The teapot whistled, waking Brian from his sleep. Ugh, tea
in the morning. He needed a jolt to wake up, and if he drank tea and coffee he
would be running to the bathroom all day. Brian’s wife said tea was better for
him, so he would take the cup, kiss her goodbye and head to the drive thru for
coffee.
On his way to the office, Brian pondered the heaviness in
the air. There wasn’t a storm on the horizon – just a gray day, like the ones
before it and the ones to come. Maybe it wasn’t the day. Perhaps the gray cloud
hovered just inside Brian’s mind like the memories he couldn’t release.
“Oh, Brian, it’s your turn to read,” the teacher announced
with a smirk.
Brian would stare at the page, “D-d-d-d o-o-o-gz
arrrrraaaahh m-m-m-aaaanz b-b-b-esst friend!” Brian took a deep breath as the
class roared with laughter. He thought he would pee his pants, so he jumped
from his seat and rushed toward the door. Craig stuck out his foot, and Brian
fell to the floor. The sudden collision released his bladder.
“Eeww! Gross!” was all he could hear as he lie on the white tiled
floor unable to move.
Brian reached for his briefcase in the backseat and headed
into the building where he worked the past eight years. He had moved up in the
organization securing a position in management. He liked his job; his colleagues were great. But anytime he
heard people talking and laughing outside his office, he knew for sure, they
were making fun of him.
The same week as the “accident” in class, the freckle faced
girl with the frizzy reddish brown mushroom hair, caught up with Brian on the
walk home.
“They’re all jerks. There’s nothing wrong with stuttering,”
she spat through braces and a lisp. Kelly was a close 2nd to Brian
on the list of kids to bully. He couldn’t fathom how the two of them together
would help matters. So he ignored her, quickened his pace, and abruptly turned
to cross the street.
“Hey, wait! Do you want to go to the dance?” Kelly yelled.
Brian stopped in the middle of Livingston Avenue. He looked at Kelly and
couldn’t pick out one thing about her he liked. He even enjoyed her turns at
being tortured because it meant he got a small, but welcomed break.
“Sure,” he shrugged. Then Brian jumped out of the street just
in time to miss on-coming traffic.
Brian was tripped twice on the dance floor, but the 2nd
time Kelly warned him and he played it off like it was a dance move; Kelly was
shoved into the punch, the large bowl wobbled spilling onto her pink dress but
Brian grabbed her arm before she crash landed into the table; Craig got on the
mic and dedicated a song stuttering every syllable; and kids threw wadded up paper
at Kelley that read “Most Likely to be Ugly.” All in all, it was a successful
night for the two of them. Both had experienced much worse on their own, and
this was the first time either had danced in public.
Kelly now wore a full head of convincing Brazilian weave, the
braces were gone, the freckles were covered flawlessly by cosmetics, and she
only lisped at Brian’s request. Brian stopped stuttering, and they got married
after college. Kelly never mentioned the day Brian peed his pants in class; but
every morning, she offered him tea.