Anonymous


Views: 438 Created: 2007.10.03 Updated: 2007.10.03

Curiosity Kills the Brat

Part 3

Mitch

Mr. Parker went back to answering questions about our math homework. Since I didn’t have my paper any more, I looked around the room. Whenever I made eye contact with someone they either looked away or snickered. Larry was red in the face and looked really mad. I wondered if he blamed me for the thicker diapers he was now wearing. For the next activity, Mr. Parker said we could group into pairs to study for the vocabulary and spelling test he was giving us in fifteen minutes. I didn’t expect anyone to want to sit with me so I was surprised when Les asked. We actually didn’t use much of the time to study.

“Did Mrs. Pitton keep you in her office the whole time?”

I hesitated for a second before deciding to tell him most of the truth about Cynthia and going to Mrs. Keller’s office. Naturally, I didn’t tell him that I had cried or that Mrs. Keller had changed my diaper.

“So that’s how everyone found out so fast,” he said.

“I told you she was a blabbermouth,” I said ruefully.

“Yeah,” he agreed.

I think he wanted to ask me something else but changed his mind. We quizzed each other on our vocabulary words for the remaining few minutes. The test ended just as the recess bell rang. I hesitated about what to do. The glares I got from my friends clearly signaled that they didn’t want me around them. There didn’t seem to be any point in going out to the yard (where most of the kids went) so I decided to go to the lunchroom where there was juice and milk for sale (and not a lot kids). I was drinking an orange juice when all of a sudden someone slapped me on the behind, causing my diaper and plastic pants to make a loud noise. I turned around quickly but there were several kids running away and I couldn’t tell who had done it. Everybody else was shrieking with laughter.

“I’ll get you for this!” I screeched.

This brought more laughter from everyone.

*****

Larry

I went home happy that Mitch had finally gotten his own back. Not even his so-called friends would have anything to do with him. We met up in the hallway once when he was coming back from Mrs. Keller’s office. I pretended not to see him just like he pretends not to see me. The only thing that annoyed me all day was that Les was nice to Mitch in class. I guess it was a payback for letting him copy his homework.

Things continued the same way for Mitch over the next couple of days. He was constantly teased and nobody wanted to be seen with him. I noticed that Les was still being nice to Mitch in subtle unobvious kinds of ways. I have to think of a way to make him stop. Mitch doesn’t deserve anybody’s sympathy. In fact, I think I’ve got a plan to make things even worse for him outside of school.

*****

Mitch

Things are terrible. The teasing at school has gotten worse. On Monday, everybody tried to get into the act after somebody slapped me on the butt during recess. There was no way I could stop them. It was always the same thing. A bunch of kids would surround me. If I put my hands behind me, someone would lift the front of my t-shirt to see the top of my plastic pants. When I tried to get my shirt back down, someone would slap me on the butt and lift up my shirt in back. One time they even got the whole shirt off me and I had to chase two kids around to get it back. Of course, this was done while there were no teachers around. I’m really afraid that one of these times they’re going to take my pants.

I’ve continued getting to school really early. That way I can stake out a place where I know teachers will be. I hate it, though. It makes me feel like such a baby.

*****

Larry

My plan is all finished. People at school don’t know why he’s in diapers so I’m going to let everyone know that it’s a punishment for stealing from me and not for a medical reason. Here’s how I’m going to do it. Everybody has always said that Mitch and I look alike. I experimented with combing my hair down over my forehead like he does and I found out that I do look like him more than I thought. There is a little store a couple of blocks from his house where his mom sometimes sends him to buy stuff like milk and bread. I’m going to make myself look like Mitch and walk in wearing just a diaper and plastic pants when I know that one of our classmates is inside. I’m going to act really embarrassed and confess that I’m in diapers because I stole some from ‘my cousin.’ Then, I’ll run out crying. This is really going to humiliate him! He’ll never be able to deny what happened.

I talked to my friend Les about it, hoping that he would give me a hand.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” he asked.

“What?”

