chapter 3

 word count: 1000

elliot’s comfort zone started closing in on him, it had a way of doing that about this time of day... for the most part anything he had to deal with from mr. roberts,, was gravy compared to the never ending bullshit jack and his pack would be handing out over the course of the hour long lunch break...

for the first few months of the school year he’d been lucky.. he had hidden undetected in the bathroom where he sat in the stall at the farthest end of room until he was sure most of the other kids were finished eating their lunches... if he timed it just right,, they would already be on the playground before he even sat down to eat.. most days by the time he got on the playground,, they had already found some other misfit kid to make miserable,, and he could slip around the side of the building to the front steps of the school to wait on the bell,, and no one would be the wiser..

it had been great while it had lasted.. he could sit there,, alone in his stall,, and try to imagine how much different his life would be if he had a different mother.. a mother who loved him like his father had loved him.. he tried to picture how much bigger and stronger he would be if his father hadn’t died.. how his father would have taught him how to fight,, how to get rid of bullies like jack that made his life miserable.. he knew he would be different,, if his father had never left him for a serenity that could only be called,, heaven.

after having lived in hell,, for the nearly five years he had been married to mother,, (strictly as a result of that fateful day in which elliot had unknowingly been conceived in the bed of his fathers first, and only love,, his cherry red ford pick up) elliot couldn’t help but think that his father must have welcomed the exit door provided him that day by the tractor trailer truck carrying a full load of fuel oil,, as "he t-boned that tanker at 110 MPH,, never even touching the brake." (elliot had overheard the police detective explain this to mother in exactly those words,, from his hiding place behind the green leather sofa the day after his father died.. but he had yet to figure out what t-boned meant)....

elliot tried not to think about that too much when he was at school.. he tried not to remember how he had begged his father to take him with him to the store that day.. or how he had promised he wouldn’t ask for any candy.. and especially how he had cried when his father left out alone,, slamming the door behind him.. never even saying good bye.. he thought about that enough at night,, when he laid alone in bed and tried to drown out the squeaking bed frame,, in mothers room,, right next to his..

it had been nearly a three weeks since his hiding place was discovered... he had been in his stall sitting fully clothed on the commode when he heard voices it was impossible not to recognize on the other side of the door... it took no time at all for jack bowman and steve learnagel to not only notice they were not alone,, but positively identify him by the full size too large, white vans that mother insisted on buying him every year for school,, that hung like buoys off the bottom of his matchstick legs...

"well,, well,, looky what we have here... if it isn’t that little piece of shit elliot taggart.." jack said mockingly, as he climbed atop the toilet in the adjoining stall and rested his elbows on the metal wall that separated him from the one place in the whole school elliot had ever really felt comfortable...

"what are you doing goofball, trying to shit with your pants on??  you're supposed to pull your pants down before you sit on the pot,, you nimrod!!!”

“come on steve, you gotta have a look at this,” he yelled to his only too eager to jump into the mix, best friend....

with a quickness,, steve climbed up to join his friend, and witness elliots latest humiliation....

“you fucking faggot!! afraid what might happen if you see that eraser head you call a dick?? yeah,, jack,, I think that's what it is,, little eraser dick, faggot head over here cant look at himself without feeling like a girl,, so he has to shit with his pants on!!!!" they exploded with laughter..

elliot felt the burn of tears as he tried hard not to cry.. his only defense was to pull out,, withdraw,, picture the kitchen clock,, allow it to carry him away.. as it beat out it’s familiar rhythm in his head,, he drifted farther and farther away from jack and steve.. pause- back- jump -pause -back –jump- pause –back- jump.. it grew louder every time the long hand jumped forward to click off another second.. with each second ticked off the clock,, his tears receded and elliot drew deeper and deeper into himself..

"get down from there!! now, what are you two up to??" it was impossible not to recognize vice principal lelands,  slightly girlish voice..

"get down from there you pair of hooligans and get out on the playground, recess has begun...." right now his slightly too high, nasal tone was like the voice of an angel in elliot’s ears...

"come on out son, their gone...” mr. leland said, assuring him.. “destined for prison the both of them if you ask my opinion..." he rattled on.

“come on now... get yourself on the playground, or you'll miss your recess...”

elliot went thru the motions of zipping up his pants and flushing the empty toilet bowl before he exited the stall...

when he emerged, red faced and completely humiliated, mr. leland had already left the room...