by Marty Chan
“You can’t prove that I shot the video,” I said. “Besides, I know someone in our class has been using other people’s email accounts. There’s a real cyber bully and you were just another one of his victims.”
He hesitated, “What are you talking about? There are other people getting picked on? Like who?”
“I’m not at liberty to give you that information,” I said, “but I have proof that there’s a cyber bully in our class.”
“Tell me.”
I shook my head. “I’m close to finding the culprit. It won’t be long before I get him.”
“You’re bluffing, Chan. If there was a cyber bully, you’d tell me to save your own skin, just like you ratted out your friend. I’m going to the principal.”
“No, wait.”
“Yes? So what do you know?”
I hesitated. The more people who knew about the bully, the harder it was going to be to track him down.
“I knew it,” Nathan said. “I’m going to the principal.”
“Give me until lunchtime,” I said. “I’ll get you proof.”
He tilted his head, eyeing me. Finally, he spoke. “Give me a call when you’re ready to talk.” He tossed me the walkie-talkie.
“I will,” I said.
“Noon, or else I go to The Rake.” He walked away.
Part of me was relieved that I had some time to catch the real cyber bully, but I was also puzzled why Nathan didn’t just turn me in. Maybe he wanted to punish the cyber bully himself. If I was on that video, I know it wouldn’t be enough to just see the cyber bully suspended. The really weird thing was how calm Nathan was. Maybe his karate training helped him hide his emotions. The only thing I knew for sure was that his calm and rational threat was much scarier than an angry one.
I headed to the school to find Trina and the other girls. After I told them about Nathan’s ultimatum, Trina pulled out a list of names of students. She had been busy.
“Last night, I went through the phone book and looked up all the students who lived within a two-block radius of the dojo. These are our suspects.”
The list had three names: Stalker Stan, Eric and Ida.
We all turned to Ida.
She folded her arms over her chest. “You can’t be serious.”
“She’s right,” I said. “She was with us yesterday.”
Samantha eyed her suspiciously. “Except when she was at the internet café.”
Mikayla defended Ida. “But the GPS coordinates for the cyber bully’s computer wasn’t anywhere near the café.”
“Convenient,” Trina said. “If I were the cyber bully, this is exactly how I’d get the heat off me. I’d punch in fake coordinates and send people on a wild goose chase.”
“Why don’t you just come out and accuse me?” Mikayla said.
“Okay, I think you gave us bad information.”
Samantha shook her head. “Forget Mikayla. Let’s go to the café and check the computer history to see what Ida was doing.”
“Not before we check the library computers and see what Samantha was sending.”
The lack of leads in the case was pulling the team apart. This was getting us nowhere. I stepped in the middle of the bickering girls.
“I was with Mikayla when the original IM was sent. She can’t be two places at once. She’s not the cyber bully and neither is anyone else on this team. Okay?”
The girls grumbled, but didn’t argue.
“Who’s left on the list?” I asked.
Trina held up the list. “Stalker Stan and Eric.”
“Eric is no computer whiz,” Ida said.
Samantha scratched her head. “And Stalker Stan doesn’t know any of us.”
Mikayla crossed her arms. “The best suspect was Nathan.”
“And we know it can’t be him, because now he’s a victim,” Trina said.
“Plus, he doesn’t know the first thing about computers,” Ida added.
The bell rang.
As the kids shambled into the building, I turned to the girls. “Let’s watch Eric. Trina and I will ask around about Stalker Stan at recess. Maybe we’ll stumble onto something.”
Trina moved to the door. “But you only have until noon. What can we possibly expect to find out?”
“Just do it, please.” I was desperate for any scrap of information. It was like the time I was so hungry in class that I tore off corners from my textbook pages and ate them to silence my growling stomach.
If Eric was the cyber bully, he didn’t let on. He seemed more interested in Kennedy’s green belt than anything else. In some ways this was the perfect act to throw us off the scent. At lunch, Trina and I stood by her locker and kept an eye on Eric. She opened her locker, pretending to need something, while I watched our suspect over her shoulder. Eric shoved Kennedy back and grabbed his green belt.
