Caleb 78 - The Kumbaya Crowd

"Everything went into slow motion after that," she continued. "I saw him aim his gun up at Chris' head, I could see his finger tightening on the trigger. I braced myself for the sound of the shot, but instead I heard a shout.

"Someone had come in through the back door and was standing in the doorway. He had a gun, and he was pointing it in the direction of the two goons. He ordered them to drop their weapons and put their hands up. The two others did so. But Green didn't. Instead, he turned, bringing his gun up and trying to aim it at the person who'd told them all to surrender. I could see in his face, he fully intended to kill him, as he'd intended to kill Chris."

"Fortunately," said Chris, "Our rescuer was quicker, and he shot Green before he could fire. It was only then, after Green was down, that I realised who our rescuer was."

Jane took over the tale once more.

"My next door neighbor, Caleb Stott," she said, and everyone's eyes turned to me, "had seen them come into our house. He'd called 911, but wanted to make sure we were safe until the police arrived. He didn't know we were in witness protection and told the police we were the victims of a home invasion.

"He'd come in through the kitchen, saw Green about to kill my husband, and he acted."

Chris took over again. "The Marshals arrived," he said, "and at first they detained Caleb, not knowing what was going on. He, Caleb, looked to be in shock. I remember hearing him ask if he'd killed the man he'd shot, and was told he had. I really thought he was going to be sick. He was as pale as a ghost.

"Then the FBI arrived and took statements from us all," he continued, "including the two who had come in with Green. For some reason they simply told them everything. How they'd come to kill me for testifying against Green, but how the intention had been to make us all suffer, to make me suffer, and to send a message, to anyone else who might get the idea to give evidence against him in the future.

"After a while, they released Caleb and the FBI took him back to his home, I think. I know they went to speak to him again after they left us. The Marshals told us that they were treating the shooting as a 'Good Samaritan' event, and they wouldn't be charging him with anything. Even so they took his gun and our house was crawling with CSI for hours after."

"It's been over a week since that night," said Jane, standing up, "and we're finally able to start our lives again, after nearly a year of hell. It's going to take us some time, but we'll rebuild our lives. The only reason we have that opportunity is because Caleb was around to stop the man who was going to kill my husband, Kirsty's father.

"Even now, there's only one sure fire way I can get Kirsty to sleep," she went on as she walked over to me. It was only then that Kirsty recognized me, amongst the sea of faces, her face split into a wide grin, and she held her arms out to me. Jane placed her child in my arms.

"It's the only place she feels truly safe," she said looking down at her daughter, who was snuggling in.

Jane returned to the front of the class, leaving Kirsty with me. Half the class followed her with their eyes while the other half watched the child I had on my lap. On the whole it was the girls who watched the child. I saw more than a few auras flaring purple at the sight, and I had to suppress a smile.

I caught Dana's eye, and she smiled at me. I could see tears on her face, and she wasn't alone.

"Does anyone have any questions?" asked the professor.

Daryl raised his hand.

The professor nodded in his direction.

"Thank you," Daryl said. "May I ask, why you came to share your story?"

"Because I heard about the rumors," Jane said. "I heard that someone here was telling everyone that Caleb was a murderer, and that he didn't deserve to be in school. Caleb saved me, saved all of us. My baby would have at best had to grow up without a father, and at worst wouldn't have had the opportunity to grow up at all. Caleb shouldn't be punished for protecting an innocent child from that.

"Or don't you agree?" She challenged the whole class.

There was silence. Nobody spoke. I noted nobody looked in my direction.

"If there are no more questions," said the Professor, "I'd like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Creery for coming in to talk to you. You're welcome to stay for the rest of the session if you would like."

Jane looked at me. Kirsty was starting to fidget. She'd slept well the previous night and so wasn't tired. I wasn't doing much to entertain her.

"I think we'll take little Miss Trouble home," she said, moving to me to reclaim her daughter. Kirsty whined a little at being repossessed, but soon settled in her mother's arms.

All three left the class.

The professor waited until the door had closed.

"We're going to discuss what we just heard," he said.

"Professor," said a student. He looked at her.

