When Sammy showed up, the group motioned that he was to join them in the woods. Due to the various devices the State Police were using, I could see and hear everything that was going on. First of all, there was a monitor wirelessly connected to a video camera that was set up just outside the window of the press box and controlled by one of the lawmen inside. There was another camera on the surveillance van, which was operated from inside. Another trooper held a cone shaped devise in the front seat, which he pointed toward the group. This picked up everything that was said, so it could be recorded.
The State Police had chosen to proceed this way, because they feared putting a wire on Sammy might be discovered. They reasoned that if it got to the point where Sammy had to actually strip, before the incriminating evidence had been obtained, any wire they used would have been spotted. That would have placed Sammy in even greater danger, if his tormentors concluded he was helping to set them up. Now that everything was in place and Sammy had been prepped on what he was supposed to do, we just sat back and waited for the right moment to move in.
“About time you showed up, Currie,” one of the bullies told him.
“You said 10:00 and it’s only ten of,” Sammy replied.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” the bully shot back. His sharp wit overwhelmed us. “You ready to get it on or won’t you be able to get it up?” he continued. He laughed and looked at his friends, to see if they were enjoying his inane banter and bad jokes.
“I’ll do fine,” Sammy replied, “but I’m not doing it without protection!”
“We told you no fuckin’ rubbers this time,” the ringleader stated, emphatically, “cuz you wussed out on us the last time.”
“I did not! It’s just that I ran into my brothers and they made me go home with them,” Sammy tried to explain, but none of the others seemed to care.
“You’ll do whatever we say,” one of the other boys told him, “or we’ll rip off that faggy looking dick of yours, so you won’t be able to do anyone – not even your ass-pumping brothers.” This bully added one of those sinister laughs after he finished. It was similar to something you might hear on a crime show, when the villain thinks he’s doing something cool or despicable.
“I’m not risking catching a disease or getting her pregnant,” Sammy said, even more defiantly than I thought might be wise under the circumstances. “I’ll prove to you I’m not gay by having sex with her, but I won’t do anything foolish like doing it without a condom.”
“Listen butt fucker,” the first boy said, while grabbing Sammy by the shirt. “You’ll do whatever the fuck I tell you. This isn’t going to be as easy for you, as it was for your brothers to replace the posters we marked up and tore down.”
“You guys did all of that too?” Sammy pressed.
“You already know we did, mother-fucker,” the boy spat back, vehemently. “Now either get undressed and get busy, or you’re going to regret it.”
“I’ll do it,” Sammy responded, “but only if I can use a rubber.”
“Okay, butt-fucker, you asked for this,” one of the others stated, as he grabbed Sammy by the shoulder, spun him around and punched him in the stomach. “Now take your fucking clothes off and getting ready to fuck her or die.”
“We’ve got enough,” I heard a voice say over their police-band radio. “Move in.”
Since the situation was escalating between Sammy and his tormentors, the State Police jumped into action. One of the two in the van with me jumped out and headed for the woods, while the door to the storage shed burst open and the men who had been in the press box also closed in on their targets. In addition to those officers, a couple of squad cars were speeding over the grass behind the bleachers. They had their lights flashing, but their sirens off.
The bullies were so focused on Sammy and getting him to capitulate that they didn’t notice everyone closing in on their position. By the time they did recognize what was happening, they tried to run, but had little hope of getting away. Eventually, they all found themselves in handcuffs and being read their rights.
“What are we under arrest for?” the leader demanded.
“Well, let’s start with vandalism, for the damage you did to the storage shed door,” the officer began.
“We didn’t do that,” the older boy protested. “It was like that when we got here.”
“Would you like to stick to that story?” the trooper asked, to let the kid know he wasn’t fooling anyone.
“You’re trying to frame us!” the boy screamed.
“Yeah, nice try,” the officer retorted, while trying to suppress a chuckle. “Would you like to see the video tape now or later,” he continued.
“What videotape?” the kid shot back, surprised by the cop’s comment.
“The one of you and your buddies using a crowbar to try to break in there,” the trooper said, grinning. The kid was speechless. “Besides that, we’ll be adding some assault, harassment and sex charges too.”
“For what,” the idiot shot back. “We haven’t done nothin’.”
“Yeah, right,” the officer responded, sarcastically. “The tape shows one of you not only grabbed this young man, but another punched him as well. Not only that, but we also have some nice audio recordings of things you said to him,” he added, as he pointed toward Sammy.
“You mother-fucker!” the kid spat out, while glaring at Sammy. His hatred and rage were glowing in his eyes. “When they let us out, you’re a dead man!” he threatened, as he continued to try to intimidate his former victim.
“Keep it up,” the officer told him. “You’re digging yourself in deeper and adding more charges with every word you utter.”
The kid clamped his mouth shut at that point, but you could tell he still wanted to say more. His body was so tense that it was shaking and his hatred and defiance were clearly evident in his face, even to those standing the farthest away from him.
“How did you get here?” another officer asked, breaking his concentration and slowly drawing his attention away from Sammy. At first he just glared at the State Policeman, but after a few seconds, he finally responded.
