When I got to the office, there sat Tex and Johnny, both looking extremely nervous. Not a good sign. These two turkeys were practically record holders when it came to getting into messes. Rarely had I seen either of them look this worried. Johnny seemed like he might faint dead away, and Tex audibly sighed when he saw it was me.
"Hey," he said, "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing," I said, sharply, and Tex went back to looking nervous.
"Oh, God, Mace, get outta here," Johnny begged, "Cole's going to be—"
Cole Collins walked in the door and stopped right behind me. I nodded to him. So… that's why they were looking like death-row inmates on their final day.
Cole, Johnny's strict father, stared hard at his son and then Tex. "I might have known," he said, disgustedly.
"Might have known what?" I asked, keeping my voice even. I knew what Cole meant, but he was not going to pin all this trouble on my brother, even though it was definitely Tex's idea.
Mrs. Johnson, the principal, stepped out of her office and said, "Mason, I didn't call you."
"I know. But I knew you'd need to talk to someone about Tex."
"Well, why don't we continue this conversation in the conference room then?" she said.
We waited for the boys to walk into the room. "Might have known what?" I asked again, as though there had been no interruption.
I'd grown enough that I could look Cole directly in the eyes. He was an intimidating man, but I was not going to show it.
"That your brother would be behind this little…stunt," replied Cole.
"Yeah, this one is on Tex," I admitted. "I even know where he got the idea. …But the other half of the time, it's Johnny's ideas that land them in hot water. How about when they got caught drag racing? Or when they played shopping-cart football at IGA and Tex broke his arm? Those stunts were Johnny's ideas."
Johnny made a very quiet whimpering sound and looked as though he was praying for the Earth to open up and swallow him whole.
"What's your point?" asked Cole.
"My point is that both these boys have a bad tendency towards trouble. But you can't blame Tex every time. He's not a bad kid, and he's not a bad influence. Anymore than Johnny is."
"You may be right," Cole said at last. Shook up as he was, Johnny couldn't help giving Tex and me a look of amazement. Somebody other than Cole could be right?
"Well, now that we've agreed that the blame is to be shared equally, maybe you'd like to hear what the punishment is?" Mrs. Johnson said.
"I'd like to hear what your punishment is," Cole said. "What I have in mind may be different."
"Three days suspension. The nine-week tests will be made up every day after school, a test a day. They will receive a grade lower than the grade they score. And I'm sending a recommendation over to the high school that Johnny and Tex be placed in separate classes next year."
"That sounds fair," Cole said. Then he added, "John, what did I tell you would happen the next time you got into trouble at school?"
"You're going to sell the cycle."
When Cole glanced at me, Tex interjected, "He's already sold my horse, I don't think he can do much else to me."
"I'll probably think of something," I replied, dryly.
"I'm sure you will, you lousy son of a bitch," Johnny said.
Silence. Tex and Johnny stared at each other. Clearly, Johnny was speaking to both Cole and me...for both of them. But a moment later, Cole grabbed Johnny by the arm, yanked him out of his chair, delivered three smacks to his backside, and said, "Apologize for your language, or I'll tan your hide here and now."
"I'm sorry," Johnny said, instantly.
"Mrs. Johnson," Cole said. "My son will cause you no more problems while he is in your school. Isn't that right, John?"
"Yes, sir, that's right." Then Cole marched Johnny out of the office without another word.