Not Sorry

 

This was all Anthony Reed’s fault.

My leg bounces nervously as I sit outside the principal’s office, and I can still taste the metallic tang of blood from my split lip. 

That’s his fault, too. 

But his busted nose and black eye? Well, those are my fault.

I suppose I should feel sorry, but I don’t. 

Not even a little bit. 

It had all started after science class when Coop and I were heading to lunch. Anthony and his idiot friend, Zack, were heading in the opposite direction, and Anthony bumped into Coop. 

“Watch where you’re goin’, Peg-leg,” Anthony hissed. 

Coop lost his leg four years ago when we were ten, and for the most part, nobody ever mentions it. We’ve gone to the same school with the same kids our whole lives, and everyone knows who Coop is and couldn’t care less about the fact that he walks with a prosthetic. 

But Anthony and Company were new. Well, we all were, sort of. Our town has two elementary schools that merge into one big high school. Coop and I came from South Elementary, while Anthony had gone to North. 

“What’d you say?” I said, turning back to face the other boy.

Anthony and Zack took a step towards us as Coop nudged me in the ribs. “Just leave it, Wes,” he murmured.

I half turned to walk away when Anthony grinned and said to Zack, “Hey, Zack, where do kids with only one leg work?”

By now, several other kids had stopped to see what was going on. 

Anna had walked up with Shelby Reese, who put her hand on Coop’s shoulder. “C’mon, Coop, don’t listen to him,” she said. 

“Yeah,” Anna agreed. “He’s just trying to get a rise out of you.”

“It’s working,” I ground out as I glared at the pair.

Zack gave a crooked smile and said, “I don’t know. Where?”

“IHOP!” Anthony, Zack, and a few others started laughing, but my hands were clenched into fists so tightly that my nails were digging painfully into my palms.

I moved forward, but Anna caught my arm. “Wesley, don’t!” She said though she was also glaring daggers at them. “They’re not worth it.” 

I looked down at her. “No, but Coop is.”

“Awe, Wesley, I’m touched,” Coop said, a slow grin spreading across his face. “But we all know that I can come up with a better joke in my sleep.” 

If it were anyone but me that he was aiming that goofy grin at, he might have convinced them that that was the truth. That he was unbothered by the teasing. But I knew him too well. 

Still, I took a deep breath and gave a quick nod. He might be bothered by it, but he could handle a few jabs, and if he wanted me to leave it alone, then I would. 

I turned, and the four of us started walking back down the hall. 

“Oh, by the way, Cooper,” Anthony called out to him. “I’d watch my step if I were you. Wouldn’t wanna get caught out alone again. Those swirlies can be brutal.” 

I looked at Coop to see his entire face darkening. He tugged the hood of his jacket up over his head in an attempt to hide his embarrassment, but the action only caused Anthony and Zack to laugh harder. 

“Coop?”

He glanced at me. “Leave it. Please, Wes. You’ll just make it worse.” 

But I couldn’t. 

I couldn’t just stand there after knowing what Anthony had done, what he had obviously been doing. 

The next thing I knew, I was back at the end of the hall, and my fist connected with Anthony’s nose before he had even had a chance to realize what I was doing. 

There was a silent two seconds before blood began to pour down his face, then he retaliated pretty quickly and got me with a right hook that split my lip instantly.

I didn’t give him a chance to get in a second hit before I tackled him to the ground in a move that might have made Coach proud. 

If it hadn’t been Coach that yanked us apart less than a minute later. 

“Anderson!” He yelled, and then right after, “Reed!”

I looked over at Anthony and noticed his right eye already swelling. 

‘Good,’ I thought. 

“What’s goin’ on here?!” Coach had each of us by the collar, and he gave a none to gentle shake to get our attention when we didn’t immediately answer.

“He started it!” Anthony said, pointing a finger at me. 

“Yeah, and I finished it, too!” I spat back, pushing against Coach’s hand even as he held me firmly away. 

“Wesley!”

I stopped struggling and looked up at Coach. He almost never called me by my first name, and it got my attention. 

“Did you start this?” He asked.

“Yes, sir,” I answered automatically.

“Why?”

“Because he—” Behind him, I could see Coop shaking his head. 

“You’ll just make it worse.” 

I let my gaze fall down and away from them as I took a deep breath and tried to think of what I should do or say. 

“I’m waiting,” Coach said.

I closed my eyes for a moment, and when I opened them, I looked Coach straight in the eyes and lied. “He bumped into me and wouldn’t apologize.”

Coach narrowed his eyes as he glared down at me. “So you hit him?” 

I could tell he didn’t believe me, but I nodded anyway, looking back down to the ground to avoid having to hold his gaze. 

“Is that true?” Coach asked, looking at Anthony now.

“Yes, sir,” he replied. He was holding his shirt against his still bleeding nose, and Coach sighed at the sight of it. 

“Alright,” he let go of us both and then took hold of my arm. “Reed, you go to the nurse, and I’ll be right behind you in a few minutes.”

Anthony nodded once and turned to walk away.

“Wesley, you’re with me. Everyone else, the show’s over. Get to class.”

