Let me tell you a story about my mother.
(Before I go on, I cannot imagine my children ever saying nine scarier words. . .I am sure my mom freaked out a little as she read them and that Liz is settling in for a good one.)
Okay, near the end of my sixth grade year my friend Heather M. and I somehow got ourselves into some trouble at school. Honestly, I don't exactly remember how but I do know it involved a boy and that it involved Liz. Basically two seriously rough seventh grade girls Ellen Martin and Penny Dacus (oh, I sure do hope they don't read my blog!) had threatened to beat Heather and me up and they had done so in a very public arena--the lockers. When this happened, for some odd reason, Liz was there with them. Yes, Liz. (sidenote: Seriously, how are we still friends?!) Now listen, I know I'm talking about middle schoolers so when I say they were seriously rough you may not believe me....but they were. They were the girls to fear. As an adult looking back on it, it is all very sad, but when you're a middle schooler, it's hard to see the sadness in your peers stories, you just know to be afraid. One of these girls was had had horrible rumors of a sexual nature spread about her and the other was the sister of a boy in my grade who had, for as long as I could remember, was clearly emotionally disturbed. The story then (though I do not know if it's true) was that one of their parents had killed the other. In front of them. See what I mean about it being sad?
Okay, so these two girls had threatened to beat us up by the bike racks, of course, after school. The boy involved was somehow connected to one of these girls and also to Heather. The other girl was just looking for a fight and defending her friend and it seemed I was just thrown in to even things out. (And because Liz, still holding a grudge from the time I told Dan Lee she liked him in the cafeteria, had suggested I be taken down ,too.)
Let me tell you a little bit about me as a sixth grader. I was kind of quiet and read a lot and cared a lot about my grades and most of my fighting experience was with my fourth grade sister Katie. And she always won. And by won I mean took me out. I wasn't beyond some gossip and secret sharing, obviously, but a physical fight?! I was terrified.
So, Heather and I had band seventh period, together, and we carpooled home. My mom drove and we knew her well enough to know she'd be waiting outside a good fifteen minutes before the bell rang and so we came up with a plan. When the band director (oh what I'd give to remember his name!) got distracted by some normal seventh period sixth grade band shenanigans, we ducked out the back door and ran around the side of the school and sprinted straight to my mom's car. This is by far the most daring thing I'd ever done in my life at this point. In fact, let's be honest, it may still be the most daring thing I've ever done. I can only imagine what my mom was thinking when she saw Heather and me running toward her like bats outta hell through and empty field, before school let out.
We told her the story, and much to our dismay, instead of simply driving away, she decided to wait until school let out to see what happened.
Well, here's what happened. When the bell rang, THE ENTIRE STUDENT POPULATION poured out of the building and headed for the bike racks to witness the pummeling while Heather and I (and my mom) watched from the safety of our tan station wagon (with wood paneling, of course!). At some point, someone realized that we were in the car and a group of brave kids moved part of the crowd, including Penny Dacus's brother, Robert our direction. What happened next is a bit fuzzy, but I do know that Robert spit on our car and that my mom got mad enough that she ordered us out of the car and started marching across the yard through the crowd of kids to the front door of the building with Heather and me scrambling behind her. It was like the Red Sea parting. She went right into the school, demanded to speak with the principal and within about twenty minutes, we had received apologies from Penny and Ellen and had all been sent home. (I'm still waiting on my apology from Liz!)
So, we all left the office and while we were heading back to our cars some kids, the stragglers, gawked at us, surely trying to get a sense of what went down inside. One of them called out, "Did your mom really tell him to lick it off?!" Confused, we went on our way....it was only the next day that I learned that the rumor that got circulated, and the longest legacy of this incident was the (lie) that my mom had ordered Robert Dacus to 'lick it off' after he'd spit on our car.
She became a legend that day.
Thanks for always having my back, Mom. I love you!
Comments (5)
Good story! Was I in the car? I must have been...I can almost remember parts of this. I think when I tell myself this story I think (or hope) that mom DID in fact tell that young man to lick his spit off the car!
Happy Mothers day to you as well. I can only wait for Nate and Abby to have these types of stories to share about you.
I can't stop laughing!
oh my gosh.
I don't think I've ever heard you tell this whole story. hahahahahahaha
I TOTALLY thought your Mom really did tell him to lick it off! It may have been that rumor that drove me to call you the next year for a ride to Amanda's party.
HILARIOUS. I'm inspired and will blog shortly. :)
ps. I'm sorry I told Penny & Ellen to beat you up. Seriously, why are we friends!? :)
Hilarious! I had no idea that went on or I don't remember at least. My sister was a bad influence and that loser guy was Kyle Wood and the band director was super nerdy Mr. Valliant.
Shannon! You are my hero for remembering Mr. Valliant. Has there ever been a better name for a middle school band director?! And, yes, I did remember the boy was Kyle Wood. . .who could forget?