In Georgetown
Justin awoke Saturday with the vague feeling that it was not going to be a good day, but he didn’t know why. His mood remained subdued as he climbed out of bed and rummaged through a pile of clothes at the foot of his bed for some jeans. As he stood up to pull them on his aimless glance landed on the strange book he’d borrowed from his friend the evening before. At the sight of the book his late night resolution to tell his parents about the dilemma first thing this morning came rushing back to him. The bad mood that had been hovering over him settled decisively.
Justin took much longer than usual to finish dressing and brushing his teeth. He even washed his face and combed his hair, details he usually enjoyed omitting on Saturdays. When he finally came downstairs and into the kitchen he was glad to see Shannon’s empty cereal bowl in front of her chair. He hadn’t heard her upstairs, and she hadn’t been in the living room or family room when he came through, so she was probably already out, and involved in something with one of her friends. Justin hadn’t relished her presence at this discussion. She would have been extremely comforting, but she might have over-reacted at the same time, an odd combination of emotions he’d noticed that she and her friends were capable of showing each other, that still baffled him a little. He sighed in relief knowing it would be just him and his parents, and proceeded to mechanically pour himself a bowl of cereal and milk. His dad was looking at a newspaper and his mom was browsing a cookbook on the counter and humming. He stared absentmindedly into his bowl as he considered how to begin what he had to say.
Justin didn’t realize that his dad had stopped reading and was watching him until he heard him say, “You might have better luck with that cereal if you had a spoon.”
“Oh, uh, right, sure,” Justin stammered, getting up and going to the silverware drawer.
His mom had stopped humming and looked up curiously at his dad’s comment. Now she studied Justin’s troubled face and asked, “Justin, what’s wrong, sweetie?”
They were both waiting. This was what he had planned to do. So there was nothing to do but go ahead. “Well, I guess I need to tell you guys about something that’s been going on at basketball camp.”
“What is it?” his mom asked. Her mood had completely changed and, he could hear the concern in her tone.
“Well, it’s nothing big, just some guys trying to bully some of the other players,” Justin replied trying to sound casual and matter of fact.
His parents weren’t fooled. “And are you one of these other players that they are trying to bully?” his dad inquired firmly.
“Well, sort of. I haven’t actually had a real run in with them yet like Ernie and Matt. But I’m on their list.” Justin answered.
“All right, Justin, let’s have the whole story. What’s been going on?” his dad demanded quietly and very calmly. Mr. Greene was a man who rarely ever lost his temper, but still he commanded respect and accountability from his family, seemingly without effort. Justin had wondered before why it was like that. He could only figure that because his dad always treated them with honesty and decency, they showed him the same without question. He took a deep breath and told them about the whole ordeal. He didn’t try to rush or explain it away or make excuses. He’d learned over the years that only meant going back over things again, slowly and clearly, until his parents were satisfied that they understood correctly. In a way he appreciated that about his parents. They didn’t jump to conclusions or fly off the handle with punishments like some of his friends’ parents. But in a way it drove him crazy too, when he didn’t want them to know something at all, and yet they had to have every excruciating detail.
The kitchen was quiet for a moment when he finished talking. Then his dad took a deep breath as he stared at the table. His mom was the first to speak. Addressing his dad she said, “Well, do you think they should tell the coach about this? Most of it is happening right there in the gym during camp.”
“They’ve got no proof. And the coach is already concerned about Matt’s black eye. If they all go whining to him about bullies he may start to think they’d be a pain to have on the team.”
Justin avoided his mothers eyes and shot his dad a hopeful glance as he said, “That’s what I told the guys. We have to handle this ourselves.”
“I don’t know what you mean by ‘handle’, Justin, but I don’t think the situation requires you to take any action right now. It seems to me that you three are in the uncomfortable position of handling these nuisances as they arise.
“But dad, I just know that they’re a little scared since the run in with Matt. Otherwise why would they mess with our bags next, instead of facing us again? If we go after them now without hesitating we have the advantage. And they are so wrong. Someone needs to take them down. They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this. It’s just wrong.”
