What lies beneath the surface

It was a Tuesday when his mother began sensing something was wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. James had come home from elementary school with a scrape under his chin. She had asked him what happened, and he said he tripped on the walkway at school on the way to class. She doubted it, but let it go and nonchalantly asked if it bled and if his teacher knew. He said it was fine.

Other things made her question if more was going on at school than her son was revealing. Recently, he seemed more agitated than usual. He said he didn’t like school and started complaining about his stomach hurting in the mornings. Her suspicions were confirmed when she answered a phone call from his fourth-grade teacher on Wednesday afternoon.

“Hello, Mrs. Evans? This is Mrs. Green, James’ teacher. I wanted to tell you about something that happened today that seemed kind of strange.”

“Oh, really?” Brandi prepared herself for this conversation. “What happened?”

“I found James hiding under the tablecloth where his science project was displayed in the gym. When I asked him to stand up, he said he couldn’t. I asked him why, and he said, ‘not until those boys go by.’ He wouldn’t tell me anything more and promised to talk with you about it. I’m just following up to see if he mentioned it after school?”

Brandi paused a few seconds considering the past couple of weeks and James’ behavior. “Well, not about that, but I think there’s other things going on. He came home with a scrape on his chin yesterday, and he’s been saying that he doesn’t want to go to school.” She also shared that he was complaining about his stomach not feeling well, but she’d convinced him to go to school, and if he needed anything to call her from the office. She continued, “James hasn’t said anything else to me, but when my husband, Ron gets home from work, we’ll talk with him. Can we mention that you called us to follow up?”

Mrs. Green confirmed, “He should be expecting it. I’ve also sent an email to the Principal about my concerns. It’s not like James to be this way.”

“We appreciate it. I’ll let you know what we find out.” Brandi hung up and looked out the living room window. James was kicking his soccer ball into the net where his dad had positioned it in the yard. It seemed like everything was fine.

When Ron arrived home, Brandi mentioned the teacher’s phone call. They agreed that all these things couldn’t be a coincidence. During dinner, they asked their two sons about school and how their day went. Tom immediately started complaining about how much homework he had to do for his seventh-grade science project. James mentioned that his science project hadn’t won any ribbons. It wasn’t exactly what their parents were digging for.

After dinner, the boys headed upstairs to do homework. While washing dishes, Brandi and Ron planned their strategy. She would ask the questions and Ron would sit in on the conversation. Brandi wanted to give her son every opportunity to share what was bothering him and James needed to see his parents were both there to support him.

She knocked on the door of James’ bedroom which was partly shut. A photo of his soccer team was taped to the front of the door, and just inside, his goalie jersey was draped over the back of his desk chair for tomorrow afternoon’s game. James was looking in the dresser for his clean soccer shorts.

“Hey Bud,” she said while peeking through the door. “If you’re done with homework, can we hang with you and talk a bit?”

James looked up from what he was doing and said, “Okay, both of you?”

“Dad and I want to hear more about how school is going.” They eased inside the room. “Mrs. Green called me today and said you wanted to talk about something. Can you tell me about why you were hiding from some boys at the science display?” James found his shorts and stuffed them into his bag along with cleats and socks.

“I really don’t need to talk,” James replied, “it’s not a big deal.” He seemed rather irritated, so Brandi explained all the ways that parents love and support their kids and why it is so important to discuss problems with them. He shook his head, “Why did Mrs. Green have to tell you? She is just overprotective.” This wasn’t the reaction she was expecting.

Seeing that his wife needed backup, Ron added, “Clearly, you’ve had something happen that bothered you or you wouldn’t be hiding from those boys. Mrs. Green is concerned, not overprotective. Since you won’t tell your teacher what is happening, then the only other option is to tell us. The cool thing about telling us, is that we know you better than anyone else. You’re not in trouble James, we just need to know the truth so that we can help.”

To his parents’ surprise, James immediately clenched his fist and punched the pillow on his bed. He dreaded telling his parents what was happening. In his mind, he could still hear the boys taunting him from Tuesday, “You’re a big sissy! If you tell anyone, we’ll come find your house and beat you up!” He flopped onto the bed and buried his face in the pillow. Brandi sat next to him and began rubbing his back.

“Sweetie, please tell us. If they are bullying you, or hurting you at school, you need adults to help.”

James rolled over, tears welling up in his brown eyes. “I can’t tell you anything!” he huffed.

“Why not?” Brandi continued to prod him.

James covered his eyes with his arm, “Because, they’ll do it again.”

“Not if you tell us everything.” Ron joined Brandi in comforting their son, agonizing with him, and letting him know that they would do everything in their power to help make whatever ‘it’ was stop.

