How Green Becomes Wood

Dark watched Xander carefully and then turned back to look at Bernice, jaw set, "Bernice." He said in an amicable tone which was in no way amicable, "Did any of the faculty here attempt to figure out what transpired before sending all of these boys to your office?"

"Mr. Dark, you worked here for eleven years. You know as well as I do it is not feasible to get all of the facts when tensions are still high, of course they were sent to my office first." Bernice replied, matching his gaze.

"Very well," He conceeded, "but surely once they were here, you would have enquired about their involvement before figuring out which parents needed to be called."

"I had been told they had all been in a fight," She replied, "My job was to figure out what happened so I know who is at fault and which punishments need to be distributed."

Gradually, Dark leaned forward, pressing the tips of his tattooed fingers together, "Certainly, that would include figuring out of any of them had nothing to do with it."

"It seemed likely they all had been involved---"

"It seemed likely."

"Yes."

"Have you looked at the security camera footage yet?"

"I--"

"Have you looked at it yet."

Bernice swallowed, noticing something in him she hadn't seen before in all of the years when she was his boss, "Not yet, I was getting their side of the story before I looked."

"I would very much like to see the footage, Ma'am, if I may." He told her, not looking at anyone else in the room, "I believe, and others may agree, it will be a better starting place than relying on first-hand accounts."
 
"Eyewitness accounts are never reliable," Lex agreed solidly. "I'd like to see that footage, too, if you please. And I want to know what exactly happened to my boy."

The other parents muttered their agreements, nodding with varying degrees of emphasis, though a couple were stealing nervous glances at Dark.

Xander glanced sidelong at Dark, deeply and thoroughly impressed though he did try not to show it too much. It felt... really, really good to have someone on his side like this.
 
Dark did not take his eyes off of Bernice as she left the conference room to get her laptop. There was no part of him who doubted that Xander was telling the truth. While they waited for her to return, he said nothing, sitting tall and proud, eyebrows slightly furrowed and his gaze stern.

Soon, Bernice came back into the conference room and hooked her laptop to the projector screen so they could all easily see the footage, and she hit play.
 
At first, it was just the usual scene of teens hurrying to get to class in time, and as the hallway cleared, Ned and Mike were left loitering at their lockers, slowly putting books away and getting some out. It was clear when they spotted something, their body language changing. Toby came onto the screen seconds later carrying one of his skateboards, and the two footballers closed their lockers before facing Toby. Toby slowed, and as the three circled, the two footballer's expressions were mostly concealed, but Toby's open, smiling face was clear. There was a time of talking, and Toby willingly put down his skateboard, showing it off excitedly. The two footballers nodded, and Ned got on. And then Mike got on it. Toby was nodding along, and everything looked fine. Then Ned got on the board with Mike while Toby looked suddenly shocked and very worried. The pair jumped, and the board cracked in three places. Toby's anguish came through clear on the screen as he tried to shove the footballers aside so he could get to his board. The footballers shoved back, laughing. Toby tried to fight back, but it was clear he had no idea how to really fight. All he wanted to do was get his board back.

Austin came hurrying onto the scene then and pushed the footballers away from Toby. They stood together exchanging heated words, but the footballers were hanging back. One kicked the board disdainfully. Then, right on cue, Micky and Jud showed up. They stood on Toby's side, exchanging words with Mike and Ned. Then they were shoving and hitting each other wildly. Toby grabbed his board pieces in one arm and managed to land a pretty good smack on Ned, but then it was a free-for-all among the boys.

Xander appeared around the corner checking his phone. His phone flew out of his hand as Micky fell into him, and Xander shoved the other boy off, his surprise clear. The wad of flailing flesh rolled toward him, and he had no choice but to try to fend the others off.
 
Bernice was silent after the tape finished playing, but sure exactly how to respond to what they had seen without causing mayhem in the small room.

"Right." Dark said first, smoldering in ways only Xander would really be able to see, "So we know what happened, now."
 
