WBY - On Being Ben's Dad (Part Two)
Ben gasped. He would never hurt anyone! A moment later he heard Dean’s words. “my kid.” It shocked him so much he almost didn’t hear the rest of what Mr. Merchant said.
“No, of course not, Ben is not that kind of kid but he did bring explosives into school and drop them down the toilet. I’m sure it was meant as a prank of some kind but it has been an extremely expensive one. Not only that, but Ben could have been hurt. I am a pretty low-key principal Dean. I deal with tardiness and an occasional spray paint vandal. This kind of behavior s a bit out of my pay grade but in keeping with the policy of the school board, he must be suspended. Then because I think keeping a kid out of school is counter productive, he will be given work to do for the entire suspension. It all must be completed before he returns. He must also have detention when he returns. That detention will consist of repainting all of the bathrooms in the school. Of course, he can’t do the plumbing work but he can certainly handle a paintbrush. That should take him a good part of the semester. We also will need to meet with Ms. Braeden, or you perhaps before he is re-admitted to school. I hope you don’t find these punishments too stringent. Again, my hands are tied in some of these matters.”
Ben gulped. Suspended? Detention after suspension! Painting ALL OF THE BATHROOMS!
“Mr. Merchant, I can’t even paint in art class! How can I paint all of the bathrooms?” Ben asked indignantly.
“Shut up, Ben,” Was all Dean said.
“I think your punishments are just fine, Mr. Merchant. I will be sure to explain this all to his mother when she returns.”
“Very good, Dean. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to sop up the water on my rug and check on the repairs of the bathroom. Please sign Ben out at the front office. We will be sending Ms. Braeden a letter regarding all we discussed here as well the necessary steps she needs to take before Ben returns to school. You can come by tomorrow to pick up his work.”
“Thank you, Mr. Merchant.” Dean said then he turned to Ben, “Apologize and thank the man, Ben.”
“Apologize sure, but thank him?” Ben almost stuttered the last part.
Dean put a hand firmly on Ben’s shoulder,“Yes.”
“I’m sorry for the trouble Mr. Merchant and I thank you for suspending me and then giving me detention and making me paint all the bathrooms.”
Mr. Merchant pursed his lips together, maybe thought about saying something but decided against it.
“Please go, young man. You have done enough damage today.”
Dean kept his hand on Ben’s shoulder and guided him out of the office. He stopped at the secretary’s desk and signed Ben out and then half pulled, half dragged him out into the hallway.
“Can you believe that shit?” Ben asked, still upset about the painting.
“What don’t you understand about ‘shut up’?”
“That was before I had to apologize so I thought that shutting up was over.”
“Nothing is over Benny-boy.” Dean said grimly and then frog walked Ben out of the school.
The ride home was quiet. Ben shut up, because that’s what Dean said to do and Dean either didn’t want to speak or just wanted to let Ben stew. So stew it was.
They pulled out in front of the house. Dean shut the truck off and then just sat in the truck, squeezing and un-squeezing his fingers around the steering wheel. Ben didn’t know what that particular gesture meant but it didn’t seem positive.
“Uh, Dean. Are we going to sit in the truck all night?”
Dean ignored him.
“Well, do you mind if I get out?”
“No.”
“Well, you have the keys to get in the house.”
Ben unbuckled his seat belt and gestured to Dean’s keys hanging in the ignition.
“Leave them.”
“So, am I supposed to wait on the porch?”
Dean turned his head toward Ben’s green eyes blazing, “Oh, I don’t know. You are so good at blowing things up, why don’t you just blow a hole in the door?”
Ben just sighed.
“Which leads me to the question, what in the hell did you use to blow up the bathroom? Where did you get the explosives?”
“Can’t we talk about this in the house?”
“No.”
“Seriously?”
Dean narrowed those green eyes at Ben and there was no doubt that he was very serious indeed.
“Why does it matter where I got the stuff?”
“Because I wanna know.”
Ben mumbled his answer.
“Didn’t get that, Ben.”
“I got it from your stash,” Ben said quietly but clearly.
“My stash?”
“You know, Dean. You have all kinds of stuff, gunpowder, accelerant . I even found the picric acid in your trunk. “
“So, you went into the Impala’s trunk, a place I told you never to touch and stole from me.”
“Not stole, Dean…procured.”
“I once knew a woman who used that verb “procured” and she was nothing but a common thief.”
Ben dropped his head, shame causing him to blush.
“I’m sorry, Dean.”
“Not good enough, Ben.”
“Well, what else can I do or say?”
“Nothing. Let’s get inside, you go on up to your room. I’ll be up there shortly.”
Ben followed Dean up to the house, waited for him to unlock the door and then went straight to his room.
Ben liked his room. He and Dean had fixed it up when they first moved in. There was a picture of him and Dean and Mom. Just a snapshot, Dean grilling steak and Ben grinning from ear to ear. There was a poster of Star Wars - an original that he and Dean had found in a second hand shop that specialized in movie posters. They’d paid more than Ben thought was reasonable, but Dean had insisted, saying that a replica just wouldn’t do for Ben Braeden! There was so much of Dean in the room that usually it made Ben feel good. Today though, everything that he and Dean had done to make the room Ben’s just reminded Ben of how he had betrayed Dean.
It took a while for Dean to come up to the room, but Ben didn’t try to leave. Dean hadn’t said he was grounded or anything, but Ben had the distinct impression that Dean wanted him to stay put.
Dean sat down next to Ben, “So how are we going to handle this, Ben?” Dean’s voice was low and modulated but there was an under current that Ben wasn’t familiar with.
Part three http://wildblueyonder6.livejournal.com/51158.html