"Can we ask Caleb to tell his side of the story?" she asked. "I mean if he wouldn't mind?"

The professor looked at me. All eyes in the class were turned to me. I sighed and nodded.

"Would you like to come up?" asked the professor, but I shook my head. They could hear me just as well from my seat.

"Once more," the professor said, "please hold your questions, if you have any, until the end." He nodded to me.

"As some of you know," I said. "I am working towards a career in law enforcement, probably the FBI. Because of that, I bought a weapon and learned to shoot at a local range. I got my permit to carry when I was 21."

"You may also have heard that our house burned down a few weeks ago." I continued. "We're not entirely sure who did it, but we had an FBI agent living with us at the time so that may have had something to do with it." I looked an apology at Dana, but she smiled at me.

"I'm only mentioning this because it explains why, when I saw someone apparently watching our new house, I was suspicious. I saw a car, parked down the road from our house, and I was worried that whoever had burned us out once had come back. I got a plate number and reported it. I was told the plates were stolen. That was earlier that same day.

"Later that night, when I arrived home, I saw the same car. It was parked outside my neighbors house, and I saw a man peeking through the blind as I walked from my truck to my front door. I didn't recognize the man, and I saw he was holding the blind open a little with what looked like a gun.

"I made like that I hadn't seen him and went into my house. I told my Fiancée to call 911 and that there was a home invasion happening next door. Then I went through the house, into our back yard, through the next door neighbor's yard, and looked through the window in the kitchen door.

"I could see Chris on the floor, saw Jane and Kirsty on the sofa, and see the men pointing guns at them. So I went in, with my weapon drawn, and ordered them to drop theirs."

"Sadly," I said, "I'd only seen two of the men through the window. I didn't see Green until I actually stepped into the room. He was standing near Chris, pointing his weapon at him. I remember noticing it was a chrome plated desert eagle, and the hammer was cocked.

"Green turned, bringing his weapon up and around to point at me. I could see, from the look on his face, he was going to try to kill me. If he succeeded, then Kirsty and her parents were going to die too. I didn't know why these guys were there or that any help was on the way. I couldn't hear any sirens approaching and I was about to get shot.

"I fired my weapon and he went down." I finished.

"I confess," I said,after a moment's pause, "that hat everything for a while after is kind of a blur. The door burst open and people rushed in. I was knocked to the floor and cuffed, and then bombarded with questions. All I could think of was that I'd shot someone. I'd never even pointed a gun at anyone before, and now I'd shot and possibly killed someone.

"That was the first thing I asked, when I finally came to myself. Had I killed him? The Marshal told me I had. After a while the FBI turned up and I was asked more questions. They took Chris and Jane outside; I presume they spoke to them as well. I was released and the FBI took me home. A police officer came and took a statement later that night. He told me what the two others with Green had said. Pretty much what Jane said, which about wraps it up."

I lapsed into silence. The class stared at me, nobody spoke.

The professor broke the silence.

"Does anyone have any questions?" he asked.

I'd expected a question from one of the kumbaya crew, but it was Dana who spoke.

"Did you consider a non-lethal option?" she asked.

"I did," I said. "When I entered, I told the men to drop their weapons and put their hands up. Two of them complied, one didn't. Had they all complied then I'd have been able to contain the situation until help arrived. I was expecting police, but I just didn't know how long it would be.

"When Green chose not to obey the command, but showed a clear intent to try and shoot me, I was too far away from him to tackle him. Even if I'd been nearer, getting into it with him would have left the other two free to re-arm and shoot me in the back. I had no tazer or other non-lethal weapon, so I had a simple choice. Either I took the shot, or I allowed him to shoot me."

"Could you not have shot to wound rather than kill?" asked another.

I smiled at that.

"I was taught to shoot by a Marine," I said. "He told me that if I was ever in a position where I had to use my weapon, I should aim center mass. He explained that 'shooting to wound' is a fallacy, propagated by TV and movies, and means that you are more likely to miss, or at least leave your adversary able to return fire. Also if you miss, then you have a much higher chance of hitting an innocent party.

