Stefan's War

Chapter Seven – A New Student and Some Secrets

February 15th. Dr Dervaux, the psychiatrist, brought a present: a new student by the name of Mondain. The two arrivals met in Rachin's office with the principal, along with Chabert and Mathieu. Mondain was a tall, heavy-set red-haired boy, around sixteen and looked like a thug.

"We took him out of St. Fereol detention centre, to see if he'll adapt to a less repressive environment. Unlike his classmates, Pascal Mondain reads and writes. He speaks almost normally. We gave him the Binet-Simon test. He also did an inkblot test and a TAT."

The doctor went over the test. It divided kids into 7 categories: normal, satisfactory, limited, slightly retarded, medium or severely and, finally, idiots. "Mondain's 'limited'," explained the doctor, "in other words, not insane. But I must warn you," he spoke more quietly, "he's a pervert with gregarious tendencies."

"Really?" was Rachin's response.

Chabert cleared his throat and asked, "What does that mean?"

Rachin tried to explain but didn't know himself. "Well… Doctor?"

The doctor explained, "A tendency toward cruelty, parasitism, destructive acts, and pathological lying."

"There," said Rachin, looking at Chabert.

"We've got lots of those," said Chabert.

"But here, boys have access to a wider education," the doctor continued, smiling. "I wonder how he'll adapt to your system."

"We'll do our best," Rachin confirmed, standing politely and also smiling, "to live up to your scientific expectations. Take charge of him." Mathieu and Chabert escorted Mondain out. Rachin wore his natural frown again and whispered to them, "Action – reaction." He put on the fake smile and turned once more to the naïve doctor.

Outside, Mondain was ruffling through his bag with a cigarette in his mouth. Mathieu knew if his experiment was to work and for him to have control over the boy, he needed to show authority from the start. "No cigarettes here," Mathieu told him.

Mondain looked up at this and marched right up to him, standing almost toe to toe. He was slightly taller than Mathieu and waves of hostility rolled off him. Mathieu sensed that this boy deeply resented authority. Oh, he was gonna be trouble. His next words confirmed this: "You look like an arsehole."

"Behave," Mathieu warned him. "Or you're in big trouble."

"Ok," said Mondain, taking a drag from his cigarette. He blew the smoke into Mathieu's face and smiled. "Big trouble!"

Later, Stefan was heading to class with Morhange and Corbin. The boys were still trying to befriend Stefan but, though he was civil enough and got on well with them, he still showed little interest in befriending his classmates (he seemed apprehensive about getting close to anyone). The three were chatting happily enough when they arrived at the classroom door and saw Mathieu pass through it into the little corridor, along with a tall, burly red-haired student. They did not notice the three boys.

Corbin and Morhange were curious about the new student but Stefan had frozen completely. "Oh, my God," he whispered. "Mondain!"

Morhange and Corbin looked at Stefan, confused. "I…I think I'm going to be sick!" And Stefan suddenly turned tail and ran, looking panic-stricken. The two boys stared after him but continued for the classroom, else they'd get in trouble for being late. They told Mathieu about Stefan before sitting down and Mathieu looked down the corridor, wondering if he should go see his son. But he couldn't leave the class and had to deal with Mondain. He just hoped Stefan would be alright.

Mathieu set about trying to get Mondain into the choir. "You must know a song!"

"Well, yes, but…"

"But?" asked Mathieu.

Mondain smiled. "You won't like it." He didn't. "One summer day, I took out my knob, to give myself a nice hand-job-"

"Enough," sighed Mathieu. The class was laughing behind them.

Mondain continued singing, "Up yours I go-"

"That'll do!" shouted Mathieu.

"I told you so."

"Not bad," said Mathieu. "In time, you'll be a baritone."

"A what?" demanded Mondain, stepping forward and looking furious.

"A baritone-it's not an insult! It means a deep voice." Mathieu explained quickly. This Mondain scared him. He no longer feared Rachin or the boys as he had now settled in but this new boy really did scare him. He pointed to a group of boys. "Go stand with the bases."

Mondain obeyed, muttering, "Shit!"

"Leave your shit out of it."

