Chapter 44 - Teaching a Lesson

As the weeks went by, things continued to deteriorate between John Hall and Hannibal Heyes.

John Hall seemed determined to pick on Han at every opportunity and Han, usually one to try and avoid a confrontation, seemed unable to resist responding in kind.

Han took it upon himself to point out every error the teacher made during his lesson. He couldn't stop himself from pointing out that 'embarrass' had two r's instead of one, that Albany, not New York City was the state capital of New York, and that nine times twelve was one hundred and eight, not one hundred and six.

And John Hall was giving the boy plenty of ammunition. He had never really stopped drinking. He'd been drinking less since he'd been fired the last time, though more out of necessity than willpower or a desire to stop. He simply hadn't been able to afford it. Now that he was working again and could once more afford to indulge, he did. As a result, he was constantly making small errors in his work, and Hannibal Heyes seemed to find every one of them.

Ironically, Han was studying harder these days so he could do just that. Jed kept on begging him to stop, but he couldn't, not even for Jed. Han disliked Mr. Hall every bit as much as Mr. Hall disliked him, and Han loved to humiliate him in front of the class.

But Jed could tell that things were escalating, and he was worried about how far it might go. Han seemed determined to show up Mr. Hall whenever possible.

Things finally came to a head on Han's birthday

For the past two months, Jed had been saving his allowance - with many false starts along the way - to buy his friend a bag of candy.

The Heyes and the Curry families were all going to meet in town after school and have dinner in the local restaurant to celebrate. Everyone else was planning to give Han his presents then, but Jed was too excited and wanted to give Han his gift as soon as possible.

Han was speechless as Jed handed him the box of candy. He stared at his friend in shocked gratitude. Eventually, he managed to say, "Thanks."

He opened the box in excitement and pushed it back towards Jed. "Here, have one!"

Jed grinned and pulled one out. "Thanks!"

They walked along happily, eating the candy.

"D'ya know what your folks are gettin' you?"

Han shook his head and mumbled through a mouthful of candy, "Nope, no idea."

"Well, have they given you any clues?"

"No. Pa and I have been tidying the barn ready for spring, so I don't think he's had much time to think about it."

Jed grinned again. "Your pa? He's probably been thinkin' 'bout your birthday for months! Bet it's gonna be something real nice. Ma said he was sad he couldn't get you much for Christmas."

Han forced himself to close his box of candy. He wanted to have plenty to save for later. His response was drowned out by a shout nearby.

Dan Travis, one of Bill Evans' gang, saw Hannibal Heyes holding the box and his eyes gleamed. "Hey, Hannah! What's that you've got there?"

Han stepped back warily and clutched the box a little tighter. "Nothing, Dan."

"How come you've got candy, orphan boy? Did ya steal 'em?"

"No. They were a present."

"Yeah? Who'd buy you a present, Hannah-Belle?"

Han swallowed. Dan and his friends were much bigger than him. If Bill and Joe had been there, he wouldn't be so worried, but he knew Dan Travis didn't like him or care about Jed. Han knew that he and Jed wouldn't last five minutes in a fight with them. "They were a present from Jed, honest!"

"Honest? You couldn't be honest if you tried, orphan boy. You're just a liar and a thief and a murderer. You killed Tom Brown and Adam Curry, everyone knows that!"

Han went white and Jed gasped. "He didn't have nothin' to do with that, it wasn't his fault!"

"'Course it was his fault, everyone knows it! And he don't deserve to be eatin' candy when he killed our friends!" Dan grabbed the box from Han.

Jed cried out and tried to take them back. "Hey, give those back!"

Dan pushed Jed and the smaller boy would have fallen if Han hadn't grabbed him in time.

Han's face was bright red with anger. He wasn't going to let anyone push his friend or take his gift from him. "Give those back now!"

"Yeah? Whatcha gonna do, Hannah-Belle?"

