02
My front yard was swarming with nosy
neighbors.
I pushed my way through and saw my parents
sitting on the couch, cops in the middle, then
some guy in a suit and three other middle-
aged dudes.
Probably the principal and their parents.
The three little shits were in the corner.
Two of them were looking down, but the one
in the middle was sitting on our old milk
crate, filing her nails.
When she saw me, she nudged the others,
pointed at me, said something, and they all
started laughing.
“I’m gonna kill you!”
I grabbed the nearest thing, a glass vase, and
charged.
But they grabbed me right away.
One of the parents even snatched the vase
from me.
“Let me go! Or I’ll kill you all!”
The shit in the middle hid behind her dad,
grinning at me.
A cop came over and patted me on the back.
<
“Hey, calm down. We’re trying to figure out
how to settle things here. Don’t make it
worse.”
I shook off the parent’s hands.
“Alright, how are you gonna settle it?”
The mood in the room shifted.
They all looked at each other, exchanging
glances.
They were definitely planning some BS.
The principal pulled me aside, put an arm
around my shoulder.
“You’re Sarah’s…?”
“Brother.”
“Right, look, the school takes this very
seriously. We’ve given Wendy and the others
a stern talking–to. They promised it won’t
happen again. Seeing as it’s their first
offense, we’re hoping you’ll…”
“What are you saying?” I shoved him away.
“You want us to just let it go?”
Caught off guard, the principal looked a little
flustered.
“Look, kid, we’ve already taken down all the
social media posts. You know that kind of
stuff going around ain’t good for Sarah. She’s
a girl, after all…”
“So?” I laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“So should we get on our knees and thank
you for your generosity? You took it down for
Sarah or for these little monsters?”
“Kid, you gotta look at the bigger picture.”
“Can’t! All I know is my sister got hurt!”
That’s when one of the parents scoffed.
“Maybe you should ask yourself why it was
just your sister out of the whole class who
got picked on. I bet she did something to
deserve it. Takes two to tango, you know?”
I punched him in the face, and he started
bleeding. “What the hell, man!”
“I’m gonna kill you!”
く
I was seeing red. I was about to beat him
senseless, but the cops grabbed me.
“Easy, kid. You hurt him, you’ll be paying his
medical bills.”
My mom pulled me back too.
I looked at her face, covered in tears, and my
heart sank.
“Officer, we’re pressing charges. How many
years are they looking at?”
The cop sighed. “I understand how you feel,
but realistically, even if we go by the book,
they’ll probably get a few days in juvie and a
couple thousand in fines. They’re minors.”
A few days? A few thousand dollars?
My brain exploded. I turned and saw the little
shits smirking.
Hearing they might get juvie time, the parents
got worried about a record and started.
signaling their kids.
The three of them rushed up to me, bowing
and apologizing.
Wendy grabbed my hand. “I’m sorry. We know
we messed up. It won’t happen again!”
I felt something hard in her palm and looked
down.
She’d slipped me a bloody hair clip.
The one I gave Sarah.
It had a few strands of hair stuck to it,
probably ripped right out of Sarah’s head.
“Fuck!”
I was about to slap her, but her dad pulled her
behind him.
“I’m sorry, Danny!” She was crying crocodile
tears. “Hit me! Do whatever you want!”
She was crying, but her right hand was giving
me the finger.
“I’m gonna kill you!”
“Calm down!” The cop stepped between us
again. “The family’s upset. We’ll talk about
this later. You guys gotta go!”
