More than an hour after school ended...
Rodrigo and Helga had finished their dancing lessons and had just about cleaned up the gym that they have been using, as part of the agreement with the teacher. They closed the gym door and made their way home.
"Damn it!" Rodrigo exclaimed as he groaned in pain, while somewhat limping.
"What's wrong?" Helga asked him.
"I don't know why, but my joint on my right foot is hurting. I was fine while dancing, but for some reason it started hurting just now."
"Getting too old, viejo? Or am I too fast for you?" (old man) Helga sarcastically asked him with a smirk on her face.
"Pfft! In your dreams, Helga." Rodrigo retorted back. "The day when I think I'm old will be the day when I die. So long as my heart beats, I rule the dance floor."
"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night, viejo." Helga responded back with a bit of a chuckle.
Just then, both teens saw Eugene, frantically running from out of the men's washroom.
"Yo Eugene, what are you doing here so late?" Rodrigo asked him.
"Oh hi Rodrigo. Helga." Eugene quickly responded, while also breathing heavily. "Sorry, but I can't stay. I have to head back to the LGBTQ head office." he continued with a worried facial expression on his face.
"Did something happen?" Rodrigo asked him.
"Ya, a transgendered person got beat up pretty bad today." Eugene responded back with a sad look. "Sorry, but I gotta go!" and quickly ran, leaving both teens behind.
Rodrigo and Helga stood there for a moment, wondering if perhaps they should find out what happened. Well, at least Rodrigo was thinking that. He looked at Helga to see if she was also curious, if not worried.
"What?" she asked him.
"I think we should go and see if Eugene needs help." he said.
"Eh, it's probably nothing. The kid probably got a busted nose from tripping over Eugene." she jokingly said.
Rodrigo however, was not amused and continued to look at her, clearly wanting to go over and see.
"Ugh, fine. Let's go see what happened." Helga annoyingly said as she rolled her eyes.
It didn't take long for the two teens to reach the head office of the LGBTQ organization. It was not on the same floor, but it was not far. As they approached the head office, one could see that there was a big commotion, with several students either helping the injured teen or talking among themselves. However, the kid that sustained its injuries, it looked serious.
When they approached the glass door, they hesitated to try and open it. The LGBTQ head office was not just the headquarters of the organization. It was also a sanctuary where gays, lesbians, transgendered, and queer kids from all ethnic and racial groups can come together and socialize without the fear of reprisals.
"Well?" Helga asked Rodrigo. "Aren't you going to go inside?"
Rodrigo looked at Helga with a clear worried look on his face. He wasn't sure if he was even allowed to go inside, him being heterosexual and all. But nevertheless, he grabbed the handled, twisted it and opened the door, allowing himself and Helga to go inside.
"Uh, Eugene? Is everything alright?" Rodrigo asked once he was inside the office.
Then, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked towards the two new visitors that had just barged inside, creating an awkward silence and intense staring session. Eugene then came forward from amongst the crowd, which opened a gap in between people.
Through that gap, both Rodrigo and Helga saw a teen who was sitting on the couch and she/he looked very hurt. To a horrified Rodrigo, the teen's face was seriously bruised and puffy. Blood had clearly been spilled as it was all over the teen's pants and sweater. Even Helga, who usually did not show her emotions in public, unless it was anger, was also horrified. Both teens' jaws dropped to the floor and eyes widen in disgust at what had happened to the teen.
"Guys, you should not be here, especially you Rodrigo!" Eugene exclaimed and promptly scooted both teens right out of the office. Eugene, instead of closing the door in front of their faces, decided to go outside with them.
"Sorry Eugene, we didn't mean to intrude..." Rodrigo attempted to explain but was cut off by Helga.
"Yes we did. That's why we came here to see what all the fuss was about."
"Helga!" Rodrigo scoffed at her for that remark.
Helga, despite the remark, was not finding this scenario to be at all funny, nor amusing. If anything, she was irritated that someone would try to go through such lengths to hurt someone who most likely was doing absolutely nothing to them.
"What happened, Eugene?" Helga bluntly and directly asked him.
Seeing as how worried they were for the teen's sake, Eugene opted to tell them.
*sigh* "Ok. I can't tell you her name, but she is transgendered. She got beat up today during lunchtime at the school parking lot by two guys."
"Was it Roger?" Rodrigo asked him. Roger was the first person that came into mind, as he had previously attempted to beat up Eugene, along with another guy whom Rodrigo did not know.
"I don't know." Eugene sadly replied. "She won't tell us who did this to her. When we asked why, she said she is afraid that they might come back and kill her if they ever found out that she squealed on them. They said they would do the same thing to her as what happened to Matthew Shepard."
"Who?" Rodrigo asked.
"Matthew Shepard was a gay person that was killed back in 1998." Helga began to explain. " The thugs tied him up on a barn fence and beat him with a handle of a pistol and tortured him. Then they left him for dead. I'm surprised you don't know about him."
"I don't know everything, Helga." Rodrigo said to her. "But, Thanks." He then turned back to face Eugene and said to him, "Is there anything that we can do?"
"No, I'm afraid there isn't anything anyone can do, Rodrigo." Eugene responded back, as he slumped down in defeat. "Unless she is willing to come forward and identify them, there isn't anything that we can do."
"Stupid question; you can't go to the cops?" Rodrigo asked.
"No, the cops can't do much either unless she identifies them. Besides, the cops have never usually been...helpful to us." Eugene responded back.
Rodrigo just sighed in frustration, feeling completely useless.
"Anyways," Eugene said again. "I'd better get back inside. I'm sorry for kicking you both from the office, but during these situations, it is best if only those that the...victim is comfortable with that should be inside."
"It's ok, Eugene. We understand. Let us know if there is anything that we can do to help." said Rodrigo.
"Thanks you guys." said Eugene, finally smiling a bit in an otherwise sad situation.
As Rodrigo and Helga headed home on the bus, the Latino kid was in deep thought about what he just witnessed. No, he wasn't just pondering about it; he was furious! He seriously thought about scouting the entire school and finding out who the perpetrators were, even if he had to create casualties along the way, but he reframed from doing such a thing. It was a wasteful enterprise, really. As frustrating as it was, all he could do right now was nothing and...hope for the best, for now.
Helga on the other hand, while feeling sorry for the kid, didn't think much of it, as she thought there wasn't much that she could do. While never really an activist, she knew that the LGBTQ community was still facing serious issues with discrimination, harassment and even physical violence. However, she also knew that things have nevertheless improved in the decades that followed since the famous Stonewall riots in 1969. And in a rare case of being positive, she was hopeful that things would continue to improve for the LGBTQ community. Besides, she had other issues going on in her life that unfortunately still remain unresolved.
The drive back to the neighbourhood was long and frustrating for Rodrigo. He desperately wanted to help out and put an end to this. But, he knew that he couldn't do it alone. Furthermore, unless the transgendered teen was willing to risk her life and identify her attacking assailants, there wasn't much that he could do.
I'm not going to let this slide. He thought. There is got to be something that I could do.
Just a few responses to some reviews:
Cre8ivelybankrupt87: You will just have to wait and see ;)
Guest: Gracias! Si, estoy totalmente comprometido en terminar la historia, 'Helga's Transferance' y lo voy a terminar :D
Kryten: Well, it could be Ludwig, or it could be someone else ;P
