Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton Read Online Free PDF

troublemakers, and I was often one of them. The teacher would call us up in front of the whole school: “Noisemakers, here! Now!” They used corporal punishment—they beat us on the behind with a stick. It was painful, but it didn’t stop me. Instead, I found an old pair of shorts and started wearing two pairs, one inside the other. Eventually, I was called up in front of the school again over something I’d done, but this time when the stick came down, I didn’t yell, I didn’t make a sound. One, two—nothing. I was being brave, showing off in front of the other kids. Three, four—not a sound! But the spare shorts I was wearing were old and dirty, andby this time dust was flying everywhere.
    “How many shorts do you have on?” the teacher asked.
    “One.”
    Five, six—the stick came down again.
    “How many shorts?”
    “Two, sir!”
    “Go and take one off!”
    So I went to the bathroom and took one pair off, and I was punished pretty severely afterward. But I didn’t give up. The next time, I wore two pairs of shorts, and I put a piece of cardboard in between them. But when you hit a piece of cardboard with a stick it makes a loud noise, and sure enough when I was called up to be punished— Smack! You could have heard the sound a half mile away! Of course the teacher knew right away what I had done. But instead of being angry, he laughed.
    “You’re lucky,” he said. “This is your lucky day. Go and remove the cardboard, but be good in the future.” So that time I got off without a beating.
     
    EVENTUALLY I LEARNED how to deal with the bullies who were always getting me in trouble. There was one in particular: Addison. He was my height, but very strong. He used to bully everybody, even kids who were olderand bigger. Because of my weight and my big mass of curly hair that the kids made fun of, and because I was younger than the others, I was an easy target for Addison. He made me carry his bags for him. He took my food at mealtimes. But the last straw for me came at the end of the year. During the last week of school, prizes were given to the top students. Even though I was often in trouble, I liked the schoolwork and was good at it, so at the end-of-year assembly there I was: Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton, receiving a prize for being one of the best in the class. The prize was a pair of good tennis shoes from America.
    Addison was waiting for me. On the way out of the assembly, he took the shoes.
    “Fine,” I said. “Take the prize. Just take it.” I was furious. “But leave me alone.”
    “Don’t you tell anyone,” said Addison. “If you tell Mama”—Mama was the American headmistress—“if you tell Mama, you’ll pay the price. We’re going home in a few days. I’ll make you carry my bags, and I’ll make it harder for you by making you carry a log, too.”
    I hadn’t complained to a teacher about Addison all year, but this time was different. I went to Mama, and she must have believed me, because Addison got punished, and I got the shoes back.
    But that wasn’t the end of it. He didn’t do anything for a couple of days. Then on the last day, when everybody was leaving, Addison took the shoes again. “You know what, Joseph? I’m ready for a fight. One o’clock, down by the river.” And he announced it to the whole school, so there was really no way out for me.
    When I got there, kids were gathered in a circle: big kids—Addison’s friends—on one side, and little kids—the kids Addison bullied—on the other. Addison was sure he was going to beat me up.
    “Look at this stupid boy,” he was saying. “Look how fat he is. Look at that big Afro. You think he can fight me?”
    I was so mad, I didn’t wait. I just dove at his legs. He wasn’t ready. He was standing off guard, bragging, daring me to come toward him, and— bang! He hit the ground, headfirst. As soon as he landed, I jumped on top of him and started pounding him. I guess my weight helped. And that was it: fight over.