"I had nothing to do with any of this," Xander repeated, his tone flat but only slightly annoyed. Honestly, he was too busy being relieved that for once his innocence was proven fact! Not that he was often innocent, but the times he had been, no one had believed him. Now they did. Vindication! Then he glanced at Toby, and some of that satisfaction faded.

Lex put a hand on Toby's shoulder. "Is that your board from Grind for Life?" At his tiny nod, she hissed sympathetically and pulled him into a one-armed hug. Still holding Toby, she turned her eyes toward the two boys and their parents. Dark's eyes smoldered. Hers flamed. "Right."

Ned's mother recovered first. "Skateboards are not even supposed to be allowed in school, are they? And they are very dangerous, so maybe it's a good thing, but, Ned, you still should not have broken someone else's toy like that," she scolded. "That was highly inconsiderate."

"Ned, I am very disappointed in you. You will buy that young man a new board with your allowance!" Ned's father stated.

"This was a prize won in a competition in Florida. You can't buy that!" Lex snapped. "Is that seriously all you're going to say about that? Any of you? 'Shame on you, buy him a new board?' Seriously?" She stopped talking, clenching her teeth together as she clearly wanted to do a lot more than scold the parents.

Mike's mother spoke up. "It wasn't a good thing, but they're just boys. They'll grow out of it, I'm sure."

"Those boys are older than some people who were drafted in wars! They're old enough to drive and hold jobs! They are old enough to know to behave better than that!" Lex nearly shouted.
 
"Bernice," Dark said directly, cutting through the high emotions in the room, "I believe my son should be allowed to go back to class, as he clearly had absolutely nothing to do with this."

She had been attempting to calm the rest of the room, but turned briefly to say, "Yes, of course, Xander you are free to go. The secretary will write you a hallpass."

Arms still crossed, Dark raised one finger, "No," he flicked it towards Xander, "Apologize."

After a period of prolonged eye contact, Bernice's shoulders dropped, "I am sorry for wrongfully accusing you of being involved in this, you may return to class."

Dark turned and gave a brief nod to Xander, but then looked back at Bernice, "What are you going to do about the rest of it?"

"What do you mean, Mr. Dark?" Bernice asked, realizing nervously Dark did not intend to hurry away after exonerating his son.

"The rampant bullying problem at this school."

"We have a zero tolerance policy for violence, you know that, you worked---"

"Yes, I worked here for eleven years," He cut her off, voice firm but steady, "and my question is how are these kids meant to defend themselves if the school never has their back? I do not condone violence, but that," He pointed towards the paused screen, "is what happens when nothing is done, and I know, and you know, nothing has ever been done."
 
"Thanks," Xander said quietly, a little surprised at the apology. He waited for Dark's nod and then slipped out. He waited for the secretary to write his pass, and then he went to look for his phone. Hopefully, no one had spotted and snagged it yet.

"Please, Mr. Dark," Ned's father snorted, "there's no need to get all white-knightish about this."

"You can't say that, it's racist," his wife whispered harshly.

He waved her away impatiently. "Whatever the correct term is. This bullying is nothing compared to what I went through in school. It's just boys! Let them be boys before they have to settle in for the real world."

"I don't remember it being that bad when I was in school," Micky's father frowned. "We got a little rough sometimes and played pranks, but we never deliberately broke anything, and we always knew when a prank went too far. It happened, but it wasn't a good thing."

Mike's mother checked her watch. "I don't see why we are here at all. If the school wants to do something, fine. During the school hours, that boy is not my problem, he's theirs."

"Wow," Lex drawled. "Just wow." She looked at Dark. "Eleven years and you manage not to sock anyone?"
 
Dark held up one finger, "We can save the discussion on racism for when I am not the only person of colour in this room," he held up a second, "Just because you may have experienced something worse does not invalidate the struggles of others. Suffering is not a competiton." He held up a third, "If caring about the health, safety, and well being of every child at this school is a character flaw then for the first time I am proud to be flawed."

