All too soon, it seemed, school started again. Paddy and Randy walked to school together.

"It’s too bad Cindy can’t walk with us," Paddy remarked.

"Why can’t she?" Randy wondered.

"She’s too far away," Paddy said. "I think one of her parents drives her."

As they reached the school grounds, Randy recognized the hard-faced blonde girl who’d mocked him so cruelly last year.

"Hey, Wolfy!" she called. "I see you’ve found a playmate. What made you want to play with Pissing’ Paddy?"

Paddy’s eyes flashed, but Randy forestalled his retort with a quick look.

"There’s room in the playpen for three," he said to the girl.

"What d’you mean?" she demanded. "I’m not playing with babies. Who wants to be changing diapees?"

"Who said anything about changing them? You’ll be wearing them if you’re not careful," Randy warned.

"Oh yeah?" the girl challenged. "Who’s goona make me?"

"Mum," answered Randy simply, "I’ll have her talk to your Mum, like I did to Ralph."

"You can’t scare me, Baby!" the girl sneered, and marched off.

"Don’t be so sure!" Randy called after her.

Paddy giggled.

"Do you think she’ll believe you?" he asked.

"I don’t know," Randy admitted, "but I hope she gets caught. I’d like to see her in diapers, with no pants."

Both boys laughed. Randy, of course, was approaching the age when boys begin to take an interest in girls.

"I bet she’d look cute with a big bum," Paddy whispered.

Just then, a brunette woman in a business suit came up, followed by a boy of about ten. Randy guessed at once that this must be the one Ralph had been teasing. He was about the same height as Paddy and had dark hair like his mother’s. His gait was a bit jerky, and his blue shirt was stretched tightly over his swollen belly.

"Let’s ask these boys," his mother said as she passed Randy and Paddy.

The strange boy shied as she turned toward them.

"Please," she asked, "Where do we go to sign up new students?"

"You need to talk to Mr. Goldman," Randy answered. "We’ll take you to his office."

"Thank you, dears," the woman said, smiling. "I’m Mrs. Oliver, and this is my son, Darwin."

Darwin held out a trembling hand to Randy and Paddy.

"Hi," he said in a husky voice. "I have CP. Please don’t laugh at me."

"What’s CP?" Paddy asked.

"Cerebral Palsy," Mrs. Oliver answered. "That’s why he has trouble walking."

"Is it painful?" Paddy asked as they headed for the building.

"No," Darwin said, "but it makes it hard to play. If I fall down, I can’t get up by myself. And kids always laugh at me because of my stomach. They call me Fatty or Piggy."

"He’s not overweight," Mrs. Oliver put in. "He only looks that way because he has trouble holding his stomach in. My husband has the same problem. He was injured in a car crash when he was 20, and his abdominal muscles were paralyzed."

They parted ways at the door to the main office. As Randy headed for his classroom, (seventh graders were at the far end of the building), Ralph caught up with him. He wasn’t wearing diapers. Randy had all he could do to keep from remarking that he’d "finally grown up". Ralph, however, must have read his mind.

"I still have to wear them at home," he said irritably. "Mum says I have to do it for the rest of the month."

"I met the boy you were teasing," Randy told him.

"Doesn’t he look weird?" Ralph asked.

"No," answered Randy firmly. "He can’t help the way he looks or moves, and calling him names won’t change anything."

Ralph scowled.

"But it’s true," he insisted. "He’s—"

"Don’t say anything," Randy warned, "or I’ll tell your mum. And I still have those pictures of you."

Ralph paled. He was about to speak when their teacher, Mrs. Franklin, appeared. She was a tall, slim woman with a pleasant, but stern face. Randy was sure she would be one of those strict ones, a stander of no nonsense. Ralph wouldn’t get far trying anything in her class.

The students filed in to the classroom, and Mrs. Franklin called the roll. Once that was completed, she held up a seating plan.

