PROLOGUE

As the electrical blue light dissipated around me I found myself standing in an empty classroom behind a teacher’s desk. I was wearing a neatly ironed tweed suit and glasses. I supposed it was the typical professor look, the kind of teacher no one took seriously. I was trying to take this in and get a bearing on my newest leap when I saw Al come through the Imaging Chamber door.  He had a rather disturbing humored look on his face and I wondered what was up.

“Hi, Sam,” my friend greeted me, just as I was orienting myself to this new situation.

“Al,” I responded, feeling my face and looking around me, searching. “Where am I?”

“Let’s see.” He hit the handlink a few times for good measure. Sometimes I think he already knows the answers to my questions but does that just to annoy me.

“It is… February 19, 1980, Denver, CO.  Your name is Robert McKenzie. You are a fifth grade teacher and your class should be in here in about five minutes.”

I sighed and felt halfway relieved. “A teacher, eh? I kind of figured.” I motioned to the desk and my clothes.

“Yeah, but obviously not one with much fashion sense,” Al added, shaking his head. Like he could talk. Today he had on a purple number with a completely mismatched yellow and green polka dot tie. It amazed me how he thought his ensemble could look like anything less than clown wear.

“Well, anyway, being a teacher can’t be too threatening. So what am I teaching?” Out rightly this all seemed pretty tame, but the look on Al’s face made me suspicious.

He smirked and paused for effect. Then…“You teach sexual education,” he said with triumph.

“Ohhhh boy!”

PART ONE

February 19, 1980 

Denver, CO

1:50 p.m.

I thought I was going to have a stroke as my mouth hung open. “I…I…what…” I stammered. I certainly wasn’t expecting this.

“You heard me right, Sam,” he smiled. “The look on your face is a Kodak moment if I ever saw one.” He chuckled. I wasn’t amused.

I sat down. The shock was too much; this was complete virgin territory for me. I looked at him with pure horror. “I can’t be a sex ed teacher!” I gulped. 

“I know, kid, you don’t have the experience, me on the other hand…”

“Al.”

He shrugged. “Oh come on, Sam, it’ll be fun.”

A thought had suddenly occurred to me, maybe this wasn’t going to be such a disaster after all. “Maybe you’re right, I could teach them about how you should wait until marriage to have sex.”

Al stared at me; now his mouth was hanging open as mine had been a moment ago. “This is the 21^st century, Sam. Well, this isn’t exactly, you’re in 1980, but in our current time period no one believes that anymore.”  He looked exasperated.

“But I believe it, and it should be an ageless philosophy. There aren’t enough people in society today who believe in traditional values.”

“Sam, you should time travel to the 1600’s and visit the Puritans. You would fit right in.” Al rolled his eyes.

I gave him a dirty look as I heard the school bell ring.

The kids were piling in now and I could feel sweat starting to form on my brow. I was in a very uncomfortable situation, and I would go as far to say that this was one of my most challenging leaps.

“Don’t worry, Sam, I’m here for you.”

“Don’t you dare leave me, Al…” I trailed off, as I got out of my seat and smiled at the incoming students. I would kill him if he left me alone to deal with this.

But Al seemed to be in a hurry, despite what he’d said. He fiddled with the handlink and looked at me with what I thought reeked of feigned urgency. “Oh gee, Sam, Ziggy is calling me back for something… I’ll be back soon.”

“Al!” I said with a pleading whisper, but that’s the last thing I was able to say before he disappeared through the Imaging Chamber door. It was critical moments like this that I wished he’d take his job more seriously. I guess it was just too tempting for him to see me suffer. But I pushed my anger and hurt feelings under the surface and tried to maintain a smile as the kids took their seats.

I scoured the room after they had settled in. The faces were a myriad of variation…from the very astute student, paying attention, to the girl chewing gum and doing her nails, to the know it all girl raising her hand, to the two boys whispering in the back about what they were going to do after school. Typical class, and I felt myself sinking fast trying to maintain their attention. It wasn’t helping that all I could manage to do was stand there smiling stupidly.