“It won’t really be Mitch without his pants on, it’ll be you. What if you get recognized? Your voices aren’t exactly alike, you know.”

“I know that!” I answered irritably. “But ‘Mitch’ is going to be in a panic and whoever sees him is going to be so surprised they won’t notice. I can imitate him pretty good.”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Mitch is going to know that it was you. Aren’t you afraid of what he’ll do to get even? I’m still in trouble at home for copying his math homework. I don’t want to get involved in this.”

I gave up on him and asked my friend Aaron. Aaron has hated Mitch ever since the first grade when Mitch made fun of him for still wearing training pants.

“Yeah, sure! I’ll do it,” he agreed instantly. “When do we start?”

We met early Saturday afternoon near the store. I led us to some bushes by the roadside.

“We can hide here and scout out things. As soon as we see our chance I’ll go inside.”

I took off my shirt. Aaron helped me comb my hair to look like Mitch’s. It took about a half hour before we spotted one of our classmates. It was a guy named Peter. Unfortunately, he kept on walking past the store. About twenty minutes later we spotted Kevin. He had been a friend of Mitch’s for a while but something must have happened because they stopped talking to each other even before Mitch got put into diapers. As soon as he went into the store, I took off my pants and handed them to Aaron. He looked at me really funny.

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know that your diapers were so thick.”

I got really embarrassed but figured that my red face would help me be convincing. I stepped out from the bushes and nearly turned back To keep my courage up, I repeated in my head ‘Mitch is walking up the road in his diapers’ until I got in front of the store when I changed it to ‘Mitch is walking into Hallin’s Store in his diapers.’ I walked down the aisle where Kevin was looking at magazines and pretended to be discovered.

“Aaak!” I yelped, trying to cover my plastic pants with my hands.

“Mitch!” he exclaimed.

“It’s not what you think,” I croaked. “My mom is making me do this. It’s my punishment for stealing diapers from Larry and then wearing them.”

“You stole diapers and wore them!” he exclaimed again.

“No! I mean, yes! I mean…”

At this point I covered my face as if I was crying and ran out of the store. I ran back to the bushes congratulating myself all the way. Mitch was never going to live this down! I got to the bushes and pushed my way through. Aaron had scratches on his face and his clothes were all dusty.

“What happened to you?” I asked.

“Mitch!” he answered breathlessly. “Right after you left I heard someone coming back through the bushes. I thought it was you… that maybe something had gone wrong or that you’d changed your mind. Anyway, before I could do anything, Mitch jumped me and threw me to the ground. He grabbed your clothes and was gone before I could get up. I went out to chase him but he had disappeared. I looked up and down the road but he was gone.”

“Gone!” I said. “How could he have been gone?”

“I don’t know,” Aaron said in frustration. “All I know is he was gone! I’m getting out of here. Mitch is vicious. I don’t anything to do with him.”

“Wait! You can’t go! My clothes! What am I going to do to get home?”

I stuck my head out from the bushes. Aaron was already a half a block away, running up the road as fast as he could. My heart was beating so fast I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I was shaking like a leaf. What was I going to do? I tried breaking off branches from the bushes to make camouflage. That was stupid. I had no way to hold the branches together and it was obvious that I was practically naked underneath. I sat on the ground trying to think. My house was almost a mile away. It was the middle of a beautiful Saturday afternoon. People were everywhere. I’d have to wait until dark and try to sneak into the house to get some clothes. My mom and dad would really be mad about my being gone so long. I settled in for a long wait (at least six hours, I thought). There was a grassy area nearby so I moved there and sat down. In a little while, I felt tired and laid down. I was awoken by a loud radio. I think it came from someone stopped in front of the store.

“We are repeating this bulletin every fifteen minutes in cooperation with the police who are searching for the missing twelve year old boy. His name is Lawrence Michael Angeliou.”

I jumped up to listen.

