Brothers

Oppression I

~*~Thursday; September 14th, 1929 ~*~

9:30 PM

“It doesn’t happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time.” – Margery Williams

Paperwork, paperwork, and well? More paperwork. Joyous.

Alfred sat at his desk, going as fast as his body would let him when it came to the papers. The short pile to the right is how much he had left. Meanwhile, the pile about the height of the office desk was how much he had done already. The representative groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. Only 150 more forms, reports, and referrals and such to fill out, how pleasant.

The ringing of the black telephone on his desk had seemed to save his sanity. Shifting his eyes upwards and to a slant from the current form he had to fill out, he eyed the noisy contraption for a second before throwing down his pen and picking up the receiver with his writing hand. Sighing, he began to say the line that he’d been saying for what seemed to be “over hundreds of years” as he would normally put it. “United States of America Representative Alfred Jones speaking. May I help you?”

“Alfred, it’s Sarah. Do have a minute to talk?” The female voice spoke on the other end of the line. The representative’s face seemed to brighten up somewhat when he heard the woman’s voice.

“Sarah,” he seemed to enjoy saying her name right at that moment. “Nah, I got time. What’cha need?” Alfred leaned back in his seat, pulling back his glasses with his left hand. His eyes stared up at the ceiling.

“It’s about Steve,” she replied, her voice moderately quieter now. The man’s eyes widened, still staring at the ceiling before he looked down at the receiver in his right hand. He was still holding it to his right ear.

“What’cha mean?” He asked, worry automatically kicking in, but he tried remain calm.

“He came home with a black eye today and a few bruises on his arms. I think he’s being bullied but he won’t talk about it to me.”

Alfred choked a little on his spit. What now?!

He cleared his throat. The representative could feel his blood boiling and his pulse racing. “School started on Wednesday, right?”

“Yeah,” Sarah replied on the other end of the line.

“Did you notice anything wrong with him then?”

There was a short pause on the other end before Alfred heard a reply. “Yeah. I noticed a bruise around his wrist that looked like he was grabbed harshly, but he still talked to me, not as much as before he started school though…”

Everything clicked in Alfred’s head, causing him to breathe out the air that was in his lungs in an annoyed fashion.

“…You think he’s being bullied, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do.” The man replied to Sarah’s question, his tone giving away his emotional state at that current moment. He looked down at his lap, thinking of what to do. The silence between the two adults was almost unnerving for Alfred at that moment, and Sarah was probably the same way. And then, an idea popped into his head. “You want me to meet him at school tomorrow?”

“Huh?”

“Do you want me to pick him up tomorrow?” he asked, a small smile crept onto his face. He could hear an ever so light gasp come out of the woman’s mouth from his end.