Al came back in what seemed like an eternity but in reality was probably only about 10 minutes. I met him with a sideways scowl, turning away momentarily from the class, who were staring at me expectantly. He just stood there, waiting, just like one of the little fifth graders I was supposed to be teaching.

Since obviously the dear admiral wasn’t going to do anything, I looked back at my students and tried to do the best I could with what I knew. “Well,” I coughed, “Where did we leave off last time?”

“Sperm,” a girl in the front said matter of factly in a tired voice. I felt my face suddenly burn, I’m sure it was beat red.

Suddenly, I heard the handlink start to beep. Al then hit it hard again, and it moaned. I wondered what kind of information Ziggy was feeding him now.

 “Sam,” Al began,  “Ziggy has percentages on why you’re here. Just get through this class and I’ll be able to tell you.”

“I’m trying…” I said from the corner of my mouth. Then, back to the class, I said, “So, we were, um, talking about sperm. Yes, I see.”

“Mr. McKenzie!” the girl with the uncontrollable hand called out.

“Yes?” I asked, trying to keep calm even though I was squirming with every word.

“So what exactly do sperm look like?”

“Um, well, I suppose you could call them fishlike…” I responded.  I swear my face could have fried an egg.

Just then, I noticed this kid in the corner who seemed to be staring at me with contempt. He yelled out, without raising his hand, “No…no no. Sperm are not fishlike, they are round with a point.” He looked proud of himself. It didn’t sound that much different from what I’d said, but I let it go. After all, there was probably some deeper problem going on here.

“Well, um, I suppose you could call them that…” I cleared my throat again.

“Are you uncomfortable, Mr. McKenzie?” the kid teased. “Uncomfortable that a student might actually know more than you?”

“No, I just…”

Just then, the fire alarm went off and I sighed with gracious relief. This drill had really saved me. I began filing the kids out of the room, taking charge like my usual self, now that I didn’t have to talk about a difficult topic. Al took the opportunity to give me some much-needed information as everyone headed for the doors.

“OK, Sam.  Sorry about that. Ziggy was having problems and Dom had to make some adjustments. That kid who just mouthed off, his name is Sydney Mac. From what Ziggy can tell, there is an 85% chance you are supposed to help him. How yet, is unclear.”

“Maybe give him a better attitude about respecting his elders?” I suggested.

“I think his attitude points to an underlying problem, as it usually does in kids this age. I think your job is to find out what that problem is.”

“I can talk to him, if he’ll listen, but it would help if Ziggy could clarify things a bit more.”

“I’m working on it,” Al said sincerely. “Looks like you can handle things for now, I’ll be back when I know more.”

He left me standing outside the school.

PART TWO 

It was gray and chilly that February, 1980 day in Denver, CO. I watched as the children from… I looked at the sign on the front of the building… Piedmont Elementary School stood around, conversing among themselves and not minding the cold at all since it had given them a reprieve from their classes.

I had to admit I was glad to have a break from it as well. I could feel the remnants of sweat cooling off my forehead as I watched over my class, the sexual education class. Just the thought of this seemed like some cosmic joke. I was the last person who should be teaching this subject. Sure I knew the basics, but I wasn’t keen on sharing even that with the world.

Still, Al had said that in the current time period, no one cared anymore about the sacredness of sex… the special meaning it had, or should have, between married couples that were faithful just to each other. And I didn’t believe in this living together stuff either, the surge of that in the 80’s always left a bad taste in my mouth. So maybe I could do some good here by teaching these kids the importance of abstinence until the right time… the time of love and commitment and family. Those were my thoughts anyway. I know Al just thought I was a prude.

I was startled from my reverie by the sound of the bell again. I looked at my watch and noticed that it was nearly 3:00. That meant the end of the school day and I had survived without having to give a whole lecture on the anatomy of sperm. I sure hoped I’d leap out of here before tomorrow morning, but something told me I wasn’t going to be that lucky.

