Free Elephant in the Sky by Heather A. Clark Page A

laughing.
    â€œ What did you say?” I stopped in my tracks to look straight into the eyes of the obnoxious ringleader.
    â€œYour kid’s a hyena — and we don’t like hyenas.” The boy returned my stare as the rest of the group barked hysterical laughter. I ignored them, refusing to back down.
    The boy crossed his arms. He took two steps in front of his gang and gave Nate a menacing stare. Beside me, I felt Nate start to tremble and, in that moment, my heart broke for my son. There were no friends at this school for Nate.
    â€œCome on, buddy. Let’s get you to see Mrs. Brock.”
    When Nate crutched forward, I turned to look back at the brat behind me. “By the way … what’s your name? I’ll be sure to tell Mrs. Brock that we had a chat.”
    The boy answered my question by running in the opposite direction, his crew of unruly urchins following closely behind him. One even gave me the finger as they loped away to the playground.
    I was astounded by how outwardly obnoxious they were. I’d recently read an article that encouraged parents to pay attention for signs of bullying from even the most amiable kids, some of whom had a knack for laying on the charm in front of adults, only to turn on their prey the minute it was kids only. The manipulation of the whole act would make it even harder for parents to separate truth from fiction, as many would find it hard to believe the charming kid at school would actually bully their child. If the boys in Nate’s class were so openly vulgar in front of his mother, I shuddered to think of what they might be doing when I wasn’t around to protect him.
    When we reached Nate’s hallway, I helped him leave his things in his locker and get settled in his class. There were ten more minutes before the bell rang, and I hoped Mrs. Brock would make an early appearance so I could talk to her about Nate. I needed to let her know what had happened on our way into the school.
    Nate and I waited for Mrs. Brock in silence; I tried to ask him questions but he wouldn’t respond. Seven minutes before the bell, Mrs. Brock walked into the room, carrying a mountain of papers with her.
    â€œNate! You’re back. We’re so happy to have you. How is your ankle?” Mrs. Brock dropped the papers at her desk, and walked directly over to Nate. She crouched down beside him so they were at eye level, and smiled broadly. “Are you comfortable? Do you need to put your foot up at all?”
    Nate shook his head. It was the first day his ankle hadn’t been propped up, but I sensed he didn’t want to do anything to call more attention to himself. Given the combat we’d just had in the playground, I decided that he might be right.
    â€œMrs. Brock? May I have a word with you in the hall?” Nate stared at the top of his desk while I waited for Mrs. Brock to answer. She looked concerned about leaving Nate, but ultimately agreed to join me in the hall.
    â€œI know we don’t have long before the bell, so I’ll cut right to the chase. I’m concerned about Nate. Both because he hasn’t been himself lately, and because there were a group of kids just now who were downright cruel. They made fun of him, calling him a hyena and other nasty words. One even gave us the finger!”
    Mrs. Brock raised an eyebrow at my last comment, but I sensed from her reaction that what I was saying wasn’t a surprise to her.
    â€œThe kid who was teasing him … I assume it was Tyson and his group?” Mrs. Brock asked. I told her that I didn’t know the kid’s name as he had run off when I’d asked him.
    â€œTyson is a bit of a class ruler, with a group of kids following his lead. And he isn’t always nice to Nate, I’m afraid.”
    My protective warning bells that had started to ring when we’d confronted the group on our way into school now went off like there was a bomb scare. I took a deep