“Is she gone?” Walter asked, staring straight ahead.
Hector turned to look back just as the car that picked up the redhead he assumed Walter was talking about drove out of the school’s parking lot. “Yeah.”
These were the first words they’d exchanged since they’d walked away from the scene silently. Other than that, Hector had asked him if he was sure he was okay to which Walter simply nodded.
Suddenly, Walter flung his backpack against the fence next to him with a loud grunt. “God damn it! For weeks, I’ve been trying to make a connection with Charlie and then this,” he pointed forcefully in the direction they’d just come from. “That happens? Fuck!” He hunched over for a second, holding his side in obvious pain.
Hector was still stuck on what Walter had just said. Charlie? At a loss for words, he turned back to the direction they’d come from as Walter continued to pace, cussing and grunting under his breath, Hector tried to figure it out. He’d heard of stuff like this. Gay guys coming out to the guys they were into, and it turned out the guy they were into was not only not gay but homophobic. Was that really what had happened? Did that guy lose it because Walter tried making a connection with him?
Turning back to Walter, who was kicking his own backpack now, he stared at him for a moment, still not sure what to say. He had no idea Walter was gay. But it did explain a lot of stuff. Like why he’d been such a loner all those years.
“So he got mad?” Obviously the guy had been mad, but that’s all Hector could think of to ask. This was so damn awkward.
Walter slowed his pacing to look at Hector, a little confused. “Well, yeah, that kind of jerk doesn’t like being told what to do.”
Almost afraid to ask, Hector had to. “What did you tell him to do?”
“To leave her alone,” Walter said, wincing in pain as he bent over to pick up his backpack. He unzipped it, pulled out a t-shirt, wiped his bloody face with it, and started walking again.
“I’m not following, man,” Hector admitted, walking alongside of Walter.
Walter winced as he dabbed his nose with the t-shirt. “I’d been watching her sit there for a while. Then these pricks start harassing her, being stupid and asking if she was red everywhere. I wasn’t gonna say anything until he put his hands on her. So I told him to leave her alone, and when he didn’t, I pushed him.”
Hector smiled. “Good for you. Was Charlie the one I knocked out?”
Walter’s face soured. “No! Charlie’s the girl, and now she probably thinks I’m the biggest wuss ever—no thanks to you coming in with your one-punch knockout.”
Charlie’s a girl? Then it dawned on him. “Wait.” He stopped in front of Walter, forcing him to stop. “You’re mad at me for helping you out?”
Walter frowned. “I could’ve had that guy. I was getting ready to make my move.”
Hector’s eyes shot open. He wasn’t sure if he should laugh or shove Walter. “Are you kidding me? You were on the ground in a fetal position.”
“I had a plan!”
This time Hector did laugh. “And what was that? To play dead?”
Hector laughed even louder now. Walter shoved past him and started walking again. Hector followed him, continuing to laugh loudly. He was glad now that Walter’s response had been so utterly ridiculous; otherwise, he might be pissed. Here he’d risked getting in trouble, very possibly arrested, and Walter’s ungrateful ass was mad about it?
“Go ahead; laugh it up.” Walter said, walking a little faster now. He turned to Hector with that same glare he remembered so vividly from the last time he’d seen Walter back in high school. “It’s what you’ve always done, right? Why stop now?”
Okay, now Walter was pissing him off. “Look, don’t be stupid. There was no way you were gonna make a move back there. You were already down, and there were three of them and one of you. If I hadn’t showed up when I did, you’d be the one lying there unconscious right now, not him. I didn’t have to get involved, but I did. You’re welcome, asshole!”
Hector stopped then spun around. Fuck this! He stalked back in the direction of the parking lot. For the first time since he’d slugged the guy kicking Walter, he began to feel the tingling pain in his knuckles. Maybe he should’ve let them beat Walter’s ass.
“Why did you?” He heard Walter ask.
Taking a few more steps before deciding to stop, he turned around. “Because it wasn’t fair.” He shrugged. “Three on one is how pussies fight. I hate that shit.”