Al had said something about Sydney Mac, he was that kid I had noticed staring intently at me throughout the class. Not that everyone else in the class wasn’t also staring at me as I tried to stumble along, but it was different with Sydney. He was small and thin with thick dark hair, but what was really notable about him were his eyes… they were piercing, but although his actions were defiant, I had reason to believe that it was pain lurking behind those eyes.

I encouraged my class back through the doors, the groans of all the incoming students were apparent as they realized playtime was over. I was just anxious to get back to the classroom and somehow get Sydney alone to speak with him. After all the kids were back in the room, I looked at the clock and dismissed them, telling them that with only five minutes before the bell rang, there was no reason they should stay. They cheered and ran out in a chaotic fashion, but lucky for me, Sydney was near the back and I was able to catch his attention.

“Hey, Sydney, could you wait up a minute?” I said gently but authoritatively. 

I’ll never forget the look he gave me…it was like a deer caught in the headlights. He looked frightened and startled, but at the same time, determined not to let me get the better of him.

“Yes, Mr. McKenzie?” he said it with an emphasis on “Mister,” hoping, I suppose, to intimidate me. Well, that might have worked when talking about sperm, but we were more in the realm of emotions and feelings now, and that I could handle.

“Why don’t you have a seat? I want to talk to you.”

“About what? If it’s about today…”

I shook my head. “Don’t worry about that. Although, I’m afraid the rules state that talking back to a teacher means detention.”

“What!” Sydney yelped, getting up from the seat he had just reluctantly taken.

“It’s OK,” I tried to calm him down. “I’m not going to keep you long. I…” I felt the presence of someone behind me just then, and instinctively knew Al was back. Unfortunately for me, I turned back to look, just as instinctively, and Sydney asked what I was doing.

Al had now sidled his way over to me. “We got a problem, Sam,” he said into my ear.

“Nothing… just thought I heard a noise. Sydney, listen…”

“Look, I need to get home, my dad is expecting me,” Sydney said, not letting me finish.

“But…”

“See ya, Mr. McKenzie.”

It all happened so quick I couldn’t stop him. He was there one minute and the next had managed to slip out the door before I had the chance to get a word in edgewise. I just stood there staring at the empty doorway.

“Quite the pushover, aren’t you, Sam?” Al joked, taking a puff of that god-awful cigar. Had I been able to smell it and had it been tangible I would have plucked it from his grasp and thrown it out the window.

I ignored his comment. “What do you have?”

“Well,” he said, hitting the handlink, “turns out Sydney’s family life isn’t so good. Big surprise. Like I said, usually behaviorally impaired kids like that have some big problems and 9 times outta 10, it’s in the home.”

I nodded. “Makes sense. Go on.”

Al hesitated.

“Let me guess, that’s all you have.”

“Well,” Al said, trying to sound like it wasn’t. “Ziggy doesn’t know much about his parents yet. But don’t worry, Sam, we’ll get it.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Any chance it can be before tomorrow morning,” I said, with little hope.

“Fraid not, kid. Guess you’ll have to work on your lecture tonight. What’s it going to be tomorrow, when Fishy meets Eggy?” He was laughing.

I could feel the blood rising to my cheeks again. “Al,” I admonished him. I turned away, royally embarrassed. I could hear him snickering behind me.

Al cleared his throat then and hit the handlink again. “Anyway, Sam, according to Ziggy, if you don’t help Sydney, he’s going to die as a teenager, in a street brawl involving drugs. We have to stop the chain of events that leads him there.”

“Exactly,” I said, turning around to face him again. “So can you please figure out what I have to do before I make McKenzie look like a complete idiot?”

“Right, you got it, Sam,” Al said. I could see that he was enjoying this whole thing far too much, despite the seriousness of why I was here. He just couldn’t let go of the fact that I was totally out of my element with this sex ed situation.

“Good. Now do you have any info on Robert’s home address? It would be nice to go home and think this over.”

“Maybe you could stop at the bookstore on your way home and pick up some study materials, Sam,” Al said to me with as serious a tone as he could muster. The tears of laughter on his face gave him away; however, and I was starting to get irritated with his attitude.

