comfort him. I waver, looking over his shaking body, hearing his muffled sobs. He’s lying on the cold, hard floor in the foetal position, knees constricting into his stomach, arms protecting his face. Out of fury, I look back at the dispersing crowd and scream at them.
‘Get some help!’
Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone fighting their way through the crowd. At the sight of the orange and white jacket I start to panic, thinking that the soccer team is coming back to beat up Perry some more. I prepare myself to use my body as a shield to protect Perry from any further blows and then I recognise Brian. Breaking free from the crowd he’s falling to his knees beside me.
‘Perry!’ Brian looks him over, a quick assessment of his injuries. ‘Perry, it’s alright bro. Help is coming.’
I just stare at Brian, completely dumbfound. Brian’s attention is completely focused on Perry as he slowly eases him out of his foetal position, gently unfolding him.
From behind me I hear footsteps pounding down the hall. Voices yelling ‘Back to your classrooms!’ Mr Dubois. Teachers. Admin staff. All of them should have been here a lot sooner to put a stop to this. Where the hell were they?
In my frustration I turn to Brian. I grab his jacket sleeve and jerk him round to face me.
‘Where were you?’ On the verge of hysteria, I want to slap him and hit him like his friends just beat up Perry. ‘How could you let this happen?’
Next thing I know I am swinging my fists, hitting Brian anywhere and everywhere I can. I am screaming and ranting incoherently and wrestling with him as his hands struggle to catch my fists. Somehow he manages to grab my wrists from behind and holds me,my back against his body, crossing my arms over my chest.
‘It’s okay, I got her,’ he says, obviously talking to the teachers.
I am exhausted. I give up the struggle. I am feeling weak and helpless, yet still full of anger. I look over to Perry in time to see Mr Dubois and Mr Valentine haul his weak frame up from the floor, and practically carry him down the hall. My eyes are burning with warm, salty tears and my knees buckle.
Brian and I spend half the day in the office recounting what happened and who was involved. Perry is taken to the medical room. The seven soccer players that were identified as his attackers are called into the office one by one. Their parents are called and they are sent home on suspension, pending further investigation.
I sit across from Brian and say nothing. My eyes hurt from crying. My face and nearly every muscle in my body ache from tensionand exhaustion. I don’t think I
can
talk if I want to. My voice is just gone.
After all the offenders have been sent home, Mr Dubois comes over to speak with us. ‘I’ll take it from here. Thank you both for stepping in and helping Perry. It could have been a lot worse.’
‘Is he going to be okay?’ Brian asks.
‘I’m sure he’ll be fine. Perry will need some time off.’ He squats down in front of me. ‘He’ll be all right, Dawn.’
I just nod. I can’t even look him in the eye. When he sees that I’m not going to respond, he pushes himself up.
‘The day’s almost over, so I’ll give you kids a choice. Do you want to go to class or go home early? I wouldn’t count it against you if you wanted to go home.’
Brian stands up. I can’t look at him and stare at the floor.
‘I’ll just go back to class.’
Mr Dubois nods and I feel him looking at me. ‘Dawn?’
‘Home.’ is all I can say with the little vocal strength I can muster.
CHAPTER 6
Mom doesn’t give me a hard time when I want to stay home from school the next day. She only sticks her head in the door once, with her morning routine of ‘Rise and shine, time for school!’ Even her voice isn’t chipper and annoying. I didn’t even set the alarm last night. I guess I knew all along that I wasn’t going to school today.
For the better half of the morning, I lie in bed, dozing.
‘Get some help!’
Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone fighting their way through the crowd. At the sight of the orange and white jacket I start to panic, thinking that the soccer team is coming back to beat up Perry some more. I prepare myself to use my body as a shield to protect Perry from any further blows and then I recognise Brian. Breaking free from the crowd he’s falling to his knees beside me.
‘Perry!’ Brian looks him over, a quick assessment of his injuries. ‘Perry, it’s alright bro. Help is coming.’
I just stare at Brian, completely dumbfound. Brian’s attention is completely focused on Perry as he slowly eases him out of his foetal position, gently unfolding him.
From behind me I hear footsteps pounding down the hall. Voices yelling ‘Back to your classrooms!’ Mr Dubois. Teachers. Admin staff. All of them should have been here a lot sooner to put a stop to this. Where the hell were they?
In my frustration I turn to Brian. I grab his jacket sleeve and jerk him round to face me.
‘Where were you?’ On the verge of hysteria, I want to slap him and hit him like his friends just beat up Perry. ‘How could you let this happen?’
Next thing I know I am swinging my fists, hitting Brian anywhere and everywhere I can. I am screaming and ranting incoherently and wrestling with him as his hands struggle to catch my fists. Somehow he manages to grab my wrists from behind and holds me,my back against his body, crossing my arms over my chest.
‘It’s okay, I got her,’ he says, obviously talking to the teachers.
I am exhausted. I give up the struggle. I am feeling weak and helpless, yet still full of anger. I look over to Perry in time to see Mr Dubois and Mr Valentine haul his weak frame up from the floor, and practically carry him down the hall. My eyes are burning with warm, salty tears and my knees buckle.
Brian and I spend half the day in the office recounting what happened and who was involved. Perry is taken to the medical room. The seven soccer players that were identified as his attackers are called into the office one by one. Their parents are called and they are sent home on suspension, pending further investigation.
I sit across from Brian and say nothing. My eyes hurt from crying. My face and nearly every muscle in my body ache from tensionand exhaustion. I don’t think I
can
talk if I want to. My voice is just gone.
After all the offenders have been sent home, Mr Dubois comes over to speak with us. ‘I’ll take it from here. Thank you both for stepping in and helping Perry. It could have been a lot worse.’
‘Is he going to be okay?’ Brian asks.
‘I’m sure he’ll be fine. Perry will need some time off.’ He squats down in front of me. ‘He’ll be all right, Dawn.’
I just nod. I can’t even look him in the eye. When he sees that I’m not going to respond, he pushes himself up.
‘The day’s almost over, so I’ll give you kids a choice. Do you want to go to class or go home early? I wouldn’t count it against you if you wanted to go home.’
Brian stands up. I can’t look at him and stare at the floor.
‘I’ll just go back to class.’
Mr Dubois nods and I feel him looking at me. ‘Dawn?’
‘Home.’ is all I can say with the little vocal strength I can muster.
CHAPTER 6
Mom doesn’t give me a hard time when I want to stay home from school the next day. She only sticks her head in the door once, with her morning routine of ‘Rise and shine, time for school!’ Even her voice isn’t chipper and annoying. I didn’t even set the alarm last night. I guess I knew all along that I wasn’t going to school today.
For the better half of the morning, I lie in bed, dozing.
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