The class laughed at this, which annoyed Mondain. "Laugh and I'll slug ya!" he shouted. They were immediately silenced.

"Any time, Mondain!" came a voice from the door. It was Chabert, with Pepinot and Morhange. Mondain looked at him before going to sit down.

Chabert pushed Morhange forward and the boy headed for his seat. "Solitary is over. Here's Pepinot. You forgot him at the gate." He led the boy over by his hand before leaving.

Mathieu picked him up and sat him on the desk. "Pepinot, it's not Saturday." He smiled affectionally and ruffled the boy's hair before turning back to the class.

Chabert, who was leaving, held the door open for Stefan who had just arrived. He looked awful. Stefan was naturally quite skinny and pale but he looked a sickly greenish-grey colour. Glancing round the classroom, he caught sight of Mondain and immediately looked down. "Sorry I'm late," he muttered to Mathieu before heading to his seat. Normally in this class, he sat beside Morhange halfway up the room but for some reason, he sat a few rows down, right at the front of the class and closest to the door.

"Stefan, go to your seat," ordered Mathieu, looking at him curiously. What was wrong with the boy?

Stefan stared at Mathieu for a moment, horrified, but slowly and reluctantly did what he'd ordered. Keeping his head well down, Stefan moved up to sit beside Morhange who was bent over, tying his show and not paying any attention to anyone or anything else. Directly behind Morhange sat Mondain and Stefan was very conscious of this fact. He sat very tense and hunched over, looking like he was either about to cry or throw up.

Mathieu looked at him worriedly before speaking to the class. "By the way, in your letters to your parents…"

"I've got none," said Leclerc.

"I mean, for those who have them," explained Mathieu. "Remind them: visits are the 1st and 3rd Thursday-" He saw Morhange still tying his shoe and not listening. "Morhange! Concentrate! What did I say?"

Morhange sat up, having tied his shoe. He sat back and wore a bored expression. "Dunno."

"I said you can write to your mum to visit you on the 1st or 3rd Thursday," said Mathieu, walking up to the desk. "On both, too. But no visits for punished boys. So watch out."

"I don't want to see my folks," said Mondain.

"Morhange wants to see his mum," argued Mathieu.

"He's not the only one."

At this comment, Morhange turned round to look at Mondain, who smiled at him. Stefan sighed and closed his eyes. Oh, no, he realised. This bully is gonna go for Pierre-I mean, Morhange next. Another wave of sickness washed over him and Stefan shivered, suddenly feeling very cold.

Mathieu continued. "Look, Morhange, we've got a real choir." He gestured to the rest of the class.

"Who cares?!"

"I care. Let's hear your voice." He tried to get Morhange to sing a few notes but the boy just blinked at him and refused to open his mouth. "You want to go back into detention?" He tried again and Morhange blew a raspberry at him.

The class laughed while Mathieu sighed. "Being gross isn't your style. We can't all be like Mondain. Once more!" He went to his desk, ready to continue with the choir but Mondain, having taking offence at his last comment, marched out. "Where are you going?" asked Mathieu.

"To piss!"

"Mondain, one moment!" But the red-head was gone. Mathieu handed the music sheets to his 'music-stand'. "Corbin? Take these."

"Can I go piss, too?"

The school bell rang then. "Then everybody out!" They all clambered away. "Quietly! Quietly." He sighed.

Morhange and Stefan were the last to leave. Out in the corridor and out of earshot, Morhange grabbed Stefan's jumper to hold him back. "What's wrong with you? You ran off to be sick and then came into class, looking like you're about to drop dead. What's the matter?"

"Nothing. I'm fine," Stefan lied, not very convincingly.

"You sure as hell don't look fine. And it's something to do with Mondain. Now, what is it?"

Stefan looked around, checking to make sure no one was listening. "I've met Mondain before, ok? At a boarding school. And he made my life hell. He tried to… It doesn't matter. But you need to stay away from him. He's a monster who will make your life hell. You're the new target. I realised that when he focused on your mother. Don't rise to him. He'll taunt you and try to make you go for him – that's his tactic. But he's much bigger and stronger and you won't win. Anything he does to you, he'll claim it was self-defence as you attacked him first. He always did that. So avoid him at all costs!"

