When will I learn to keep my mouth shut?

Last night, Milton called me up and told me that his sister Barbara had beaten him up. To make things worse, his parents didn't stop Barbara or help him. I already knew no one in Lochland liked the Holt family because they wouldn't give Barbara the help she needed. I already had kids and adults begging me to break off my friendship with Milton; they believed something was wrong with the Holt family. But that was stupid, as I'm the only person I know who could defend Milton against those cruel and heartless children and uncaring adults.

But that's not for me to decide.

Anyway, after talking to Milton for an hour and a half about his crazy sister, insensitive parents, and ignorant siblings, I found myself unable to sleep. I couldn't believe that people could be so insensitive towards other people, especially if they're a part of the family.

Sometimes, I wonder why God invented families in the first place.

Anyway, after spending a sleepless night staring at old reruns on TV, I got up and went to school, where I saw Clayton sitting on a nearby bench. He said that Milton's grandmother had taken him to the hospital last night and he wouldn't be coming to school for a while. I'm sure Milton had taken one too many hits to the head, which probably would have killed a grown man by now. (I mean, why does Barbara always start with the head?) Clayton also says that Mr. and Mrs. Holt had wisely sent their other children Janeen, Michael, and Alex to stay with a family friend while they dealt with Barbara. I hope she doesn't go after them for taking away her favorite punching bag.

Anyway, he said to me, "I didn't think you would pull that off, Jed."

"Pull what off?" I said.

"You got to talk to Crazy Claire," said Clayton, "which wasn't easy because most people wouldn't be allowed to talk to her at all."

"OK, what are you talking about?" I said.

"You remember when those kids got arrested yesterday?" said Clayton. I nodded. "Well, I had gotten with Dylan Craig, Antonio Keller, and Derrick Roberson and we plotted to take down those guys..."

"And where did I feature?" I cut in.

"Well, you were there to keep Claire occupied while we exposed her little "friends" to the principal, thus them getting arrested yesterday."

"Yeah, I've noticed," I said. "Plus, I think I might know why Barbara beat up Milton."

"Really?" said Clayton.

"It's because Natasha Pitts was one of her friends," I said. "And when word reached her ears of what you and your friends did, she blamed Milton and beat him with a poker stick."

"At least it wasn't heated," said Clayton.

"Dude, shut up," I snapped.

"Anyway, we must get going, as the principal is calling for an emergency assembly in the gym," said Clayton.

We left the bench and went towards the gym. Of course, we had to pass the library on our way there; the nerds all glared at Clayton as he walked by. I'm sure he might have had a bad history with some of them. I don't know.

Yet as we passed by Jem and her group of girlfriends, Jem said, "You two are in so much trouble!"

"What are you talking about?" I snapped.

"Everyone knows what you did to those kids," said Jem, "and now you done ruined their lives."

"Well, to be fair, they shouldn't have tried to keep Claire away from other people," I fired back. "You know that, Jemima."

"Who cares?" said Jem. "All I know is that if I don't get this stupid homework done before second period, Mrs. McDaniel will keep me in at lunchtime. And you know how strict she is."

"Yeah yeah," I mumbled as I entered the gym. Sometimes, Jem could be stuck-up and superficial, which annoys the crap out of me. Yet I couldn't ignore her, as she would totally kill me if I tried to pretend she didn't exist. Or have you forgotten about the Gruddly incident?

Anyway, Clayton and I took our seats at the back of the row (as there was no need for us to be noticed by anyone) as the principal made some small talk about the usage of cell phones on campus. (I was so glad I had enough sense not to ask for a cell phone, although I know dad will probably give me one for Hanukkah.) Well, apparently, several students were caught talking on their phones during the middle of class, which prompted a new school rule: absolutely no talking on your cell phone while on the school property unless it was an emergency.

Like that's going to stop kids from trying to sneak away from the classroom to use their cell phones at the school. Give me a break.

Yet when the principal brought up the news about Claire and how the police arrested her "friends" for keeping her isolated from the rest of the school, protests broke out all over the gym. Many students claimed that the rumors about Claire were lies and those kids hadn't done anything to her, but the principal didn't care. He had made his point clear; no person was to intentionally harm another person at any time. (This goes for being off campus as well.)

As the protests continued, Claire slid next to me, saying, "It's a miracle nobody called for your head yet."

"Yeah, I've noticed," I said.

"Also, why is everyone making this a big deal?" said Claire. "It's not like anyone molested me or anything like that."

At that, I froze. The abuse of a child, especially a child with a mental disability, was a delicate topic. My mother was a therapist, and she dealt with stuff like that all the time. I found myself saying, "So, did any of those jerks ever...molest you?"

At that, I felt myself grow sick. the very thought of ANYONE would dare put their hands on that poor hapless girl sitting next to me had me wishing that I could find that person and tear them into pieces. Nobody has any right to abuse a disabled person.

The next thing Claire said threw me in for a loop. "You seriously think anyone would dare to touch me?" she laughed while glaring at me. "Especially since I'm a red belt in tae kwon do?"

Well, her response to that question had me feeling deflated. Of course, she was one of those "untouchable" people! No one in their right mind would dare mess with her, especially given the fact that she could take them down if she wanted to.

OK, so I must rule out the molestation, but I wasn't finished yet. I then said, "Why would several people keep you isolated from the rest of the school?"

Well, it was her turn to grow pale. I knew most people with mental disabilities were subjected to being beaten or molested, but I never really factored emotional or verbal abuse into the equation. Plus, I'm not familiar with psychological abuse, despite the fact that I had several cousins who were forced to deal with it on a daily basis. Yet Claire answered that question with one of her own: "Why do we always hurt the ones we're supposed to love?"

There you have it. Why do we always hurt the ones we love? Like, isn't there supposed to be a rule against hurting other people, especially if that person is a part of your family? I thought about Reginald and how his mother had abandoned him after she dumped his father and got that new boyfriend. It had hurt him so bad, he lashed out against everyone who dared approach him. My parents were the only people who could handle him. (Even then, it's not enough as he could go off on us at any point.)

"Why indeed," I said while thinking about Milton. Right now, he's probably in a hospital room somewhere with tubes running in and out of his body while the doctor yelled at his parents for the umpteenth time for failing to protect their son from his abuse, especially if that abuser is his own sister. Oh my good golly God, why were families invented in the first place? Sometimes I wonder why God didn't stop humans from reproducing after Cain killed Abel. What was going on here?

Anyway, to make a long story short, the principal made a new school rule, which was that no one was allowed to isolate themselves or others from the school. Of course, when that rule was made, the students began to protest, claiming that the rule discriminated against introverts, loners, and losers. But I know it's always the loners and losers who did the greatest damage. Or did we learn nothing from the Columbine Massacre?

As the students headed off to class, Claire said to me, "I don't know what happened, but you and your friend Clayton have made some bitter enemies around here. Be careful so you don't end up locked up in your room staring down the barrel of a gun."

OK, can we PLEASE stop talking about how Lawrence Armstrong died because he just HAD to expose some shocking thing at his high school? It wasn’t that important, just a kid with autism who had imaginary friends and hung out by herself. This appeared to bother him for no God damned good reason. I just hope that girl didn't self-destruct due to the fact that that loser jerk who killed Lawrence decided that she needed "help" in the worst way.

Like come on! Can't we learn to just LEAVE PEOPLE ALONE??? GROW UP AND MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!!!! STOP TRYING TO HURT OTHERS TO COVER FOR YOUR GOD DAMNED WEAKNESSES!!!

OK, I'm done. I have no energy for anything else, let alone school. I just hope that it doesn't come back to kick my butt later on.