Jumping to Conclusions

Trigger warning: bullying

Since Jake had arrived three months ago, slightly undernourished, bruised and neglected, John and Lisa had tried to ease him gently into the new family dynamic. The social worker had said that Jake had experienced some PTSD and that he would need a lot of time and space before he was ready to talk or open up.

Lisa had fallen in love with him at first sight, his chestnut hair and pale face with scattered freckles that played over his skin had enchanted her. She’d longed to wrap him up in a warm hug. She’d craved to ruffle his hair and tell him ‘welcome home’ but instead; John had helped him with his luggage and they’d sat in the lounge staring at luke warm mugs of tea.

*****

It wasn’t there. John’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Darn. Where was it? He had taken it off, the night before, and laid it on the dresser, next to his wife’s earrings box, like he always did. It was no ordinary watch; it was a treasured birthday Garmin watch and it wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Noticing the time, he quickly donned his old analogue one and headed out for his morning run, as was his custom before work.

Dawn was just poking her misty fingers around the corners as John swerved his way along the neighbour hood’s winding streets in the hazy light of a new day. He was grateful for the alone time that running provided, he thought back over his actions of the previous night. He wanted to be 100 per cent sure before he started the inevitable questioning; oh, how he didn’t want to put the blame on anyone. But the more he thought about it, the more sure he was of how he had handled his watch last night. At about 10 pm, he’d taken off his clothes ready to shower, he’d removed the watch and left it on the dresser. He inwardly shrank, knowing he would have to face another difficult conversation with Jake. It was going to be hard to find the right moment.

“Your dinner’s on the table!” John called as he heard the door click incompletely, leaving him with a similar kind of feeling to when the wind screen wiper on the car stops in mid motion sprawled across the window pane. Lasagne night would usually bring a smile and a swift arrival at the table after shoes were kicked off and bag dumped. But this evening Lisa and John sat waiting in silence. John watched the steam slowly uncurl its wispy fingers around the vase at the centre of the table.

John lifted his fork, poised to take a bite, and Jake sauntered in, shoulders slumped, like a forlorn puppy who had known the bitter loss of the battle between him and an older, larger animal. He was pressing some tissue against his lower lip. John observed the spots of blood. Jake’s eyes were swollen as though he’d been crying. 

“I bumped into someone at football- I’ll be alright” he said, taking a seat at the table.

“mmm lasagne, cheers; Lisa!” 

He picked up his fork and hungrily shovelled mouthful after mouthful, wincing a little as it brushed is swollen lip. “Score any goals?” John asked in an attempt to pierce the awkward silence. “How’s Luke?” asked Lisa, (Luke was the only boy that Jake had mentioned as someone he’d befriended at school. “um, he’s ok, though he’s got a crush on Claire, so they’ve been spending break times together. I’ve not chatted to him much recently”. This was not what Lisa wanted to hear, she’d been worried about Jake ‘fitting in’ at the school. She remembered how the teacher had sighed and said through a forced smile “its ok, Jake’s just taking his time to build consistent friendships.” And how a mother of a girl in his class had phoned last week to complain that he had been teasing her, taking her stationery and hiding it. John’s cutlery scraped awkwardly against the ceramic plate. The water sloshed out of the glasses as Lisa poured from the jug.

John and Lisa exchanged knowing glances that meant: “lets not press him, he doesn’t want to talk about his day.” But John felt the issue of the watch needed to be cleared up. He felt the rise of dread in his chest as he spoke, trying to sound as cool as possible:

“has anyone seen my Garmin watch?” Everyone shook their heads. John caught sight of Jake’s chestnut eyes. Jake looked away, scraped the remaining mincemeat off his plate and

 went upstairs to start his homework. He closed the door and stayed in his room all evening, popping out only for a glass of milk and a biscuit.

*****

The following evening, John took his run after dinner. He took a turn towards the south part of town, and slowed as he heard voices coming from behind the skip in the alley way:

 “Jake no-mates, where’s your daddy, where ya gonna run to now, hey? Look what we found!”

In the dim light John could just about make out that there was a group of boys, about 13 years of age. Jake was in the middle, the object of the taunts. One of the larger lads had a thick mass of ginger curls that fell loosely over his slightly oversized head. He was dangling something in front of Jake. John realised with a gasp that it was his Garmin watch, he could tell it was his, as it had a familiar sticker on the strap. Then, suddenly, as though his conscience kicked in, he erupted:

“clear off, go away!”  He felt courage surge like a wave and he swooped in on the crowd. The bullies dispersed like sparrows, fluttering out of sight.

‘Are you alright?”

Jake nodded. His eye was swollen. He started to cry. John pinched the skin on his upper hand, as was his habit when we was nervous. “Were they from your school?” John asked. Jake nodded. John’s heart felt sore and full of compassion for Jake. “I’ll let you in on a secret” he said “I was bullied too at school, for a while”. He didn’t tell him about the time they’d cornered him in the boy’s toilets and held his hair whilst plunging his face into the toilet basin, push after push. How they had passed his phone around, reading aloud his personal messages before flushing it down the toilet. He wanted to, but he couldn’t bring himself to talk again of the repeated incidences of water being poured over his lunch, making it almost inedible. He didn’t talk about how he’d been diagnosed with insomnia aged 15 and prescribed sleeping pills for years after. “It didn’t last long” he muttered, a tear in his eye, “they eventually got bored, we moved classes and I made new friendship circles”. Jake looked at him, eyes brimming with tears.

“Well, the good news is; we found the watch!” said John; “they made you take it, didn’t they?” Jake was taken aback.

“What do you mean?”

“My new Garmin running watch, the one I use for pacing and timing my runs? I lost it and the ginger guy was holding it.”

 “The Ginger guy is Jed. He said he’d found it on a car bonnet.”

John’s mind flashed back to Monday evening. He remembered, now, that he had indeed taken his watch off, just after he’d parked, as it was about to rain, and he hadn’t been sure about the watch’s water resistance. Relief and guilt simultaneously flooded through him. He’d been so wrong to blame Jake!

Lisa opened the door to a cheerful pair. They were talking and laughing like old friends. ‘I’ll run you a bath” She said as she caught sight of the watch. “Long story,” John remarked. Lisa nodded. “Better get an early night”, John said to Jake, “we’ve got an appointment with your teachers in the morning. Time to stop this bullying.” To his surprise, Jake beamed and gave him a clumsy hug. “thanks, Dad” he said. “Thanks for rescuing me today.”

 ‘Thanks, ma, he said, glancing at Lisa. You don’t mind if I call you that do you?”

Lisa helped Jake bathe his eye, put a plaster on his cuts and nourished him with a hearty fish pie.

 Relief, like a cosy blanket fell over Lisa and John as they collapsed, ready for sleep. “I can’t believe I blamed Jake for taking my watch” breathed John. “He’s not a liar, we must have done something right and that’s what matters”. Lisa replied. “I like my new title of ‘ma', she sighed as her eyelids gently closed.