. Why pretend to be a maid when you were a princess?

Lawrence

As soon as Gavin slammed the door Lawrence got up from his chair. He checked his watch. He had wasted time waiting for his foolish son to get home. If he didn't get down there soon they would get worried.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was scared for Gavin. He was sure that Brown girl would be the ruin of him. But, if things went as planned, soon his boy wouldn't have to live in a world run by dogs.

He grabbed his coat and disappeared out the back door.

Gavin

"Gavin, wake up!"

Gavin swatted at Mark as his best friend shook him by the shoulder.

"It's time for school. You're going to be late!"

"I don't care."

"Chessa will be there."

"She's there every day you idiot. 'Sides, I don't see how that matters." Gavin sat up anyway.

Mark giggled at the sight of his hair standing on end. "You look like you stuck your finger in a socket."

Gavin shoved him and then quickly glanced at Diamond's side of the room. She was gone. He wondered where she went, but squashed the worry that crept in his gut at her absence.

"Hurry," Mark urged him. "If we're late Mr. Yoo will whip us."

Gavin quickly dressed and the two were off for school. The boys slid into class just as the last bell rung and in their seats only moments later.

"Monte. Lotram." Mr. Yoo said calmly, "To the front of the class, please."

The chatter of the classroom stopped.

"What?" Gavin sputtered, "We were here before the bell rung, sir."

"But you were not in your seats ready to receive instructions." Mr. Yoo walked to his desk and pulled out a leather strap. "The punishment is five strikes for tardiness, but for your smart mouth, Monte, I will gladly double it."

Heat rose to his face as he and Mark made their way up to the front. They both kept their eyes on the ground. But then suddenly Gavin faced Mr. Yoo. "Mark was late because of me, sir. Please, don't punish him."

Mr. Yoo looked from Mark to Gavin and back again. "Very well. Lotram, you may sit. Monte will be taking your punishment in addition to his own."

The classroom filled with the gasps of the children.

Wide eyed, Mark shook his head and opened his mouth to protest. Mr. Yoo pushed him towards the desks. "Go on, find your seat."

Mark stumbled to his seat, eyes on the stoic Gavin. Mr. Yoo grabbed the stool and motioned for him to lean over it. Gavin obeyed. Just a minute and it would be over he told himself. He was no stranger to whippings. He'd learned a long time ago not to utter a sound as the punishment was given. The teasing would be unbearable if he were to let even one tear drop.

The first strike hit him with such force his teeth chattered. The second one was even worse. By the fifteenth Gavin knew sitting would be next to impossible. He'd never received fifteen strikes in a row before. It took all his will power to keep from crying out.

"Let this be a lesson to you all," Mr. Yoo addressed the whole class, but he spoke in the direction of where the coloreds were clustered.

Gavin inched his way back to his seat, sore and embarrassed. He wouldn't meet Mark's eyes.

The door of the classroom opened.

"You're late, Ms. Farefox."

The brown eyed girl tossed her long ponytail behind her back. She was the daughter of a prominent business owner. "I know, Mr. Yoo. Mom woke up late. She wrote a note, but I think I left it in the car."

He stared down at the girl. She smiled brightly up at him. "Very well. Take your seat Ms. Farefox. Class will begin now."

The anger Gavin had previously fought back slammed into him full force. Mark caught his eyes and slowly shook his head.

                                                                          *           8        *

"I'm telling you, Mark," Gavin said as they walked home from school that afternoon, "As soon as I turn thirteen I'm out of there."

"You said that at eleven. You said 'As soon as I turn twelve I'm never going to school again'." Mark reminded him as he tried to jump over any cracks in the sidewalk he saw.

"And I meant it!" Gavin pouted. "Seriously, Mark. What is the point of going to school if the only thing they want to do is punish us? School is just a place of torture for us coloreds."

Mark could only nod. He jumped just as they reached a crack in the sidewalk.

"WHERE IS HE? AARON! WHERE IS HE?"

Gavin froze. Mark landed and exchanged looks with him.

"Diamond," they said in unison.

They were just passing the strip mall. Cars whipped by and the wind blew forcefully, making it hard to decipher where her distressed cries were coming from. Gavin cursed under his breath. He should have known this was going to happen the moment he saw her bed empty that morning. He wondered how long she had been out there. 

"AARON! PLEASE, SOMEONE! I NEED TO FIND AARON!"

Gavin broke out in a sprint and then a full run, "Diamond!" He ignored the looks of the people passing by. He's only worry was keepin his sister from being thrown into the asylum. He ran into the strip mall's almost empty parking lot and sent up a prayer of thanks when he saw her.

Her hair flew freely in the wind as she wondered around in a circle. Her hands were cupped to her mouth as she called Aaron's name desperately. He grabbed her wrist.

Diamond's pale aqua eyes were wide in her face. "Gavin?" Her eyes focused on him. "Have you seen Aaron? I'm afraid he left me."

Aaron was dead, his body somewhere in the bottom of a river. No one bothered retrieving the body. Why would anybody go to such lengths for a traitor lover?

It was no good telling Diamond that.

"Diamond, let's go home," he coaxed as Mark took her other arm.

"Is Aaron there?"

Gavin's heart squeezed as he nodded.

He avoided Mark's sympathetic gaze.