New Place

[When I was eleven]

It has already been a few months since I and my mother moved out of the village. My mother wanted to move as far away from my father as possible, but our financial situation dictated that 'far' means thirty kilometers at best.

The nearest town to our former village. My mother pawned all her jewelry in a bank and got some money.

We managed to rent a similar house to that of in the village and she got busy.

To get a job, school admission for me and to make this new house a home. She didn't have any prior experience in these things and had an extremely hard time. But she also had less time to spend with me. The first month, I pretty much spent myself alone. Sometimes, I waited for my mom's return late into the night.

She managed to get a job and then school admission that month. This school is a completely different school from my previous one.

Here, I don't have to wear the shoes that come with the uniform, instead, I can wear my regular sandals, I don't have to tuck my shirt in, there is no need for a tie, all I have to do is wear this white shirt and blue pants and go to school.

Like many public schools in India, this one also doesn't have any benches in the classrooms.

At least at the time of my joining. There are not many restrictions in school. As long as they are not in class they can swear as much as they want.

At that age, I learned all kinds of swear words my native language has to offer.

Many students skipped classes and went home in recess. They didn't even have to jump the wall or hide from security. Nobody gave a fuck.

For the first time in my 11 years of life, I saw the type of kids that I didn't know existed.

I was a person who grew up with so-called good manners and that made me feel like a little puppy left in wild with a bunch of predators.

The rest of the students didn't fail to notice that they are the predators and took full advantage of that.

They observed me for a few days. I could feel that. After my first mid-term they finally stopped the observation. They directly came at me and friction started.

I am the guy who got the best grades in the whole class right after I was labeled weird and annoying a month ago.

They are annoyed because I kicked their asses even though I joined late.

But I kicked theirs in a figurative sense, while they did mine in a literal sense.

Though, I didn't mind that. After all, how can fellow eleven-year-old kids could hit harder than my Dad? I am very used to taking my dad's beating. But I figured I shouldn't let them beat me up like that.

So, I decided to tell my mother about it. But when I looked at her exhausted face after a long day at work, I hesitated. I didn't want to disturb her.

Now once again, Sunny and Sam appeared. Sunny as a good boy, has one suggestion.

"Tell your mother and the teachers. That is the right thing to do."

Sam has a different take.

"You are bigger than them. Beat them back up."

Me being the good boy I am, picked the first option. It takes less effort and less trouble. So, I told my mother.

"What did you do to them to beat you up like that?"

That is the first question that she asked. I didn't reply. Because I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do because, at that moment, I found my loving mother's face completely unfamiliar.

Her face is full of unfamiliarity which I later found out to be loathing. I didn't know why she looked at me like that. After all, a few days ago, she is caring and loving.

But she still visited the school the next day and asked the teacher about the matter and when the teacher stayed silent, she told her a bit harshly to take care of me.

My teacher looked at me with disgust after my mother left. It was as if I stole her livelihood.

When we went to class, she asked all the students, if I was really getting beat up, but no one answered.

I looked at them in surprise and confusion. I am sure that I am not the only one getting beat up by these guys, but no one is going against them.

Much less directly going against it, nobody is even saying the truth about his matter.

And the teacher and my mother turned on me. They said I am a crying wolf and the teacher added another remark that made my mother angrier.

"It must be the lack of attention from the parents. It is natural for the children to act this way."

My mother who turned into a single mother recently got so angry, that she dragged me home and yelled at me like crazy and there is one word that struck me.

"Liar."

I truthfully complained about my problem to my mother and she called me a liar many times and I felt lost. I wanted to defend myself, but even without Sam and Sunny's help, I figured it was a bad idea.

There is no way I was going to add fuel to the fire and increase my mother's anger.

I gloomily went into the hall and finished my homework, went to sleep. The next day when I went to school, every student from my class is looking at me like I was an animal in the zoo.

The four bullies pulled me out of the class during recess and beat the crap out of me. The rest of the students are covering for them that day and I understood why they didn't have my back.

I was the outsider in the class. The rest of the class are all together for at least two to three years and I am the new guy. Even if they are bullies there is no way they are going to snitch on one of their own because of an outsider.

After the beating I took, I was once again conflicted with different thoughts.

Sunny and Sam once again appeared. What should I do to avoid this extra beating?

Sunny once again had the same thoughts.

'Go to the teacher.'

Sam also held on to his previous opinion. 'Beat them up.'

I don't know if my complaints would be addressed this time. But I sure as hell knew I would feel better if I beat them up.

So, I did exactly that. During lunch break when they grabbed me to beat me up again, I started to retaliate. I punched as hard as I can and kicked as much as I can. I gave them headbutts and bit their arms. I was like a rabid dog.

When I was done with it though, I came to realize I was in trouble.

The fight caused too much commotion as the underdog retaliated. Too many people saw it and the teacher had to come and separate us. To my dismay, someone important was in school. So the teacher took it seriously and a call was made to my mother.