The boys behind Dan laughed and stood closer to back him up, while Jed stood behind Han, hands balled into fists. He knew that Han was still sensitive about the accusations concerning his part in the diphtheria outbreak and wasn't going to let this go easily. Not that it mattered; Dan and his gang were obviously spoiling for a fight.

Han stepped forward and pulled back a fist just as he heard Mr. Hall shout, "What is going on here?!"

Dan looked at the teacher with a meek smile. "Mr. Hall, we were just jokin' with Hannibal and he was gonna hit me!"

"Yes, I saw that! Alright boys, you can go." He turned and added, "Not you two."

Jed stepped up, his concern for Han now replaced by his concern for his present. "Mr. Hall, they've got Han's candy!"

"What?"

"That box of candy, it's Han's! They took it from him!"

The teacher turned to Dan. "Is this true?"

Dan looked suitably contrite. "We was just teasin', sir. We was gonna give it back, but then Hannibal threatened to hit me!"

Jed stared in amazement. Surely the teacher couldn't believe that Han was threatening Dan and his gang, all of whom were nearly twice his size.

Mr. Hall held out his hand. "Give me the sweets."

Dan handed them over.

"Thank you, Travis. Now go inside and tell the class to start chapter seven of your English book." Hall turned back to Han and Jed. "What happened?"

Knowing how confrontational Han always seemed to be with the teacher, Jed jumped in. "Dan started sayin' mean things and then he grabbed the candy and wouldn't give it back! Han was just tryin' to get it back from him."

Mr. Hall frowned. "That's no excuse for violence. He would have thrown the first punch if I hadn't stopped him. You, Hannibal, will stay behind after class and write out 'violence is not the answer' five hundred times."

He started to walk back to the classroom when Jed called to him.

"But Mr. Hall, we're meetin' our folks after school! It's…" he stopped himself before he said it was Han's birthday. He didn't think that argument would sway Mr. Hall at all. "It's a special occasion."

"He should have thought of that before."

Han spoke for the first time. "What about my candy?"

"You may consider it confiscated. If you cause no further trouble, I will return it to you at the end of the week."

Jed was horrified. To have no present on his birthday! He'd planned this treat for so long, and now it had gone horribly wrong. "But sir, you can't!"

"Make that one month!"

Jed gasped. He didn't think the candy would be very appetizing after sitting in a desk drawer for a month.

As he opened his mouth to protest again, Mr. Hall added, "One more sound from either of you and I shall throw them away right now! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir." There were tears in Jed's eyes.

"Then get back into class, both of you."

As they walked to the classroom, Han gave Jed's arm a squeeze.

"Don't worry, Kid," he whispered. "It'll be okay!"

Jed nodded and felt better. He trusted Han, and if Han said it would be okay, then it would.

School that day seemed to last forever, and Mr. Hall picked on Han constantly. He refused to release him for lunch, saying that Han should start writing his lines. Jed found Joseph and told him what had happened.

"Dan was just fooling around, he told me all about it. Han over-reacted." Joseph didn't like Han. Despite what everyone said, he still blamed Han for Adam's death; after all, he had been the first one to get sick. Stood to reason, it must have started with him. And he disliked the fuss his parents made of Han when he visited their house - which seemed to be all the time. Joe couldn't understand why everyone seemed so fond of such a scrawny little know-all. Tom had been fun, but Han was so sanctimonious about everything. Joseph wished that Jed wouldn't hang around with him so much. Jed was his brother, not Han's.

"But Mr. Hall kept my present for him and he's keepin' him after school!"

"Well, that's Han's fault. Dan would have given it back and he wouldn't have hurt my brother." Joseph preened a little, proud of his continuing friendship with Bill and his gang. They had been good friends with Adam, and Joseph, though younger, had often been included in the group. He was happy to still be included, even though Adam was gone.

"So, what can I do?"

Joseph had no sympathy. "Nothing you can do." He gave Jed a supercilious grin and ran off to join his friends.

Jed sat on his own for the rest of the lunch period and felt very sorry for himself.