Bernice looked at Mike's mother, "Respectfully, Ma'am, it is your problem, as all of these boys are facing suspension due to their actions today. We cannot allow violence in this school."

Dark turned his hand over and tapped one finger against the tabletop, "The violence will continue until something is done about the cause of it."

"When you phrase it like that, it sounds almost like a threat," Bernice commented, although she definitely knew it was not and was not accusing him of threatening her.

"No, Sayida, it is a prophecy."

"Your son was free to go," Bernice said tiredly, "Surely your role in this is ended."

He looked at her, "He still attends this school, both of my sons attend this school. I know what they have experienced at the hands of other students, I know what their friends have experienced, and I have seen what students I have no relation to have experienced. What happens, if you would ever leave your office to see, which I have expressed to you many times, is you suspend everyone involved in the fight, regardless of if they were defending themselves or not. All children involved suffer, because they are missing their education. If the instigators are sent to a cruel home, as many are," He turned to the other parents, "Understand, I am not placing accusations regarding the state of your homes, I am speaking from eleven years of experience, I have watched the cycle of abuse play out, so I am speaking of the general student, not any of these boys in particular," He turned back to Bernice, "They return to school angry, because they spent the past week being harmed in some way, and they take it out on the only person they can, and the cycle continues. Or," Again he turned to the parents, "I am still not accusing you," and back to Bernice, "They return home where there is no punishments for their actions, received a lovely break from school, and they do not feel there is a need to stop what they are doing, as they did not face any real consequences. And the cycle continues. And we," He gestured to all of them, "Are pulled away from our important meetings, our clients, our work, and our other obligations. Again. And again. And again. And nothing is fixed, or solved, and we have children who are afraid to go to school, which is meant to be a safe place, and a place of learning, because if they fight back, they risk punishments equivalent to if they began the fight. And those children with the correct instincts," He looked for a moment at Micky and Jud, "to defend those being harmed, are punished too. And I have been saying this for over a decade."
 
For a moment, no one spoke, staring at Dark in surprise. They hadn't expected the silent mountain to speak so eloquently. Austin's mother looked saddened yet oddly relieved as she glanced toward the screen again. Jud's mother looked confused, as did Micky's dad.

"I didn't think it was this bad," Mike's mother said quietly. She glanced at him. "What has been going on that you think this is okay?"

"Nothing's been going on!" Mike protested. "He's just blowing a lot of hot air! Seriously, this whole thing is stupid! We were just playing around, and you guys," he pointed at Micky and Jud, "used to be just fine with it! It was your idea to flush that one kid's glasses!"

"What?" Jud's mother demanded sharply, rounding on him.

Jud flushed guiltily and looked ready to defend himself, but he hesitated, glancing from Toby to Dark. "Yeah," he finally mumbled. "That was my idea."

"See! Why should we get yelled at when they're getting off the hook?" Mike demanded. "Ever since that dude showed up," Austin got the point now, "everything's been thrown out of whack!"

"Come on, leave Austin out of it!" Micky protested. "You're just jealous after he said it wasn't cool to make fun of dead parents."

"What?" demanded Ned's mother, a pink flush coming to her cheeks.

"Now, hang on!" Ned's father interrupted, holding up his hands. "Everyone, calm down!" He leaned on his elbows and tried to fix Dark with a serious look. "Mr. Dark, I can assure you that at least two of us here have very good homes, and while I have not personally visited the other two, these boys have been friends since way back. They are not spoiled or tortured. There is no reason for them to be acting like this, no reason at all, in their home lifes. Maybe you should be looking at your own self since you are the only one with a problem here. Not even the principal thinks this is an issue."

"Excuse me?" Lex snapped. "I'd say I have a very big problem with this!"
 
Dark looked back at Ned's father, unflinching, "Maybe not, but what have you done regarding this?" I can assure you, I look inwards plenty." He gave a respectful nod to Lex to acknowledge her input.

"I do have a problem with bullying," Bernice argued sternly. "But only so much can be done at school."
 
