This is an original short story (one chapter). The places and people are fictional—although they may be archetypal. The story is not deep; the characterizations are only as deep as required for the action; this is just a little stroke piece. It is told from the standpoint of a senior prep school soccer captain. All characters engaged in sexual activity are over 18. ©2023, Brunosden
I was walking to my car with few fellow soccer teammates. The school day was over—and since it was Friday, with a game scheduled for Saturday morning, there was no after school practice. We had just finished a short strategy meeting with a few tapes of the opponents. We were joking and good-naturedly jostling each other. All of us lugged heavy backpacks, loaded with texts for a weekend of homework and were paying little attention to the world around our little circle.
As we reached the edge of the fencing which separated the "gun free, smoke free, drug free" Corpus Christi campus from the parking lot, I spotted what appeared to be a pile of rags just outside the gate, between two parked trucks. There was a used clothing box at the other side of the lot—and I assumed someone had just missed it and decided to dump anyway. As we approached, I realized that someone was under those clothes—and that someone was curled into a defensive fetal position—knees drawn up, hands overhead, all scrunched into a tight ball. There was a little blood on the ground. It was a boy, apparently naked except for a pair of tight black briefs. Torn jeans, a tee, a button up shirt, a jacket and a sweater had all been piled on top. It was obvious that he had been beaten and left.
I approached and lifted the tee over the boy's head and recognized Miguel, our goalie. "Miguel, can you hear me? We'll call for help. Can you tell us what happened?"
His eyes and his body opened. "Jeff, is that you? I thought they were coming back to teach me another lesson. I'm hurt pretty bad."
Four of us surrounded him—and Jacques pulled out his phone and dialed 911. I repeated, "Can you tell us what happened?"
"I was headed to my car a few minutes ago, talking on the cell, not paying much attention. Something hard hit me on the back of my head. There were four guys. I didn't really recognize most of them, but one guy, not from our school has been twice before warned me to me to drop off the team. I stumbled forward and fell. My phone went flying. I fell forward on my knees and belly and someone kicked my hip as I tried to get up. Then a large foot was placed on my back, and I was pushed to the ground. My backpack was pulled off. Then they used a knife to slice and pull off my jacket. My sweater and tee were pulled up over my face so I couldn't see what was coming. Someone tore my jeans off. They kicked me a few more times—at least twice in the thigh."
"Then one guy held me down while another pulled my briefs down. He swatted my bare butt and pushed something big and hard deep into my ass. It hurts like hell. Then it stopped suddenly. Maybe they heard you guys coming. They threw everything over me, warned me to stay still and silent if I knew what was good for me, and ran off."
"Did they say anything? Give you any reason for the attack?"
"No, not really. They said that I'd know why. But, they warned me not to show up for the game tomorrow."
I had the feeling he knew more than he was telling, but now was not the time to interrogate. Within minutes the EMT squad arrived. And a group of departing students, mostly athletes who had just finished after-school practice, had gathered to gawk. The EMT guys wrapped him in a thermal blanket, checked pulse, blood pressure, shined a light into his eyes, and examined all the bruises and cuts. At first they seemed concerned about a neck or back injury, but Miguel rolled over and smiled up at them. He had been speaking clearly. Miguel had been beaten, but didn't seem to have any permanent injuries or broken bones. The EMT's helped him to stand. I draped my jacket around his bare torso. It was long on him and covered almost all of his brief-covered mid-section, leaving his muscular legs exposed. They asked some questions and then finally decided that they could let Miguel decide. "Do you want us to take you to the ER?"
"Please no. I'm okay. I don't need the ER. ER would worry my Dad."
"Were you raped?"
"I don't think so."
"How old are you?"
"18, last March."
"Well you're old enough to make your own decision. Let's see if you can take a few steps. If you can walk, I guess we can skip the ER. But our advice is still to let us take you there."
Miguel walked a few and smiled.
I immediately went into action. "I've got my car here. I'll take him home." Miguel looked at me, then his eyes dropped down, flashing long curly dark eyelashes, apparently in shame. He was always the macho guy. Being attacked and taken down had injured his image more than his body.
"Thanks, Jeff. I just want to go home right now."
So my teammates and I helped to collect his books and his broken cell and his tattered clothes, and we walked to the car. He got in without help and I went around to drive. I knew a lot about Miguel—probably more than any other student at the school. We had spent hours, no days, together as I coached him into our soccer club which I captained. He was a valuable addition and a great player. He was also a good student, very mature and directed in his outlook, and funny. He spoke perfect colloquial American.
Miguel was part of a family that had immigrated (I think they had sought asylum and were awaiting adjudication of their case). They weren't poor. Miguel's father had been a surgeon; his mother had been a school principal—in Mexico City. But, the father had crossed one member of the cartel—he refused to operate on a "lord's" squeeze to augment her already EE cup breasts. She was only about 15 and clearly already addicted to him and substances. No parents were in evidence. So the Dad stood his ground in the clinic and refused. Within a day, the clinic was the target of vandalism, and it became clear that the entire family (the MD, his wife, Miguel and his younger sister) would be kidnap targets and never seen again. No one disses a cartel capo. They immediately called the US DEA office in the US Embassy, and within hours, flew to the States.
The doc had managed over the years to invest in US real estate, mostly in the suburbs north of San Diego. He had a few houses, a small strip mall, and a medium sized office building. They wouldn't be rich, but they would be comfortable until things settled down—and the doc could manage to get a license to practice in California, or somewhere else if necessary. The family moved and changed their last names—with the full support of the Justice Department and with the promise that, at the right time, Doc would testify against the cartel. They needed to lead a very quiet life for at least a few years. Miguel and his sister were placed in private parochial schools—the sister in elementary, Miguel a senior in the high school I attended. Coach learned that he had soccer talent and asked me take him on as friend and mentor.
Miguel had been a star football goalie in Mexico—perhaps destined for the national team and ultimately the pros—in a country where soccer was the number one sport. That made him a super-star in the California private school soccer league. He was smaller than most of our teammates, but not by much: he was 5-10, and lightly muscled. His light brown skin showed mixed race parentage; his black hair had just a bit of curl. He had a magnetic smile and dark brown eyes. He always had a joke, or a compliment, or a "good-job-ass-pat" for a team member. He was completely fearless as goalie. No giant could intimidate him. Almost immediately, the entire team had adopted him as a sort of mascot. And, his performance on the field endeared him to all of us.
Our school was "all boys" so none of us knew whom he dated—but we were pretty sure he was a chica-magnet. He certainly played the role of a total Latino macho stud.
The assault could have been a rival team tactic, a racist incident—or perhaps even the first warning of a cartel. I was probably one of the few who knew the possibilities. After the soccer sessions, Miguel and I became friends, and he had confided in me.
I guess it's time I tell you about myself. I'm a senior and this is my fourth year on the team. I'm captain. I plan to go east to school next year, hopefully Ivy, but I know that's a lottery. I'm probably not enough of a soccer star to warrant an athletic recruitment. I've lived just outside of San Diego on a ranch all my life. I'm pretty tall, about 6-3 with dirty blonde hair, a California year-round surfers tan, and blue eyes. I love to ride and often take hours in the quiet wilderness that surrounds our ranch. I've got typical late adolescent athletic muscles—beginning to show, but not bulging. I'm hung—at least by the standards of the guys I shower with—but I don't delude myself into thinking I'm a porn star. I've seen some of the internet videos.