Chapter 4b
by
Dagmar Buse
"Billy, what's wrong?" Trini asked concernedly as
the five children were sharing snacks for the last time. Everybody had
taken pains to bring something special, in honor of the occasion. "You've
hardly said a word except for 'pass the juice'."
The blond grinned shyly at her. "Nothing's wrong per
se," he answered quietly. "I was just pondering how different today is
from our first break six weeks ago."
"Yeah, we were pretty suspicious of each other, weren't
we?" Kimberly concurred. "I mean, I sure was … when ol' Jenkins was reading
out all the reasons why we ended up here … you guys seemed like really
bad
news!"
"He made it sound like we were all dee-lin-quents,"
Zack nodded, pronouncing the big word carefully and getting amused laughter
from the others at his accompanying grimace.
"Right. And instead, we found out we weren't so bad,
after all," Kim chipped in again. "To be honest, I was kinda scared of
you, Zack, when he told us you'd brought a weapon to school."
"Aww. And it was just an itty-bitty table knife,"
the irrepressible boy snickered.
Billy smiled, feeling more at ease in this circle
than he could remember ever being. "I must say I was pleasantly disappointed,
though," he murmured. "You have to admit, it did sound very incriminating."
"Oh yes," Trini shuddered. "To think I was practically
labelled a junkie when all I'd done was give a classmate a perfectly harmless
herbal remedy for cramps …"
"Factually speaking, though, we did do the
things we were charged with," Billy mused. "However, nobody bothered to
ask for reasons, and the way the facts were presented to us made us all
appear in the worst possible light."
"Uh huh. But Trini wasn't dealing drugs, I wasn't
being a thug, you weren't really skipping class, and Kim's not a slut,"
Zack enumerated. "And Jason wasn't – hey, Jase, YOU haven't told us yet
what really happened," he exclaimed, turning to the burly boy who was quietly
munching on Mrs Taylor's brownies. "You weren't really beating up
on someone, were you?"
Jason looked up from his packet of vanilla milk, courtesy
of Billy. "Of course not!" he exclaimed indignantly. "How can you even
think that?"
"I don't – that's why I wanna know what really happened,"
his new friend said earnestly.
"We all do, Jason," Trini agreed, laying a slender
hand briefly on his muscular arm, while Kimberly just nodded, her mouth
full of cinnamon waffle, courtesy of Mrs Kwan.
"It is only logical to assume that the reason for
you having been sent into remedial classes was an equal form of misrepresentation
as it was with the rest of us," Billy added. "Especially as you haven't
exhibited any overly aggressive or menacing behavior towards any of us."
Briefly, the slight boy flashed back to yesterday's encounter with the
two fellow students who had been bothering him, but despite his show of
temper, Jason hadn't actually been violent, and his intentions had
been impeccable – motivated only by the desire to assist someone he perceived
as weaker and in need of help. With an inward shrug, Billy dismissed the
memory.
Having swallowed her food, Kim cast Billy a somewhat
dubious look, not sure she'd understood him right. Taking a chance, she
then looked fully at Jason.
"Come on, Jase," she cajoled. "We've all shared our
stories except you. Tell us why Jenkins called you a bully? Please?"
"Here's your chance to set the record straight, man,"
Zack entreated. "Give!"
"Fair's fair," Trini murmured.
Taking a deep breath to control the indignation he
still felt at the memory of the incident, Jason nodded. The others were
right, he owed them to be as open as they had been about their transgressions.
That didn't mean he had to like it, but … it probably hadn't been all that
easy for them, either, he saw with sudden insight, remembering Kimberly's
tear-filled eyes or Trini's obvious embarrassment.
"Okay," he sighed. "If you guys insist …"
"We do," Zack said rather pompously, making everybody
laugh. Sporting a rueful grin, Jason sat back and launched into his tale.
~*~
"It all started when some idiot from 8th
grade was harassing that Stuart kid after school – you've seen him, maybe?
Even smaller than Billy here, dark hair, really dorky glasses that
are held together by duct tape?"
"I know him," Billy murmured as the others nodded
more or less confidently. Stuart was the type who always seemed to blend
into the woodworks – partly by nature, and partly by choice, so it was
no wonder hardly anybody could recall what he looked like. "His IQ is almost
on a par with mine." Which was nice for Billy, appreciated by the teachers,
but not really a recommendation, as far as most other students were concerned.