John Hall was not having a good day. He'd had too much to drink the previous night and he must have blacked out at some point. He awoke to find himself passed out at the kitchen table, his head aching from the drink and his neck and back aching from the uncomfortable position.

He'd been in a foul mood when he left the house. The sun hurt his eyes and he hadn't been able to eat any breakfast. He'd had a little whiskey to help him through the morning, but as the day wore on he felt worse again.

He couldn't help but focus his bad temper on Hannibal Heyes, who seemed to be the symbol of everything that was wrong with his life.

He was brilliant, damn it! He should have been fought for by all the major universities; Harvard and Yale should have been competing for the privilege of having him teach there, but instead he was stuck in this god-forsaken town teaching orphan brats like the Heyes boy.

He felt worse throughout the day and his temper rose.

When Jed Curry approached him after school to beg him again to let Han go, Mr. Hall swore at the boy and would have hit him if the boy hadn't ducked away in time. He didn't notice Han sneaking over to speak with his cousin through the window.

"Kid!" Han whispered.

"Han!"

"Here, hide this." Han handed him something and Jed recognized the box of candy.

His eyes grew round. "Han, how did you get this?"

"He fell asleep during lunch so I took 'em from his desk. Go on now, our folks will be waiting. You'll have to tell them what happened."

Jed felt cold fear run through him. "Han, when he sees these have gone, he'll know who did it; he'll know it was you."

"I don't care! It's mine, my present from you. You know he'll find an excuse to not give it back, and they won't be good after a month anyway. I won't let him take it from me, I won't!"

While Jed agreed with Han, he was still worried about what he'd done. "But Han…"

"Go on, hurry. If he finds you here, he'll know you have them and he'll take them again. Get out of here and tell everyone I'll be along later."

"Han…"

Han jumped as he heard Mr. Hall calling for him.

"Hannibal Heyes!"

Jed ducked below the window and waited and listened as Han went back to his desk.

Hall was furious when he returned to the schoolroom and saw the boy whispering to someone outside the window. He pulled open the drawer to check that the candies were still there. When he saw they were also gone, he gave a roar of rage.

"Hannibal Heyes!"

"Yes, sir?"

"Did you take the box of candy from my desk?"

Hannibal stood before him, angry and defiant. "Yes, sir."

"How dare you take something from my desk!"

"You took something from ME! They were mine! They were a present from Jed and you had no right to take them! I didn't do anything wrong!"

John Hall had never felt such blind fury in his life. His head continued to pound and he could feel a pulse beating in his temple like a drum. "Why, you little whelp!"

He advanced upon his pupil, who started to back away from him towards the door. Hall moved quickly and blocked his exit. The boy may have been small and fast, but the teacher was closer. Hannibal realized there was nowhere for him to go.

Hall reached out a hand and gripped the boy's forearm in an iron grip. Han tried to pull away.

"I'm going to do something someone should have done years ago, boy." He smiled and Han felt his breath, hot and sour, as he spoke. "I'm going to beat you within an inch of your life."

In truth, he planned to give the boy just two or three strikes with the cane, but he wanted to see the fear on the boy's face. He'd put up with this child's arrogance for far too long and now he wanted to see him humbled. He wanted the boy to beg for mercy.

Han struggled and tried to get away, but the teacher's hold on him was firm. "My pa won't let you get away with this!"

"Your so-called 'pa' won't give a damn about what happens to a gutter-brat like you! You're ten-a-penny boy - they can always get another one where you came from!"

As he spoke, he dragged the boy over to his desk and pushed him down until he was bent across it. Panic seized Han as he once again remembered Valparaiso, and he tried to kick and punch the teacher to get himself free. He did make contact a few times, but he was still so slight that it achieved nothing except to make Mr. Hall angrier. Hall grabbed Han's wrists in one large hand and pulled them behind the boy's back, pushing down on the boy at the same time. He had size and strength on his side, and was able to reach for his cane with his remaining hand.

He smiled as he brought it down for the first blow.