Basketball and Bullies. T. K. Valentic
Dedication
Dedication
To the men in my life:
As always, to my true love, Paul, and to my beloved son, Dustin
to my brothers:
Arthur (who is no wimp), John, Thomas Jason (TJ) and Tony
And to my Dad, Arthur Sr.
I love you all!
Chapter One
"Hey, Freak! You spilled something on your face." Chad Morgan, the Morristown Middle School bully smirked sweeping Arthur Smith's homework onto the floor with a swipe of his hand. Arthur sighed and slid out of his desk bending over to pick everything up.
Standing up again, Arthur pulled his curly red hair over his face to cover the purple-colored birthmark that started at his neck and ended below his left eye. He hid his birthmark with his hair whenever he could. Arthur hated how he looked, but there wasn't much to be done about it.
The start-of-class bell rang and Ms. Bartlett, history teacher extraordinaire, swept into the room. "Arthur Smith! Why are you always out of your seat? And get your hair out of... Oh, nevermind, just sit down!" Nervous giggles filled the room. "That's enough out of the rest of you," she barked.
In the back of the room, Lisa Farley hid behind her book feeling guilty. If she said anything to help Arthur, Chad would turn on her instead, so she kept quiet.
"Chad is such a jerk!" Lisa's best friend Alexia whispered. "Just because his Dad owns the shoe factory, he thinks he's the bomb."
"Shush, Alexia," Besty, Lisa's other best friend hissed.
"Quiet, please. Open your books to last night's reading assignment; page one hundred and sixty." Ms. Bartlett scanned the room with eagle eyes honing in on Chad who was pretending to read his book. "Mr. Martin, from your reading last night, tell me why the railroads expanded so quickly after the Civil War?"
Chad looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Um...because trains look cool?"
Someone in the back of the room tittered, and Chad's face turned a fine shade of crimson.
"Is that what you read?" Ms. Bartlett asked mildly, "I think not." She turned and examined the faces in the rest of the class. "Let's try someone else. Someone who did read the assignment last night." Several students tentatively raised their hands, but Ms. Bartlett ignored them calling on Arthur instead. "Mr. Smith, how about you?"
Arthur had not raised his hand; he never raised his hand. He tried to remain invisible so that no one would comment on how he looked. Besides, people were often uncomfortable looking straight at him, but not Ms. Bartlett. She called on him regularly and looked him straight in the eye, as if, she didn't see the birthmark at all. In spite of himself, he liked Ms. Bartlett. Unlike the rest of the teachers, Chad was not teacher's pet in her class. Ms. Bartlett didn't seem to care who Chad's father was.
Arthur said, "The railroads expanded after the Civil War because they were a quick way to transport people, goods, and mail. Rail travel was much faster than the horses and carriages that had been previously used."
"Good answer, Mr. Smith," Ms. Bartlett said smiling. She asked a few more questions and then went on to her lecture for the day.
The end-of-period bell rang, and Ms. Bartlett wrote down the homework assignment and left the room. The students gathered up their books and papers and began filing out of the room.
"Dirty Freak!" Chad spat out as he passed by Arthur's desk and once again used his arm to sweep Arthur's books to the floor.
"Seriously Chad, again?" Jake Green groaned. "Leave the poor guy alone. He's not done anything to you. Besides, you're blocking the aisle."
Chad laughed and gave Jake the middle finger. Jake sighed and dropped to one knee. He began to help Arthur pick up the scattered books and papers.
"I'm sorry," Arthur mumbled his head hung low.
"Why are you apologizing. You didn't do anything," Jake said. "Chad is the one with issues. You should stand up to him. I would have busted him in the mouth by now."
Arthur just hung his head.
"Well...anyways, see you tomorrow," Jake said feeling sorry for embarrassing Arthur.
Arthur watched Jake leave. He was embarrassed, but there was not much he could do except take it. So, just like every other day, Arthur went to his locker and waited. He knew if he stayed after school long enough he'd miss Chad and his two buddies who inevitably waited just a block beyond the school yard to harass him and the younger kids on their way home.
Arthur opened his locker. The door inside was covered in numbers. He took out a piece of chalk and marked off the number 1262. Another disastrous day was done. There were only 1261 days of school left, 1980 if he went to college.
Chapter Two
Lisa and Betsy watched Alexia empty and then repack her backpack in front of her hall locker.
"Do you like it?" Alexia asked, shrugging the backpack over her shoulder. It was new, powder-blue, and matched her eyes.
"It’s you," Betsy said. "It's real nice, but hurry up! The goon squad is already out there. Just walk fast and don’t look at them. Maybe they will leave us alone for once," Lisa interrupted looking anxiously down the hall.
"When we go by, don’t turn around, no matter what Chad or Wyatt says," Alexia added.
As the girls expected, Chad, Wyatt, and Stan were riding their skateboards up and down the street right where the girls needed to walk.
"Don’t look at them and walk fast," Lisa reminded her friends.
"Hey! It’s the Beastie Babies!" Chad yelled laughing maniacally.
"Just keep walking," Lisa muttered.
"And why are they beastly? Because they look, like animals!" Chad sang. He and Wyatt made barnyard sounds as they strutted up and down the sidewalk. Stan stood off to one side looking uncomfortable and slightly shame-faced.
"Jerk!" Betsy muttered.
"What did you say?" Chad asked. "Thunder Thighs! You got something to say to me?" he challenged.
"Leave her alone!" Lisa snapped pulling Betsy behind her.
"And now Rabbit Face and the Troll are taking up for the fat kid," Chad informed his friends.
"This is boring. Let's go find something more interesting to do," Stan said.
"Just go!" Lisa said to her friends. The girls took off at a run and by the time they reached the end of the block, they were out of breath.
"Why are they so mean?" Betsy asked tearfully.
"They are just stupid bullies," Lisa said. "You are not fat!" Lisa knew that Betsy was sensitive about her weight. Lisa thought Betsy looked beautiful. She wasn't stick-thin, but she certainly wasn't fat.
"Come on! Let’s go!" Stan repeated to Chad.
"Not yet. There’s the freak! We can't miss the Freak!" Wyatt said excitedly pointing over to the school steps just as Arthur started down them.
Arthur immediately spotted Chad and his friends across the street. Apparently, he hadn't waited long enough for them to leave.
"Hey, it’s the Abominable Freak!"
Arthur sighed, there was no way to get around them. He would have to go past them and endure their abuse.
"Mr. Smith!"
Arthur turned and saw Ms. Bartlett halfway out the door, trying to handle three large satchels of books and papers.
"Could you help me get these to the car?" she asked as he opened the door wider to allow her to get outside.
"Sure,"