Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ The Man Who Fell to Earth ❯ Carry A Big Stick ( Chapter 7 )

CHAPTER 7:

…Carry a Big Stick

 

 

The only intelligible thing Harry heard out of Derrick's mouth next resembled “Creepy Carter.” Any other words the boy might have spoken were either too unrecognizable or too rude to repeat in polite company.

 

When Joan Carter neared them, she looked more upset than Harry had ever seen her. “Where have you been? You know you're supposed to be in class right now.”

 

“So are you,” Derrick said defiantly. “Why aren't you teaching all your little freaks?”

 

She took a deep breath and said to Harry, “I'm sorry you had to see this, Mr. White.”

 

To that, Derrick laughed. “Whitey's name is actually White? You've got to be shi…”

 

“I'm sorry,” Harry said loudly as he thumped Derrick on the head with the stick he'd found. “My hand must have slipped.”

 

“Hey! You can't do that,” the boy said with suspicious eyes.

 

“I'm not one of your teachers. I don't have to live by the same rules,” he said placidly, though he looked ready to strike again if necessary.

 

“But he has to live by the rules,” Joan interrupted, as she was convincing herself not to seize Derrick by the arm and drag him bodily back to class. That was a rule of teaching that she could not break no mater how the boy bent the rules.

 

“I'm sorry, Ms. Carter,” Harry said deliberately, looking at her in the eyes in hopes that she'd understand his plan. “I took Derrick out here with me. I didn't realize he was supposed to be in class. How silly of me,” he said, turning a pointed look at Derrick.

 

Easily wanting to pass the blame on to someone else, Johnson chimed in, “Right! It's his fault.”

 

“And since it's my fault,” Harry continued, “I should make sure he gets to his class. Is it okay, Ms. Carter, if I have Derrick help me back to my room? I do seem to be wetter than I wanted to be.”

 

“Uh, yes, Mr. White, but do understand that Derrick absolutely can not skip his classes on a whim. I hope he didn't try to convince you of that.”

 

“Again, my most sincere apologies,” Harry said with extreme melodrama looking from both teacher to student. “I guess I took advantage of him because I didn't know the rules. It won't happen again.”

 

“See that it doesn't,” Joan said as she left. She gave him a significant look, and Harry knew he would try to visit her later to sort things out.

 

When she was safely gone out of earshot, Harry told Derrick to help him back to his room, just as he'd said they would do.

 

“What was that all about?” Derrick said as if he wanted to have another fight.

 

“I own you,” Harry said softly.

 

“You don't own jack shi…” the boy started to swear as he leaned in close in a threatening position.

 

“Language, Mr. Johnson,” the man replied condescendingly with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Let me put this in simple terms. I helped you. Now you're going to help me.”

 

“Doing what?”

 

“First, you're going to get your butt back in class. Second, you're going to take that weight lifting class with me starting tonight. We both need it,” he said with a sigh. “And third, I might need a magician's assistant.”

 

“You don't know magic!”

 

“Then how'd I get this?” Harry said, producing Derrick's wallet at the tips of his fingers as if it had appeared right out of thin air.

 

“You're just a con artist!”

 

He shrugged, but did not deny it. “Takes one to know one. But I'd say you're still the one who got conned, not me.”

 

Johnson took back the wallet that Harry had produced and stuffed it in the pockets of the jeans that he'd tried to sag as much as possible within the dress code. Then he pushed the man's chair back to the main building while muttering complaints the whole way.

 

-&-

 

The unlikely pair had nearly made it to the main building where Harry's room was located when Umi came walking to them across the courtyard. Unlike Joan earlier, her stride was one more loose and easy, not upset at a child for skipping one of his classes.

 

Upon seeing her, Harry asked Derrick to stop pushing his chair. The boy chose to comply the first time instead of making complaints about what he was asked to do. He man put his stick to the ground for support and stood up when the woman came over to them.