Lex folded her arms and glared. "And what, exactly, is that 'only so much' that can be done? From what I've seen so far, the only thing this school does is some mild scolding and suspending people. I don't see the teachers doing a lot, and I can't say I blame them when it seems nobody has their backs, either. So! What can you do about it besides blindly suspending everyone, including kids that aren't even involved?"
 
"If the parents do nothing to affect their behavior at home, then what are we expected to do here?" Bernice asked, exasperated, "This is a place of learning, not a babysitters. What do you expect us to do? We have hundreds of children at this school, we cannot be expected to fix everything."

Dark looked at her, "We have parents believing their children's behavior is not their responsibility while their child is at school and we have schools thinking the children's behavior is not their responsibility either, so we are stuck in a death-spiral. Has nothing portended this? And you are still refusing to admit a factor in this."

"The school earns a significant portion of its funding through the football team." Bernice admitted flatly, knowing if she didn't, he'd force her to say it anyway.
 
Lex threw up her hands. "Of course it does! If it's not one specific academic that holds all the sway, it's the sport team."

"Are you saying that sports aren't important?" Ned's father demanded, glaring at her.

Lex matched him glare for glare. "I'm saying no one aspect should be more important than anything else, and that even if you are bringing in a ton of dough through the team, then the team should be held at a higher accountability, not lower! Your boys are running through this school like they own it, and kids who haven't done nothing to earn it get trampled. Literally!"

"Your Grammer tells me you weren't one of the ones in the academic portion of the school," Ned's father snorted.

Lex showed him her teeth. "Toby didn't learn his pacifism from me, I'll give you that much warning, but I'll let you off this time since we're attempting to say violence is bad."
 
"Lex," Dark said under his breath, trying to reign her in without embarrassing her. "Again, I believe this is a discussion we can have without insulting one another. If we are attempting to have a discussion about bullying, proceeding to fall back on ad hominem attacks is not going to teach the right lesson to the teenagers in this room. The fact is, there are no easy solutions to the problem, and it is not exclusively limited to the people in this room. But we need to look for a solution if we do not want this continue."

"And what do you suggest?" Bernice asked, "What do any of you suggest?"

"I believe suspending victims teaches the wrong lesson," Dark said simply, "and I believe our students belong in school. All students."
 
"As much as I want to agree," Lex said through gritted teeth, "I think suspension should be kept on the table. For repeat troublemakers or those that are a danger to themselves and others. But it shouldn't be the only thing. And if we can't punish the..." she looked at Ned's father, "rowdy boys who don't know limitations, then maybe you should do some kind of positive reinforcement for the good kids." She indicated Jud and Micky. "These two are part of the mob that torment the kids around here. For whatever reason, they changed their minds. They're making good choices. So's Austin there. I think you should do something to enforce good behavior."

"And how is that going to be any different from giving preference to sports players like you were just complaining about?" Jud's mother demanded.

"I didn't say it was perfect, but at least I'm offering a suggestion," Lex pointed out. "A suggestion other than the violence I severely want to do to the kids who've been hurting my boy and the parents refusing to take any responsibility for it."

"And you are threatening us!" she snapped.

Lex shrugged. "When a mother bear's cubs are messed with, she gets in a threatening mood."
 
"We should not be threatening anyone, Ms. Sims," Bernice said firmly, not finding Lex's explanation sufficient.

Dark looked at the teenagers, all still sitting in the room, "What proportion of the school, in your estimations, have been victims of bullying? I am not asking for you to incriminate yourselves. I am not asking for names of victims or perpetrators. But broadly, as students here, how prevalent do you believe the problem is here?"

"Mr. Dark..." Bernice said slowly.

"If we are keeping them in the room, surely we should include them and not only talk about them," Dark replied.
 
"At least it gets them to take this seriously," Lex remarked, but she sat back with one arm around Toby to watch Dark. She wanted to know the answer, too.

