CARTER'S VANGUARD: WILLIAM CARTER
II
Chapter 18 - By Christopher Patrick Lydon
It was a hot day, all Will had wanted to do was go home, but
Andrew had been waiting in front of the school. Resting with his arms crossed
leaning up against his car looking determined. It was a pleasant surprise,
and on any other day Will would have been thrilled, but he was exhausted and
mildly cranky from a long day.
"What's going on?" he asked, tucking his satchel under
his arm, as he walked up to his boyfriend.
"Are you free to go to a meeting with me?" Andrew
asked looking mildly hopeful, "Robyn bailed on me, and I kinda promised
I'd be there."
"Meeting?" Will asked already pushing his satchel
into the backseat of the car, straightening up to look over at Andrew.
"Yeah, down at the university." Andrew said, again
being vague. Ordinarily Will would have picked up on his boyfriends evasiveness,
but he was distracted as a couple of his students exited the school heading
for their bus. Little Peter McCormick trailing a few steps behind.
Peter, recognizing Mister Carter shyly waved before he scampered
to catch up to his friends.
"Sure," Will said to Andrew as he got into the passenger
seat, staring thoughtfully after Peter as he undid his tie and rolled up his
sleeves.
"Great," Andrew said, sounding relieved as he piled
into the drivers seat, starting the car with a turn of the key and pulling
out of the lot, "I think you might enjoy this. It'll do you some good."
"Mmhmm," Will stated, turning his head to follow Peter,
who had been shoved aside by a couple of larger boys as he had tried to get
onto the bus. The boy's head, bowed and his spirit broken yet again.
Will rubbed his eyes, his talk with Peter the day before hadn't
done any good. And he had no idea what he could do next. It wasn't as if he
could fight Peter's battles for him, it wasn't the kind of fight Will could
ever hope to win. Sooner or later Peter would have to learn to stand up for
himself, or he would be pushed around for the rest of his life.
"I'm glad you're coming," Andrew was saying, oblivious
to the fact that Will wasn't listening to him, "I didn't want to go there
alone. And..." he trailed off as he saw Will lost in his own thoughts,
"Hey Carter, are you in there?"
Will shook his head and smiled, "Yeah, it's been a long
day. You'll be happy to know I survived a full period in the same room with
Coach Thorburn and I only thought about throttling him four times."
"You don't have gym this semester," Andrew said in
surprise.
"He's sitting in on my second period history class, making
sure I don't teach the kids that England won the Second World War."
Andrew looked confused, "I thought England did win the
war..."
"Not the way Thorburn teaches it," Will said with
a shake of his head in bemusement, "He seriously thinks that America
beat England soundly and sent that fascist Churchill to one of his own concentration
camps."
"I don't get it," Andrew said as the car entered the
highway heading for downtown, "What about Hitler and Germany?"
"Oh that was the first world war," Will said affixing
a pretty decent impression of Coach Thorburn, he even managed the displeased
eye-squinting thing that was classic Thorburn.
Andrew laughed, "They don't pay him to be a history teacher."
He said grinning, "He's a damn good gym teacher. One of the best coaches
in the province too..."
"Yeah," Will said dryly, "You're just saying
that 'cause he liked you. Those of us not gifted with the abilities of an
Olympic god..."
"You think I'm an Olympic god?" Andrew asked with
an even broader grin.
Will turned in his seat to look straight at his boyfriend, "Not
tonight dear I have a headache."
Andrew pointed to the glove compartment, "I have Tylenol
in there," his expectant grin growing broader.
Will opened the glove compartment and pulled out the bottle,
he held it up and read the label, "Extra strength, fast acting..."
he turned to Andrew, "Do I want to know why you have this in the car?"
"Well," Andrew said with a slight blush, "it's
just in case you have a headache..."
"Uh huh, keep dreaming," he said with a grin as he
slipped the bottle away, and turned up the radio, rolling down the window
to enjoy the late spring evening.
He looked rather surprised when the car pulled into the University
parking lot. Trying to remember why Andrew wanted him to come with him, drawing
a complete blank he climbed out of the car and looked at Andrew thoughtfully.
