Sex Education

17.

Ennis was sitting outside the park warden's cabin while Jack was inside. Jack hadn't even waited until morning to take Ennis away from the camp. Ennis didn't complain. He wanted to get as far away from that camp as he could. He didn't even care what the other students might be thinking. This trip had been cut short and Mr. King was taking the other students home. Stephens was with them, but Ennis didn't want to think about the teacher.

It was hard enough to think about what had happened not that long ago. Whenever he closed his eyes, he could feel Stephens thrusting away. He hated that he had let it get that far. If he hadn't been such a coward, he could have done something. Stephens wasn't elderly, but he was still getting on in years. Ennis could have taken him. But then Stephens had used Jack against him.

Ennis hopped off the barrel he was sitting on and threw up in a patch of grass nearby. He just wanted to forget that tonight had ever happened. The pain of having Stephens inside him had already faded away, but he didn't think the mental scarring would ever go away. Unable to throw up anything else, Ennis walked back over to the barrels on shaking legs. He sat down and took a few deep breaths of the cool, night air.

He turned his head when he heard the cabin door open and Jack step out. Ennis didn't move as Jack walked over to him, the only sound the crunch of the gravel beneath Jack's boots. Even when Jack neared where Ennis was sitting, he still didn't say anything.

"I don't wanna make it a big deal," Ennis murmured, almost afraid to speak up. "I just wanna forget the whole thing."

"It ain't the first time it's happened," Jack said, his eyes meeting Ennis's. Ennis didn't have to ask to know that Jack was blaming himself for letting this happen. Part of Ennis wanted to blame him as well since there had been so many ways for this to be avoided. "The warden made a few calls-"

"How much does the warden know?"

"Everything," Jack said. "But he's keepin' your name anonymous." That eased Ennis's conscience a bit. "As I was sayin', he made a few calls and found out that Stephens has done time for molestin' a minor. Three or four other times."

"Fuck..." Ennis mumbled under his breath.

"He moved to Riverton because it's a small town where no one knows 'im," Jack said. "Ennis, I'm sorry-"

"Did you know it was gonna happen?" Ennis asked. He had had a few hours to think about why Jack had suddenly showed up from out of nowhere to pull Stephens off of him.

"I didn't know what was gonna happen," Jack said. He stepped closer to Ennis, lowering his voice. "What happened was the last thing I expected. Ya gotta believe me when I say that."

"You didn't tell me who knew."

"I wanted to take care of it."

"Before or after somethin' like this happened?" Ennis hopped off the barrel and headed over to the truck they had borrowed. He climbed into the passenger's seat without a word.

Jack walked over and stood at the open window of the truck. "The warden called some people and they'll meet King and Stephens in town," he said. "They'll take Stephens away and you won't have to worry about this anymore."

"And how's it gonna be explained that the trip was cut short?" Ennis asked. "My parents are gonna hear about what happened and people are gonna start askin' which student-"

"Why are you so worried about everythin' else?" Jack asked. "That ain't important. What's important is what happened to you and you seem to be ignorin' it."

"That's all I wanna do."

"Ignore it?" Jack asked. "Ennis, you were raped. That can't just be ignored."