“We all came in my car,” he told his interrogator.
“Which one,” the trooper asked him.
“That one, right there,” the kid answered, using his head to point to a car in the near-by lot. “Why do you need to know that?”
“So we can take care of it for you,” the officer said, smirking. “You see, you won’t be driving it home right away, so we just want to make sure that nothing happens to it. We don’t want you claiming it got damaged due to our negligence now, do we?” the trooper added, tongue-in-cheek. “We’ll secure it for you, until you’re able to drive again, which should happen in a few years,” he finished, just to piss the kid off.
“What the fuck do you mean?” the kid shouted back.
“I mean, we have enough irrefutable evidence against all of you to send you away for quite a while,” the trooper responded. This caused the bully to twist his body first one way and then the other, as the realization of his fate began to sink in.
“I want to talk to a lawyer,” the kid demanded.
“Now, that’s the first smart thing you’ve said or done,” the trooper joked.
While this was going on, another State Policeman had been sent to check out the car and call for a tow truck to take it away. As he was doing this, Sammy’s tormentors were led to different patrol cars and placed inside. They were separated so they couldn’t think up a common excuse and explanation for everything that had happened.
Once they were inside, I walked by each vehicle, just to let them know I was there and knew what they were up to as well. If looks could kill, most of the troopers, Sammy and I would all be dead. They were all livid that their plan had backfired and they were the ones now getting the raw end of the stick, so to speak.
Just before the patrol cars were ready to pull out, the trooper that had been sent to secure their vehicle came back, holding something in the air and grinning from ear-to-ear. In one hand he held two clear plastic storage bags, one containing a greenish substance, which reminded me of oregano, and the other containing a white, powdery element. In his other hand, he held two half-consumed bottles of booze.
“Look at what I found in his car,” he announced, proverbially tightening his grip on the kid’s scrotum. “Open alcohol containers, a little weed and a substantial quantity of cocaine. Looks like we’ll be adding drug and alcohol charges now too.”
Seeing and hearing this, the suspects in the patrol cars either slid down in their seats, looked away, turned a bright red or did a combination of those things. They now realized they weren’t going to be getting out of this mess any time soon and they’d probably be spending some time in jail as well, starting today. I can’t say any of us was feeling sorry for them, as they were only going to get what they deserved.
At this point, I looked around to find Sammy, to see how he was doing. It took me a few seconds to locate him, because he had slinked into the background, in order to keep his distance from the bullies, even though they were in police custody. The expression on his face didn’t indicate any particular emotions, but I was pretty sure he was relieved this was finally over.
I walked up to him and placed my arm around his shoulder, to let him know I was there for him. I also tried to nudge him forward, to indicate we should probably leave, without verbalizing my request. Slowly, I began to feel the tension drain from Sammy’s body, as he began to allow himself to relax. Then, he looked up at me and spoke.
“Thanks, Dad,” he uttered, while forcing a weak grin to appear on his face. It was the first time I had seen him smile since this all began. “I would probably have ended up doing what they wanted today or had the crap beaten out of me, if you hadn’t been here to help.”
I gave him a slight nod, before I replied. “Maybe next time you’ll come to me when you first discover you have a problem,” I advised him, “rather than making me learn things from your brothers.”
Sammy looked sheepishly toward the ground, before looking up again. “But I didn’t tell them either, so how did they know.”
“They figured something was up from the way you were moping around and they heard some disturbing stories at school,” I advised him. “Word gets back to me one way or another, so you might as well come to me first.” Sammy didn’t reply verbally, but he did give me a weak nod of agreement.
After checking with the officer in charge, to see if it was all right for us to go, I discovered he wanted Sammy and I to come to the station to give him our statements first. I had no problems with that, so I told him we’d meet them there in a few minutes. I had Sammy go get his bike and we walked it over and put it in the Yukon, before I drove over to the State Police barracks.
Once we arrived, a different trooper met us and took us to a little room. Once there, he took our statements, typed them up and had us sign each one. Once that process was completed, he told us we could go, which Sammy and I were eager to do.
As we drove away, I began to question Sammy, to make sure he was all right.
“Sammy, how did all of this start?” I began.
“It was when I decided to try to find out who was messing up the posters?” he answered, and I nodded in reply. “I know it was a dumb thing for me to do, especially just by myself, but I wanted to be the one to figure out who was doing this.”
“Don’t tell me you saw them do it and then confronted them about it?” I asked, amazed.
“No, it wasn’t like that,” Sammy replied. “It’s just that one of them happened to come down the same hallway I was watching from. When he saw what I was up to, he grabbed my arm and took me to the others. When they realized I had seen what they’d done, they started calling me names and trying to figure out what to do with me. That’s when one of them suggested, ‘let’s just beat the faggot.’
“When he said that, I told them I wasn’t gay, so they challenged me to prove it. I asked them how and they said they had a way. That’s when they demanded I meet them the next afternoon, after school, and they’d find out for sure. They said if I told anyone, they’d not only beat the crap out of me, but they would do the same to the rest of my brothers too, including the two little ones. I knew they meant Andrew and Jesse and I didn’t want that to happen. Hell, I didn’t want them messing with any of us, but especially not them. That’s why I agreed to do what they said.”
