Big Brother Danny

Don't Let Him Beat You

Danny Reagan, once again, found himself in the principal's office. Eight years old, and already sentenced to a life of crime. Okay, maybe he was over reacting, but he was the victim here!

It was three weeks later. Three weeks after he had landed his first satisfying punch...es. He had punched the lights out off the resident bully, Roger Williams, giving the boy a black eye and a bloody nose. Now it seemed like it was Roger's mission to make Danny's life miserable.

He glared at the boy sitting next to him. "You're a butthole."

"Crybaby." Roger spat back.

Danny cast his gaze down. He had cried- a lot, in front of the whole school no less. He didn't have a snappy (or even a lame) comeback for that. Unless... "My Daddy says if you don't have something nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all." He paused for dramatic effect. "But my Daddy's not here. And you're a weeny!"

"You're the weeny, Reagan! Crying in front of the whole entire everybody!"

Quickly, Danny shifted and punched Roger in the nose again, making him groan.

"Daniel," the principal called out.

Uh oh. "Yes, Mr. Alfred?"

"Come here."

Great. He was going to get a knuckle slap or a paddling, or both. He had gotten them before, but never to extreme. One hit on the knuckles to pay attention. Three sacks for interrupting class. The last thing he heard was Roger's menacing laugh.

"Have a seat."

Danny warily sat down. Oh, how he hated this feeling. The feeling of complete and utter dread.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

He fidgeted with his shirt. "Roger was bein' mean ta Suzie. An' me, an' Andy." Suzie and Andy were friends of Danny's. "I got mad."

"So you punched him instead of using your words?"

Boy, was he going to hear that a lot. He didn't know, years down the road, he'd be telling his wife he 'needed words'. Were his elementary and high school years so formative that he'd use the phrases that were uttered to him over and over again?

"Daniel?"

"Yessir. I punched Roger."

"What should you have done?"

"I told 'Im to stop, honest I did! He just doesn't listen." He hated how the held back tears were starting to form in his eyes.

"I trust that you know what this means?" Principal Alfred walked over the the filing cabinets. He picked up the hard wooden paddle.

Danny closed his eyes and swallowed. "Yessir."

************

"Again?!" Frank boomed at his wife. "He beat someone up, again?!"

"Yes! Okay? He did it again, and I don't lie it anymore than you do!" Mary matched her husband's anger. "But it's the only way he knows how. Don't get me wrong," she added when she saw Frank's face. "I don't agree with it. But no one listens to his words. He's been trying- he really has! And I don't want you to be too hard on him. He's already got a good wacking- from his principal and me."

"Why would he even think to punch-"

"Because bullies don't listen to words!"

Frank softened, "a bully? Our son is being bullied?"

"Yes." Mary stated equally as calmly. "Suzie told Julie who told Alan who told Erin about what Roger does. Erin told me... he's bad news, Frank. He deliberately picks on kids who have setbacks." The mother refused to call it a 'learning disability'; she knew her son, and everyone else, could learn. They just had a minor setback, but she knew all would over come. "And Danny's probably an easy target. He's a little slow on reading, mixes up letters."

"He's a smart kid." Frank stated almost lamely.

"I know he is. But he doesn't think so. He called himself a 'stupid, good for nothin', worthless scamp'. No one talks about my son that way. Including him... he doesn't need yelling or spanking or punishment. He's gotten all that. What he needs is guidance."

Frank nodded, "I'll talk to him." He kissed her forehead, "you should've gone into psychology."

Mary smiled and rested her hand on Frank's cheek. "Be gentle."

The detective walked up the stairs and to his eldest's room. He opened the door and saw Danny lying on the bed, his back towards Frank. Softly closing the door behind him, Frank walked in and sat on the bed.

Immediately, Danny sat up and hugged his Dad. "I'm sorry!" He mumbled through tears. "I am!"

He hugged him back until his tears were dried. Silence hung in the air for a long while until Frank spoke up. "Richard Price."

"What?"

"Richard Price. When I was in third grade, I walked home the same way a bully walked home. He was a sixth grader, and he scared the hell outta me."

"What'd ya do?" Danny rubbed his runny nose.

"I ran home for a year."

He nodded, what was the point of this?

"See.... I let the bully scare me. I let him beat me. Don't let your bully beat you, Danny."

"I don't. That's why he always looks badder than me."

"Worse than you," Frank corrected. "And that's not what I mean. I mean- don't let the bully have any power. If you let his teasing get to you, you're giving him power. Without power, bullies are just meanies. Take away his power."

"Take away his power," Danny repeated slowly, wondering exactly how he was going to do that. He wouldn't figure it out until he was a teenager.

"After dinner, you and I are going to write an apology letter to the teacher who's class you interrupted-"

"But-"

"It's either that or a spanking."

Danny clamped up; he didn't need more of those.

"You'll also write one to that bully-"

"But Dad!"

"No buts, or your butt's gonna be sore for a week."

Again, he clamped up.

"Understood?"

"Yeah, yeah." Well, that grumbled answer earned him another wack. He was grounded for three weeks, especially for sassing his mother and father. He frowned through the tears after Frank had left. Danny hated school so so much, that he decided he didn't want to go anymore. Right then and there, he decided to become a third grade dropout.