What are the odds?

It had been ingrained in me from my earliest days: “You’re Not Allowed To Be At The School When School Is Over”. This was one of the most clear-cut rules we had as kids.

I don’t remember being given any examples of what might happen if we did go to the school when it wasn’t in session. But I had a vivid imagination as a child. It was big enough to conjure up reasons enough to obey it without question.

Till 7th grade that is.

One day when I was in 7th grade, my friend Ann* and I went to her friend Dana’s* house after school to hang out. (By middle school you don’t “play” any more, you just hang out.)

Ann and Dana were in 6th grade, and had a homework assignment in one of their classes that they had to finish. I was just chillin’ when Dana realized that she needed a book out of her locker for the report they were working on.

“Blue, can you run over to the school and get a book for me?” she asked.

Duuuh, duh duh Duuuuuuuuuuuh. Here was the moment of truth. I analyzed the facts:

1) It was against our family’s rules for me to go.
2) Those rules had been in effect since before I was in kindergarten.
3) I was 14 now.
4) Dana’s house was just one block from the school.
5) Ann and Dana were busy working, and I was doing nothing.

But still, fact #1 was huge in my mind. I lived in fear of doing anything that could get me in trouble at home.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not allowed to go to the school after hours” I sheepishly told Dana.

This excuse didn’t go over well.

“It’s only a block away”, she replied, derision clear in her voice. “You can even take my bike. It won't take you any time at all.”

With the pressure on, I finally relented. Dana wrote down her locker number for me, and I set off on her bike.

It was really only about a 2 minute ride from Dana’s house to her locker, and I was just closing it after getting the book out when two girls walked around the corner into the courtyard where I was standing.

One of the girls was someone I had played with in the past (back when we were young enough to “play” after school). Her name was Lisa, and though we hadn’t had much contact in recent history, there was no bad blood between us. The other girl seemed much older, and I had never seen her before.

“I don’t like what you’ve been saying about my friends”, the older girl said to me as they approached.

I looked at her confused. I hadn’t said anything about Lisa ever.

“I don’t know what you mean”, I replied.

“Yes you DO!” she said, suddenly reaching out and punching me in the face.

I had never been hit in the face before. Especially by someone who meant business. The moment was so surreal that time seemed suspended, as if in slow motion. This complete stranger continued to pelt me with a mean left hook, slamming me back against the lockers. Once I collapsed and sank to the ground, she started kicking me. I looked up at Lisa, my eyes filled pleading, fear, pain, and the question Why?

After what seemed like a long time, (but in reality was probably less than 2 minutes) I heard Lisa’s voice. “Come on, Tari. Let's go.” So her name is Tari.

At Lisa’s insistence, Tari finally turned as if to leave, but then thinking twice, she turned back and decided to take the bike with her. Dana’s bike.

At that point I knew I was already in trouble, and I didn’t want to catch even more hot water by letting Dana’s bike get stolen too while in my possession. So I reached out and grabbed the only thing close enough get my hands on…the back tire. We wrestled for control for a moment asTari tried to pull the bike out of my grip, the spokes cutting into my fingers.

“Just leave it!” Lisa implored. And for some reason, Tari relinquished the bike, and the two of them walked away, leaving me alone in the courtyard.

I was a mess. My nose was bleeding, my eye was swelling up, and I was bruised from the kicking and punching. As soon as they were gone, the fear that had gripped me broke, and I just lay on the ground sobbing for a few minutes. Finally, it occurred to me that I’d better get out of there in case they returned for another round. After struggling to my feet, I realized I couldn’t ride the bike because of my injuries, so I just put the text book in the basket, and pushed it back to the house.

Time hadn’t quite yet returned to normal speed as I trudged back to the house. I remember the looks on the faces of the drivers who stopped for me as I crossed in the crosswalk. At that point I still had no idea what I looked like. All I knew was that I couldn’t risk my parents finding out that I had Been At The School When School Was Over. Because I just desperately didn’t want to get in trouble. I decided while walking that I would swear Ann and Dana to secrecy about the matter.

Letting the bike fall in the yard, I walked into the house to hear Dana call out, “took you long enough”. Then they looked up and saw me.

It doesn’t take much to make a thirteen year old girl freak out. Dana’s face was a portrait of shock, wonder, and probably a little bit of guilt, as she realized that I hadn’t wanted to go, but had done it at her insistence. Ann just looked horrified.

“What happened?” they demanded in unison.

“I got beat up” I said through my tears.

“By who?”

As the details of the experience tumbled out, I tried to get them to swear that they wouldn’t tell my parents. But Ann wasn’t having any of it. “You have to tell them”, she informed me.

“NO!” I told her. “I’ll just get in more trouble.”

“Then I’m going to tell my mom” she said. “Cause you can’t walk home like this, and besides, the second you do, your parents will know any way.” She pointed me towards a mirror.

My face! It was completely messed. Granted the crying hadn’t improved matters. But there was a shiner forming and several bruises and cuts. My nose had stopped bleeding, but even after washing the blood off I realized Ann was right. There was no way to hide the situation. My parents would find out.

This awareness added a whole new level of anxiety to the situation, but there was nothing else to be done. Ann called her mom and told her the scoop. Her mom then called my parents. Shortly thereafter, my parents arrived at Dana’s house to pick me up. After rehearsing the story for them, they decided to call the police.

A police officer arrived and questioned me. Then the officer and my parents and I drove me over to Lisa’s house in his squad car.

I can’t imagine that any parent relishes seeing a police car pull up in their driveway. Lisa's door opened slowly at our knock, and the timid woman I hadn’t seen since more innocent times stood there nervously.

Even though it had been a couple years since I’d played at their house, she still remembered me. She was a meek woman, and after hearing the situation I could tell that she felt really bad, but also relieved that it wasn’t her daughter who’d kicked my can.

“Lisa’s been hanging out with some pretty rough kids lately” she confided with worry in her voice. "I don't really know what to do with her."

“Do you know who this ‘Tari’ girl might be?” the officer asked.

Thankfully she at least knew a last name, which the officer called in to look up.

After getting an address, we drove to the apartment that Tari lived in with her dad and step-brother. They were both home when we got there, but hadn’t seen Tari in a few hours. Thankfully the officer did the talking…which was a relief for me. He gathered the information he needed, and then drove us home.

I was dreading the moment when I would finally be left alone with my parents. After all, I had Gone To The School When School Is Over. Surely there would be wrath.

But I was mistaken. Perhaps they figured I’d been punished enough. Perhaps it was just the Lord’s tender mercy. But they didn’t meet out any further consequences beyond a simple “we warned you.”

What are the odds that the first time I set foot on the school campus something like this would happen? Probably not too high. The incident has made me wonder how different our lives would be if we all paid a heavy price the very first time we disobeyed, instead of getting away with things till we're past feeling bad about them. It was a painful lesson to learn, but at least I learned it. Never again did I go to the school after hours.

Post Script:
It turned out that Tari was 18 years old at the time, and therefore was arrested and charged as an adult with assault, battery, and attempted theft.

I have no memories of Lisa after that day. Needless-to-say, we never played after school again.

Though I was completely naive about everything to do with drugs at that time, looking back I’m pretty convinced that Tari, and possibly Lisa, were probably high on something when this happened. I hope their lives have turned around!


* name has been changed