Jason smiled fleetingly. "I might've known." He sent
a teasing wink towards Billy, who just shrugged sheepishly. He knew Jason
wasn't putting him down with that remark; it was just one of those things
most kids did, as Billy was coming to learn. It was actually a rather pleasant
experience. *A more ... 'normal' type of reaction,* the child genius
reflected. *And 'normal' can be ... nice.*
"Anyway, Stu was kind of cowering in that corner near
the Chem lab, that bigger guy was poking him with his foot – hard, too!
– and saying nasty things to him. You know, calling him names – nerd, four-eyes,
geek, loser, that kind of thing. AND he was hassling him to hand over some
homework Stuart was supposed to have done for him, or else." Jason paused
to took a sip of his milk. "I gotta hand it to the kid, he held on to his
notebook rather well, but he looked so totally scared and helpless, I just
couldn't
stand
by and do nothing."
That declaration was met with nods from the other
four and softly murmured consent; none of them liked it when weaker people
were being bullied by older or stronger students, and knowing Jason as
they did, it simply wasn't in his nature not to interfere in a situation
like this.
"So you told the older kid off?" Kim asked, picturing
a scene much as had happened when Jason sent Brad packing with only a few
words and plenty of attitude.
"Uh, not exactly," Jason admitted, blushing a little.
"I, uh, I sort of yanked him off Stuart."
"I saw that," Trini suddenly remembered. Her almond
eyes widened. "You pulled him away so hard that he careened into the opposite
wall and gashed his head!"
Jason's cheeks were flaming now. "Yeah, well, maybe
I should've been a little more careful … "
"A little? If he hurt himself?!?" Zack exclaimed.
"It was just a scrape, nothing serious," Jason muttered,
feeling ashamed at his loss of control. He should have known better
... his sensei had told him often enough that he ought to learn better
how to control his natural strength. But that was so hard, especially when
an injustice of any kind really got him going!
"Maybe. But ou were also yelling at him," Billy
supplied softly. "Your choice of words was perhaps not quite as derogatory
as what Stuart had had to listen to from that older boy, but it was … rather
colorful and hardly complimentary," he added. "Then you proceeded to scold
Stuart for his lack of courage and unwillingness to stand up to anyone
who'd try and take advantage of him. If I remember correctly, you were
quite harsh towards him, too."
"Fat lot of good that did," Jason muttered
rebelliously, feeling once again a sense of outrage at the unfairness displayed
by one, and the weakness shown by the other. WHY did some people
need to try to prove their 'superiority' only over those who couldn't fight
back? And why didn't they at least try and resist? His twelve-year-old
mind just couldn't grasp the fact that not everybody was blessed with the
same robust build, self-confidence and sense of self-worth as he was. That
was why Jason took it upon himself to defend those who needed a champion
– or when he thought they did.
Suddenly, the things Billy had said clicked in his
mind. He looked at the smaller boy with narrowed eyes. "How do you know
all that, anyway?"
It was Billy's turn to blush. He wasn't proud of
what he had to confess now, but … hopefully, the others wouldn't hold it
against him too much. "I was behind the door inside the Chem lab, waiting
for him to go away so I could leave myself without incurring the same treatment."
The blond snuck a peek at Zack and the girls. To his relief, Kim smiled
understandingly, Trini patted his hand and Zack pursed his lips consderingly
before nodding. Encouraged, he went on. "Thus I witnessed the whole scene,
at least aurally."
"Huh?" Zack whispered to Trini, not quite able to
follow Billy's extended vocabulary. The slender Asian girl whispered back.
"He could hear them but didn't see anything."
"Oh. Okay." Zack retuned his attention to the others.
"Then why didn't you come forward and tell that
to the Principal when he accused me of fighting?" Jason wanted to know.
"Just because that big jerk was whining like a baby that I'd hurt him …
he should've thought of that before he started hassling Stu!"
"Why didn't Stuart tell what happened?" Zack suddenly
said. "I mean, you were acting for him, kinda."
"I dunno," Jason shrugged, trying not to let his
hurt and indignation at that apparent defection show.
