Jermaine Deon Carter
September 19, 2021
Bully Hunter
I began to be bullied after I started fourth grade. This was mostly because I loved Pokémon and was considered "too quiet" by my classmates. The bullying stopped when I moved to a different school for fifth grade but resumed with a vengeance come sixth grade. Around this time, I also began to get bullied at church. I never had anyone looking out or standing up for me, but that was soon to change.
"Pokémon sucks!" my classmate O'kevion said to me as I walked past him in the hallway one afternoon between classes.
"Pokémon's gay!" our classmate Tim said, joining in.
"Jermaine, you're so quiet! Say something!" our classmate Stephen said.
I tried to ignore them and just kept walking. They ran ahead of me and blocked my path. They ganged up on me.
At that moment, multicolored sparkles of light appeared in front of me. The sparkles increased in number. A column of water sprang up from the floor.
The water receded to reveal Princess Ariel. She was in her mermaid form and wielded her father's trident. Bubbles and small waves of water circled the lower half of her tail. The boys and I couldn't believe what we were seeing.
I had a cartoon crush on her as a small child, mostly because I knew what it was like to have a mean dad who didn't always understand his children. I occasionally repeated her name to myself as I went to sleep at night. She inspired me to believe in the good in everyone and everything.
My crush began to fade in second grade and was gone completely by third grade. I realized I could never be with her since she was both already spoken for and supposedly fictional. I didn't even want anyone to bring her up and became annoyed if they did.
"Leave. Him. Alone," she said to the boys.
"Ariel?! What are you doing here?!" I asked.
"I came because you needed my help, Jermaine," she said.
"I…I thought you weren't real. I haven't thought about you for years," I said.
"We can talk about that later," she said.
"Ariel?!" O'kevion asked.
"The Little Mermaid?!" Tim asked.
"You think we're scared of you?!" Stephen asked.
"Back off, and leave Jermaine alone," she said.
"Who's gonna make us?" Tim asked.
The trident glowed golden yellow and emitted a deep, humming sound punctuated by high-pitched tones. Electricity of the same color crackled and sparked around the trident. She pointed it at the floor near the boys' feet. A blast of energy was fired, leaving black burn marks on the floor. The boys ran off in the other direction.
"Thank you, Ariel," I said.
"You're welcome," she said as she hugged me.
"Aww…," I said.
"Why did you push me out of your life, Jermaine?" she asked.
"I had to face facts and grow up, not to mention the bullying that would come later," I said.
"I've had to do my share of growing up too, but I never forgot about you. We had a connection. That's why I was able to come and help you out today," she said. I sighed.
"I'm really sorry about all that, Ariel," I said.
"I don't like what you did, but I understand why you did it," she said.
"Thanks for understanding," I said.
"Of course, but you've gotta stop letting what other people say get to you," she said.
"Easier said than done," I said.
"I know it won't happen overnight. It's just gonna take some time," she said.
"You're right," I said.
She smiled, and I smiled back. She disappeared in a flurry of bubbles and sparkles. Over the summer, she appeared to me a few more times to offer advice on how to deal with my bullies. Whether she was in her human form or mermaid form varied.
One day in seventh grade during the break after lunch, I stood outside in the grass and flipped through a book about animals. After several seconds, I looked up and saw my classmate Johnta running towards me at full speed. Ariel materialized right in front of me again. She used the trident to blast him with a spiraling stream of water and washed him away.
"Thanks, Ariel," I said.
"Any time," she said.
She disappeared again not long after. She continued to show up for and counsel me for the rest of middle school. Little by little, I learned to ignore the insults and taunting from others. I also learned how to avoid and evade physical threats.
The bullying gradually decreased and stopped altogether after my freshman year of high school. She appeared to me one more time the summer after sophomore year. It was a Friday morning in the middle of June.
"Thank you so much for everything, Ariel," I said as I hugged her.
"That's what friends do," she said.
"From now on, I promise I'll never try to push you or anyone else in my life away," I said.
"Good. It makes me really happy to hear you say that," she said. We exchanged smiles again before she disappeared.