Joey & The Bully

Gwen stood, staring at the two boys, unsure of what to say. Joey, her 8 year old son, stood on front of her, looking up with a defiant but calm demeanor. The other boy, a hulking 10 year old known as a neighborhood bully named Sam, sat on the school steps looking away, toward the parking lot.
Gwen opened her mouth to speak, but before anything came out, Joey was the one who broke the silence.
“He made me do it.”
“He…made you…do this?”
“Yes, Mom, he made me, I swear.”
Sam decided to interject at this point, but before he could even get out a single word, Joey shot him a look and surprisingly, Sam immediately turned his gaze back to the lot.
Gwen re-focused on her son.
“So…you’re telling me this boy MADE you stick gum in his hair?”
“Yes.”
“And he MADE you rip his underwear?”
“Yes.”
Gwen could feel herself becoming angrier almost by the second; she had never had to deal with problems like this from Joey, and she never wanted to. She was hoping for some sign of remorse from her son, but he simply maintained his determined stare.
“And I suppose he also made you stick his head in the toilet, shove grass in his mouth, and draw that mustache on him with a marker??”
“Yes, I had to.”
Gwen couldn’t take anymore.
“Joey, I had to leave work to come pick you up from school! I have to go inside and meet with your principal right now, how could someone have possibly MADE you do all of that?”
Joey looked at the boy sitting next to him and didn’t hesitate for a second.
“He said my Mom is ugly.”