“Lots of things are wrong, Justin,” answered his dad in an even, unemotional tone. “But that doesn’t mean you get to make them right. And, anyway, do you want to put yourself in the place of judge?”
Justin didn’t know how to answer, but then his dad didn’t actually expect him to. Justin didn’t know what conclusion his dad wanted him to come to, but that wasn’t what he cared about anyway. All he wanted was to make Brandon and Todd pay, to put them in their places. At any rate there didn’t seem to be any more to say right now. He sat down and began to eat his cereal, and in a couple of moments conversation in the kitchen had turned to other topics and the atmosphere seemed normal again around Justin. Inside him it was still very dark. He was glad his parents hadn’t overreacted but his problem was still the same, and after the conversation with his parents he just wanted to get his mind off it for a while. He settled in the family room and watched cartoons until lunchtime.
After giving his brain the morning off, and eating two left over burritos and a bowl of ice cream for lunch, Justin was again up to the task of planning a solution to their problem. He called Ernie and Matt and asked if they wanted to practice. In twenty minutes they were at Matt’s house, Justin and Matt running some of the drills in the driveway, while Ernie relaxed on the parked riding mower and reread an article in his latest issue of Popular Mechanix.
After they had practiced until Justin and Matt were winded, Justin broached the subject again with his friends. “Well, guys, I told my parents about our situation this morning.”
Ernie became all ears, immediately lowering his magazine and asking, “So what happened? What did they say?”
Matt too showed instant interest. “Are you in trouble?”
“No. They were pretty calm about it, but they aren’t going to be thrilled when we have to handle this. That’s when they’ll come down on me, but it’ll be taken care of by then, and I’ll just have to take my medicine.”
“But what if they don’t let you on the team?” Ernie inquired thoughtfully.
Justin had never thought of that. He’d imagined severe grounding, which would be no fun at all, but the thought had never occurred to him that they might actually not allow him to play basketball. He was silent for a moment considering this. When he spoke again his voice was a bit subdued but still very serious. “I don’t think they’d go that hard on me. I really don’t. And, anyway, my dad said he didn’t think we needed to do anything right now, but he didn’t actually come right out and tell me not to. So if it comes down to defending our actions, how you tell it can go a long way.”
“I don’t know, Justin. Your dad may not have actually said not to do anything, but I think, we kind of know what he meant,” said Matt in his quiet, matter-of -fact way.
“Yeah, I agree with Matt, Justin. If we have to watch how we tell something that’s just not being entirely honest. And isn’t that just one way of lying?” added Ernie.
“Listen, you two, I’m taking as big a risk as you, and I’m not even the one that got punched in the eye or humiliated in front of a gym full of guys. Now, we can tell it straight or tell it crooked afterward, I don’t really care, but it’s time to bring these jerks down. They’re the ones who are wrong here. We’re right. And somebody’s got to stand up and deal with guys like this or there’s no justice in the world. They just keep on getting away with it. Somebody’s got to call them on it and set things right, and it may not be a fun job, but it’s got to be done, or we just crawl away with our tails between our legs. And I hope you’re not forgetting that they may not go away after five more days. They may end up on the team with us, and then we’ve got them to deal with all the time, and how we handle them now may have a lot to do with what we have to handle then.”
“Well, that may be true, but we’ve got the weekend to think about it and even though you’re ready to act, I don’t think you have a concrete plan, do you?” Matt observed.
“I think it starts with getting them alone and telling them we’re not putting up with it anymore. Then it’s their move, and we back up our position with whatever action is necessary.”
“Well, I still think it sounds very risky for you two,” Ernie spoke up. “I mean I’d be more upset if I made the team than if I didn’t, but you guys want to make it, and trouble like this could cause either your parents or the coach to keep you off the team.”
In the end Matt and Ernie convinced Justin that they’d seriously consider his point of view by Monday morning, if he would in turn give some thought to what they had said, so that all three returned home less content than when they had met.
