Bullied

Ruby

There she was yet again, crying. Everday Ruby would come home and cry after a long day at school. A day full of insults, sneers and sarcasm.

"Weirdo!" they said.

'Disgusting!" they said.

"Ugly!" they said.

"You don't belong here!" they said.

Schooling at a multiracial school was hard for Ruby. With her curly hair and dark skin, she was a source of many jokes. Although she knew not all of them were bad, a particular pair of white girls always seemed to always make her feel worthless, ugly and unwelcome.

Ruby comes from a poor family but her father wanted her to get a better education, that's how she came to enroll into a semi private school. Her parents sacrificed a lot for her to get into this school, the sometimes would go to sleep eating only porridge. She felt she couldn't disappoint them. So, she didn't tell anyone she was being bullied.

Occasionally there'd be someone who'd try to stand up for her but in the end they would distance themselves as they didn't want to get bullied too.

When she was alone, Ruby would sometimes cut herself so that her physical pain would distract her from her depression.

Ruby was alone.

>>>>>>>>>

She was cold. She was hungry. She was scared. She listened to the sounds of moving cars, horns, pattering feet and voices. One question raced through her mind as she lay down on the cold damp ground under the bridge.

"Why me?" she thought as hot tears trickled down her face. She wiped away the tears angrily and reminded herself she needs to be strong and that she did the right thing by running away from home. They had enough problems and she didn't like being a burden. Although she was shivering from the cold, all that work from begging and searching for food exhausted her enough to make her fall asleep for a while.

***

"Excuse me?" 

Ruby groaned and slowly rubbed her eyes.

"Excuse me little girl this is my spot!" a feminine voice shouted callously.

Ruby winced at the sound of the woman's voice and slowly looked up to the woman towering over her. It was morning already.

"N- no sorry Ma'am I've been sleeping her for four days thi- this is my spot." she said, stuttering.

The dirty-looking woman pulled Ruby up roughly and pushed her away from where she was sleeping. She picked up her backpack, threw it at her and sneered. "It's my spot now, get out of here!"

Tears blurred her vision as she picked up her backpack weakly. She would always get treated like this at school.

"Why me? I'm only fifteen." she whispered under her breath as she slowly walked away.

**

Ruby roamed around the city of Johannesburg and then decided to try her luck at the robots. She was running out of food.

Many people ignored her when she asked for R2 to buy bread and gave her nasty looks. She went to sit next to a shop, crestfallen. She wondered why people could be so cruel.

Her mother recently was discharged from hospital. She had Type 1 diabetes and it was draining the little money her family had not to mention her school fees were also really high and she hated to be a burden. She felt like she failed her parents. She was tired, hungry and missed her parents very much.

With that thought a soft sob ripped from her throat. Tears streamed down her face and she made no attempt to wipe them away. She covered her face with her hands and just cried defeatedly.

She felt a hand touch her shoulder, she sniffled and looked up. Her eyes red and wet.

It was a man. Ruby's eyes widened in suprise. It was Mr Pottie, her English teacher from school. He liked Ruby. Always said she was a bright young lady. The pale old man looked at Ruby. His eyes full of concern and shock.

"Ruby my goodness! What's going on, what are you doing here?" he asked softly.

She couldn't answer. A fresh set of tears blurred her eyes and she felt a lump and the back of her throat.

"Sshh it's okay, my darling." the elderly man hushed. "Let me take you home."

Ruby wiped away her tears and followed the old man into his car, that was perched a few blocks away.

During the car ride Ruby told Mr Pottie everything and the old man was appalled.

When they arrived at Ruby's home, Ruby's mother was there and seemed to be crying. Both her parents were happy their only child was home. Mr Pottie retold what Ruby had told him in the car and both parents were shocked at what Ruby had gone through. Both of them spent most time at work so they did not notice what she was going through. When they discovered that she had been cutting herself and they were really sad. Ruby had a severe depression.

Mr Pottie promised the Langa family that the school was going to deal with the bullies accordingly and will personally see to it that Ruby gets therapy. He would do his best to help.

Two weeks later the bullies were expelled from school and Ruby was going to therapy two days a week. Ruby and Mr Pottie started an initiative for victims of bulliying to report their bullies and get help. Ruby was awarded a scholarship by the school.

Even though it was going to take some time for Ruby's physical and emotional scars to heal, Ruby was was on the way of recovery and so was her mother. Ruby was very grateful because if it wasn't for a teacher who went the extra mile, she doesn't know how she would have ended up.