The Vaticinator

8. The Gay And The Lamentable

“This is unethically taking liberty of your position, Mr. Stephens. I am very disappointed in you.”

I watch as Neal bows his head down at being reprimanded. His expressions are stoic so I can’t make out if he is embarrassed or ireful or guilty at being lashed out at.

“If I see someone getting discourteously and incessantly insulted in The Plutocracy again, I might just have to stop your paper from getting published.” Lev Ivanov, the principal of our school, continues, his steely gaze directed at Neal.

Neal turns his head up, his face still stoic, an ugly, bluish bruise forming on his right cheekbone, “I apologize, sir. I’ll make sure it’s not repeated again.” He gives a sideways glance towards the corner where Duato is standing. Duato’s bottom lip is busted and his shirt is slightly bloodied, “However, my complaint regarding Duato’s retaliation still stands, sir.”

“You deserved it, prick.” Duato snaps.

“Enough.” Ivanov snaps back sharply, “You have no entitlement to speak freely, Mr. Blanter.” He says to Duato. “You have certainly crossed limits. You had no right to bring people from outside into our school premises and you certainly had no right to attack one of your fellow companions.” Ivanov turns towards the school coordinator, who is standing silently beside us, “Natasha, please call Duato’s parents.”

“But, Sir,-” Duato protests.

Ivanov simply raises a hand and cuts him off. He is a very strict principal, very scary. I am not surprised that Duato shuts up immediately. Then Ivanov turns his gaze at me, making me swallow audibly.

“I am very disappointed in you too, Mr. Lichinsky.” He says to me, disappointment more than clear on his angry face.

“Uh, Sir, I-” I stutter.

“He was just helping me.” Neal interrupts, defending me. “It’s not like he had intentions of fighting.”

“Yes,” I add, “I just saw Duato cornering Neal…and I came to help.”

I can feel my heart thundering in my chest. I obviously don’t want my parents to get involved. Father will not be happy to know that I got myself involved in a fight.

“It will still not be tolerated, Mr. Lichinsky.” Ivanov thunders, looking at me, “if you see something wrong, you immediately call for the nearest faculty member. You don’t cavalierly get involved in the wrongdoing.”

“I am sorry, sir. I simply acted on impulse, not wanting anyone to get hurt. I’ll take care in the future.” I mutter audibly.

Ivanov appraises me for a moment, with his cold eyes. Then he sighs tightly, “Alright, I am going to let you off on a warning, simply because you were helping your friend. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be let off the hook if I see you in a similar situation again.”

I breathe in relief, “Thank you, Sir. I’ll make sure I don’t disappoint you again.”

“You better.” Ivanov grunts and then turns at Neal, “And you, sir, need to show me the subjects handled in The Plutocracy.”

“Yes, of course, sir.” Neal replies tightly, “Though I assure you Duato is the only one I wrote about so…honestly.”

Ivanov simply grunts, “Meet me at the end of the school, Mr. Stephens. I’ll discuss your paper then. And you better not publish demeaning things in your paper again.”

He dismisses Neal and I, turning to reprimand an already humiliated Duato some more. Well, he deserves it. Personally, I am astonished that the principal let go of Neal and I so easily. We haven’t exactly left Duato scratch free plus it is Neal’s publicizing the wrongs of Duato that infuriated him in the first place. I shouldn’t complain. Duato has certainly crossed some invisible line. Getting people from outside school because he has turned into too much of a loser to get support from the students of this school. Then he gallantly corners Neal in the early morning along with his ‘gang’. It is a good thing that I was already looking for Neal in the first place. I end up finding them in a compromising situation, with three guys holding down Neal as Duato was preparing to clock him. I can’t even explain the sudden furry I felt. All I know is that Duato had that busted lip coming to him. Once I had taken down one of the guys holding down Neal, Neal faced no problem in single handedly fending off the other two guys. That was a surprise to me of course. I don’t know, every time Neal displays his machismo in such arenas, it always leaves me flabbergasted. Again, that is probably because he doesn’t seem enough strong to be capable of defending himself so well. And I again remind myself, that a fight requires more skill than strength.