"If anyone would like to move before I pass this around," she said, "Please do so now. Once you fill in the name box, that’s where you stay unless I state otherwise."

Randy glanced around the room. Ralph and the hard-faced blond sat side by side. He was sure this would mean trouble. Mrs. Franklin apparently sensed problems too, for she gave the girl a sharp look, and asked her to trade places with the girl on her left. Randy felt relieved. At least now they couldn’t swap secret plots.

Grace picked Randy up after school that day. It was only a half day, and her shift at the hospital finished around the same time. Randy told her about Ralph and his friend.

"Those two should be in separate classes," Grace said, frowning. "What’s the girl’s name?"

"I think it’s Margaret," Randy answered. "I don’t like her. She always talks to me like I don’t understand normal English."

"You mean baby talk?" Grace asked as she maneuvered out of the school parking lot.

"Sometimes," Randy said. "She never calls me anything but Wolfy or Baby, and if she gets close enough, she tries to pat my bum."

"How rude!" Grace exclaimed. "No manners whatsoever!"

"What do you think they’ll do if they catch Darwin?" Randy wondered.

"Who’s Darwin?"

Randy explained.

"The Olivers must be the new neighbours Mrs. Brinckman mentioned," Grace said. "It sounds as if he’d be at a real disadvantage if Ralph’s lot caught him. If only kids weren’t so cruel!"

Randy was right in suspecting that Mrs. Franklin would be strict. She was. Nobody in her class was allowed to speak without raising a hand, and then only after she acknowledged them. Her assignments always kept them busy, making it impossible to plot mischief. Randy soon noticed that Ralph was beginning to look more and more irritable. Mrs. Franklin must have heard something of his behaviour, for she kept a particularly close eye on him. When they did group exercises, she was careful never to place him and the blond girl in the same group. He kept shooting nasty looks at Randy as though blaming him for this turn of events.

Things went fairly well until about mid October. One chilly Wednesday, Randy, having just changed his diaper, was crossing the playground when he heard a scuffling somewhere nearby. Seconds later, Ralph’s voice rang out.

"Hey, Piggy! Let’s see you do the robot dance!"

"What’re you talking about?" came Darwin’s unmistakable voice. "I don’t dance."

"Or would you rather do the belly dance?" Ralph asked as if he hadn’t heard. "You’re the perfect figure for it. You just need a-----"

"Ralph!" Randy shouted furiously, "How dare you!"

Ralph spun around. "Spoil sport!" he spat. "You’ve wrecked our----"

At that moment, Paddy came hurrying toward them, leading Cindy by the hand.

"You’re gonna get it!" he shouted at Ralph.

"Get what?" Ralph demanded.

Before anyone could answer, the buzzer sounded.

"You wait till your mum hears about this!" Randy called.

When Randy came home for lunch, Grace saw at once that something was wrong. The boy’s face was pale with anger, and his eyes smouldered.

"Is it Ralph?" she asked.

Randy nodded and recounted what he’d heard.

"Did he hurt Darwin?" Grace asked.

"I didn’t see," Randy replied. "I hope not. I wish I could smack him!"

"I’ll phone Mrs. Brinckman and tell her," Grace promised. "This is becoming unacceptable."

When Randy returned to school, the first thing he saw was Darwin, sitting on the grass near the fence.

"What happened?" he asked. "Has Ralph’s gang been after you?"

"Someone tripped me," Darwin answered. "Two kids kept asking if one of my grandparents was a pig. I told them not to be so rude. Then a red-head said he’d show me who was boss and pushed me over."

"That was Ralph," Randy said. "He’s always trying to make fun of Paddy and me because of our diapers."

"How can I stop him?" Darwin asked. "I can’t get up now, and when I told him that, he said I’d have to crawl in. Then he ran off with a blond girl and left me here."

Randy pulled Darwin to his feet and brushed the grass from his pants.

"Come on," he said. "The buzzer’s about to go."