Andrew was uncharacteristically nervous, distractedly looking
about him as he adjusted the simple beige spring jacket he was wearing. Trying
to make himself presentable, and Will found that odd, Andrew didn't get nervous.
"Everything okay?" Will asked in concern.
"Yeah," Andrew said as he smiled, "Come on we're
going to be late."
They entered the large modern looking building that sat squarely
in the middle of the campus. Will following Andrew's determined strides, glancing
about him. It was his first time in Ottawa University and he wondered at how
large it seemed. Especially compared to the rather small world of South Carleton
High, the University seemed like a place where a person could just get lost
and vanish into his own identity, no wonder people reinvented themselves when
they went to University.
Andrew was walking with his casual loping strides, hands in
pockets and looking as calm and in control as ever. Nodding to people he passed,
even earning a few nods back. And that impressed Will, in just a few short
days; Andrew had found a way to fit into his new university. Not just fit
in, but also look as if he belonged.
They entered a large square area, with a small Tim Hortens at
one corner, and Andrew gestured to it, offing Will a cup of coffee. Will was
glancing around seeing a bunch of tables with people sitting at them, a couple
were looking a little too closely at him.
"What kind of meeting is this?" Will asked accepting
the double-double Andrew handed to him.
"It's...well... its..." Andrew grew very nervous.
Will had that sinking feeling in his stomach, "Andrew Pierre
Highmore," he said in a low voice, calm and even like he used to keep
his students under control, "what kind of meeting is..."
A strange looking man in glasses with papers in his hand walked
over, his eyes sweeping over Will as if weighing up a shark. "This your
boyfriend?" The guy asked Andrew, as if referring to a piece of property.
Will felt his hackles rising, something about this man rubbed
him to wrong way.
"This is Carter," Andrew said, "Carter, RJ he's
the director of the Pride Center."
"Pride center?" Will choked on his coffee, "As
in Gay Pride?"
"Well pretty and he has basic observation skills,"
RJ said derogatorily, "He'll fit right in. You should take your seats
we're about to get started."
Will blinked at how rudely he had just been treated, "Excuse..."
he started to say, but Andrew was already tugging him towards the seats. Will
seethed, "You dragged me to a Pride meeting without asking me? I mean
don't I get a say in this?" Will demanded suddenly growing very uncomfortable.
"You get a say," Andrew said in that calming manner
of his, "Front or back?"
Will glared at his boyfriend, "That isn't funny."
He whispered as they sat down towards the back. "You know this sort of
thing isn't my scene."
Andrew sighed, "It'll do us both some good, you know to
have some gay friends."
"I have friends," Will murmured petulantly as he sat
down folding his arms and glowering into his coffee mug.
"As much as Jared can't get a girl to save his life, he's
not gay." Andrew replied, he actually enjoyed it when Will was grumpy.
There was an endearing quality to it, a Brit grumpy and sarcastic was just
a humorous sight, and he kept expecting Monty Python lines to be thrown about
like holy hand grenades...
Will on the other hand was not amused in the slightest. But
Andrew wanted this, so he was stuck. He figured, the least he could do was
give it a chance and try to enjoy himself. There were a few attractive guys
in the meeting, though none had Andrew's kind of good looks. And certainly
the dress sense in the room wasn't what Will had come to expect from the stereotypical
gay guy, wasn't there supposed to be a mandatory fashion requirement? Some
of the guys looked like they shopped in the women's departments.
It really hit him then how little he knew about gay culture.
Most of that was limited to stereotypes and what he saw on Television. He'd
never even been to a gay bar. In fact aside from Andrew, he'd never had a
conversation with another gay man until then. That was scary, that he'd just
never even thought about it.
"Well," RJ was saying, "Linda and Kerry were
thrown out of the sportsplex after they kissed in public. Apparently there
is a policy," he accented the word by making his fingers act as quotation
marks, "That they don't allow any body to do that. I think its just another
example of a general rule put in place but only ever enforced towards gay
people."
Will rolled his eyes; he looked at Andrew, who was frowning
in concentration. Well at least Andrew was getting something out of this.
