CHAPTER NINE
CORNERED

After breaking up the fourth fistfight of the day, Klaus was beginning to wish he were in a third world nation. He was also wishing the Sheriff were present so he could wring his neck. The only good thing to come out of the day was the fact that the Earl had stopped following him around like a stray puppy, having attached himself to Martha.

Good, let him put in an honest day’s work for once in his life, the Major thought when he saw the Earl helping to get some government people situated. This was more good news. It seemed that several agencies were present, attempting to arrange temporary housing for those people whose homes had been destroyed. At the same time, others were able to return to their homes now that downed power lines had been repaired and water had been restored.

Dorian was more than happy to be of any kind of assistance. At least when he was busy he didn’t have to worry about not remembering anything about himself, and none of these official types seemed to care one way or the other about him. Thank goodness. He was beginning to wonder if there were a sign on his back proclaiming him as unclean.

Martha dragged him to lunch with her and they spent most of the afternoon chatting. Well, actually, Dorian listened and Martha talked, not that he minded. It wasn’t as though he had any memories to share.

When Martha went to check on the evening’s volunteer schedule, she sent Dorian back to the gymnasium to watch for the Sheriff. Normally he stopped by in the evening and she did not want to miss him. She wanted to tell him how many people had been able to leave the Evac-Center that day.

As Dorian headed back through the halls, Susie came up to him, a big smile on her face. “Why, hello, Earl,” she grinned.

Dorian stopped dead in his tracks and frowned. “I thought you weren’t talking to me.”

“Now, where did you get that idea?” she said sweetly, taking him by the arm and leading him down the hall.

“Oh, I don’t know. Perhaps it was when your boyfriend was threatening to beat the crap out of me last night,” Dorian replied tersely.

Susie laughed. “Why would he want to do a fool thing like that?”

“You are joking?”

“Am I?”

“Susie, didn’t I tell you he don’t like girls?”

Dorian jumped when Joe Bob spoke. Before he could turn around, he was grabbed from behind and dragged down the corridor.

“We got unfinished business, Earl,” Joe Bob said coldly.

The next thing Dorian knew, he was being pushed into the locker room by three men. A fourth remained at the door and put a “Do Not Enter” sign up.

At the far end of the hallway, Martha stood with her mouth agape. Susie gave a laugh and turned, not even looking where she was going. The next thing she knew, she was face to face with the older woman, who grabbed her by the arm and dragged her along as she searched for the Major.

* * *

It did not take much searching to locate the Major. He was outside having a cigarette and wishing he were anywhere else. Even Siberia was preferable to this. He saw the two women approaching, Susie protesting loudly, and decided that Antarctica might be a better location.

Martha thrust Susie in the officer’s direction. “Major, Dorian’s in some kind of trouble,” she said succinctly. “And this troublemaker set him up.”

The Major’s eyes widened. “How?”

Martha told him exactly what she had seen, watching as his entire manner changed. His face turned to stone, his eyes going ice cold. He drew himself to his full height and turned his gaze toward the door. Martha had no way of knowing she was now in the presence of Iron Klaus.

Klaus gave the younger woman a cold look. “What are they planning?” he demanded.

Susie tossed her hair over her shoulder. “You can’t scare me, Major,” she said defiantly.

The Major’s eyes became even colder. “Young woman,” he said calmly, “you’re obviously under the delusion that I’m a gentleman.” He grabbed her by the hair and jerked her head back as he stood over her. “I am not a gentleman,” he snarled. “Now, what are they planning?”

It was all Martha could do not to interfere. Her hands went to her mouth as the officer threatened the girl, not that she didn’t deserve it. Then the story came bubbling out and she wanted to strangle the girl herself. She took charge of the now terrified Susie when the Major stormed off.

“Don’t bother coming back tomorrow,” Martha said as she dragged the bawling girl to the parking lot. “In fact, you can tell that bunch of airheads you were with today not to come back, either.” A small smile curled her lips as she added, “We don’t need your kind here.”

* * *

The Major returned to the gymnasium, seeing that someone was keeping watch at that locker room entrance, too. A small smile curled the edges of his mouth as he wondered if they knew about the third entrance.

Klaus was able to get to the Coach’s office without being seen by the “guards” on the doors. Fucking amateurs. He quietly opened the door to the locker room, hearing voices echoing further within. The group seemed to be in the shower area.

“Look, I really think this has gone far enough,” Dorian said in as firm a voice as he could manage. “I’ve done nothing to any of you.” He was backed up into a corner in the shower area, the three men a few feet in front of him, barring his escape.

“Man, he sure do talk pretty,” George said, repeating the observation from the previous evening.

“It’s called the Queen’s English,” Dorian replied defiantly. “What language are you speaking?”

“Ooo, ain’t he pretty when he’s mad?” Joe Bob snickered “You think you look pretty, Earl?”

Dorian sighed heavily. “I wouldn’t know.”

“Maybe too pretty for a man,” the third man named Roy said with a snicker. He turned to the others as if he’d just had a brilliant idea. “Hey! Maybe he ain’t a man after all! That’s why he don’t like women.”

“Hot damn, Roy! I think you’re on ta somethin’,” Joe Bob laughed.

Dorian rolled his eyes. “I can assure you…”

“Prove it,” Joe Bob challenged.

Dorian blinked. “Pardon?”

“Come on,” George chimed in. “Show us you ain’t got tits.”

