Previous Challenge Entry
Topic: Bullies (08/09/04)
TITLE: A Perfect Plan By Clay Drysdale 08/15/04 |
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT SEND ARTICLE TO A FRIEND |
All the boys cheered. "Yeah, let's get him!" Peter yelled.
The plan was good. It would exact revenge on the big bully that had been terrorizing the boys all summer, ever since the end of their fifth grade year. This would be their tool to pay back all the sins Roger had committed against them: punching them as they walked past, shaking them down for money, and stealing their baseball time and time again, among others.
Timmy continued, "Alright now, Roger always comes out to get the mail right after it comes at 9:30. What time is now, Alan?"
Alan glanced at his watch. "Uh, it's 9:22."
"Perfect, right on schedule," said Timmy with a confident smile on his face.
As the summer had worn on, the boys had finally reached the breaking point of Roger's bullying. The four of them had grown up with him in this neighborhood. Even though Roger was a couple of years older and a little bigger than any of them, he had never given them a problem. Somehow, though, things had been different lately.
As the group finally reached the edge of Roger's yard and crept behind the huge bush, the boys' excitement could barely be contained. However, they had not anticipated what they would find once there.
The kitchen window was open and the boys could hear a loud voice inside. "Is that Roger's dad yelling?" Peter wondered out loud. They all peaked around the bush for a better view, each jockeying for the best position. Roger and his father were standing in full view in front of the window.
"Boy, Roger must be gettin' it good!" Timmy whispered with excitement and a big smile.
The boys kept listening. They could easily hear Roger's father screaming. "I've told you a thousand times you moron...pick up after yourself. I'm not a maid, and there ain't no free lunch around here!"
Roger tried to defend himself. "But Dad, I forgot. I promise next time I'll remember to pick up my socks."
"You're right, you'll remember!" yelled his father. "This oughtta help you." With that he raised his arm and backhanded Roger across the face. Roger fell back out of view for a few seconds but then reappeared and began sobbing.
"Quit that crying, boy, or I'll give you something to really cry about!" screamed his father.
Unable to control himself, Roger completely broke down into tears. “Please, Dad, I…”
"Alright, you asked for it." Blows began raining down on Roger. He cried and wailed to no avail. The four boys were wide-eyed and stunned. None of them had ever seen anything like this in real life, only in the movies where they knew it was all make-believe anyway.
Timmy couldn't take it anymore. "Come on, let's get out of here, guys."
Anxious to leave, all four of them hustled down the street to Timmy's house. When they were safely on the porch, they all just sat and stared at the ground. Not a word was said for what seemed an eternity.
Bobby was the first one to break the silence. Slowly, he muttered, "I…wish…I hadn’t seen that."
Peter agreed. "Me too. That was bad, real bad. All he did was not pick up his socks. I wonder why his dad was so mean to him like that."
The boys returned to silence. They didn't know it, but each of them in their own way began internalizing the connection between Roger's behavior and that of his father's. The four of them never talked about the incident after that morning.
School started back soon, and the boys saw less of Roger. For the next few months, up until he and his father moved to another town, nothing much changed with Roger's behavior. After seeing a glimpse of his home life, however, each of the four had a change in attitude toward him. They still didn't like his bullying, but none of them ever looked at him in the same way after that summer morning.