“How are you going to keep your pants up now, great karate master?” Eric taunted as he waved the cloth belt in the air.
“Give it back. It’s mine.”
“Nathan told me I could have the belt, if I could get it from you. Guess what? It’s mine now.”
“Give it back!” Kennedy leapt up, but he was too short.
Eric laughed and ran toward the entrance with Kennedy puffing after him.
“Give it back or you’ll be in big trouble,” he wheezed. “Big, big, big trouble. I maxi-mean it.”
Trina and I turned to each other at the same time. Our mouths dropped open. We bolted after Kennedy and caught him halfway across the parking lot. We each took an arm and hustled him toward the shed. Eric was long gone with the green belt, using it as a guitar for a rock band performance to impress the nearby girls.
“Let go of me,” whined Kennedy.
“Not until we’ve had a little talk,” Trina said.
“You’re hurting me.”
I gripped his arm harder. “That’s the least of your worries. We know about the video.”
“Yeah, everyone does,” he wheezed. “You’re the one who sent it.”
“No, you did,” Trina accused.
He stammered. “Wha . . . wha . . . what are you talking about? I’m Nathan’s best friend. I’d never do anything to him. Why would you even say that?”
“Cut the act,” I said. “We know you’ve been sending notes to Samantha, Ida and Mikayla. It’s over, Kennedy.”
“You guys are crazy,” he said. “Why would I send anything to a bunch of girls?”
“That’s what we want to know,” Trina said. “The sooner you talk, the easier things will go for you.”
“Help,” he squealed. “Help!”
“Let him go,” Remi said, coming up from behind.
“Remi, leave us alone. We have a break in the case,” I said.
“Drop him,” he ordered.
We did.
“You okay, Kennedy?”
The pudgy boy rubbed his arms with both hands and glared at us as he ran behind Remi. Trina took a step after him, but Remi blocked the way.
“Why are you protecting him?” she asked.
“Nathan said he saw you guys grab Kennedy. He didn’t want his karate student to be hurt, so he sent me as protection.”
“Hel-lo, you’re protecting the cyber bully,” Trina said.
“Let us do our job,” I said. “Go play with your new friend.”
“Can’t do that. Nathan’s waiting for us, Kennedy.” Remi ushered the boy toward the school.
“When did you become Nathan’s errand boy?” I said.
Remi shot back. “You wouldn’t understand. Let’s go, Kennedy.”
Trina shook her head. “He’s going to erase his tracks as soon as he gets near a computer.”
“Let’s make sure he doesn’t,” I said.
We headed to the school computer lab, but the door was locked. The school library was the only other place Kennedy could find a computer. But as we rushed down the hallway to the library, we passed Trina’s locker. I skidded to a stop when I noticed it was open.
Hanging out of the locker was a white paw. I motioned her to stop. She opened the door and the Stuffy Spy fell to the floor.
“What’s this doing here?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Trina said.
Before I could hazard a guess, there was a tap on my shoulder. Nathan and a group of grade six students stood behind us. “It’s noon, Chan.”
“I need more time.”
“Hey, what’s that teddy bear for?”
“Hel-lo. None of your business,” Trina said.
“Oh, I think it is my business,” Nathan said. “Remi said you guys had some kind of spy equipment that looked like a teddy bear.”
I was no longer the only rat in the school.
“Let me see the stuffy,” Nathan said.
Trina shouted, “No way.”
“Back off,” I warned.
He advanced as more kids gathered around us. Nathan snatched the white bear out of Trina’s hands and examined it from head to butt. He found the flash drive. “I knew it. This is what you used to record that video of me.”
The kids muttered to each other.
Nathan waved for silence. “I’m sure Principal Henday would be very curious to see what’s on this thing. Don’t you think, guys?”
