Bullied

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

In the chaos that unfolded, our homeroom teacher, Mr. Garland, stepped into the room and then stopped just beyond the door as the wetting of twenty-six pairs of underwear got underway.

I stepped back and watched the circus erupt.

Ginny Gibson, certainly one of the most mean-spirited snots to ever enter the world, was up and dancing while urine ran down her legs and pooled in her shoes and beneath her feet.

She was wearing a bright orange dress that might have been cute if it weren't for the dark stain spreading over her crotch. Watching her, I felt nothing-of all the girls in school, she was one of my chief tormentors and had been since I could remember. Just moments ago, her laugh was among the loudest when Tyler bashed me over the head with his books.

And now she was peeing and dancing and screaming, while some of those around her either did the same or remained rooted to their seats. They were too embarrassed to stand and reveal that their bladders also had let loose.

I looked over at Jake, who was looking down in disbelief at the front of his pants, now soaked and clinging to his skin. When he looked up at me, I looked down at his pants and screwed up my face as if it was the most disgusting site I'd ever seen. He looked up at me and I just shrugged.

Mr. Garland, who was in his early thirties, came forward with raised hands. "Quiet!" he said. He looked over at Alex, who was standing beside me, and it was clear by how he addressed him that Alex already was being looked upon as a student leader. "What's going on here, Alex?"

He shook his head. He pointedly wasn't looking at me. "I don't know what happened. With the exception of a few of us, everyone just started to wet their pants.”

"Why?" Garland asked.

"No idea. It just happened."

And then there was Jake. "It didn't just happen." He shoved a finger at me. "It was him. He did it."

I looked at Jake with bemusement. "You're saying I have control over your bladders?”

"That's right."

“Okay, Tyler? I’m just going to point out the obvious. That’s just a pocketful of crazy right there.”

“The hell it is.”

I presented him to the class with a wave of my hand. "Everyone, I’d like you to meet the poster child for disillusionment." I looked at him. "It’s obvious you’re not well. It’s obvious that yesterday’s fall and your uncontrollable fit of crying did something to your head, let alone your nose. The fact that you actually think that I have control over everyone’s bladder is the funniest thing I’ve heard in weeks."

Before he could speak, Ginny Gibson suddenly got all righteous. "You said 'boo' to us," she said. "You leaned forward and said, 'boo.' And that's when it happened. You said, 'boo' and now look at us. Look at us!"

I was aware that Garland was looking at me, trying to process the situation but failing. I needed to step in and give him the big picture.

"Actually, Ginny, it really went down like this. I tried to walk into the classroom when Jake blocked my entrance with one of his meaty arms and started in on me, just as he always does." I turned to Garland. "And don't pretend you don't know anything about that. I assume Hastings isn't here today because he came after me yesterday. Is that right?"

He said nothing. Obviously, Principal Roberts had delivered her bullying speech at last night's teachers' meeting.

"Since crazy Jake here wasn't about to move his arm, I pushed it down and walked through the door."

"And when he did," Alex said, nodding toward Jake, "this idiot came after him and smashed his books over his head. Seth went down hard. For a moment, I think he lost consciousness because he wasn't moving. It's a wonder he didn't break his neck in that fall."

Garland looked at Jake. "Is that true?"

Too stupid and too proud to deny it, Tyler went for it. "Yeah, it's true,” he said, glaring at me. "And it'll happen again. Bet on it. Soon."

"Not in this school, it won't," Garland said. "And you better watch your mouth about delivering any additional threats, because that one's going to the police. Go to the principal. I'll be down in a minute." He looked at me as Jake left. "You need to see the nurse. Have her check your head. You could have a concussion."

And then he turned to the class. "Seems to me that people got a little nervous when Seth was hit. When you saw that he wasn't moving, that Alex couldn’t revive him, then a lot of you got really nervous, which is why I think many of you are in the situation you're in now."

"That's not true!" Ginny shouted.

Garland pointed a finger at her. "Detention. One week."

"What?"

"Do you want me to make that two?"

Her face became so ugly, her lips twisted back in rage.

"Go to the principal. Now."

"Are you joking? Look at me. I'm a mop."

"Not my problem. Go."

In a huff, she grabbed her books, stepped over her little yellow puddle with whatever dignity she had left and swung out of the room with her books held low in front of her. As she passed Jennifer, who hadn't left the doorway, I was aware that she was looking at me. What I saw wasn't so much concern on her face, though it was there, but also what appeared to be her trying to solve some sort of mystery. Me.

Garland stepped to the center of the room. I waited for him to say what I wanted to hear him say-that the school had enacted a strict no-bullying policy-but that's not what he said. In fact, he didn't address the situation at all. He merely told the class to call their parents to come pick them up so they could go home, take a shower and change into fresh clothes.

As the students filed out of the room, he turned to me. "What's going on with you, Seth?"

My answer was immediate. "I'm not taking their shit anymore. If the school board and the teachers won’t protect me, then I need to start standing up for myself. I've been going through this for years-and you know it. You've seen it. You’ve done nothing about it. The same goes for too many other teachers in this school. It's wrong what's happening and yet every teacher in this school knows it's happening to me and to others, but you do nothing about it. Sometimes, I think you're the worst bullies because you choose to look the other way. You let it happen. It's easier to say let it happen. I'm tired of it and I'm not going to back down from the students who hate me, from you or from any other teacher who doesn't act on my behalf. I'm done with it. And I'll go public with it."

"That's your choice," Garland said. "But I wouldn't recommend it."

"I'm sure you wouldn't."

He walked over to his desk and sat down. "Care to know why?"

"Shoot."

"Because you’ll only make it worse. We can't prevent anything that happens off school grounds. I think you're setting yourself up for something bad, Seth. I think if you take this too far, it could blow up in your face."

"So, I should just continue to take it? You should just continue to ignore it? What kind of bullshit is that?"

When he didn't say anything, I left to see the nurse.