Abstract: Mikey
Two boys sat on a black bench in the hallway outside Mr. Price’s office.
They were there because one had pushed the other causing a commotion in the lunch line.
After a few jabs and hurt feelings, Ms. Bethany pushed the boys apart,
and ferried them to the principals office where they sat.
From the outside, these young scrapers looked like normal boys their age,
and the tussle from earlier was nothing extraordinary.
The next day they would stand victorious on the kickball field as teammates,
the lunchtime incident mostly forgotten.
Mr. Price called for the boys and asked them to sit down when they entered.
The principal sported a three piece gray suit with a navy blue tie and matching pocket square,
but his sharp appearance belied his frustration when he asked,”What happened?”
Both boys began to shout over each other,
and Mr. Price massaged his forehead with his hand.
“Stop! You, what’s your name?”
“Me? I’m Ben.
“ And you?
“Mike.”
“Ok, Ben, what happened?”
What happened next was as routine and normal and boring as any parents can testify.
“The other boy started it.”
And, “He hit me first.”
But, of course he did.
Mr. Price had heard this story many times in his career,
and today he did not have the patience to listen to it again.
“I’ve heard enough,” he said as though ready to deliver his verdict.
Mike was stunned, “What about me?”
“I don’t need to hear it. I’ve been principal for a long time and I know what happened.”
“But—”
“Look here Mike, there’s nothing you can say to change my mind. Keep your mouth shut.”
And, Mike kept his mouth shut.
Little did Mr. Price know, Mike always kept his mouth shut.
At home, in school, in church,
and today was one of the rare moments he thought he could speak,
but it was taken away.
Though these two boys looked exactly the same, they would grow up to be very different.
And how could Mr. Price know? That Mikey was like so many other children?
The boy was losing himself in world of people who didn’t understand who he was or what he needed-
And, the simple dismissal of the opportunity to defend himself would be another brick in a wall of self-doubt and unimportance for Mikey.
(Mikey was good lad, but he didn’t believe it.
In time, he’d learn otherwise.)
