Chapter Five
Honey tried to get through to Victoria over the next few weeks but met up with an unbreakable wall of resistance. To prove her seriousness in combating the bullying they saw all the time, she’d decided to press charges against Tansy Bitmore. Unfortunately, because Tansy was a minor, and it was her first offense, the system stepped in, and predictably, she got off on a misdemeanor.
The little witch was out on the streets without spending any time in a detention center at all. Her family retained an expensive defense lawyer, and her punishment was a $50 fine… a joke.
Having his hands tied by the school trustees, the principal, Fred Snowdon, had to allow Tansy back to class, which further complicated everything. Honey had no doubt that once the bully reappeared, the intimidation would never let up for Victoria. As much as she tried to keep her eyes on things, word leaked out that the gang had again caught the poor girl. Only this time she’d ended up in the hospital.
“Honey, wait up.” Melanie ran to catch up with her before she got into her car. She arrived huffing and puffing and winded so badly, she had to bend over to breathe. Honey smiled at her big-breasted friend who hated to run. Looking put out and red-faced by the time she recovered, her voice nevertheless sounded almost tender. “Sweetheart, I hate to have to give you this news, but Victoria tried to kill herself last night. Fred just stopped by the lunchroom to share the update.”
Honey instantly felt limp… as if her muscles had been attacked by a strange virus, leaving her weak and so very sad.
“What’s that now?”
“It’s true. Seems like her parents finally cornered her about her situation, and when she admitted what Tansy and her friends had done, Victoria’s father drove to the Bitmore house in a rage. He raised such a ruckus, the police had to be called. They arrested him before he could lay a beating on Tansy’s old man. Guess Victoria felt such immense blame for his reaction… the kid went into the bathroom and cut her wrists.”
“Oh, no. The poor girl. To be driven to such extremes.”
“Yeah. Her dad’s home now, but he’s been charged with harassment and assault and once again… Tansy’s got away scot free. It just pisses me off to hear about injustices like that.”
Honey nodded, turning away so her tears wouldn’t be seen. “I knew she was fragile. I should have done more.”
Melanie put her arms around Honey from behind and leaned her head on Honey’s shoulder. “Don’t cry, sweetie. You did everything you could. Hell, you even took the case to court against the school’s wishes and the immoral system let her off. It’s like there’s no common sense left in the world. The poor victim is the one who loses yet again.”
Honey forced herself to stop showing her grief… to save it until she was alone. No one knew better than her how worked up Melanie could get on the subject of the government and their laws. Her friend was a protester at heart and took every chance she could to slam the system and rant against corruption.
Over the next few days, Honey weeded out the students she knew were most involved in this sick behavior. Getting the assistance of the other teachers who were able to add more names to her list, she requested both the perpetrators and their known victims come to a meeting she held in the school’s gym.
With Fred’s help, they planned this day carefully, getting Detective Lansdale from her mother’s case to assist. Glad to help, he brought in beat cops who worked the streets. Between the adults, they set up a graphic PowerPoint slideshow that got right to the root of the problem. It portrayed actual footage of those weaker and more sensitive kids being horribly beaten and left crying… alone and hurt while the offenders strutted away with a false pride in their victory.
They showed how the action could start and what to expect from the disgusting behavior on both sides of the issue. By the end of the meeting, Honey saw a lot of guilty expressions turn to self-disgust and even tears. Faced with what their behavior meant, many agreed to sign up to a special class offered through the police department to help those who wanted more information. The victims accepted their role and many also agreed to the class.
But the one person Honey hoped might see the error of her ways had walked out halfway through, taking only one of her cohorts with her. Yet one of the three girls stayed. After the class, she approached Honey, her face devastated by what she’d learned.
“Miss Bolder, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, Sandra. Anything.” Honey kept her voice from showing any kind of condemnation. The kids who wanted help sure as hell wouldn’t agree to anything if they felt dissed.
“I know you recognize me from when you stepped into the fight we had with Victoria that day.”
Honey stared her down until Sandra changed her statement. “Right. The PowerPoint said it’s important for us to accept our behavior for what it really is.”
“Yes. That’s what they recommend.”
Sandra’s eyes filled and her lip trembled. “Then there was no fight. We attacked and beat her up… bullied her. I helped. But so you know, I hated every minute of it.”
“Then why did you let yourself be involved?”
“I didn’t let myself.”
“Yet you did.”
Sandra’s stiff shoulders sagged. “You’re right. I did.”
“Because?”
“Because I…”
While Honey waited for the girl to accept responsibility, she reached for Sandra’s hand and held it gently.
“Because I was terrified that if I didn’t, they’d turn on me, and I couldn’t stand it.”
“Guess it was easier to turn on others and save yourself.”
“Pretty much. Now I regret it.”
“So like the pictures showed, you were a victim too, just in a different way. It’s when you feel like you have no choice – do as you’re told or else, that’s what they referred to as an accomplice. And the law holds those people just as responsible. You have to take responsibility for those actions.”
Sandra’s face crumbled and her hands covered the tears. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to do now. And I’m terrified Tansy will be after me for not leaving with her today.”
“Okay, look. I counted about a dozen of you that are in this situation. Let’s go talk with the others and see if we can form groups. If you can all hang out with each other for the next few days, school will be over for the summer. Try and make new friends with them and form a committee like the police said they’d help you set up. One person can’t go it alone but there’s safety in numbers.”
As an act of defiance, Sandra whipped her hair over her shoulder and nodded. “It’s true. We never picked on those who had a lot of friends.”
“See? You guys just need to stick together. Look out for others who might feel as isolated as you did.”
“You mean stop the bullies.”
“If you can. Reach out. See if there’s more like you who feel intimidated to follow.”
“Okay. And I’m going to go to the classes they offered.”
“That’s my girl.” Honey reached to give the girl a hug and felt shocked at how tightly Sandra clung, how needy she seemed for the touch of a friend. Then she held out her phone. “Here’s my personal number, Sandra. You can always call me – day or night. Okay?”
“Okay. Miss Bolder, thanks.”
“Hey, off of school property, you can call me Honey.” She caught the grin of acknowledgement from Sandra, and they smiled at each other in total understanding.