“You didn’t in high school.”
Walter’s words stunned Hector for a second, and then he reacted to them. “That’s bullshit!” Hector pointed at Walter, stalking back toward him with a purpose. “They never hurt you. Okay, so they teased you and messed with you, but they never ganged up on you to physically hurt you. If they had, I would’ve stepped in.”
This was the very argument he’d had with himself for months now. For too damn long, he’d been plagued with the guilt that Walter very possibly had done something tragic because Hector and his friends had pushed him over the edge. As much as it was a relief to know that Walter was alive and well, he hated that Walter did see him as the same kind of piece of shit as the guys kicking him while he was down today. Because ever since that last day he’d seen Walter, it’s exactly what Hector had felt like.
Walter shook his head and started walking away. Suddenly Hector was mad again. This wasn’t fair. “What was I supposed to do, Walter? You were bigger than most of the guys back in high school. Why didn’t you stop them? Why didn’t you ever stand up for yourself?”
Walter turned around. “Like today? Against more than one bully? Because I got news for you: it was never just one. Oh no. You said it yourself, ‘Pussies don’t start shit one on one.’ It was always at least two or more, and you saw today how that ends.”
“Still, you fight!” Hector insisted. With Walter on the ground today, Hector had been outnumbered, too, but he never once thought about that when he went at them.
“I’m not a fighter like you, man.” Walter said loudly. “I don’t have a knockout punch. Hell, I don’t have a punch period.”
Hector was tired of this. All these months of beating himself up about Walter, was ending now. “And what?” His voice was so loud he practically yelled. “You think this happened overnight? You think this is just some gift I was given? It wasn’t, okay? It took years of training and hard work at the gym. You should try it sometime. But let me tell you something: I am not like them.” He pointed behind Walter with conviction. “I’m sorry, okay?” He lost a little of the conviction as the guilt inundated him once again. This is what he’d been hoping for months that he’d get a chance to say to Walter someday, and now here was his chance. He took a deep breath when he saw Walter’s confused expression. “I’m sorry I didn’t stop them from breaking your robot.” He took another deep breath. “And I’m sorry for all those years I stood back and watched them bully you without saying anything. I really am, Walt. I’m sorry.”
Walter stared at him for a moment and then glanced away. Obviously, he wasn’t expecting to hear this from Hector, and that’s what burned the most. As much as Hector didn’t want to admit it, he was as bad as the guys beating on Walter today. Maybe he’d never physically beaten Walter, but he’d been a part of beating Walter’s self-confidence to the ground for years. Any sense of self-worth Walter might have ever had, Hector had a hand in beating it lifeless. Hector knew he’d never join the jerks he hung out with in ganging up to beat on someone, but how were Walter and some of the other weaklings that got picked on regularly supposed to know that? Of course, they’d never fight back. Who would fight a group of overconfident bullies that included a trained fighter among them?
Hector waited for what seemed too long, but hell, he’d waited for months. He could give this guy a few more minutes. He understood how Walter could be so stunned. An apology from someone he considered to be one of his bullies for so many years was probably the last thing Walter thought he’d ever hear. Of course, he’d been stunned into silence.
They both looked up as the noise from a public bus that turned into the college campus parking lot distracted them momentarily. “I gotta go,” Walter said. “That’s my ride.” He started toward the bus stop a few feet away from them but stopped just before he got to in and turned to Hector, still holding his side in obvious pain. “I always knew you weren’t like them.” The bus pulled up behind Walter, and he began to turn around to get on but stopped again one last time to face Hector. “Thanks, man.” For the first time that day, Walter smirked and lifted his chin. “I really didn’t have a plan back there.”
Hector smiled, laughing softly. “Yeah, I didn’t buy that shit for a minute.”
Walter smiled and got on the bus. Hector walked back toward the main building, flexing his now-aching fist and feeling a bit bittersweet. He finally got to say he was sorry, and it was good to know Walter never thought Hector was like his jerk ex-friends. But Hector couldn’t help shake the feeling that he had done Walter wrong and for way too long.