Justice?

There is a time and place for everything, it's called College.

Let me begin by saying this story may or may not be true. If true, any similarity to any persons or places is purely coincidental. I will simply tell the story and you can determine any truth, value or substance worthy of retaining or passing on.

         

The year was somewhere between 1966 and 1968. The location was a small college about half way between Brownwood and Ft. Worth, Texas. The school year was well underway and the habits of those attending were pretty well established. Dorm life had formed it's cliques and sub groups and, as with any dormitory, this dorm had formed a personality of its own. One particular group was made up of mostly freshmen from several cities within Texas, some large cities but mostly small. This group was not into fraternities or social clubs. They would study, eat and generally hang out together. Each one of this group came from a closely knit family and where making the necessary adjustments to survive in their first journey from home. They were forming a new type of family, a family of support and strength.

         

This dorm would have been a comfortable abode for this particular group had it not been for one person. This person was a fellow resident and student who delighted in making life for those around him miserable. He was a loud, obnoxious, self-centered jerk with a serious drinking problem. He apparently came from a family with money and used this campus more as a hangout than an institution of higher learning. There were other things about this guy that were noteworthy, he was huge and he was mean.

         

Every night he would go out, usually to Mingus, Texas, and drink with a couple of equally huge tasteless guys. No one was sure what these other two guys did or where they came from. Almost every night they would come back to the dorm raising cane, hollering obscenities, playing loud music and slamming doors. They would turn over trash cans, knock on doors and generally make a mess of things.

         

Everyone in the dorm, including the previously mentioned group of freshmen, were victimized by this thug at one time or another. However, there was one member of this group who seemed to bear the brunt of his attacks. He was probably the most easy going person of the group. He was also working as the janitor of the dorm in order to help pay for his education. He took great pride in his job and worked very hard keeping the dorm in the best shape possible. He was such a likeable person, others in this group would gladly help with his chores from time to time if he needed study time or if they had an activity of interest coming up.

         

For whatever the reason the dorm bully delighted in trashing the halls, bathrooms and other dorm facilities after the janitor had put in hours of work. He would come in at night and urinate in the halls and if he got sick from all the drinking he thought nothing of vomiting on floors, walls or in trashcans. Yes the bully was approached by many, turned in many times and on occasion was actually disciplined by the school. But, for whatever the reason, the discipline was never serious and served as no deterrence for his angry habits. People became reluctant to take action because of the lack of apparent interest and the retaliatory threats issued by the bully.

         

One cold early December day a couple of the freshmen had an opportunity to go deer hunting and late that afternoon managed to shoot a pretty nice buck. The deer was brought back by the dorm parking lot and was shown to the rest of the group one of which had access to a meat locker. This person accompanied the hunters to the meat plant and used his key to allow them to put the deer in cold storage until it could be processed the next day. It was when they got back to the dorm that a plan was born. A plan to dish back some misery to the dorm bully.

         

The bully, as expected, left his third floor room about 7 PM. The group knew that they would have until at least midnight before he would return. At 11 PM they went back to the meat locker and retrieved the deer. They then were able to sneak the deer up to the third floor of the dorm. The janitor reluctantly let them use his master key and in just moments they had the deer in the bully's room. They turned back the covers on the lower bunk bed and covered the sheet with a large piece of plastic. They then laid the deer on the bed with its head resting on the pillow. They covered the deer with another piece of plastic and pulled the cover over it up to its neck. It really looked peaceful, or so I've been told. They then turned out the light and left the room. There was nothing to do then but to wait for the return of the drunken bully.

         

As expected, a little after midnight, the dorm bully could be heard stomping and staggering up the stairs. He staggered down the hall singing loudly all the way to his room. He went into his room and could be heard throwing his boots and clothes around the room. Then the click of the light switch could be heard and his lights were out. There was silence for about fifteen more seconds. Then came a blood curdling scream. It was really amazing how high pitched this scream was coming from such a bear of a man. His door swung open and he ran screaming down the hall in his underwear.

         

As soon as he was out of sight the justice squad ran into the room, grabbed the deer and plastic, and within just a few minutes had the evidence gone and on the way back to the meat locker. About ten minutes later the bully could be heard coming back down the hall accompanied by the Dorm Supervisor and the Campus Security Officer. He was raving on and on about the huge animal or demon that had come within an inch of taking his life. After they were in the room for a few minutes, the screaming finally stopped. It was determined that Mr. Bully would be better served not to stay in the dorm that night and he was escorted from the dorm.

That next day, there were several non-students moving all the personal belongings out of the bully's room and his car was towed from the parking lot. He was never seen again. The talk was that his parents had finally tired of his antics and had committed him into a treatment facility. The dorm became a pleasant place to live. It was as though the cloud that had hovered over the building had been blown away and there was nothing but sunshine and laughter left behind.

         

You might wonder if anyone ever confessed about the happenings that December night. NO. You might also wonder if there was any guilt shared by the group. As a group, NO. However, there was one of the group that worried about the results of that night and had a problem letting it go. It was the person abused the most who was the most forgiving. The janitor, a heck of a man and friend.

         

By the way the deer provided some of the best jalapeno cheese summer sausage you could ever want --- or so I've been told.