Day 2: Elementary School (30 Days of Days)

Sorry I'm so late in getting this out; I decided to squeeze my workout in.

Day 2: A day in Otken Elementary School (K, 1st, and 2nd grades)


At Otken Elementary, the end of the school day was exciting and stressful at the same time.  It was exciting because you got to go home and share with your parents the wealth (or lack) of things that you learned.

But for me, it was also stressful because I had a cousin who I sensed didn't really like me.  I wasn't sure whether it was because I was smarter than her, although she was older.  Perhaps it was because my facial features were a bit nicer on the eyes.  Maybe she mistook my quietness for being stuck up.

Whatever the case, she went out of her way to make my life miserable.

For creative purposes, I will dub her The Debbil.

When the bell would ring for class to be over, I would try my best to head out the door first.  This wasn't hard because I tended to sit in the front of class.  A lot of people would make me out to be a teacher's pet, but there was strategy to my seating.

First, I was able to see the board better, since some teachers wrote tinier than others.  Also, if I needed to go to the bathroom, then it made my exit quicker.

In this case, it made my scurry have more purpose at the end of the day.

Heading out the door first meant I could beat a lot of the crowd that was outside.

Most of the time, the bus would be out there waiting, and if the door was open, then I could go ahead and sit in there until the bus driver arrived.  By the time, the Debbil and her cronies would arrive, the bus would be too full for them to start any stuff.  Also, then the bus driver would have gotten there.

One particular day, my luck ran out.

I got on and was about to breathe a sigh of relief when I heard footsteps.  At first, I thought it was the bus driver since I hadn't got a chance to put my bookbag down and get seated.

Then, I looked up, and it was the Debbil, staring at me with her beady eyes.

"Well, if it ain't ugly face!"

She had to attack something since she couldn't win wits with me in the brains department.

"You think you so slick, always sneaking on the bus before us!  Now who's the slick one?"

The cronies began to cackle.  I did what I would normally do.  My grandma didn't want me fighting.  She always told me to behave in school.  So I tried to ignore them.

I made myself silent, going into the process of shutting down.  I put my head down.  I braced myself for the violence--the tug on my pigtails, the punches, the shoves, leading to the stealing of a little extra money my grandma would give me, just in case I wanted a little snack or had to use the pay phone in the event of an emergency.

But none of that came.

"I'm not going to take your money.  In fact, I have a surprise for you!"

I dared to look up, but she was still smiling.  Should I even hope there would be a break from the torture?

I got my answer when each crony grabbed my arms.  They were the same age as the Debbil, bigger and stronger than me.  Then, I saw the Debbil grab a clear sack out of her bookbag, filled with different items.

"I'm going to give your ugly face a makeover!" she squealed and before I knew it big dollops of pink were placed on my face.

I twisted and kicked--one of the kicks landed on her inner thigh.  She winced in pain.  In response, she bit my neck.  I yelled in pain--her teeth felt blade sharp.

Then she took a black pencil and made ovals around my eyes, followed by taking out a tube of bright red lipstick and placing it on my lips, missing the outline entirely.  She was about to finish her artistic masterpiece with the blue eye shadow when she heard voices coming closer and closer to the bus.

The cronies let go of me as other kids starting getting on the bus.  I sat up.  All the kids got a good look at my face and burst out with laughter.  The laughter became louder and louder.  I lowered my face and covered my ears.  I began screaming, but the screams just blended in with all the laughing.

It felt like forever before the bus driver arrived.

"What's going on here?"

Everyone got quiet.  The cronies and the Debbil took a little bit too long to stop chuckling.

"What did YOU do?"

Then she looked over at me, crouched inward.  I had stopped screaming but I was trembling.

"Monica?"

I looked up and the bus driver's eyes reflected sadness.  She grabbed my hand and led me off the bus.  The tears I had tried to hold in spilled forth.  Most believed they were sad tears but I was burning to the brim with anger.

As we walked off the bus, she told me, "I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner."

As a result of that, the Debbil and the cronies did get suspended.

May couldn't arrive fast enough that year because that meant the Debbil and the cronies got to go to another school, since they would be advancing to the 3rd grade.

I believe this, along with my mother's leaving, planted the seeds of my distrust for females, especially those in my family.  I got the message that all they did was cause pain and they were never truthful.  Back then, I felt my grandma was the only exception to the rule.

Day 2--that's a wrap.

Peace.