 

“You're wet,” she declared in surprise as she looked up at him.

 

He shook his mop of hair from side to side. He was starting to dry out, so it didn't have the same dripping shaggy dog effect that it would have had initially. “I fell into the stream,” he said with a grin and a hop as he tried to find his balance.

 

Umi looked suspiciously from him to the long staff he had. It's not a staff, she corrected herself. It just reminded her of one since he was holding it, and he reminded her of Clef. Things just seemed to be getting tangled in each other.

 

“Where did you get that?” she said as she pointed to his non-staff.

 

“Derrick found it for me,” he said with another smile. He couldn't help himself from smiling at her, and he didn't repress the happy feeling he'd gotten at seeing her. “I think I'll keep it. It's more stylish than crutches.”

 

“He just wants to hit people with it,” the boy mumbled and rubbed the back of his head, causing Umi to raise an eyebrow and look at him. She knew first hand about Clef's habits with his staff. When magic or words didn't prevail, he literally tried to knock sense into a person.

 

“Did you hit him?” she accused.

 

His smile started to fade as he admitted that he had. Umi just nodded, keeping track of another one of his Clef-like ways. Then she tried a different tactic.

 

“I had a phone call with my friend Hikaru today,” she started sweetly. “We were talking about the time when we traveled to Cephiro. I think the people must have really loved her! Some even called her the pillar of the community.”

 

As Umi watched Harry, he gave no overt reaction to the deliberate clues that she'd supplied him. He clutched his staff and looked at her politely. “Where is Cephiro? With that name it sounds like it could be in Italy or Spain…”

 

“Or Mexico,” Derrick added helpfully.

 

“It's nowhere on the map,” she said, looking down and away from him. “Maybe I thought of it because of the blue sky today. The skies there always seemed like this. It's the most enchanting place I've ever known.”

 

“It is beautiful today,” he agreed, “except that I'm all wet.”

 

“You need to change your clothes!” Umi replied logically.

 

He nodded and added, “I also have to speak to a few people while Derrick goes back to class. Would you please help me to make sure he does?”

 

“Of course,” she nodded. Umi had one her fair share of handing unruly boys both at home and Cephiro before she'd come to America. Because she wasn't constantly with them like a teacher, it seemed that she was more effective with them.

 

The trio finished the journey inside, and after Harry was situated safely, Umi escorted Derrick to his appropriate class.

 

-&-

 

After his misadventure outside and brief conversation with Umi, Harry was in better spirits. He set his new staff in his room and made a mental note to ask his new friend Steve if he could get him some wood stain and polyurethane.

 

He had the mental idea that he could finish and decorate it like the old shamans used to do. He'd need some feathers, beads, and maybe some leather. It was his next private project, he decided. He might even be able to use it in his magic act, he mused.

 

After he decided that, he wondered again to the short conversation he had with Umi. He'd seen her in the last week, but honestly not as much as he would have hoped. Her physical appearance was very deceptive. While she looked like a damsel from the stories who needed rescuing, she was forceful, competent and temperamental.

 

She is an enigma, but not one for you to figure out, he reminded himself because he needed it. He was not about to poach on another man's territory, and Umi Ryuuzaki was engaged, though certainly not to him.

 

Taking the yoke of responsibility, he sought out Patricia to explain his absence from their meeting. She was understanding and kind, but she admonished him that had he asked, they could have had their meeting outside. He felt guilty and idiotic for not thinking of it himself. Then Patricia assessed that she was glad he was feeling good enough to venture out on the grounds.

 

After that, he knew he had to visit Joan. He hoped he remembered the right time of day for her planning period that she'd had the last week when she'd taken the photographs of him. As he came near her office, it would seem that he was in luck.

 

Harry knocked on the door and waited for her to acknowledge him. When Joan looked up from the stack of papers she was grading, she made a vague notion at the empty chairs in front of her desk. Walking in slowly on the crutches, he made his way to one and sat down.