"I researched this after, and the information I found showed that most police departments train their officers to shoot center mass. I practiced following his, and their, advice. I had a split second to make a decision, and I made it. A friend of mine recently told me, that when someone is under pressure, they don't rise to the occasion, they sink to the level of their training."

"Archilochus," said the professor, "although I believe the Navy Seals tend to claim it was one of their number that said it first."

He looked around the room.

"After I initially spoke to Mr. and Mrs. Creery, I spoke to the US Marshal who'd been responsible for them in witness protection. He told me that the legal position was that Mr. Stott had used the appropriate level of force. It was unfortunate that Mr. Green had died from his wounds, but there was no doubt that he, Mr. Green, had illegally entered the home of the Creery's home, with the intent to murder, at the very least, Mr. Creery, and likely the rest of the family also.

"He said that they considered Mr. Stott a 'Good Samaritan' and he had already forwarded a recommendation for a commendation for his actions that night."

I grimaced, I hadn't heard about that, and disliked the thought that I might actually get some kind of award for killing a man.

"Any further questions, or comments?" asked the Professor.

Nobody spoke.

"Mr. Hobbs," he said. "Do you have anything you'd like to say?"

Daryl looked at the professor and then at me. He flushed a little, but then shook his head. The professor sighed.

"I had hoped," he said, "that being presented with the truth, would cause you to realize the error in your actions. I personally feel that, at the very least, Mr. Stott deserves an apology from you, since you have been lobbying students to have him excluded from the school, based on some kind of personal grievance. The cause of which escapes me. Can you tell me what, exactly, Mr. Stott did to deserve your ire?"

Daryl stared at his desk, not meeting anyone's eye.

"Had you chosen to make that apology," the professor went on, "then I might have been prepared, if Mr. Stott was agreeable, to allow you back into my class. To give you the benefit of the doubt. We all, as you know, make mistakes.

"Since you are being intransigent, then I will, once again, ask you to leave my class."

Daryl rose from his seat and made his way to the door, looking at nobody. He didn't even glance in my direction as he left the room. I was interested to note - that the five people who'd followed him out last time, made no move to do so now.

"Now," said the Professor to the room, "you know the truth of what happened. What you feel about it is personal to you. At least now, you can make your decisions based on facts rather than on rumor. That's everything for today, I'll see you all next week."

The class all stood, not needing to pack anything away since we'd not taken anything out. Silently they all filed out.

I stayed back, waiting until the class was empty before approaching the Professor. He looked up as I approached his desk.

"I would have appreciated some kind of warning," I said.

He regarded me for a moment.

"Your fiancée came to me with it," he said. "I take it that she didn't discuss it with you first?"

"No," I said. "She didn't."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I assumed that she had."

I had no answer to that. I could get into an argument with him, but what was the point? I left the class, heading for my hypnotherapy office.

"Caleb," I looked to see Dana hurrying to catch me up.

"I hope you don't think I was trying to cause trouble, asking that." she said. I shook my head.

"You were only asking what they were all thinking," I said. "I would have expected nothing less from you. You gave me an opening to explain a little more fully."

"Where are you going now?" she asked.

"I have one more hypnotherapy client," I said, "who's not yet ditched me, mainly because his appointment was not due until today. I'm going to go see if he turns up."

"See you in the cafeteria at lunch?" she asked. I sighed. That was the last place I wanted to be, but I should probably catch up with my girls and let them know what had happened. I remembered the last time I was in the cafeteria, how Mary had grabbed Dana and gone off with her. Things clicked into place.

"You set that up," I said, "didn't you?"

Dana blushed.

"Not really," she said. "It was mostly Mary. I just introduced her to the Professor. Once Mary explained her idea, he was all for it. She'd already talked to your neighbors and they were happy to help out, given what you did for them."

"Someone might have mentioned it to me," I said, evenly.

"And you'd have tried to stop it," she said. "You never seem willing to defend yourself."

"Clearly untrue," I responded. "I just killed someone defending myself."

"No," she argued. "You did that defending someone else. I'm not sure you'd have taken the shot if it had been just you at risk."

