Just Hold On

Billy sat outside the classroom, looking down at his little feet dangling off the chair as he swayed them to and fro. He had been the center point of a prank, and the teacher, for some reason, had sent him and the bully outside until she deemed it time for them to come back inside. It might have been because, after the bully had glued Billy to his seat, Billy had torn his pants getting up and everyone could see his underwear. The teacher probably sent him out so the other children wouldn’t laugh at the little race cars frozen in their race.

            The bully, Steven, had a smug look on his face and was red from his laughter. Even after the teacher scolded him he still continued to laugh like a jolly little Santa from Hell. He giggled and asked Billy about his underwear, wondering if his mommy had bought them especially for him. Billy didn’t have a mother anymore, Steven knew this, and continued to laugh. Billy only looked at his shoes and felt his heart start to crack against the pressure.

Luckily, before Steven was able to taunt Billy another time, when Billy was starting to think of taking his chair and whipping it at Steven and yelling at him to shut up, both Steven and Billy’s fathers came in to the hallway where the boys sat. Billy’s father was wearing a crumpled tan suit, his red and white poke a dot tie was slightly askew and his hair was disheveled. He was carrying a plastic bag with some clean clothes for Billy to change into. Steven’s father was wearing a plaid shirt stained with oil from working under the cars, his knuckles were still black and chances are, so were the finger prints on the steering wheel of his car. Both fathers looked at each other and then their children.

“Sorry about this. Steven hasn’t been the same since his mother left us.”

“It’s no problem, Billy is used to kids picking on him since his mom died. For some reason, they just don’t get the concept of someone never coming back.”

“I know what you mean. Steven still thinks his mom is coming back. Look, I’ll pay for the pants. It’s the least I can do.”

“Thanks, man.”

At the end of the day, Billy asked Steven if it was true what his father had said. Steven nodded and said that he didn’t feel as bad about his mom leaving him when he made Billy feel bad about his mom never coming back from the dead. Billy nodded and asked if they could be friends now. Steven nodded and said that would be nice.