Puppet

The gym teacher told us to line up against the wall and I stood between a girl with long blonde hair and pigeon toed feet and a boy who was slightly shorter than me and extremely big for his age. Big in the sense that his mom and dad must have let him eat too many cheeseburgers at McDonald's. The gym teacher had already chosen the captains and one by one, kids were called to either side of the imaginary line that divided us. It got down to just me and the two kids next to me. I got chose first.

"You!" He yelled out. "With the red hair."

I looked at him. "Me?"

He nodded. "Yes."

The captain of the other team glanced over at our team. "I don't want the fat one."

"Well I'm not choosing him." Our captain spat. "Neither one of them can run."

The gym teacher pretended not to notice the conversation that was going on and the two remaining kids stood there with their eyes focused on their shoes, feeling ashamed for something that really wasn't their fault.

Back and forth went the banter until finally the captain of the other team gave up and chose the girl with the pigeon toes.

And the game had started. We were playing kick ball. Which is basically the same thing as baseball instead you use a bigger ball and your foot instead of the bat.

I sat down next to the fat kid and introduced myself. "Hi."

"Hello." He said. "I'm Jimmy."

I nodded at him. "I'm sorry those kids were being so mean to you."

He shrugged. "It's okay. I get called fat all the time."

"That doesn't mean it's okay for them to call you that." I said quietly. "It's not your fault."

He shrugged again. "Yeah, but it doesn't really bother me anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because it will only make it worse. My mom tells me that if I just ignore it, it will go away eventually. They'll get bored of making fun of me one day."

"Well I would never make fun of you."

He looked up at me. "That's really nice of you."

I smiled at him but didn't say anything else. I just didn't think it was fair that somebody should be made fun of for the way they look.

"Hey, fatso!" Our team captain yelled. "It's your turn!"

I looked over at him. "His name is Jimmy."

"I don't care what his name is." He snapped. "I call him fatso."

"You need to stop calling him that."

"I do what I want."

"Oh yeah?" I yelled back, standing up. "Why don't you call him that again and see what happens?"

"Fat-so."

I ran so fast that I didn't even realize I was already on the other side of the fence. I tackled the kid and started hitting him in the face so hard that I couldn't stop myself. It took three other kids and finally the gym teacher, who was talking on her cell phone to stop me.

"What has gotten into you?" She asked me.

"He kept calling Jimmy fat." I said. "I told him to stop and he wouldn't."

"Do you really think that's a reason to hit him?"

"Yes."

"Well it's not. You need to think about what you've done. I'm taking Matt to the nurse and when I get back, you better have an apology ready."

I glared up at the teacher and didn't say another word. The game resumed on without our team captain and I sat in the grass behind the dug out, picking at dirt on my shoes. One of the girls from the other team walked up and looked at me.

"Why did you hit Matt?"

"He was calling Jimmy fat."

"So?"

"So that's not nice."

"Well Jimmy is fat."

"Yeah and you have a big ugly nose!" I yelled. "But do people tell you that all the time?"

Immediately after I had said it, I felt bad. I could see the tears start to fall from her eyes and I got up from where I was sitting and put my arms around her.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly. "That was really mean. But now you know how Jimmy feels. People call him fat all the time and it's not his fault."

"I think you're just a mean person." She yelled, pulling away from me.

I sat back down in the grass and started picking at my shoe again. I knew I was going to be in for it when I got home from school today. I was going to get tattled on again. I was always getting tattled on at school. For doing things all the time.

As I walked out of school that day, I felt like walking home. I felt like walking forever. But Momma was there in the yellow Volvo, waiting for me. Just like every single day. I slowly walked up to the car and got inside.

"Hi Momma."

"You're in trouble, Puppet."

"I know."

"What happened at school today?"

"I hit Matt."

"Why?"

"Because he was making fun of Jimmy and I told him to stop and he wouldn't. So I hit him."

"Do you think that was very nice, Puppet?"

"Well no. But he was making fun of Jimmy, Momma! And that's not very nice at all!"

"I think that Jimmy could have taken care of that himself." She paused. "Every time you get in trouble at school it's because you are trying to fight someone else's battles. You need to stop that. Do you understand me, Puppet?"

"Yes, Momma."

"If I get one more call about you from school, you're going to be home schooled."

"But Momma."

"Not buts about it. I don't care if someone is getting made fun of or beaten up. You keep your nose out of it. It's not of your business what other kids are doing. I want you to worry about you and only you."