“He was reported missing three hours ago. He is of slightly below average height and weight—measuring 4 feet 10 inches and weighing 92 pounds. He was last seen near Andover Road and Willow Hills Avenue, wearing a blue t-shirt with a soccer logo, tan-colored pants, and dark gray cross trainers. An extensive search is underway. If you have seen this boy or observed any suspicious activity this afternoon, please call…”

Holy crap! Was I ever in big trouble! My parents were going to kill me for this. I sat back down. Suddenly, I saw my way out. I could say that some guy grabbed me and threw me in the back of a van. He made me take off my shirt and pants and threw them out the window so that I couldn’t escape. He forced me into the basement of a house where he locked me up. I heard him drive away and that’s when I managed to break a cellar window and crawl out. I started walking and that’s when I noticed that I was near uncle Bill and aunt Brenda’s—the place I ran to. I started smearing dirt all over me to make my story seem good. I also took some of the branches I had broken off earlier and scratched up my arms and legs with them.

“Uncle Bill! Aunt Brenda!” I screamed frantically as I banged on their front door.

It opened up and I literally fell into my aunt Brenda’s arms. It didn’t take much for me to start crying because I was genuinely afraid of what my parents would do if they found out what I had really been up to.

“Larry!” she exclaimed. “Thank God! Your mom and dad are so worried! Bill call Loretta and Ron right away.”

My uncle Bill and Mitch had come running into the living room. Mitch had a completely incredulous look on his face. My uncle Bill got on the phone and my parents and the police arrived in minutes. My aunt Brenda had wanted to clean me off but my uncle Bill thought that the police should see exactly how I looked when I arrived. My mom and dad hugged and kissed me. They and my uncle and aunt had tears in their eyes. Mitch continued looking at me suspiciously. The police started to question me right away. They wanted a lot more detail than I was prepared for. I got confused and started to say contradictory things about how the man looked. I needed time to think so I said that my diaper was really beginning to bother me and could I go change. My mom came with me. She also washed my scratches and put cream on them. The police started questioning me again and I got all confused again. Eventually, the police asked to speak to my parents alone. When my mom and dad came back they looked kind of confused, and maybe even unhappy.

“Are you sure that you’re telling us exactly what happened today?” my dad asked.

“Yes!” I insisted.

“OK,” he agreed. “Let me tell you what the problem is. The police have gone over every square inch of the road where you say the man forced you into the van. There are no tire marks anywhere and your shirt and pants are nowhere to be found. Also, the police have done a house-to-house search all along the road where you say the man took you. They can’t find a single broken cellar window anywhere. Are you sure that’s where he took you?”

“I don’t know,” I backtracked. “I was scared. Maybe it was somewhere else.”

“There’s something else,” my mom said. “Your description of the man. You’ve changed it three times. At first you said he had long blond hair, then you said he had short blond hair, and, the last time you were asked, you said his hair was dark.”

“You’re going to be really mad,” I said, finally cracking.

“Tell us what happened,” my dad said.

I told them everything, except Aaron’s name. Mitch had gone up to him sometime earlier and he was called down. He corroborated everything I had said. He also refused to name Aaron.

“We are so sorry, officers,” my parents and Mitch’s parents said for about the tenth time.

“Yes, I understand,” the lead officer replied. “At least things didn’t go too far. Let’s just say that your boys were responsible for giving us a good workout on missing children procedures. However, they may have to appear before the county prosecutor to answer for falsely reporting a crime.”

I didn’t know if he was serious or not, but it worked. I was scared silly at the idea of going to jail.

*****

Mitch

I should have told my mom and dad about Larry hiding in the bushes by the store as soon as I found out that aunt Loretta and uncle Bill were going to report him missing. But, I didn’t want anyone to know that I had beaten up on Aaron and stolen Larry’s clothes. I guess it was stupid to think that I could keep it a secret. As soon as the police left, Larry and I were sent up to my room. We didn’t say anything at first.

“Les told you, didn’t he?” Larry asked.

I had promised Les that I wouldn’t tell, so I didn’t say anything.

“It had to be him,” Larry insisted.

“If you’re so sure then why ask me?”

This ended our conversation for a half hour.

“What do you think our parents are talking about?” Larry asked.

I almost answered something sarcastic but I figured our parents would be all over us if we stared fighting.

