I looked up at the clock and frowned, it was close to nine in the evening. Sumer vacation was almost over, I would be moving up to high school and, with any luck, lose my junior high title of being a 'problem child'. "I can't stand it when a kid is being knocked around and all the teachers do is watch." I said to myself. "Their job is not only to teach but help provide a safe environment for the students to learn." you sighed. "Someone has to stand up for the 'underdog'."
"A lot of kids look up to you for that, Gar." said dad, standing in the doorway of my bedroom. "I know a few teachers who think highly of you as well."
I turned to my dad, sighing. He was tall, very muscular, with short brown hair and brown eyes, like myself. At the age of 35, he was a captain in the Waterfront City police department, he knew how bad the streets and schools could get.
"Then why don't they step up?" I asked.
"They do, son." replied dad with a sigh. "Only they have to do so in a professional manner, they can't just step in and slap the aggressor silly as you do."
I shook my head. "Politely asking a bully to stop only works in fairy tales, dad." I stated. "I know, you told me a thousand times, I can't take the law into my own hands but you know me, I can't stand to see others suffer."
"That is a good quality, Garth." said dad, patiently. "I can see you as a fine police officer in the future but for now, please promise me... no more fights."
I knew that my dad was serious, he was tired of constantly getting calls from the school to be informed that I jumped into another skirmish on school property. "I promise there will be no fights, started by me." I said.
"We never accused you of starting the fights, Garth." said mom, stepping in. "You just can't seem to help trying to end them, we're afraid that one of the fights will involve a knife... or worse."
Mom was just as tall as dad but she was very petite with long flowing black hair and blue eyes. She had a figure most models would kill for and it annoyed me no end when my friends made verbal note of it.
"I can't just stand there and watch..." I said, tearing up.
"No more fights in school!" said dad, sternly. "I'm to the point that, when the phone rings, I'm going to hear that you had been stabbed or shot! How do you think your mom and I or your older sister, Grace would feel then!?" he shook his head. "I bust dirt bags on the streets every day! There are a few I would love to slap silly but I have to uphold the law, the same law you must follow!"
"Yes, sir." I said, softly.
Dad took a breath. "I know you want to help, son." he said. "But you are on a dangerous path right now, I do not want to be the one to bury you before it is my time."
"I understand." I said, crying slightly.
Dad, knowing that he was becoming overly harsh, walked away with mom soon following. "They don't understand me at all." I thought, turning of the light. "I only want to make them proud of me."
I slept uneasily that night, I kept feeling a tightness all over as if my own pajamas were trying to smother me. I woke up slightly in the middle of the night, hearing my bed and the floor underneath it moaning. At first, I thought it was someone trying to break into the house but I quickly drifted back to sleep, my dad's words echoing in my mind. "No more fights!"
I woke up the next morning, feeling refreshed and energetic. I could not believe how great I felt, despite the night I had and decided to take a shower. Dad had already left for work so it was just me, mom, and Grace. "Dad's only trying to protect me from harm." I thought. "I'll tell him that I'll try to break up fights without actually fighting."
Still half asleep, I turned on the water and disrobed to step into the shower. As I did, I caught a glimpse at myself in the mirror and thought I had seen dad. Looking closer, I discovered that the reflection was me!
Shocked, I screamed at the top of my lungs, shaking the room....
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