Sammy looked horrified just telling me this story, so I could only imagine how he must have felt when it first happened. “So that’s how this all started?” I followed, to be certain.
“Yes, and then the next day they made stay after school, so I could go with them and let this girl suck me off.”
“Sammy, I’m so sorry you had to go through all of this,” I told him. “I might have been able to prevent some of it, if you had come to me sooner.”
“I was just too afraid that they’d go after the others if I did,” he responded. “I didn’t want them to beat up any of my brothers, because most of them wouldn’t have fought back. Nick, Cole, Dion and maybe Richard might have tried, but I knew Vinnie couldn’t. I also thought Trey and Graham didn’t have it in them to fight back and I wasn’t sure if these guys were planning on including Peter in this too. Andrew was just too small to do anything and I was worried what this might do to Jesse, after everything else he’s been through.”
“You’re probably right about most of that,” I confirmed, “but if you had come to me, we could have come up with another option, like we did today.”
“I know that now,” he confessed, “so this won’t happen again.”
“I hope you never get put in another situation like this,” I followed, “but if you do, let me try to help you.” Sammy agreed, so I dropped him off at home.
Once he had removed the bicycle from the vehicle, I told him I’d see him later and got back in the Yukon. I wanted to get back to the hospital, so I could be with Andrew. As I started to pull away, Sammy signaled me to stop and then explained he wanted to go with me. However, I knew Jesse would want to come too, but I wanted to get to the hospital as quickly as I could. Therefore, I told Sammy he could come down later, with Jake and Jesse, but for now, I wanted to spend some time alone with his brother. He wasn’t happy with my response, but only gave a mild protest, since he realized that I WAS going to let him visit Andrew today. As I drove away, he was wheeling the bike toward the shed, to put it away.
When I arrived at the hospital, I went straight to Andrew’s room. I was anxious to see if he showed any signs of improvement. When I got there, I noticed he wasn’t awake, so it appeared there hadn’t been any change after all. I figured I’d question the nurse when she came to check on him next, but for now I sat beside his bed and stroked his hair, just to let him know I had returned. I’m not sure how long I sat there just watching my baby sleep, before the nurse came in on her rounds.
“Oh, hello, Mr. Currie,” she greeted me, once she noticed I was there. “I didn’t know you were back.”
“Yes, I guess I snuck by the nurses’ station this time,” I teased. “How’s he doing?”
“The doctor was in earlier and said the swelling has gone down considerably and Andrew is showing signs of improvement.” I was very pleased to hear this news.
The nurse went about her business, and while she was sponging Andrew off, my cell phone rang. I noted who was calling and then went outside and called him back.
“Hello.”
“Jake, it’s Josh. I had to wait and call you back, because you aren’t supposed to use cell phones in here,” I advised him.
“Damn, I forgot about that,” he replied, before continuing. “I just called to see how Andrew is doing?”
“He’s still unconscious, but the doctor said the swelling is going down,” I informed him.
“That’s great news,” he responded. “I spent some time with him earlier, after you left, but I didn’t stay very long. Look, Jesse’s been bugging me all morning about bringing him down to see Andrew. Do you mind if I do that in a little while?”
“No, that would be fine,” I assured him.
“Sammy wants to come too. Would that be all right?” he followed. “He told me he spoke to you about this earlier.”
“Yes, I already told him he could come too,” I answered. “He told me how worried he’s been about his brother, but he’s been a little preoccupied with his own problems to really concentrate on Andrew’s condition. Now that his situation has been squared away, I’m sure he’s as concerned about Andrew as Jesse is. I’ll see you in a little while then.”
“Fantastic,” he responded. “I’m not sure how soon we’ll get there, but it won’t be too long.”
“Okay, I’ll see you then,” I replied, before ending the call.
A short time later, the nurse finished up her duties and left me alone with Andrew again. I sat beside his bed and wondered how much longer I’d have to wait before I had my boy back, the way he should be. I was still fussing over Andrew when I heard Jake clear his throat. I looked up and he was standing in the doorway, waiting for me to respond. He was also tightly holding onto Jesse’s hand, to prevent him from racing forward to see Andrew. I smiled and then welcomed him back, but that’s when I noticed something else. Sammy was with him as I expected, but so was Little Ricky.
This confused me slightly. I was expecting to see Jesse and Sammy, but why had Jake brought Little Ricky with him too? Yesterday, we discussed not bringing any of the other boys until Andrew’s condition had improved, so I wondered what made Jake gave in and let Little Ricky come along as well. Jake gave me a strange look when he saw me staring at Little Ricky, but Little Ricky didn’t look in either Andrew’s or my direction, which puzzled me even more. Why would he bother coming to see Andrew when he didn’t even seem to want to look at him?
It was then that I noticed Jake signaling me, to let me know he wanted me to come out in the hallway with him. Once he saw I understood what he wanted, he sent Jesse and Sammy over to see Andrew.