“I don’t know. Us, I guess.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I bet we’re going to be grounded all summer, and vacation hasn’t even started yet!”

I sighed in agreement. That’s what I thought would happen, too.

“Why did you try to make people think that I walked around in public in just diapers?” I asked.

“Because the teasing you’re getting at school isn’t enough!” he answered hotly. “You made fun of me publicly for years. I was just trying to pay you back!” he said, tears pooling in his eyes.

“ I guess you’re right,” I said, obviously surprising him.

“You do?” he gasped.

“Yeah, all this week I’ve been miserable. I hate these diapers and I hate the way people treat me. I guess I understand now.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really,” I said.

In a way it felt good and in another way it felt funny when he came over and gave me a big hug. Whatever. It felt good enough for me to hug him back.

*****

Larry

By Sunday morning our parents had figured everything out, including Les and Aaron’s involvement. I didn’t understand how they had done it. Mitch and I swore to each other that we hadn’t breathed a word to anybody. My parents and I were at Mitch’s house when Aaron, Les, and their parents showed up. The first order of business was for Aaron and Les to apologize to me. We then were told to stay in the den while the adults went out to the patio. In very short order we understood how they had pieced everything together. Aaron’s mom knew that he and I had gone out together. She didn’t hear the report of my being missing until later that night when the radio reported that I had been found. She grilled Aaron about the time we had spent together until he confessed that he had abandoned me in the bushes. Les was reluctant to say how his parents found out about his involvement. Eventually, he admitted shamefacedly that he had messed up—without thinking, he had blurted out that Mitch and I both had tried to get him to help us outfox the other one.

“They’ve been out there a whole hour,” Aaron observed. “Isn’t there some way to find out what they’re talking about?”

“Not a chance,” Mitch answered. “I took a peek a little while ago and my dad and my uncle Ron are sitting facing the patio door. They’ll see us for sure if we move even an inch out of this room.”

“Have you guys found out what you’re getting as a punishment,” Les wondered.

“We think we’re going to be grounded all summer,” I answered for both of us.

“Bummer,” Les commiserated.

“How about you guys?” Mitch asked in turn.

“I don’t know. Grounding, too, I guess,” Les answered.

“At least that much for me,” Aaron added sadly. “My mom and dad are really mad.”

There wasn’t much else to say as we waited.

“Boys,” my uncle Bill said, “we’ve talked everything through pretty carefully. It certainly seems like you guys have become quite the schemers… plotting against one another, disrespecting one another, and God knows what else.”

By this time, we were all looking guiltily at the ground.

“Yes,” Aaron’s mom agreed. “Abandoning a friend in trouble is awful.”

“Just as awful as abusing a friendship by asking someone to do something unethical,” Les’s mom added. (I guess she was referring to his asking to copy my math homework.)

“So, considering all these things, we think that you boys need is a common experience,” Aaron’s dad said.

“A common experience?” Aaron asked nervously. “What does that mean?”

“Well,” his dad continued, “it seems to us that your rivalries and jealousies stem from not understanding each other. So, it seems obvious that it would be beneficial if you knew each other better, and to do that you need to spend time together—like all summer, for example.”

“What does that mean?” Aaron asked again.

“That you’re going to be grounded as a group, so to speak. We’ll figure out the details later but it means that you will spend every day of the summer together.”

“And that’s not all,” Les’s dad said.

“Listen to this, Aaron. It applies to you, too.” Aaron’s dad interrupted.

“You will be put into diapers, too, as punishment for your involvement in tricking Larry.”

“What?” Les and Aaron exclaimed together.

“That’s right,” Aaron’s mom agreed. “And you should complain the least about it… leaving Larry stranded in the bushes in nothing but his diaper… really!” she added indignantly.

It happened very fast. They were hauled away and returned diapered in under fifteen minutes. They were obviously upset and trying to hold back tears.

“What about school?” Aaron asked.

“What about it?” his dad answered.

They didn’t sob out loud but they couldn’t stop tears from rolling down their cheeks, either.