"I..." I began, wondering about that. Would I have? Or would I have tried something else, if Chris, Jane and Kirsty hadn't been in danger. I guess I'll never know. Or maybe I will. Perhaps one day there will be a time when it's just me and someone else with a gun. What would I do then?

"I have to go," she said. "See you at lunchtime." She gave me a peck on the cheek and hurried off to her next class.

My next hypnotherapy appointment was a no-show too. I sighed as I sat in the 'office' wondering what to do about that.

I made the decision that I was going to stop taking students as clients. I'd hand that part of the practice over to Melanie and Sarah. I was sure that between them they'd be able to manage any students on campus, and I could give them all my memories of how I treated people. They could then carry on, and I'd have a lot more free time. What I'd do with it, I wasn't sure yet. Perhaps I'd accelerate my flight training.

I walked into the cafeteria, looking around to find the student who'd stood me up. He wasn't there. Maybe I'd see him in the hallway later, or maybe I'd just call it even. He'd been to something like seven sessions already. I just couldn't bring myself to really care anymore.

I looked around the cafeteria and realized that I'd had enough of this place now. I had a full semester to go, and I really couldn't be bothered. If it weren't for the girls, I'd be on a plane to the ranch right now.

I just wanted to be through with PSU. To get it over with, and to move on with the next stage of my life.

With immaculate timing my phone pinged. It was Maggie.

­_Can you make 1pm tomorrow for your Phase I test? I have someone to proctor it if you can.

I simply sent her a thumbs up emoji.

I was walking toward the food line, I was actually hungry, when I was approached by the deaf girl who'd been the first to ditch me. The one thing in her favor was that she at least had the courtesy to come see me and tell me she was ditching me.

She signed to me.

"I spoke to one of the people from your ethics class," she said. I didn't respond, simply waiting for her to continue.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," she went on. "I got caught up in the rumors, and my friend convinced me that it would be bad for me to keep on seeing you."

She waited for me to respond. I didn't. Simply waiting for her to make her point.

"I'd like to carry on with our sessions," she went on. "I've already started to put weight back on, and I don't want to lose all the progress I made." She smiled at me apparently thinking I'd be happy about it.

I shook my head.

"I'm not going to be doing that anymore," I signed back to her.

"What?" she asked.

"I'm no longer taking clients from PSU," I said. "I am training my sisters to take over, so when they start taking clients you could try them, but I'm no longer going to be doing it."

She just stared at me, as I joined the food line, working my way toward the counter.

I spotted Jules and Melanie entering so I grabbed food for them too while I was there. I then made my way to the table where they were seated.

"How did it go?" asked Jules. She obviously knew what was going to happen, even though I didn't.

"It seemed to go well," I said. "Although I would have liked to know about it, before it happened."

"Mary thought," said Melanie, "that you'd object if you knew."

I shook my head. "I might have," I said. "But then again, I might not. It would have been nice to be given the choice. I thought we were supposed to be partners, all together. Since when did it become appropriate for you guys to do stuff like that behind my back?"

Jules just stared at me, her eyes wide.

"Caleb," she said. "They were trying to force you out of school."

"I noticed," I said mildly, "and I appreciate what was done. What I don't appreciate is that I wasn't included in the conversation when it was arranged."

"Mary said..." began Melanie.

"Look," I said. "I'm not saying it was the wrong thing to do. What I am saying is that I had a right not to be ambushed like that. You should have discussed it with me first. I'll see you at home later."

I stood up, suddenly not hungry anymore, and left the cafeteria headed for home.

I was surprised that Mary or one of the other girls didn't contact me over the connection. As it was, I could feel 'traffic' going back and forth between them but none of it was directed at me. I could have listened in if I'd been so inclined, but I couldn't do that. It wouldn't have been right.

When I reached home, I went out into the back yard, and sat on one of the lawn chairs. This seemed to be my place to brood.

"Hey," a voice brought me back to myself. Jane was looking over the fence at me. For once Kirsty was not in evidence.

"Hi," I said smiling. "Where's the terrible tot?"

"She's gone to the store with her father," she said. "It's good for her to get out from time to time, and for me to get a break. I love her to bits, but sometimes I need some me time."