“Goodbye, Al,” I said. “I’ll figure out the address for myself.” I stomped out of the room for good measure, still hearing his chuckles out in the hallway as I made my way to the administration office.

Once there, I approached the secretary. She greeted me with a somewhat nasal and bored voice. “Hello, Mr. McKenzie.”

“Hello,” I paused, looking for a nameplate, which I quickly spotted, “Janet.  I was wondering if I could have a look at my employee file.”

“Why, Mr. Mckenzie?” she asked, although she was already reaching into a file cabinet behind her.

“Well, I, I just want to verify that my address is correct in there. I’ve been getting some school flyers long after the event is over.” I laughed good heartedly, hoping this sounded halfway convincing.

“Oh, of course,” Janet said, handing me the file. She didn’t seem too concerned. I thanked her and quickly looked up the address, writing it down on a piece of scratch paper. “Hm, yes, it looks OK to me. Mail must just be slow,” I smiled and closed the file. I then handed it back and began to head for the door.

“Oh, Mr. McKenzie?” Janet called out. I stopped in my tracks. Her tone sounded almost confused.

“Yes,” I said, turning around.

“Did you forget your appointment with Principal Matthews?”

‘Oh boy,’ I thought. “Of course not…um…no.” I smiled awkwardly.

“Well, he’s waiting,” she said, gesturing toward a nearby door as she began filing her nails.  I nodded and went to knock on the door.

“Come in,” said a rather abrupt voice. I could tell as soon as I saw Matthews that he was a no nonsense kind of guy. You had to be to be a school principal, although usually you found this type of persona in a high school setting. I supposed he felt he could do a lot more good if he influenced kids before they hit the troubled teen years.  He was wearing a dark blue suit and tie, and looked sternly at me as he ran his hand across the top of his balding head.

“Sit,” he demanded. I sat.

“Mr. Mckenzie, it has come to my attention that you are letting students teach your class.”

“Well I wouldn’t exactly…”

“One of your students reported today that you didn’t know the answer to a question and that he had to answer it for you. How do you think that makes us look?”

“I’m sure I have no idea…” I stammered.

“Like fools, that’s what. Now, no more letting kids answer…even if you don’t know the answer. But we didn’t hire you to not know the answer, did we? I suggest you freshen up on your subject, Mr. McKenzie.” He got up out of his seat. I felt like a small child being reprimanded as his tall figure towered over me.

“Up!” he demanded, motioning towards me with his hands. I immediately obeyed, feeling like a military cadet.

He came over and slapped me on the shoulder, almost sending me back into my chair. “You’re a good teacher, Mr. McKenzie. I know instructing these little punks is tough, but you have to stick your ground, show ‘em whose boss. You know?”

“Sure,” I said weakly.

“Good, now go.” He pushed me toward the door and I had no problem leaving that place as fast as I could. I always had respect for my teachers, but now I held an even greater one.

I got outside into the parking lot and realized I had no idea which car was mine, not to mention that just because I had an address didn’t mean I knew how to get to it. I wished Al would show up, and even though he had angered me earlier, I realized I really needed his assistance right about now.

PART THREE

Another 15 minutes had gone by and I was frantically trying to figure out which vehicle was McKenzie’s. I had resorted to trying the key I had found in McKenzie’s pocket in every car lock in the parking lot. I had just started this when I heard the familiar Imaging door sound and I felt my blood pressure lower slightly. However, I wasn’t going to let Al know how relieved I was to see him. As soon as he walked through, I turned and glared at him.

“Where have you been!?” I demanded.

He removed a cigar from his mouth and shrugged, pretending to be deeply hurt. “I thought you didn’t need me, kid. You did walk out on me back there, after all. If you were a woman who did that, I’d be really hurt. Not that any woman has ever done that, I’d never give them any reason to…Lord knows if my Beth ever did that I’d…” His eyes were as big as saucers.

I just shook my head vigorously at his tangent and I put my hands up in frustration. “Al. Which one of these…” I motioned toward the cars.