"You're afraid of him? No, more like terrified," Morhange realised, looking into Stefan's eyes. "What did he do to make you like this?"

Stefan hesitated for a moment. His behaviour was so strange. It was like he was trying to talk but someone was strangling him and he could only choke certain words out. "He…tried to kill me! Attacked me with a knife! He killed my friends, sent them away. Sent me away." Stefan looked down at the ground as he spoke, his eyes taking on a far-away look. When he looked back up, Morhange took a step back as Stefan's eyes held a desperate, slightly insane look. "Stay away from Mondain! Or you'll lose everything…"

And with that, the small dark-haired boy ran off.

Later, Morhange went back to the classroom for some more late night singing. He'd been continuing to do this every night, even since Stefan had found him (trusting him not to say anything). Stefan hadn't come back, nor had he mentioned the singing but it was clear that he knew Morhange was practising. The way he looked at Morhange and the music on the blackboard, and how he ensured he had all his things so he wouldn't have to come back later, gave this away. Morhange was grateful for this.

It was strange. The two never talked or hung out together or did anything that friends usually did and yet, there seemed to be some kind of friendship. Stefan had seemed to be loosening up after spending time with the choir and was becoming friendlier with the boys because of it. He'd even offered to help the odd boy if they were struggling with their schoolwork. But he was most comfortable around Morhange, who'd been hoping that the protective 'shell' Stefan had built around himself might be breaking down. Now, at the arrival of Mondain, it had not only been built back up – it had doubled.

Morhange silently entered the classroom, still thinking about the strange boy he believed to be his friend. Standing by the desk, he went to sing but was distracted by someone sobbing. It was coming from behind the desk; someone was hiding behind the desk, out of sight of the door. Leaning over the edge, Morhange found Stefan! It sounded like he was choking, but really, he was just crying. He was holding a book, with the front cover open – and glued into it were two black-and-white photos, each one showing a different family. The top photo had two adults, a girl and a boy; the bottom showed two adults and one girl. Morhange didn't recognise any of them. "Who's that?"

Stefan gasped, slammed the book closed and looked up. Their faces were now only inches apart and Morhange leaned back to put some distance between them. "Why are you crying?"

"Go away! This has nothing to do with you."

"No! I'm not going anywhere until you talk to me." To prove his point, he walked around the desk and sat in front of him. "Now talk! What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you crying? Why do you wear a bracelet and necklace from mothers and girlfriends? What's with all this weird behaviour? You said Mondain tried to kill you?! You can't be serious?!"

Stefan glared at him but refused to speak. He hugged the book to his chest and looked away, frowning.

"Stefan…please." Morhange adopted a different tactic. "Look, you're a very strange person. Ever since you arrived, you've seemed rather strange. There's something about you that's not…quite right. No offence! But you're not a bad person. You've done a lot of good things while here, despite your strangeness and your habit of trying to avoid everyone. You've helped me a lot. Now, I want to help you. That's what friends are for, right?"

Stefan looked at him then. "Friends? I can't remember when I last had a friend. But it's not always safe to have friends. People use them as a weakness. Mondain did. At the boarding school where we met. He hurt my friends, which hurt me."

"Talk to me," said Morhange.

Stefan bit his lip, considering, before sighing. "Oh, what the hell. I was trying to hide my face from Mondain earlier, hoping he wouldn't recognise me, but he'll soon realise I'm here and then he'll tell everyone." Stefan sighed before explaining. "Things were hell during the war and I had a hard time, like many others. After it ended, people didn't know what to do with me so I got chucked into this boarding school where they put all the troubled kids…'lost causes', we were."

"Where was your dad, Mathieu?"

Stefan went to say something but paused. "He…Well, where is your mother? And all the boys here – where are their parents? I doubt any of them sent you here by choice! I was made to go to the boarding school. Mathieu could do nothing. Anyway, Mondain had been there a while and had this friend who was very sick. When I arrived, his friend died and Mondain blamed me, saying I must have brought some…disease or bad luck which killed him. Ridiculous, of course, but there's no reasoning with Mondain. He wanted to make me pay. He scared all the other children and made sure none of them befriended me. He taunted me, daily beatings, etcetera."

