The Disappointment Kid (Completed)

9

For me the next few days were an odd mixture of learning to speak my truth and keeping up appearances. I spent every afternoon with Henry and we talked a lot – about the good, the bad and the ugly. I had even made it through a chicken dinner with Henry and his mother without freaking out. 

Don't get me wrong. It was still a terribly uncomfortable situation for me, one I was in no hurry to repeat, but I had made it through, and I was feeling quite proud of myself. I wasn't too proud about the fact that I kept lying about my whereabouts to my parents, though. Deep inside my soul I despised myself for not being strong enough to throw their bigotry right back into their faces by not only doing the right thing, but also by speaking out. At least, I didn't visit my bench so often anymore. But every night before I went to bed, I opened my bedside drawer and checked that my pills were still there. Ironic as that sounds, knowing they were there gave me a sense of security.

A few days after I had been to Henry's house for the first time, Henry arrived at school in the morning with his left arm heavily bandaged. Despite his misgivings, I had started to socialise with Henry at school. Just here and there. People knew we were acquainted but nothing more. When I saw his arm, I went straight over to where he was standing with his friends. When I had asked him why he did not care about being seen with them at school, he had said that he wasn't worried about them because, unlike me, they were big lads and could take care of themselves. No sexism intended, of course. They were big lads in a good and capable way, whereas I was a big girl in a bad and incapable way. Truth, not insult. Besides, they had been friends for years and nothing had ever happened. I, on the other hand, was a new friend and female. Henry was sure that those two little details would put a target on my back. But even after the incident with Henry in which I had actively involved myself, none of the bullies had started to take any kind of interest in me. I was still simply a non-entity. So I wasn't really worried about being seen with Henry in public.

"What happened?" I cried.

Henry turned to me and put his good arm reassuringly over my shoulder.

"Got into a little fight. Nothing broken. Don't worry about it."

I knew that none of Henry's friends knew about his stepfather, and I wasn't about to let this particular cat out of the bag, although I had to bite my tongue pretty hard not to ask.

"We'll talk later, Cat," Henry said, removing his arm from my shoulder. Cat dismissed. But this time I knew he was just trying to protect me.

"Okay, later," I answered before I sauntered back over to my little circle of new friends.

A short while later, my phone buzzed.

Meet my place after school?

I answered quickly.

Can't. Mum doing Home Office today. Need to show my face first. Be there soon as.

Okay :)

* * * * *

After a particularly tense lunch with my mother, I left for Henry's place. My mother had been delighted when I told her that I would be meeting up with Patricia – No nickname's, please, there is always enough time to use a person's full name! – to work on a report for a school project.

"What is the project about?" my mother had asked.

"White supremacist ideology and modern racism," I had countered.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that our schools are addressing this problem these days and are educating the young people in this respect."

I nearly choked on my lettuce leaf.