On Monday morning, two students embarked on a journey of discovery at Lakewood Elementary.
I've got to find out if boys are really pigs, like my mom says, Nadine told herself.
Maybe Muffy's right, thought C.V. With powers like mine, maybe I'm more qualified to be a supervillain.
As D.W. and Nadine were strolling through the center court on their way to Mrs. Frensky's room, they saw Rattles approaching from a hallway. The big sixth grader was wearing his usual leather jacket, backwards cap, and menacing scowl.
"Oh, no! Look!" exclaimed D.W. "It's that big mean boy again!"
"Quiet, he'll hear you!" said Nadine in an even louder voice.
Rattles heard them indeed, and started straight toward them. There was no escape.
"Did I just hear you ask me to beat you up?" snarled the boy.
"No," replied D.W. innocently.
"That sounded like a yes," growled Rattles.
As he advanced on the two girls, C.V. boldly stepped into his path. "Leave them alone, you big dumb bully," he ordered.
Not accustomed to being challenged, especially by a fat owl boy with thick glasses, Rattles gaped and dropped his fists. Once he recovered his cool, he quipped, "You're in luck. Dork season opened today."
While Rattles assumed a fighting stance, C.V. simply stared at him through narrowed eyes. The bully's expression morphed from fearless determination to uncertainty, then anxiety, then outright terror. He stepped backwards and began to tremble. "D-don't hurt me," he pleaded.
"I like your hat," said C.V. calmly. "Give it to me."
"Sure, anything." His teeth chattering, Rattles quickly tore the cap from his head and dropped it into C.V.'s waiting hands. He then turned and fled with utmost haste.
D.W. and Nadine smiled gratefully at the owl boy as he pushed the cap onto his head with the brim facing forwards. "You're a hero," said Nadine sweetly.
"No, I'm not," was C.V.'s response. "I'm a monster, and I'm going to eat you."
Fear seized the girls' minds, and they ran away from the boy's presence, screaming bloody murder. C.V. chuckled with satisfaction.
They were still screaming when they entered their first-grade classroom. Mrs. Frensky, Emily, and the Tibbles were there, preparing for the day's lesson. "What's the matter, girls?" asked the teacher when she saw their pale faces.
"The fat boy with glasses is gonna eat us!" cried Nadine.
"He's really scary!" added D.W.
"Calm down," Mrs. Frensky reassured them. "You're safe in here."
The girls had recovered from their fright by the end of the first period. As they and their classmates were handing in their alphabet worksheets, Timmy Tibble decided to play a prank on Nadine. Grabbing the rim of her petticoat, he yanked it up over her head, fully exposing her stockings.
"Hey!" exclaimed the outraged Nadine.
Quick as a flash, Timmy shoved the petticoat into the hands of JamesMcDonald, who stood unsuspectingly nearby. When Nadine turned and saw the startled rabbit boy's hands clutching her dress, she wasted no time in launching her fist at his nose.
The blow knocked James onto the floor. "Owww!" he groaned. "Mrs. Frensky!"
All the kids gazed at Nadine, astonished at the usually gentle girl's act of violence. The teacher grabbed her by the arm and started to drag her from the room.
"You're a pig," Nadine yelled at James as she was hauled away.
"But I...I didn't..." James protested, but no one was listening.
Moments later the sullen-faced Nadine sat across from Principal Haney in his office. "Hitting is wrong," the principal explained to her. "You should apologize to James for hitting him."
"He looked up my dress," Nadine complained. "He's a pig. All boys are pigs."
"Boys are not pigs," insisted Mr. Haney.
"Boys are mean to girls all the time, and they don't apologize," groused Nadine. "My dad beat up my mom, and he never apologized. The big fat boy tried to eat me, and he didn't apologize. Dr. Rick let the aliens take Auntie Augusta away, even though he was her boyfriend, and he didn't apologize. So why should a girl have to apologize for hitting a boy?"
"Don't talk back, young lady," said the principal sternly.
"You're a pig too," Nadine berated him. "You're being mean to me just because I'm a girl. I don't have to take this anymore. I can fight back, like my mom did."
Astonished at the girl's petulance, Mr. Haney could think of nothing to do except phone her mother.
----
Juvenile court was in session, with the honorable Judge Trudy presiding. The trial had been scheduled early, given the serious nature of the charges and the pricelessness of the stolen goods. Binky and Molly were the defendants, and their worried parents sat in the audience chairs, along with Mr. Mansch.
The short cat man was standing (although it was hard to tell) and addressing the judge. "There's no way these two young people could have pulled off such a heist," he said in a gravelly voice. "They must have collaborated with an expert thief. I personally know of only two people in this city who possess the necessary skills--myself, and Ben McDonald."
"Thank you, Mr. Mansch," said the judge flatly.
Mr.McDonald stood up next. "I believe I know why my daughter is taking the blame for the diamond robbery," said the rabbit man. "I suspect that she found the stolen necklace in a secret compartment in my house, and was on her way to turn it in to the police, when she encountered Ray Mansch. When Mansch chased her down, despite having no way of knowing that she had the necklace in her possession, she came to the conclusion that Mansch must have planted the necklace in an attempt to frame me. Therefore, to protect my good name, she claimed to have stolen the diamonds herself."
Mansch growled indignantly. The court-appointed defense lawyer turned to Molly and asked, "Is this true?"
"I plead the Fifth," replied Molly indifferently.
The pointless exchange continued, as neither the judge nor the attorney could obtain any helpful information from Molly or Binky.
"It is the opinion of this court that someone was involved in the crime other than the defendants," the judge finally ruled. "However, until we find out who that someone is, through further investigation...I hereby sentence MollyMcDonald and Binky Barnes to be detained at the Katzenellenbogan Juvenile Correction Facility for a period not to exceed three months."
Binky's parents bowed their heads. "Here we go again," Mrs. Barnes muttered to her husband.
----
It was morning recess, and C.V. and Nadine were furthering their new agendas in the playground. As Muffy strolled along carelessly, C.V. came up alongside her with a pair of pointed scissors in his hand. "Hey, Muffy," he greeted her, "I've got scissors if you need them."
"Why would I need scissors?" asked the girl, stopping in front of the jungle gym.
"To cut off your braids, of course," C.V explained.
"Why would I want to cut off my braids?"
"Because they're snakes."
It suddenly dawned on Muffy that C.V. was about to victimize her again, but there was nothing she could do. The boy's piercing glance caused terror to well up in her stomach.
"Sssnakesss...sssnakesss..." C.V. hissed playfully.
As fear overpowered her ability to resist suggestion, Muffy began to imagine that her braids were indeed serpents, slithering creepily about the sides of her head. Screaming with fright, she snatched the scissors from C.V.'s hand and frantically snipped at the top of her left braid until it came loose. After she had similarly severed her right braid, she gazed in horror at the two writhing snakes at her feet. Then the fear left her, and she recognized what she had done.
"You...you..." she spat at C.V., anguished tears forming in her eyes.
The owl boy responded with a smirk.
Desperately wanting to take revenge on the boy, yet knowing what his power could do to her, Muffy turned and ran away, weeping bitterly. C.V. took a second to kick around the fallen braids before walking off.
D.W. and Nadine were watching from the swings as the sobbing Muffy hurried by. "The big fat boy cut off her hair," Nadine observed. "He's the biggest pig of all."
"Not all boys are pigs," D.W. told her. "Arthur's not a pig."
"But he bosses you around all the time," Nadine pointed out.
"That's only because he's older than me," replied D.W.
"If you were older than him, would you boss him around?" asked Nadine.
D.W. thought for a moment. She thought for another moment.
"Maybe you're right."
