Bullies

Chapter 5: Concussion

Over the next few days the bullying became worse and more sneaky. The boys would knock Dick over, mess with his stuff, verbally abuse him, and just about anything to belittle and destroy the once happy boy. Dick did his best to cover it all up but it became harder to fake happiness when he was actually so miserable. Not to mention those close to him began to notice subtle changes in Dicks behavior including Mrs. Altomare, his father, and Barbara.

In class he was less prone to speaking and asking questions acting almost shy. He was less open with Barbara and didn't seem as excited for recess like usual. Then he didn't seem to want to spend as much time with Bruce and on patrol he stayed more silent than usual, only speaking when needed. So Bruce decided to be the first to investigate taking advantage of some time before dinner to investigate his son's behavior.

It was about five and Bruce had been home for a bit, but knew he needed to talk to Dick and soon if he wanted his happy little bird back. So the millionaire walked over to his sons playroom, where he found Dick just sitting on a ledge quietly looking out the playroom window. This only added to the suspicious activities of his son, making Bruce more determined to find the truth out. He first knocked on the open door to make sure his son knew he was there. Dick turned and then smiled lightly, but that was it no usual enthusiasm or running for a hug. It was as if the boy was disappointed in him, but why.

"Hi daddy?" Dick greeted quietly.

"Hey baby, what are you doing there?" Bruce asked as he then sat next to Dick on the ledge.

"Just watchin outside." Dick responded quickly

"Oh that sounds...fun, but why aren't you playing with your toys little bird? You love play time." Batman suggested .

Dick was silent for a moment and then answered without looking.

"I'm just tired daddy." Duck tried to answer sounding happy, but seemed to fall short of that.

"Oh ok, well is there something else bothering you baby? Something you'd like to talk about with daddy maybe?" Bruce tried to coax as he lifted his son onto his lap.

But no budge was made and Dick pretended to just be tired, hiding his hurt underneath that.

"I'm fine daddy promise, just tired." Dick said as he tried to seem normal and cuddle his daddy's chest, which didn't feel nice as usual as he felt he just distracted his daddy from what was important.

"If you say so, but if there really is anything wrong don't be afraid to tell daddy. I love you and want to help you. But we can talk more about that later let's have some dinner." Bruce said as he scooped up his son but felt Dick be more tense in his arms than usual.

It concerned Bruce greatly, but hoping the problem would reveal itself soon Bruce decided to drop it for the moment. But little did he know how great the consequences of that decision would be.

The next day Dick went to school as usual but before class started Mrs. Altomare pulled him aside.

"Dick are you feeling ok sweetheart, you've been very quiet lately, is something bothering you?" Mrs. Altomare asked with great concern.

Dick looked nervous as he already had lied to his daddy and teacher multiple times and he felt the guilt building inside him. However he knew he couldn't let his problems be that of others he just needed to push on.

"No Mrs. Altomare, I just been havin nightmares a lot so I's very tired." Dick said with his heart pounding.

Mrs. Altomare could sense something was really wrong and that she needed to take action.

"Dick I know this might not be very comfortable but could you have daddy come for a parent teacher conference tomorrow after school?" Mrs. Altomare asked as nicely as possible to not give the impression Dick was in trouble.