The crowd cheered. Behind the kids, Remi and Kennedy approached. I shot a laser-beam stare at Kennedy. The strange thing was that he shrank away from my glare and hid behind Remi. The round kid had to be the cyber bully, because he was a computer whiz and he used the word “maxi-mean”. The only thing that didn’t make sense was that he wasn’t a bully at school. He was more of a follower. Plus, for a guy who was about to successfully frame Trina and me for his crime, he wasn’t acting like he had just beaten us. Instead, he looked scared.
Trina leaned toward me and whispered. “How did Kennedy plant the Stuffy Spy in my locker when we were with him? He can’t be in two places at once.”
The truth smacked me square between the eyes. “Trina, he can’t be in two places at once, but the cyber bully can.”
She raised her eyebrow, confused.
I tapped Nathan on the back. “I’m tired of you pushing me around.”
He turned around, squeezing the Stuffy Spy by the neck.
Trina whispered, “Are you trying to get killed?”
I ignored her. “Everyone’s scared of Nathan because they think he can beat them up with his karate, but the truth is, I’ve never seen him actually do anything other than break a board. And who’s to say the board wasn’t already broken.”
He seethed, sucking air between his gritted teeth. “Take that back, Chan.”
“What are you going to do? Get one of your flunkies to bully me over the internet?”
He hesitated. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
I glanced at Kennedy. His lip started to quiver. I had to keep pushing. “I’m not one of your lackeys, Nathan. I’m not going to do anything you say just because you threaten me or offer me a green belt.”
“Shut up, Chan if you know what’s good for you.”
I shook my head. “Or else what? I don’t think you even know karate. All show and no action.”
Trina tugged on my sleeve to stop. I moved away. By now, almost all the grade six students had gathered in the hallway along with a few of the younger kids.
“You’re the faker,” Nathan spat. “You don’t even know your own culture.”
“Hey, man, take it outside,” Remi said. “Teachers are going to notice.”
“What do you think we’re going to do outside?” I asked. “Get another lackey to do your dirty work.”
“You know what?” Nathan said. “I’ve always wanted to prove that karate was better than kung fu.”
Eric blurted, “Fight.”
The word “fight” rippled through the crowd as if a large stone had been dropped in a pond. It definitely made waves with the murmuring kids.
“After you,” I said.
Nathan scanned the eager faces of the other students and headed out. I kept an eye on Kennedy, who shrank back from Nathan. The pudgy boy was the key to the entire case, and I had to get him to confess.
We headed to the shed for the faceoff. The students formed a circle around Nathan and me. Trina chewed on the end of her hair. Mikayla shifted from one foot to the other. Ida and Samantha shook their heads, but I forced myself to look away from them. I focussed my attention on Kennedy, who was now hiding behind Eric and Remi.
Nathan stepped in front of me and rolled up his sleeves. “This is going to be so sweet.”
“You sure you want to get your hands dirty, Nathan?”
“You should be more worried about your own hands.”
“I doubt you have the guts,” I taunted. “You know The Rake’s policy about fighting. You could be suspended.”
He hesitated. Definitely a weak spot.
I took a stab in the dark. “Maybe that’s why you moved to our school this year. You were caught fighting at your last school.”
“Shut up. You don’t know what happened at my last school.”
“Make me shut up, Nathan,” I said. I was really hoping he was lying all this time about being a karate expert. I was a bloody nose away from finding out the truth.
He wound up, and then stopped himself. “You know what? You’re right. You’re not worth it,” he said.
Disappointed groans trickled through the crowd.
He waved at the crowd for silence. “Shut up. I didn’t say there wasn’t going to be a fight. I have a better idea. Boudreau, you do it,” he ordered.
“What?” Remi looked as shocked as I felt.
“You want to get in the sports school, don’t you? Well, you’re not getting in without the reference letter from my dad. You do this, and I’ll make sure he writes it for you. Then you’ll be in just like that.” Nathan snapped his fingers.