 

“Did Derrick push you in the water?” she asked with concern after an awkward silent moment had passed.

 

“No! I fell, and he helped me out of it. He didn't want to help me,” he said ruefully, “but I gave him a good motivational speech.”

 

“Uh-huh,” she dismissed. “So what were you doing outside in the water, if you don't mind me asking?”

 

“The same thing Derrick was. I had somewhere I was supposed to be, but I decided I didn't want to go,” he admitted.

 

Joan looked at him with a tired expression. “Thank you for helping me get him back to class, but I really hope you weren't giving the boy ideas. This is a school, and the children have places to be.”

 

“I realize that,” he answered with a small sound of annoyance. It's not that he didn't appreciate what she was saying, but like most any other person, he didn't like being the object of a lecture. “I came to ask you what you can tell me about Derrick. I know you can't tell me everything, but is there something to go on so I could try to help the boy?”

 

Joan leaned back in her chair thinking about confidentiality issues that were so important when working with the children. “This is more of Patricia's area, you know. That's one of the things a counselor handles.”

 

“Right,” he nodded because she was logical. “I was just with Patricia, but I didn't think to ask her. It was you who came and found us, though, so what can you tell me?”

 

When she started to speak, it was with slow careful words. “He doesn't have a physical handicap, but he's suffered great trauma. He comes from a background of poverty and violence. That boy's seen things no grown man should ever have to see in his life.”

 

“A handicap of a different sort,” Harry concluded, speaking more to himself than to Joan. Addressing her, he asked, “If he's poor, how can he afford to come to this school?”

 

“The same way you do, Mr. White,” she said with a sigh as she threw her pen down on her desk. “The Templetons sponsor him for free.”

 

“I've decided I want to help him,” Harry started.

 

“As if we aren't trying to help him?” Joan said testily.

 

“No,” he answered giving her an equally sharp look. “That's not what I meant. I've got plans for some activities we can do together that I think he might like.”

 

“Fine,” she said with a tired sound in her voice that indicated she had a stressful day. “Just make sure he doesn't skip any of his classes when he's helping you do these… activities.”

 

“Of course not,” he said as he rose to leave. “Thank you.”

 

Joan picked up her grading pen and returned to grading papers as he hobbled out the door.

 

-&-

 

“You're weak, man! Weak! You can do better than that! Your itty-bitty grandmother had more muscle than you do!”

 

The sound of clanking metal was heard all around him, and Harry struggled to finish his bench press. He grunted and put the bar in place with the guide of his spotter's hands.

 

“What do you think you are? A drill sergeant?” he asked Steve while wiping his brow.

 

“In another life,” Ford answered, “and you need it. I heard about your little escapade down in the stream today.”

 

“Yeah,” he said noncommittally. “Doesn't take much time for rumor to get around this place, does it?”

 

“No, but that's not why I know. I happen to be very close friends with Miss Jessie Walter.”

 

“A-ha. There's something I should tell you about that then,” Harry said.

 

“Go on,” Ford urged as wiped the bench clean for the next pair. Cleanliness on the equipment was simple common courtesy in his book.

 

“I invited Derrick Johnson to come lift weights with us. He is a pretty strong kid. He helped me get out of the water, and I think he'd actually like it,” he said earnestly.

 

Steve sighed at his new friend. “I've already tried to ask him. The kid won't come. He's just not ready yet. Derrick's too busy pretending he doesn't want or need our help.”

 

Harry looked around to the kids in the room working on their separate exercises. He knew when Steve first told him about it that he was right about building young boys' self-esteem. All young people needed a bit of reassurance, no matter what gender they were. It just seemed that attention in that direction had been focused more on girls than boys.

 

“Will wonders never cease…” Steve said, pointing at the door to the gym.

 

When Harry looked over, he saw Derrick Johnson standing there, and though he looked apprehensive, the boy had actually submitted to coercion and come.