He leaned over and whispered to Andrew, "What's the point to this?"
"Do you have something to say?" RJ asked in a haughty
tone, as if upset at Will's interrupting him.
"I was just wonder," Will said, "what the point
was? If someone asked me to stop kissing my boyfriend in a public place then
we'd just move on..."
"Stand up," RJ said, now obviously very annoyed, "Have
you ever been discriminated against? What do you do?"
Will blinked, "I'm a teacher, I teach grade Seven..."
"Any of the parents have a problem with you being gay?"
RJ demanded.
"No..." Will said.
"Ahhh I see, so they're careful not to because you're gay..."
"No," Will said slowly and deliberately, "The
fact that I'm gay has nothing to do..."
"The point is," RJ said no longer listening to Will,
"Every one knows that we are still being discriminated against, that
is any of us that bother to read the newspapers or watch the news or actually
acknowledge the world around them rather than hiding in the closet."
He turned back to Will, "You can sit down now." He said dismissively.
Will blinked, his jaw setting, who did this arrogant little
piece of....
Andrew pulled him back down before he got up, "Hey,"
he said in a loud term, "Before you go dismissing someone like that,
perhaps you should listen to what he has to say." Andrew was angry, seething
that someone would treat Will that way. "He was just asking you why we
have to make a big deal out of something that isn't a big deal at all. Arenas
are usually places for kids, and the management usually enforces its policies
on conduct equally. I know, I've been around arena's most of my life..."
"I forgot," RJ said turning, equally as angry, "Captain
Amazing here used to play hockey. If you don't mind, some of us who are actually
trying to do something for equal rights would like to finish our discussion."
Andrew looked apologetically down at Will, "Come on, we're
leaving." He said firmly.
Will licked his lips, and from his seat he folded his arms,
"No, no we're not." He said setting his shoulders and locking eyes
with RJ, "We're staying."
Surprise flicked across Andrew's face as he looked about him
uncertainly; sitting back down beside Will he gave him a questioning look.
RJ seemed puzzled himself, but instead flipped through some
papers, "Well any way, I was thinking we should stage some kind of protest..."
he faltered, his eyes kept darting back to Will who hadn't moved, only sat
there a dark countenance on his face as he stared at him, "I was thinking
something like a kiss in."
"What's a kiss in?" Devon asked skeptically from the
front row.
"It's where we send couples to the arena and have them
kiss, and see if the management can throw out all of us." RJ said still
shuffling his papers.
"But," Devon looked confused, "Wouldn't that
require couples?"
"Yes we send people in relationships." RJ said firmly.
"Ummm," Devon again looked skeptical, "As far
as I know there's only one member of the Pride Center in a relationship right
now..."
"Who?" RJ asked.
Devon looked pointedly across the room to where Andrew was sitting
next to Will. The look on RJ's face would have amused Will greatly, were it
not mirrored on Will's own at that moment. He looked desperately over to Andrew.
"No." he said with complete firmness.
Andrew nodded, "I think it's a dumb idea." He said.
"Too gay for you two?" RJ demanded, angry again that
his idea was falling apart on him.
"Sorry we're just not gay enough for you." Andrew
replied getting to his feet again, "But as Will said, there's no real
point to this. You could get more accomplished by just talking to the management
than by trying some publicity stunt that won't work."
"Yeah well you wouldn't," RJ seethed, "Its easy
for you to judge something as having no point when you're used to sitting
with the popular kids, you know, trying so hard to fit in." He sneered,
"the rest of us in the real world don't have it so easy. It's people
like you that used to beat people like us up."
Andrew shrugged, "You don't know me, you have no idea what
I've been through. You're just as set to judge off appearances, that makes
you no better than the people that beat you up."
"I judge based on appearances because that's the way I
have always been judged, being picked on just because of who I fall in love
with." RJ seemed oblivious to the other people in the meeting, throwing
his anger out at Andrew, "You have no idea what that's like."
Andrew shrugged at him, "You're right I have no idea what
you went through," he said glancing at Will, "That doesn't make
me any less gay."