My former friend gaped at me and rubbed his thighs, unsure of what to do.
“If you don’t beat up Chan, you stay in Bouvier next year. Goodbye hockey school. Goodbye NHL dreams.”
Remi took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
The crowd cheered as he advanced.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Hold on, hold on,” I said. “Give me a chance to warm up.”
Remi stepped back, giving me enough space. I closed my eyes tight and did some deep breathing. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. In, out, in, out, in out. I started to get dizzy and stopped. Then I opened my eyes and threw a couple of practice punches in the air. The kids snickered as my spaghetti arms flailed around the air. I unleashed a kick in the air and planted myself in a wide stance just as I saw Jackie Chan do in his movies.
Riiiiiiiiiiipppppp. My pants split right up the butt, leaving my baby blue underwear completely visible to all the kids behind me. The girls squealed. The boys laughed. Even Remi smiled.
“Enough fooling around,” Nathan yelled. “It’s time.”
Eric started a chant, “Fight, fight, fight.”
Ben picked it up, “Fight, fight, fight.”
Kennedy looked down at the ground as the rest of the kids quickly joined in. “Fight, Fight, Fight!”
Remi put his fingers in his mouth and let out a sharp whistle, which quieted the crowd. He stepped forward and raised his hands. The most popular kid in grade six, and star hockey player of the Bouvier Bobcats, was about to pound on me. He cracked his head to the side a couple of times and prowled around me.
Nathan ordered, “Kick his yellow butt. Give him what he deserves.”
I backed away from Remi. “Don’t do this. This is between Nathan and me.”
“Let’s see some action. Fight!,” Eric yelled.
Trina shouted. “Keep quiet, Eric. I’m getting the principal.”
“Stop her,” yelled Nathan.
Eric cut her off, but she shoved him aside. Ben Winston and a couple of other boys jumped in to keep her from leaving. She put up a good fight. Mikayla tried to make a move, but Stalker Stan squawked, “Someone else
is trying to leave.”
Nathan yelled, “Grab her. No one leaves.”
Kids crushed in, hemming in my partners and blocking off any escape. I couldn’t see Trina any more. I hoped she was able to get away, but I didn’t have time to worry about her now. Remi charged at me. He took a swing, but he didn’t put much effort into it. I ducked the blow and stepped away.
“You call that a punch,” Nathan said. “I told you to beat him up.”
The kids cheered.
Remi straightened up and faced off against me again. He swung at my head. I ducked. Swish. The punch didn’t even connect.
Nathan yelled, “Boudreau, kick his butt!”
Remi charged at me. I ran out of the way. The kids booed. Apparently, running was not an acceptable fighting tactic, but it bought me time.
“You know this is stupid. Nathan’s making you beat me up because of a video that he claims I made, but I know who really did it.” I turned to Kennedy, who looked like he was going to hurl.
Nathan ordered, “Boudreau, this is your last chance. Hit Chan or forget the sports school.”
Remi glared at Nathan and turned toward me, curling and uncurling his fists. He looked like he had been asked to put down his dog. Until this moment, I didn’t know how much the sports school had meant to my friend. The opportunity was within his grasp but I had snatched it away. I was the one who drove him to become Nathan’s lackey. I was the one who created this mess. I was the one who ruined my friend’s dreams and there was only one way to give them back. I lowered my hands.
“Hit me,” I said.
He shook his head.
“Hit him!” Nathan barked.
Remi lowered his hands.
“I deserve this for what I did. Please. It’s okay. Do it.”
The kids roared encouragement.
I closed my eyes and waited.
Nothing.
I opened my eyes. Remi was still standing there.
“I can’t hit you,” he said.
“Why not?”
“Your mom’ll get mad if you break your glasses and she might make you clean her toe gunk again.”
The crowd let out a collective “ewwww.”
I took off my glasses and stepped within Remi’s reach. Without my glasses, the world dissolved into a great big blur. “Go ahead.”
