Decision Time, Mr. Maxwell        by Tony Russo 

    Steve Maxwell fidgeted on the brown bench in front of the Principal’s office.
Several times he stood and started to leave, but each time he returned to the bench and
sat. Now that he had decided to come here, he was no longer sure it was the right thing to do.
    After all, he and Tyler had been friends since grade school. And they kept up the friendship,
sort of, throughout high school. They were in a lot of the same classes together, and even worked
as partners on the school newspaper their Junior year. But they had gone different ways socially
when Steve joined the football team in the ninth grade.
   Steve thought they would join the team together because they played Pop Warner together and
were teammates on the Junior High team. But somewhere in the eighth grade, Tyler gradually
developed an aversion to sports of all kinds. They were both on the baseball team that spring, but
Tyler decided not to go to football camp that summer. Then in August, when Steve started working
out with the high school football team, Tyler dropped out of sports altogether.
    Football led to basketball and baseball and even fencing for Steve, since Mr. Nelson, the football
coach, was also the fencing coach. But overall, football was Steve’s sport. And Steve developed into
a good football player, popular among his peers. He was always invited to the weekend parties and
social functions planned for those on the sports teams.
    Tyler, though, drifted into a group of loners and misfits who, if they had social events, did so beyond
the school’s compass. When, on occasion, they did show up at a school function – a dance, a major
sporting event – they tended to be inappropriately dressed. Generally, they wore dark clothing,
unconventional hair coloring, and multiple facial pierces. Tyler stood out even from this group with five
earrings on each ear, two eyebrow rings on each eyebrow, four lip rings, and two tongue pierces.
    Still, Steve accepted him despite what his other friends called Tyler’s weirdness. They continued to hang out
between sports seasons, although Steve’s growing social calendar made these occasions less frequent. And they
continued to be lab partners in science. Mrs. Conway, their science teacher, often remarked when discussing Tyler in the teacher’s lounge, that it was hard to look directly at him. "All those pierces make me shudder. But, he’s one of my best students academically and helps Steve keep up his grades."
    Sitting and waiting was torture for Steve. The doubts kept multiplying. Should I really be talking to the Principal
about Tyler? Considering we’ve been friends forever, I’m probably overreacting. Still .... He got up and began
pacing in front of the bench, headed for the door, then returned and plopped himself down.
   Do I really know Tyler anymore? Sure we still do things. And I know we’re friends. He thinks so too, otherwise why would he tell me what he’s planning? But he is different, a lot different than when we were growing up. His ideas are so weird now. He never used to be so negative about things.
   Steve struggled with his decision to speak to the Principal. It was supposed to be easy once you made up your mind what
to do. You made up your mind and you did it. Right or wrong, doing something was better than doing nothing, right? It always worked before. Why was it so hard now? Maybe because I never ratted out my best friend before.
    Steve stood abruptly and began pacing. "Is everything all right, Steve?" Asked Mrs. Smythe, the principal’s secretary. "If you tell me what’s troubling you, perhaps I can interrupt Dr. Hrinko’s meeting."
   Boy, she must be nuts if she thinks I’m going to tell her. I’m not telling her anything, Man. I gotta get outta here. Steve bolted from the office leaving a perplexed Mrs. Smythe in his wake.
    She ran after him, shouted for him to stop, but he ignored her and darted out of the building. He ran across the playing fields to the woods; but just before he reached their safety, he saw Tyler and a group of his friends running toward him. They were waving their arms and shouting something he could not understand. He pushed himself to run faster and did not stop or look back until he felt hidden. He leaned against a tree and slid down to the ground. Arms wrapped around his long legs, head resting on his knees, he squeezed his eyes shut against the burning, but the tears came anyway.
    He heard Tyler and his friends calling his name. He ignored them hugging his knees tighter. Once, their noises and shouting seemed awfully close, but then it sounded like they were moving away from him. Then he began to have doubts about his doubts.
   What if Tyler’s serious? A lot of people could get hurt. How would I feel then? I’d be to blame for sure. Maybe he doesn’t really want to do it? Maybe he’s hoping I’ll stop him. I am his best friend for God’s sake. Who else would he go to?
   Doubt is a live thing. It breeds on itself compounding and burying the original idea with logical reasons why not. And it unearths new, more cogent justifications. Steve suddenly thought of Heather, Tyler’s sister. If he told, Heather, too, would be hurt. He never thought about Heather, a sweet 15 year–old sophomore in high school who looked up to him as a big brother. What about her? What about Tyler’s parents? What would it do to them. A memory of Mrs. Daniels serving them homemade apple pie after practice suddenly burst into his brain. He felt the burning in his eyes once again. "No way." It was a hoarse whisper. "No way." This time he shouted. "I can’t do this to the Daniels," he told himself. "No way I can tell." He hugged hi knees again, resting his head on them.
   Oh God, I don’t know anymore; I don’t know what to do. He looked at his watch. Decision time, Mr. Maxwell, Dr. Hrinko would say. Time to defecate or abdicate the receptacle. Remembering the Principal’s levity made him smile and he felt a little better. But, it didn’t help him know what to do He stood, stretched the kinks out of his shoulders and legs, and began walking out of the woods. He slowed when he reached the edge. What if Tyler and his friends were out there waiting? It didn’t matter. If they were there, he’d just tell them he wasn’t going to tell He stepped cautiously out of the woods onto the playing field. It seemed clear, and he started walking back to the school building.
    Suddenly, to his right, Tyler and his friends ran to block his way.
    "Where you goin, Steve? I saw you in the Principal’s office. What’s goin on?
    Steve’s mouth suddenly tasted of copper pennies, and his stomach cramped like he needed to go to the restroom. Tyler he could deal with, but not his friends. He was sure Tyler wouldn’t hurt him, but his friends? He was suddenly sure Tyler’s friends would kill him to protect their plan. Without trying to answer, Steve sprinted toward the school door and what he hoped was safety. But it was clear from the start Tyler’s friends had him cut off. No way could he get away from them.
    Without warning, the school door opened. Relief washed over Steve when Dr. Hrinko and several teachers came out.
    "What’s going on here?" Dr. Hrinko shouted at them.
    "Are you all right, Steve?" He heard from one of the teachers.
    Sadness swept over him as he watched Tyler and his friends turn and run. Sadness for the end of sharing and just hanging out with his friend. Sadness for all the good times. Sadness for the piece of himself he was watching die.
    He looked up at Dr. Hrinko and could see the worry etched in the man’s face. All at once, his path was clear. He knew he would tell Dr. Hrinko everything. He hoped Tyler, and Heather, and the Daniels family would be okay. But despite the pain in his heart, he knew what he had to do.

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