Ned and Mike scoffed and shook their heads. "Come on, it's not that bad. Victims? Seriously? It's not like we're a bunch of serial killers."

Micky and Jud shrugged and mumbled, their eyes looking anywhere but at Dark or their parents. They were trying to start doing better, but they were new at it, and their wills were weak. To speak up now meant going against their friends. "Selling them out." This was their first time facing something other than the frustration of their former friends, and they were about to cave in the wrong direction.

Mike's mother looked at him sternly. "Mike. This is serious. Can you answer his question?"

Mike looked away and shrugged awkwardly.

Then Austin's mother leaned close to him and spoke softly, one hand on his shoulder. Austin gave a slight nod and looked up hesitantly. "I don't mean to be a snitch, sir," he said cautiously, "but, um, seeing as I'm new here and don't have a lot of friends, anyway, I guess it won't hurt much if I speak up." He cleared his throat and shifted his weight, the chair creaking under him. "The bullying is pretty bad here, sir. I kind of started to join a little at first because... I was new and..." He stopped with a shrug. "They went a lot farther with stuff than I was willing to. Not all the time, but it's constant. Sometimes it's not the football team. Sometimes it's others, but most of the time it's the team. Six guys in particular. The others usually don't unless they're in the group."

"That is the testimony of one boy, one who admittedly has something to gain if the others get into trouble," Jud's mother said sternly. "No one else here is speaking up. Not even the so-called victim."

Lex's eyes narrowed, but she managed to hold her tongue. For now.

Jud took a deep breath and started to speak up, but a sharp look from his mother silenced him. He glanced toward Dark repeatedly, wanting to speak, but his mother's glare silenced him.
 
"English is not my first language, if you have a preferred term for someone who is being bullied, I am unfamiliar," Dark told him. It was the greatest card in his deck. He could see how Jud wanted to speak up, but didn't feel brave enough to. That was something he didn't quite know how to get around, because especially now that he didn't actually work at the school, it wasn't like he could take the kid aside privately.

Bernice sighed heavily, "I can promise any report made will be kept anonymous and will not face any repercussions from the school board."

"It is not anonymous if it is directly in front of their friends," Dark said. Really, he thought, what they needed to do was get all of the football team and ask them individually, privately, about what they thought was going on, but organizing something like that on short notice.

Bernice nodded, seeing this issue clearly. It was a difficult situation. "I can provide paper so everyone involved can provide a written statement, so nobody needs to know what was said? And we can split between here, my office, and the front hall, so nobody can see who is writing what."
 
Jud's mother huffed in annoyance and checked her watch again. "Look, maybe everyone else here can afford to stay away from work this long, but I cannot. It does not just affect me, it affects a good number of other people as well. So rather than all of this democratic nonsense, just decide if you are going to level a punishment, suspension, or whatever and get on with it. My son does not need to write a statement like he is a criminal in a police station, and I really do not see what the big deal is about a couple of children horseplaying in the hallway unless you want me to bring up something about their lack of supervision. Someone's toy got broken, and that is unfortunate, but that is all. I need to leave in five minutes. Am I taking him with me or not?"

"Considering that your son was one of the ones acting in defense, I'd say not," Lex said cooly, "but I think a written statement is a must. This isn't just about 'broken toys.' It's about broken spirits, harassment, and physical safety. If you'll notice, my son is maybe two-thirds the size of any one of your boys, all of you here, and there were two of them ganged up on him." Now she looked directly at Mike and Ned. "What would have happened if you two had truly lost your tempers and treated him like you would another football player on the field? You think he would have walked away with only a couple of bruises? How would you have felt if you'd done real damage to him? Maybe - completely accidentally - crippled or killed him? Would have it just been nonsense then?"

Of course, all three of the parents protested this and yelled that Lex was threatening people again, but she didn't even glance at them. She was cool and calm, staring directly at the two boys. To their credit, they looked a bit shaken. So did Ned and Micky. None of them had spent any time thinking about the full ramifications of physically pushing around people smaller than them.
 
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