Crybaby

Kayley

I felt strong hands on my shoulders, shoving me down before I could react. His laughter echoed in my ears. I felt a sharp pain in my back as I stood up and continued on, walking as though nothing had happened. I refused to cry, holding in my tears. Against my wishes, a single tear fell from my eye. The first one to be seen by anyone in years. 

“Aww, look at the little crybaby,” he mocked, grinning at me.

Isaiah

“Aww, look at the little crybaby.” I pouted, pretending to be sad. I grinned, laughing at her. My smile faded. I expected to see her eyes harden and for her to walk away as she usually does, but instead… something in her snapped. She stood up straight, glaring at me with hatred I had never seen. She took a single step toward me, and I held my breath, terrified by her newfound anger.

“What. Did. You. Just. Call. Me?” 

Kayley

I noticed him visibly shaking, and I smiled. Finally, my turn to give him pain. He must have seen the loathing in my eyes because he started to back away. Never again. I swore to myself if anyone ever called me a crybaby, they would regret it. My cousin had started this. Her ceaseless name-calling drove me to this point. 

“I said, what did you just call me?” I glared at him, my annoyance of the last few years boiling over. He shook his head, stuttering.

Isaiah

“I- I didn’t- I wasn’t- Please, leave me alone!” She kept walking toward me, and she raised her fist. I put my hands up to block my face, but it was too late. Her fist connected with my nose, and blood started flowing. I couldn’t imagine why she hit me now, after years of teasing her. Calling her a crybaby was pretty low on the list of things I’d said. She stepped on my face.

“If you ever call me a crybaby again, I will make your life miserable!” she screamed at me. I tried to push her off, but my vision clouded with spots. Everything faded, and a loud ringing filled my ears. 

Kayley

I don’t know why he didn’t fight back. I stepped away from him. His face was coated in blood. I definitely broke his nose. I thought I would be happy after beating him up, but instead my frown grew increasingly bigger. Sure, he had teased me, but he’d never actually hurt me. I just broke his nose and knocked him out… I came to my senses and dialed nine-one-one.

“Hello? Yes. This is Kayley Woods, I’m at the high school. I need an ambulance right away. Yep. I… beat up a boy, Isaiah Reeves.” the police officer laughed. “His nose is broken, he’s unconscious. Police? No, I don’t think that will be necessary. No! He didn’t hurt me! I’ll explain later..” I quickly ended the call, rolling my eyes. The last thing I needed was to get arrested.

Isaiah

I blinked once, and felt dizzy. Everything looked a bit blurry. Kayley was standing above me, her phone pressed to her ear. Her yelling hurt my ears.

“Please… stop,” I breathed out.

“... one second. Are you okay?” she asked me, as though she cared. I rolled my eyes and immediately regretted it as the swooping sensation came back.

“I… don’t… know,” my breath came in short gasps. My face felt warm, and I put my hand on my cheek. Red liquid pooled in the creases of my palm. “Blood…” Kayley looked at me sheepishly. My nose throbbed, and I realized it was broken.

“I’m really sorry… I didn’t mean to hurt you so much… Some stuff has happened, and-” Kayley started to cry. At first a little and then a lot. “I haven’t cried in years…”

Kayley

Isaiah tried to sit up, but more blood came from his nose. Tears still flew down my face, even as I willed myself to stop. I felt awful for hurting him so much.

“I called for an ambulance. I think… I think you got a concussion and your nose is broken…” I trailed off, unsure of what to say. 

Thankfully, a loud siren wailed and an ambulance pulled up beside us. Two EMTs got out of the back, pulling a stretcher with them. They helped Isaiah onto the stretcher, trying to stop the flow of blood. I got into the back of the vehicle with them. I quickly texted my mom to let her know what was going on, and prepared for her questions. 

Isaiah

Two people helped me onto a stretcher. Kayley climbed in as well, and texted someone on her phone. My head went light and I thought I would pass out. I stayed awake though as an older woman wiped the blood off my face. My nose hurt terribly, but as far as I could tell the bleeding had stopped. 

“Kayley?” I asked. She looked up from her phone.

“Yeah?”

“Can you text my mom please? And tell her what happened. I don’t want her to be worried…” I closed my eyes as another wave of dizziness came over me.

“I already texted her and explained,” Kayley said. I nodded and tried to smile before I blacked out again.

Kayley

I waited anxiously in the waiting room, knowing a police officer would question me soon. I hoped I would be let off easy, considering I was provoked. But he hadn’t actually hurt me… the guilt was pushing into my stomach. Finally, an officer walked in.

“I assume you’re Kayley Woods?” he asked.

“Yes… That’s me,” I meekly replied. He towered over me, and I cowered in his shadow. He pulled out a notepad and clicked his pen, and some donut crumbs fell out of his pocket. What a cliché…

“So… how about you tell me what happened?” His question was more of a command, and I cooperated. I didn’t want to get Isaiah in trouble, but I had to tell the truth.

“He pushed me and mocked me, and called me a crybaby.” my lip curled as I said the word. “I punched him in the nose, and stepped on him…” I finished. The police officer mumbled a mh-hm and wrote down a few more sentences. I nervously glanced around the room.

“Did Isaiah ever hurt you?” 

“No. Not once…” I bit my lip.

“That’s good, I suppose. How long has he been bullying you?”

“I wouldn’t call it bullying, that’s a little extre-”

“Answer the question please, Miss Woods,” he cut me off.

“A few years…” I answered quietly. 

“Right… Thank you for your time.” his false smile annoyed me. “If we have any more questions, I’ll let you know.” The police officer walked down a hallway, and I breathed a small sigh of relief. 

Isaiah

“Hello there, Isaiah. I’d just like to ask a few questions about what happened,” A tall police officer sat in the hard plastic chair beside my bed. 

“Hi,” I answered curtly. I knew this officer. He was the one who put my dad in jail.

“Firstly, did you push Kayley and call her names, prompting her to hit you?” He asked. I nodded mutely. “Okay…” he wrote a few things on his notepad. 

“I didn’t actually hurt her Officer, I was just joking around,” I stated. He rolled his eyes and nodded.

“I hear that one all the time,” he smirked at me. I glared at him.

“Oh, I see. Disrespecting an officer. That won’t look good…” My eyes widened.

“Next question. Did you call her a crybaby, which made her upset?” He looked at me accusingly, as though Kayley was in a hospital bed and not me.

“Yes, I did. She normally brushed it all off. I didn’t think it would be that serious.”

“I see…” He absentmindedly brushed donut crumbs from his beard. Donuts. Of course.

“Sir, you do realize I’m the one in the hospital bed, right? I did not hurt her,” I spoke with a calm voice, attempting to sound mature. 

“Yes, I’m aware.” He snapped. “You bullied a younger girl, and made her cry. I don’t think she’s at fault here.”

“Bullied is a bit of a strong word, I was only teasing.”

“Miss Woods said almost the same thing. I don’t believe either of you.” He grimaced.

“But-”

“No. We’re done here.” He pretended to read his notes aloud. “Bullied and mocked a younger girl, called her names, shoved her… This isn’t looking good, boy. This isn’t looking good at all…”

Certain elements of this story are real-life events that happened to me, other elements are from my imagination. My cousin and grandmother called me a crybaby constantly a few years ago. To this day, I still hate that word. Only a few family members have seen me cry for the last three years. Please be careful about what you say to people.. (yes, this is one of those stories with a moral)