“Alright, that’s it.” Dorian tried to walk out and was roughly shoved back against the wall.

“Show us you ain’t got tits,” Joe Bob snarled threateningly.

Dorian’s enormous blue eyes grew wide. Just how far were they going to take this? He reached up, unbuttoning the front of his shirt. His hands were trembling so badly that he had difficulty doing it. He pulled his shirt open, exposing his bruised chest. “There. Satisfied?” he said, wishing his voice weren’t shaking so much.

“Bah,” Roy snorted, waving a hand. “That don’t prove nothin’. My sister’s got a chest as flat as that.”

 “Your sister got balls, too, Roy?” George laughed.

“How ‘bout you, Earl?” Joe Bob asked.

Dorian felt his heart in his mouth. “Look, I’m not—”

“I’ve never seen a fag’s balls,” Roy snickered. “Do they look different then normal ones, you think?”

“No,” Dorian stated flatly, crossing his arms. “And I’m not dropping my pants for you just to prove it.”

“I think you are, Earl,” Joe Bob said threateningly.

“And I think he’s not,” came the Major’s voice from behind them.

“You three perverts will have to get your jollies somewhere else,” Klaus went on coldly.

“We ain’t the pervert,” Roy objected, jerking a thumb in Dorian’s direction. “He is!”

The Major’s eyebrows went up in mock surprise. “Really? I’m sure I just heard you asking to see his balls.” He gave the Earl a steady look. “Were you asking to see their balls, Lord Gloria?”

“Hell, no!” Dorian replied sharply.

“Just as I thought.”

Roy gave a nervous laugh. “Look, Major. We was just havin’ some fun, that’s all,” he stammered out. “We weren’t gonna hurt him. We just wanted to scare him.”

The Major gave a small grunt. “I see. Lord Gloria, are you scared?”

“I’m bloody terrified, Major!”

The Major nodded as he turned his intense gaze on the trio. “It seems you’ve succeeded.” He reached over, pulling a stick out of Joe Bob’s back pocket. “And what was this for?”

“Nnnnothin’, Major…” the man stammered out.

“Nothing? That’s not what your girlfriend says,” Klaus said in disgust as he threw the stick to the ground. “Turn around and face the wall,” he ordered.

“Look, Major, we don’t want no trouble…”

“You should’ve thought of that before you dragged Lord Gloria in here,” Klaus replied coldly as he pulled his gun. “Now turn around and put your hands on the wall.”

Joe Bob’s eyes practically fell out of his head. Then he and the others did as ordered. Klaus pulled sticks out of the other men’s pockets, tossing them to the ground. Dorian’s eyes widened as he realized what might have happened had the officer not arrived when he did.

Just then, the Sheriff’s calm voice asked, “You plannin’ on using that cannon, Major?”

“Only if I have to,” the officer replied icily.

“Sheriff!” Joe Bob gasped. “Thank God you’re here! This Kraut’s gone nuts! Threatened to kill us—”

“Save it,” the Sheriff snapped. He was dragging the man who had been keeping watch at the door along with him. “Martha gave me the edited highlights. And your buddy gave me the details.” He shoved the man over with the others.

“There’s another one on the other door,” Klaus informed calmly.

“Is there now?” the Sheriff replied with a grin. “Well then, you keep an eye on these nit-wits and I’ll go collect him.” He vanished for a moment, returning with the fifth member of the group, whom he shoved over with the others. “I think you can put that way, now, Major.”

Klaus threw him a quick sideways glance and holstered his weapon, taking a step back at the same time. “If you don’t need me any further…?”

“No, I think I can handle these yo-yo’s.”

The Major nodded and turned to the visibly shaken Dorian. He held out a hand. “Lord Gloria…?”

Dorian looked up and nodded before shakily moving away from the corner. He faltered slightly and the Major started towards him to assist him from the room.

“Look at ‘em,” Joe Bob snorted turning to watched. “He’s gotta get help from his boyfriend.”

Before anyone knew what was happening, the Major had crossed back to Joe Bob and slammed him back against the wall, a hand clamped firmly around his throat. “Say that again!” the officer snarled.

“Major!” Dorian and the Sheriff gasped in unison.

“No, I want to hear you say that again,” the Major growled threateningly, his grip on the man’s throat tightening. “To my face this time.”

Joe Bob responded with a whimper.

“Anyone?” the Major thundered. The men flinched back in response. “I thought so, fucking cowards! It’s easy pushing someone around when you’ve got them outnumbered, isn’t it? Is that what you think it takes to be a man?” His lip curled back in disgust. “Look at you, whimpering like a baby.” He threw a quick glance in the Earl’s direction. “He’s more of a man than all you assholes put together. At least he stood his ground.”

Klaus released his grip and made a show of wiping his hand on his jacket. Then he looked back at the Sheriff. “You’ve just gone deaf,” he said cryptically. He turned and glared at the group. “If any of you idiots comes anywhere near Lord Gloria again, I will kill you. And I’ll make it legal.”

The five men blanched visibly. “Sheriff…?” someone said meekly.

“Hmmm?” The Sheriff gave the men an innocent look. “Sorry, boys. Must’ve gone deaf there for a minute.”

The Major’s eyes flickered. Then he turned his attention to the thunderstruck Dorian. He wordlessly crossed to him and held out a hand before assisting him back to the office.

“Well, now. I don’t know if I can add much more to that,” they heard the Sheriff saying happily as they left.

* * *