“Oh…oh.” He slapped his head to clear his gutter thoughts. “The red Chevy over there,” he pointed. “What an ugly car, way too conservative for me. After meeting McKenzie in the waiting room, however, I can see it fits him perfectly, though.”

I headed over to it. “It would be nice if you could give me directions to Robert’s house.” I was still feeling annoyed.

“Yeah, sure.” Al pulled up the information and I wrote it down on the piece of paper where I had scribbled the address.

“So, you found the address, eh Nancy Drew?” he said gently, obviously wanting to bring a little lightheartedness back into the conversation.

I wasn’t going for it, but nevertheless I felt myself softening already. I wasn’t the type to stay mad for long unless there was a grand injustice involved and somehow I didn’t think this applied. “Found my employee file. Look, Al,” I began.

“Say no more,” he put his hand up. “It was my fault, I’m sorry I laughed at you, kid. Really, I am.” I could sense the genuineness in his words, so I relaxed a bit. He then cleared his throat. “Now, about Sydney, I have some more to give you…”

I got in the car and started the engine, soon merging onto the main highway as Al sat beside me. “What do you have,” I asked.

“I mean, really, Sam, do you think I did nothing earlier when you went off in a huff?”

I began to glare at him.

“A very justified huff, I might add,” Al said.

“So what did you find out?” I asked again as I turned a corner. I liked the way this car drove. I don’t know why Al didn’t like it, probably because it wasn’t stylish enough for him.

“Well, I centered on Sydney after you left, and he headed for this grungy and foreboding looking joint where he met with this huge, broad shouldered…grungy and foreboding guy counting cash behind the bar. There was also this waitress there… thin, blond, short skirt, high heels at the end of…”

“Ahem,” I cleared my throat.

“Right. Anyway, she looked pretty mousy actually; her face was worn and sallow. She looked sad, really sad, when she looked at Sydney walk in, but all she did was retreat into the shadows. That was his mom…the hard faced nozzle is, you guessed it, his father.”

“Sounds like a great home environment,“ I sighed. “Then what?”

“Well, Sydney entered, wringing his hands together, looking lost, not quite sure what to do with himself. He’s trembling as the big guy approaches him. His eyes Sam, they looked terrified, and the father’s looked full of anger… but like he was keeping himself in check just under the surface.”

This sounded bad.

“He asked Sydney where he’d been and he said school, and the father, thinking he was a smartass, grabbed him tightly around the shoulder and pushed him into a chair. I wanted to grab the guy and strangle him!” Al made a motion with his hands, his eyebrows raised.

“So then Sydney said he’d been at detention and the jerk got this scared look on his face, asking questions about what he’d told you. Sydney insisted he hadn’t said anything. Finally though, he just pulled Sydney out of his seat and handed him a bag and told him to go deliver it and return with the money.”

 I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Now I could understand the fear and maliciousness I had seen in Sydney’s eyes. I was sure it wasn’t really directed at me, but rather a mechanism to convey his emotions to whomever would pay attention.

I pulled into Robert McKenzie’s driveway and got out of the car. “So, his dad is a drug dealer?” I said with concern as I walked into his nicely kept house.

“You got it, right up with the rest of the scum of the earth,” Al answered, walking through the front wall of the house into the living room. “No wonder the kid ends up on the streets.”

I shook my head. Would there ever be an end to this type of tragedy? Sure, I might be able to help Sydney, but there were always more. Always.

“So what does Ziggy say is the best way to deal with this? Talk to Sydney, confront the father?”

“She says that tomorrow, after class, you need to talk to Sydney again, this time, don’t let him get away so easily. You have to ask him some real probing questions, Sam, without appearing too nosey. If I know this type of persona, he’ll really open up to you if you gain his confidence.”

“I need to let him know I really care, that I’m not just his teacher trying to get in his business.” I added.

“Right,” Al nodded.

As worried as I was, I was exhausted, and Al could tell. “Get some sleep, Sam. And about tomorrow’s class…”

I looked up at him, worried that this would be the start of another argument.

“I think you should do it.”

“Do what?” I asked, confused.