James slid out of his parents’ grasp and flopped to the carpet. Grabbing his soccer ball, he squeezed it tightly to his chest as his face reddened and his eyes darkened. He angrily pushed the ball out in front of himself. He began screaming at the ball in front of his face, as if he was Tom Hanks, shouting at Wilson, the volleyball, in the movie Cast Away.

“So, you’ll beat me up if I tell anyone? I hate all of you, stupid sixth-grade jerks! What did I ever do to deserve this? You think you’re so cool tripping me and calling me names?” James’ revelation continued coming out of his mouth like a raging bull within, tears flowing down his cheeks. Brandi exited to the bathroom to retrieve a cold washcloth while Ron knelt on the floor next to James. It felt like his own heart was ripping out. Slowly, Ron rescued the ball from James’ grasp and said, “We’ll take care of this problem Son, I promise you.”

When Brandi returned to the bedroom, James had melted into his father’s arms, sobbing. It was devastating to see how much damage and hurt can come from one incident. They continued consoling him, and Tom had joined them in the room by this point. It was upsetting to him, because now that he was in middle school, he couldn’t keep an eye on his little brother anymore.

“Tell me who they are, and I’ll kick their behinds! No one treats my brother like that and gets away with it,” the words flew out of Tom’s mouth. He was angry and wanted revenge.

“That isn’t going to help right now Tom,” Brandi scolded, “what your brother needs is to calm down and then we can make a plan to make sure this is dealt with.” She handed the washcloth to James. Tom relinquished and patted James on the shoulder before leaving, with the words, “Don’t worry, I’ve got your back!” It was a nice gesture since the boys were usually bickering about everything.

James listened to his parents’ advice as they laid out a basic solution to stop the bullying. He knew he must speak up and make the incidence report to his school. The next morning, Brandi would allow James to stay home, and they would call the school to report it. He felt very uneasy about having another run-in with the bullies.

“Johnson Elementary, Donna speaking,” the cheery voice chimed over the phone the next morning.

“Hello Donna, this is Brandi Evans. James will not be coming to school today. Is the Principal available?”

“He’s not available right now, but he can call you in about ten minutes once announcements are done. May I give him a message?”

“Yes, please tell him we need to discuss an incident that James’ teacher called about yesterday.”

“Okay, I’ll give him the message. Tell James we’ll miss him today, and to take care.” Brandi always loved the way Donna handled everything. Always pleasant, always taking care of the students like they were her own.

Brandi poured a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen bar to wait. James was quietly eating his cereal next to her. He was reading trivia questions on the back of the box in front of him.

“Mr. Martin will be calling us soon,” she said. “I’d like you to stay here so Mr. Martin can ask you questions.” James drank the last bit of milk from his bowl. He glanced at her, then back to the box nodding his head.

“I’ll put it on speaker mode, and we’ll share what’s been happening. Your teacher has also told him what she thinks. Maybe you’re not the only one they’ve been bullying.”

Ron strolled into the room, stirred creamer into his coffee, and said, “Good morning, everyone!"

James was surprised to see his dad hadn’t left for work yet. “Hey Dad, are you sick or something?”

“No, I took the day off so I can read cereal boxes with you,” he teased and grabbed it from James.

Brandi’s phone rang lighting up JOHNSON ELEMENTARY on her display. She quickly answered it while initiating a thumbs up gesture to the guys, “Brandi speaking.”

“Hello Mrs. Evans. This is Mr. Martin, and Donna’s message says you want to discuss an incident that James is having here at school?”

“Yes, and James and my husband are on speaker phone also.”

“Perfect,” Mr. Martin agreed, “I’ll jot down some notes during our conversation. James, I want you to know that I care about what has happened, and I appreciate hearing your story. I just need the truth as best as you can tell it.”

James said, “Okay, thanks Mr. Martin.”

James answered a few more questions, and the rest of the conversation went well ending on a satisfying note. The Principal ensured he would be looking at camera footage from Tuesday at the time of the incident to get more facts before calling the other boys. Then, he would enforce the anti-bullying provisions and no-contact policy. James was also to report any further bullying to his parents, teacher, or Mr. Martin, even if it happened outside of school.

That afternoon, James played his soccer game against another fourth-grade team. On the field, you would have never known that he was being bullied. In his element, he was focused on his position and truly enjoyed team competition. Brandi and Ron sat at the sidelines cheering him on and hoping for brighter days ahead. Bullying had hurt someone they loved, and they needed to reveal what James had hidden beneath the surface by having tough conversations with him. With the support of his parents and the school, James would learn from this experience and hopefully become an advocate in the future for anti-bullying in his schools.