by Lori Saigeon
“Jus!” Charity appeared beside him as he gathered his belongings at the end of the school day. “You did a great job! You even said extra stuff I never heard before – you’re brave!”
“Good job, Justice,” added Mr. Wilson’s voice. “Thank you for reminding us all that special places don’t have to be far away and exotic.”
“Thanks.” Justice flushed again with pride.
Mr. Wilson paused. “Do you visit your kokum and mushum often? You know – you’re lucky to have them.”
“Well, we don’t go out there too much but we just went a few weeks ago,” Justice replied. “That’s when Mushum and I were working on the snowmobile.”
“Well, good for you for remembering your roots.” Mr. Wilson went on. “I should get out to see my family one of these days, too,” he mused. “Anyway, well done – you didn’t seem nervous at all.”
Justice almost laughed out loud. Didn’t seem nervous? I wish! I can’t believe I pulled it off! Justice couldn’t stop grinning.
•••
Justice’s lighthearted feelings didn’t last long.
He had been right to be worried during Mr. Baker’s bullying lecture in the gym. Justice had just headed out the school doors to go home when Trey and a couple of his buddies came away from the monkey bars and strode straight toward Justice.
Chapter 18
Listen, wuss, you better stop yapping to everyone before we get in a lot of trouble. Haven’t you got the message yet?” Trey seemed even angrier than usual and a sick feeling curdled in Justice’s gut. He noticed a small crowd gathering around him and Trey.
Am I going to run away forever? When’s this gonna stop? Justice glanced around, grateful to see Charity, Vance, Shaunie and a few other friends from his class. He felt braver with them standing behind him. Even Jimmy was there.
“No, Trey,” he said and the strength in his voice surprised him. “The only message I get is that you’re not gonna push me around anymore.”
Trey opened his mouth as though about to say something, but Justice turned to walk away. Trey shoved him from behind.
“You’re not walking away, wuss!” he yelled.
“Yeah, I am,” Justice answered, his voice hardly shaking. “I am walking away.” And with that, he did. His friends followed.
“You’ll regret that, Stoneyplain!” Trey screamed after him. “You won’t always have your girlfriends around to protect you!”
Justice ignored him and kept walking, although his legs felt like jelly and his heart was racing. As the distance between him and Trey increased, a few of the other kids slapped him on the back.
“Way to go, Jus!” Vance called.
“That’s telling him!” said another.
“He can’t scare us,” a third bravely chimed in.
Charity and Shaunie joined Justice, smiling to themselves. The group continued down the street, congratulating Justice and each other. Justice smiled but wondered inwardly what would happen the next time.
•••
The kids were buzzing with gossip the next day at school. Trey wasn’t there, but no one knew for sure why. There were rumours about a big party at Trey’s.
“I heard that there were eight cop cars at Trey’s house!” one girl claimed.
“We live down the street,” reported another, “and we heard sirens for a long time in the middle of the night.”
“I heard they took Trey’s brother to jail again,” a third kid told everyone.
“No way, Jason. They won’t take him to jail just for a party,” someone else said.
The talk continued this way until the bell rang and the kids lined up to go into school.
•••
Justice relaxed a little as Mr. Wilson took attendance. When he got to Trey’s name, he paused and said, almost to himself, “Oh yeah, Trey won’t be here for a few days.” He marked that in the attendance book accordingly.
Won’t be here for a few days? Justice wondered. What does that mean? Maybe he went to jail.
Justice suddenly heard Mushum’s words again, about unhappy people trying to make you unhappy, too. Justice thought maybe Mr. Blackquill was in that group. Maybe Trey was, too. Justice wondered for about the hundredth time what it was that made Trey hate him so much. Maybe it wasn’t really Justice’s fault at all?
“Mr. Blackquill doesn’t have someone like Kokum to talk to every day like I do,” Mushum had said. Did Trey have anyone to talk to? All he knows is fighting. Justice remembered again that his own family was always around for him, even if sometimes he thought they were around too much.
Justice thought more about his conversation with Mushum the night before. “Justice,” he had cheered, “I knew you could do a great presentation! Did you mention your old mushum?” His words had a chuckle in them.
“Actually, I did, Mushum,” Justice had answered his grandfather. “I told everyone how you taught me to make rabbit snares and fix the snowmobile.”
Mushum had been quiet for so long Justice had thought maybe they’d been cut off. “Mushum?”
“You make your mushum proud, my boy,” he finally said. “You’ll be a good man one day.”
Justice’s memories were interrupted by Mr. Wilson handing out the morning’s assignment.
•••
By the end of the week, Trey was back in school. He was acting a little differently, though. For one thing, he’d had a haircut and was sporting a new backpack. It was cool, with shimmery neon colours. Justice wondered what was going on.
As the kids streamed out of school for recess, Justice was jostled into Trey. “Watch it, Stoneyplain,” he growled, his hands balling up into fists.
Justice braced himself for what would come next, but Trey turned back to his buddy and continued talking. “So I’ll give you the number where I’m staying. It’s called Davis House.”
That’s it – “Watch it?” Justice wondered.
Trey’s friend, the blond boy, raised his eyebrows and his eyes widened in recognition. “My brother was at Davis House for a while!” he exclaimed. “They’re really strict.”
“Yeah, but they’re okay,” Trey answered with a shrug.
Wow, what a change, Justice thought as he turned towards the monkey bars. Maybe Trey will be safe from any gangs while he’s there. He wondered what made Trey ignore him, but was grateful that he did.
“Hey, Shaunie,” Justice called to her across the playground. “Wanna walk home with us today?”
“Sure,” Shaunie replied, a small smile edging across her face.
“Great,” Justice answered back warmly, having nothing else to say to her, as usual. He chuckled to himself. I guess not everything changes, he thought. One day I’m gonna think up something to say to her. Maybe Mushum has some ideas.
He ran to the monkey bars, where Vance swung, doing his usual ape routine. “Hey, Justice!” he called. “Come on up!”
Lori Saigeon is an elementary school teacher, living and working in Regina, Saskatchewan. It was while teaching in inner-city Regina that Lori noticed a lack of fiction geared for urban children, particularly those growing up in a small prairie city and most especially those with a First Nations/Metis background.
Lori has been a teacher for over 24 years. She achieved her Master of Education from the University of Regina and published a handbook, Inviting Writing into the Science Classroom: How Teachers Open the Door. Fight for Justice is her first work of fiction.
Born and raised in Regina, Lori has been writing since she was a child – her first book-length story, “The Flying Mouse,” was written in grade 6. Lori is married and is continually inspired by her three wonderful, school-age children.
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