"Maybe he was scared," Trini suggested after a moment's
thought. "I think if he lets himself bullied by bigger kids like that,
it only follows that he'd be afraid of Principal Munro, too, doesn't it?"
"Oh yeah," Kimberly shuddered delicately. "That
old battleaxe even scares my Dad!"
There were some half-guilty titters at her remark
from everybody; Mrs Munro was a tall, homely, raw-boned woman who habitually
dressed all in black and spoke in a loud, staccato voice, giving a very
credible impression of a permanently displeased drill sergeant.
"Okay, I can accept that," Jason grudgingly admitted.
"She is kinda scary. But, she only punished me for fighting!
At the very least, that other guy should've gotten detention, too! He started
it, after all!"
"Didn't you tell her how it was?" Kim asked curiously.
"I mean, isn't the Principal supposed to be neutral, or something? Like,
she has to listen to everybody's side of the story?"
"I did explain. You think I'm stupid, or something?"
Jason glared at the petite brunette, who shrugged. It had been a legitimate
question, and Kim knew it. "She still said that I was most to blame," Jason
muttered resentfully. Some of the things Mrs Munro had said to him while
writing the note for his parents still smarted – especially as Mr Jenkins
repeated them at every opportunity. "Just because that idiot scraped his
head – he wasn't even bleeding much – and because I'd been telling both
the guys off. Okay, so I shouldn't have yanked him so hard, but HE
was bullying Stuart first! I was only trying to help; that doesn't make
me a bully!"
The boy's dark eyes sought confirmation from his
companions, as it had been given to each one before him, but to his great
surprise he found only hesitation and very cautious agreement.
"I'm not a bully," he repeated, but it came
out much less forcefully than Jason had intended. When no answer was immediately
forthcoming, he looked at each of his fellow students. Billy's grey-green
eyes were averted as the smaller boy toyed with a drinking straw. Kimberly
was biting her lower lip, doe eyes just a little wary, and Zack was staring
at him with a strange look. Only Trini met Jason's gaze frankly, but even
she couldn't quite summon a smile.
Jason swallowed hard. They couldn't really believe
that of him, could they? It was incredible how important his friends' acceptance
and support had become – in only six short weeks. If they decided that
he was the only one of their little group who truly deserved to be in detention
… it hardly bore thinking about.
"Guys …?" he ventured hesitantly. "Do you believe
I'm a bully?"
*PLEASE let them say no! Just one of them at
least!*
"Kim? Trini?" The already deepening voice pleaded
for reassurance, and generously, Trini tried to give what support she could
in all honesty. She touched his arm gently.
"Well, I believe you didn't mean to be, anyway."
Before Jason could protest the qualification, Kim
chipped in.
"Yeah – and I believe you when you say you only
wanted to help Stuart." The 'but' was clearly audible in her voice, though,
and Jason felt the blood slowly drain from his face, leaving him pale under
his usually healthy tan.
"I did," he rasped. "Honestly! Bullying someone
– especially someone weaker than me – is BAD! That's what my parents always
told me, and what my sensei has taught me, too!"
"And I for one believe that you mean that," Billy
said slowly. His eyes met Jason's. Gathering his courage, he expressed
what he'd felt the previous day, when Jason had come to his aid,
in a situation much like the one that had landed Jason in remedial classes.
"However, your methods need serious reevaluation, I think. If you continue
in the manner you've shown towards Stuart and his harasser … and incidentally
also yesterday, when I was in a similar predicament, you appear
to be a bully, even if your intent is quite the opposite."
To Jason's horror, both Kim and Zack nodded their
agreement at Billy's pronouncement. Blanching nearly white, the boy was
torn between righteous indination and an uncomfortable feeling that his
friends were maybe – just maybe – right, he opened his mouth to answer,
but was prevented from doing so by the Vice Principal's appearance, who
recalled the five children to the very last part of their Saturday morning
confinement.
Quickly gathering their lunch débris, the
three boys and two girls filed silently after their teacher, returning
to the classroom, where Jason was conspicuously quiet during the rest of
the lesson. As soon as they were dismissed with a stern admonition not
to show up in detention anytime soon, he grabbed his bag and ran out, not
waiting for anyone.
Subduedly, the other four followed him more slowly,
each lost in their own thoughts.
To Be Continued ...