He hesitated, but then looked at me in all seriousness. “Tell them that it’s important to wait…until marriage.” He waved his cigar in the air absently, nervously. “It’s good advice, who knows, you might change the way some people think. Not everyone, but, it is a respectable ideal.”

He sounded completely sincere. That’s what I liked about him; I could count on him when I really needed him.

I smiled. “Thanks, Al.”

“And even more importantly, we’ll make sure Sydney gets on the right track.” He nodded and opened the Imaging chamber door. “Goodnight, Sam.” Then he was gone, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep on the couch.

PART FOUR

It was 2:00 the next day before I saw Al.  He seemed far mellower then the day before.  I’m sure he was a bit embarrassed for showing his sentimental side but in all honesty, I was glad to see that he actually respected my moral views, even if he didn’t share a lot of them. After all, I often thought I was fighting an uphill battle, we didn’t live in Victorian times anymore, after all, and so people who felt this way went up against opposition everyday. Trying to maintain an ethical code amid the way society was in this or any time period was a challenge. It was nice to know that I had some support.

I was a lot more comfortable today, I didn’t feel at all ashamed or embarrassed as I told the students about love, marriage, and the “right” time to have sex. Many of them were staring at me, probably too young to understand all the implications of what I was trying to get across to them, but I knew just the same they wouldn’t forget it. If they could learn the basics of physiological processes of sex at this age, they could learn the ethical responsibilities behind it as well. Just as I was finishing my speech, Al appeared.

“Nicely done, Sam,” Al told me.  “You’ve caused another one percent of the population to share your views in the future. Pretty good, considering.”

I was disappointed. “Only one percent?”

“Well, Sam, you have to remember, you only talked to one class. Although some of these kids weren’t listening to you, there are several of them who went on to have wonderful marriages and families instead of being promiscuous in high school and college, thanks to you.”

“Well, it’s something.”

“And don’t forget, they go on to teach their kids the same values,” he nodded at me meaningfully.

I couldn’t help but crack a smile. He was right, I managed to change something, even if it seemed small at the moment.  Now that class was over, I needed to turn my attention to Sydney’s situation.  I saw him getting up slowly from his chair, following the class, but I quickly stopped him.

“Sydney, we never got to finish our conversation yesterday. I think you owe me at least that,” I said, trying to sound encouraging. Sydney seemed in less of a rebellious mood today, I think I was going to have more luck.

“I guess,” Sydney said, shrugging.

“Now, I’m sure you feel you had good reason for this, but I’d really be interested in knowing… why did you tell Principal Matthews that I let you teach the class?”

“Dunno,” Sydney said. His eyes were on the floor, and he wouldn’t look at me.

I sighed. “I’m not mad, I was just curious,” I paused, trying to get him to glance up, but seeing it wasn’t going to happen, I went in with the important questions. “Look, Sydney, I can tell something is wrong. Do you want to talk about it?”

“I was born before my parents were married,” he stated nonchalantly. “You know, they didn’t wait like you said to do.”

I was a bit taken aback by this, I wasn’t expecting today’s subject to come into play here, but it certainly gave me some insight I didn’t have before into Sydney’s background.

“Careful, Sam,” Al warned. “This could be touchy.”

“Um…well, Sydney, not all of us make the same choices in life. In your parent’s case, they must have loved each other so much that they couldn’t wait to have you.” I knew this was reaching and that it had obviously been an unplanned pregnancy, but I wasn’t going to let Sydney know that.  “It doesn’t mean that you have to follow the same path, we all have the ability to pick the road we are going to take in our lives, knowing that what we do can have an effect not only on ourselves, but on others too. And for you, I see you falling in love with a nice girl, getting married, then having sex,” I winked at him, “and having a family.”

“Yeah,” Sydney said, shuffling one of his feet back and forth along the floor. “Look, I really should be going. I’m sorry, Mr. McKenzie.” He looked like he hadn’t heard much of what I had said. I realized that my rosy picture of his future wasn’t going to happen though if I didn’t stop his unwilling entanglement with the drug world.