"But I got through it. I had a couple friends. There was a supervisor called Mr Bonnaire and his wife was the librarian. Few children there could read or write and those that could certainly didn't enjoy it so nobody went to the library. It became my sanctuary. Mrs Bonnaire became my friend, someone to talk to. The other person I had was a little boy called Thomas. He was very much like Pepinot. He was picked on due to his size and nobody took much notice of him – as we had no one else to talk to, we became friends."

"But then it all went bad. Mr Bonnaire caught Mondain out one night, when he should have been in bed, and Mondain killed him. There was no proof but…everyone knew it. Mondain scared everyone, even the teachers. Nobody dared challenge him. Mrs Bonnaire couldn't stand to stay in the place where her husband had been murdered and moved away. Sad as I was to lose a friend, I couldn't blame her. I just wished I could have gone with her…"

"Then nearly a year after I'd arrived, after Mondain's friend died, Mondain decided that it was time for me to die, too. Pay for my sins. He attacked me with a knife but Thomas jumped in, trying to save me, and got in the way. He died in my arms. By that time, the teachers had arrived and dragged Mondain off but it was too late for Thomas. Still scared of Mondain, they said I was the problem and sent me away, since my presence upset Mondain. I was the victim and yet I got punished while Mondain got away with it. But I was sent off to a much nicer place and then Mathieu…got me out."

Stefan looked at Morhange. "Morhange, I was very unhappy to hear I was coming here. Too many bad memories from my last boarding school but, now I've been here, I've found it isn't so bad. I'd actually started to like it. And now Mondain's here! Now things are going to get bad again."

"No, it won't," Morhange tried to cheer him up. "You like this place better now. Yes, it's horrible but it's not all bad sometimes. And you like us, don't you – your classmates? We'd all be happy to accept you and be your friends. We could help you with Mondain."

"We can't be friends," Stefan whispered. "Mondain will use that as an advantage. He'll hurt my friends to hurt me. Still, I'm safe for a while. I've changed a lot so he won't recognise me at first but once he does…" As he spoke, he held on to the silver necklace he wore – the one he'd said belonged to his mother.

"Does Mondain know about your necklace? Or the bracelet your friend gave you?" asked Morhange.

Stefan shook his head. "No. I'm good at protecting the things that are valuable to me. I've taken these three things with me always and I'll be damned if I let someone take them from me now."

He looked quite aggressive at this point and Morhange was glad to see the fire in his eyes, rather than tears. But then he thought of something. "Wait. Three things? But you only have two: the necklace and the bracelet."

Stefan examined him, wondering whether to trust him. "…I'm going to trust you, Morhange. Trust is something I haven't been able to do in a long time but…I want to change this and I want to trust you. Please don't betray my trust."

"I'll do my best," promised Morhange.

The dark-haired boy released the book he held and showed it to Morhange. It had a red cover with little jewels all-round the edges and was rather girly. "This is a diary. My friend, Hanna, gave it to me for my birthday. I've been writing in it since I was seven. For her birthday, I gave her this bracelet but she had to move away, due to the war, and gave me the bracelet to remember her by." Stefan held up his wrist. It was a simple chain with various charms attacked to it. "Every year on her birthday, I add another charm to it."

"No offence but that is rather…girly, don't you think? I mean, I can understand the bracelet but the girly diary? I can't see a girl giving that to a boy. Maybe to another girl but…"

Stefan smiled at him. "I know. And that's what she did. She gave this book to her best friend, Stephanie."

Morhange stared at Stefan.

"Why do you think I have my own room?" Stefan continued. "They said 'lack of room' as an excuse but I'm sure they could easily have put my bed in your dorm. There's certainly more room in the dorm than there is in the closet space I've got. It's because I can't share with you boys."

"You mean…? You're…?"

Stefan smiled at him. "Yes, Morhange. My real name's 'Stefanie'. Pleasure to meet you, 'Pierre'."