Coach took me straight to the principal’s office, where I spun the same lame story before Mr. Matthews called my Dad. 

I got sent to wait outside the office, and before I knew it, Dad was standing there in front of me. I stared down at his boots for a long moment before sighing and looking up at him. The disappointment in his eyes was enough to make me want to look away again.

“Is it true?” he asked.

“Dad, I—”

“Did you bust that boy’s nose?” 

“Yes, sir,” I answered honestly. 

The principal came out then, and Dad followed him into his office, leaving me to wait once again. 

It was a few minutes before they came back out, but when they did, Dad jerked his head toward the door in a silent command for me to follow him. Mr. Matthews had already told me that I was suspended for the next three days, so there really wasn’t anything else to say. 

Dad and I walked out to the truck, but instead of getting in, he leaned against the side, near the front fender, and crossed his arms over his chest. 

When he didn’t tell me to get in either, I moved to stand beside him. The metal of the old truck was warm, both from the hot August sun and from the fact that it hadn’t been long since Dad had turned it off. The heat felt good against my back, and I leaned a little more into it as I waited, tucking my hands into the pockets of my jeans. 

“Your principal and Coach are both pretty disappointed in you, kid,” Dad said quietly, then added, “So am I. It’s only the third week of school, and you’re already getting sent home for fighting?” 

“He had it comin’.” I didn’t offer anything else. Coop didn’t want me to say anything to the teachers, but he hadn’t said anything about Dad, and I didn’t know if I should or not. 

“He had it coming?” Dad repeated my words. “Are you listening to yourself, Wesley? You broke that boy’s nose and—” 

I couldn’t help it. I laughed. 

He pushed away from the truck so that he could stand in front of me. 

“Somethin’ funny to you, Son?” Dad’s voice had taken on a hard edge. One that I immediately recognized and usually avoided. 

“No, sir,” I answered. 

Dad sighed. “I’m a little lost here, Wesley, ‘cause I can’t think of a single reason why you would start a fight with a kid who didn’t deserve it.” 

“He did deserve it!” I said sharply, looking up at him.

“Bumping into you is not a reason, and you know it.” Dad pointed his finger at me as he went on, “Now, I don’t know what’s going on with you, but first thing Monday morning, you are gonna find that kid, and you’re gonna give him a sincere apology.” 

“Oh, no, I’m not.” I crossed my arms and stood up straighter. 

“Excuse me?” Dad’s tone dropped lower, but I didn’t back down. “I don’t think you’re in any position to be telling me what you will and won’t be doing, boy.” 

“I’m not sorry, Dad, and I’m not about to pretend that I am just so that I can make nice with that sleazeball, Reed!” I pushed away from the truck and walked a few steps away. 

“Why not?” Dad turned around so that he was still facing me. “You haven’t even told me why you—”

“Because of Coop, okay?!” I could feel the blood rushing past my ears as I yelled the words. I actually yelled at my dad. There was a part of me that figured I must have lost my mind ‘cause there was no way that any sane kid would yell at James Anderson. 

But Dad just stopped then and looked at me with a frown on his face as his eyebrows knit together in the same way that Tommy’s does when he is concentrating hard on something. 

“What about Coop?” he asked, his tone now nearly as soft as I’ve ever heard it. 

Something in me deflated in that moment, and my shoulders sagged. I met his gaze for another second before I sighed and looked away. 

“Wesley?” 

“They’re a bunch of bullies, Dad,” I said quietly. “Anthony and all his friends. They’ve been picking on Coop from day one, and I’m not talking about some joke that Coop can just laugh off. I mean, they’re… they…” 

I let out a frustrated sigh, and Dad moved closer to me. He dropped his hand on my shoulder, and the warmth of it felt as comforting as the heat radiating off the truck. 

“Talk to me, Son. What’re they doing?”

“I don’t even know everything. I think Coop’s been hiding it, but I know they caught him alone yesterday, and… Dad, don’t say anything. Coop doesn’t want anyone to know.” 

“What did they do, Wesley?” Dad asked sternly. 

I could feel my own cheeks heating in embarrassment for my best friend. “They held his head in the toilet and gave him a swirly. And today, they threatened to do it again if they caught him alone. That’s why I hit him, Dad. I swear. I couldn’t just stand there, and Coop doesn’t want anyone to know! It’ll just make things worse.” 

I could see Dad’s jaw clenching when I said the words. “Get in the truck.”

“Dad?”

“Get in the truck, Wesley. I’m gonna figure this out, but right now, we’re goin’ home.” 

I sighed but did as I was told. 

When Dad got in, he started it but didn’t move to put it in gear. Instead, he sat there staring out the windshield for a long time before he said, “I was wrong before, Wesley. I should have known that you wouldn’t start a fight for no reason, and I should have listened to you. I’m sorry that I didn’t.” 

I didn’t know what to say. I was so stunned that I just nodded before reaching up to put my seat belt on. 

Once we were out of the school parking lot and onto the main highway, I asked hopefully, “Any chance this means I’m not in trouble?”

He grinned. “You’re not in trouble.” 

Wonders never cease.