Sydney had begun to move away from me toward the door.

“Saaaam…” Al warned. “You can’t let him go.  Ask him if his parents sell drugs.”

“Do…” I began, but then I looked over my shoulder at Al. “I can’t ask that!”

“Ask what?” Sydney said, confused.

“Oh, nothing,” I answered.  “It’s just that, speaking of your parents, I wondered what they do for a living.”

“My mom’s a waitress. My dad’s a salesman,” Sydney said matter of factly.

“AH HA!” Al declared to no one in particular. “Now, ask him about the bruises.”

“The…” I stopped, disgust and concern overcoming me.

“On his arm, under his shirt,” Al said from behind me.

Just then, Al seemed distracted; I could hear him shuffling around behind me. I heard the Imaging door open and wondered what he had discovered. I figured he’d come back and tell me soon enough. For now, I needed to get through to Sydney and gain his trust.

“Sydney, look, I’m a teacher, I’m here to help you. And not just with your studies, but also with anything else that’s bothering you. That’s what teachers are for.”

As if Sydney had read Al’s mind, his right hand was edging up toward his upper left arm. He turned around slowly; facing me and raising his chin slightly, just enough to glance at me.

“It’s just that…he doesn’t like it if I’m late; if I don’t bring the bag to Mr. Harrison on time; and if I don’t get the money. Mom doesn’t do anything, she’s too scared so she goes away and leaves me with Dad.”

I could feel a lump forming in my throat. I walked closer to Sydney, and put a reassuring hand on his unhurt shoulder. “It’s OK, we can make sure you don’t have to do that anymore.”

“How?” he asked, unconvinced.

“Just trust me….”

At that moment, we heard some scuffling coming from the hallway. Al suddenly appeared right in front of me, looking panic stricken.

“Trouble, Sam, Sydney’s father is…”

The man burst into the room. I could tell right away I was in trouble and wouldn’t stand a chance against this guy, even if I did know judo. No wonder Sydney was afraid of him. Al had been right, he was large and intimidating, and the expression on his face indicated that he meant business.

 “What are you doing, Sydney?! You were to be home a half hour ago!” he screamed accusingly.

“But Dad, I…” the boy gasped, just as his father grabbed his shirt and pulled Sydney towards him in a violent yank.

“Do something, Sam!” Al yelled, even though yelling wasn’t going to help the situation much.

I knew that a sudden movement on my part was not going to be the best approach here, so I walked slowly toward Sydney’s father, my hands out in a non-threatening gesture. “There’s no cause for alarm. I’m one of his teachers and he was simply serving a detention for me today.” I hoped I looked more collected than I felt.

“Well,” the man said, letting go of Sydney and approaching me with those huge muscular steel arms of his. I shivered, hoping I didn’t walk out of there beaten to a pulp.

“My son doesn’t need detention, he’s got things to do at home.”

I already knew I was no match for this guy, so I reflexively started backing away, trying to reason with the unreasonable. “I understand that, Sir, but he’s got responsibilities at school, too.”

“Dad, please don’t,” Sydney said. He was now rocking on his heels in a nervous fit.

His father ignored him. “And I say he don’t!” the big man said, suddenly out of nowhere throwing a punch that landed right in my jaw. I was taken off guard by the immensity of the blow and, as I grabbed my sore jaw, I was sent sprawling across McKenzie’s desk. I tried to get up, but didn’t have a chance before I was helped along by the incredible grasp of Sydney’s father’s hand around my collar. “Listen, if you know what’s good for you…”

“And making Sydney sell drugs is good for him?” I said defiantly. I figured why not get the truth out, things couldn’t get much worse for me or Sydney than they already were. I caught a glance of Al watching the proceedings. My friend looked dumbstruck that I’d said what I did, but at the same time, his eyes were burning with anger. I know if he hadn’t been a hologram he would have tried to strangle Sydney’s father.

“That’s none of your business, tweed!” the man yelled, lifting me off the desk and then throwing me violently to the ground and starting to kick me. His attacks were so fast and often that I couldn’t do anything to defend myself.

I could hear Al calling out to me. “Sam! Sam! Kick him, do some karate moves, come on, you can do it!” But it was in vain; the other guy just had too much bulk for anything I did to be of much use.

But then I heard another voice.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” 

A large, balding man had just entered the room. He looked at least as large as Sydney’s father and probably even more sternly intimidating. As I tried to get a good look at him, I realized it was Principal Matthews. He must have heard the commotion, and I never thought I’d be so happy to see him.

“Get away from my teacher and leave the premises immediately,” he warned. Sydney’s father thankfully forgot me for the moment and got up to meet this new nemesis.

“Oh, and what are you gonna do about it?” he hissed.

“Just this,” Matthews grabbed the other man’s arms from behind and pulled hard, bracing him in a lock. I couldn’t believe it; this was like a spectator sport, except that it appeared Sydney’s father was just about as good a match for Matthews as I had been for him.

Al was cheering and waving his fists in the air. “Yeah! Get him! Sam, this should be on Smackdown!” By now, Sydney’s father was groaning, but Matthews still held him tight.

“Call the police, Mr. McKenzie,” Matthews said in my direction.

I had managed to get up. I felt like hell, but I could walk. I made it over to Sydney and escorted him out.

An hour later, Sydney’s father had been arrested. Sydney and I were in the administration office, drinking hot cocoa served by Janet, while Matthews talked to the police. Al was staring at the handlink and looked thrilled with what he saw. He stood next to me as I held one arm around Sydney and the other on an icepack stuck to my eye.

“Sam, good news. You’ve, of course, changed everything for Sydney. He grows up to be a…well what do you know, a teacher. Wife, kids, the works. His parents go to jail for child neglect and abuse…his father for actual abuse and drug dealing and his mother for looking away and doing nothing.”

I just nodded my assent, smiling the best I could with my bruised face.

“But now this is interesting…” he paused for effect. “Sydney Mac is now…Sydney McKenzie…”

I looked up at Al in stunned silence, then glanced over at Sydney, smiled as best as I could with my bruised face, and squeezed his shoulder affectionately. He smiled back at me with a look of appreciation.

I looked back up and saw Al waving at me. “See ya next round, kid!” I heard him say as the familiar blue electricity engulfed me and I was off to my next leap.

EPILOGUE

As the leap-in effect dissipated, Sam found himself seated with several other men on a small makeshift podium in some sort of downtown park.  The picnic area was behind the stage, which faced a quad in the center of the park.  There was a speaker at the podium in the middle of a speech.  A large crowd of at least two thousand people was gathered in front of the podium.  The speaker went on, shouting “...and I tell you now, guys, that we have a right to OUR way of life – life the way WE want it, not as others would dictate toward us!” 

The crowd went wild. 

Sam at least felt the speaker knew what he’s talking about, but was getting a strange feeling. 

“On this day, we demand equal rights – the right to marry, the right against prejudice, and the right to be recognized as a community just as everyone else, with equal protection under the law!” 

More loud cheers came from the crowd.

‘But equal rights for whom?’ thought Sam. 

The speaker continued, “And now for more word on this subject, I’d like to bring up a strong speaker in his own right, and – a CLOSE personal friend of yours truly, if you know what I mean - Mr. Frank Peterson!” 

The crowd, which Sam by now had noticed was almost all men, started shouting a strange chant, which he couldn't make out. 

After what seemed like forever, the speaker walked back toward Sam and asked, “Well come on, Frank, are you coming up or what?” 

Sam just sat there with a glazed shocked expression on his face.  Sam, shocked, just sat there with a glazed look on his face.  ‘Oh God he means me!’ Sam nervously thought to himself. 

Obviously uncomfortable about what he was about to face, Sam slowly got up, and with knees shaking, started to walk up to the stage to the chant of “Gay Rights Now!  Gay Rights Now!”  Having no idea who he was, why he was here, or what he was expected to say, Sam nervously grabbed the large floor microphone.  Short on words, he managed only a nervous, “Oh boy!”