Spencer’s Punishments

Spencer still doesn’t get the hint that Kimmie has no interest in him.  One day, Spencer is biking in a public park and sees Kimmie. He hastily pedals to a nearby bike rack and parks his bike.  Kimmie is listening to a Rhyno (portable music player) and is oblivious to the fact that Spencer is sneaking up behind her.

Spencer puts his hand on Kimmie’s shoulder. Kimmie whips around in shock. Kimmie says, “Back off!” Spencer doesn’t back off, putting his hand on her shoulder again.  After Spencer tries three times to   pull Kimmie in, Kimmie back-fists Spencer’s nose. It begins bleeding.

Spencer makes a big scene out of it… and then Kimmie’s boyfriend shows up. “Hey, you’re that little punk from the middle school,” he shouts. Kimmie previously told her boyfriend all about the incident after she got out of lunch. She also told her boyfriend that Spencer was cyber-stalking her.  Other park-goers have witnessed the fiasco. They know Kimmie was acting in self-defense.

Back at school, Kimmie goes to her high school counselor and tells him all about Spencer’s trouble-making. The high school counselor reports the incident to Five Points Middle School.

Kimmie tells Steffie about the  incidents in the park and on the Internet. Steffie is enraged and tells her parents everything.  When the parents discover the photo album, they set up strict parental controls including: automatically logging out at 10:00 PM, blocked e-mail, and blocked any social networking sites. They also delete the pictures of   Kimmie. On top of all this, Spencer’s CD player and digital camera are confiscated.

Spencer gets really mad and cusses out his parents. His dad starts a classic “When I was your age…” monologue, dealing specifically with technology and respecting your parents.

At last, Spencer realizes what an idiot he’s been over the past few weeks. Despite his remorse, he still has to pay for his sins. After his family deals with him, Five    Points Middle School will make the punishment fit the crime –   being in detention in an all-boys room.

Meanwhile, Kimmie tells ALL her friends about Spencer. Word of mouth spreads quickly.

August comes around, and with it, the first football game of the season. Knowing Kimmie will be in the front of the line doing the major moves (she’s the Colorguard’s Assistant Captain), Spencer goes to a seat next to the band’s   reserved section.  Kimmie sits down and is talking to the Colorguard Captain, going over last-minute plans with the rest of the members.

Spencer takes a big risk. He tickles her butt with two  fingers and whispers seductively: “Hey babe…”

Startled beyond herself, Kimmie looks and sees Spencer smirking at her. “What   the…” Kimmie’s voice breaks. She glares at Spencer and speaks through her teeth, “I always knew you were an idiot, but I never knew you had that much pluck!”

The rest of the the colorguard is equally shocked. “Get out,” they shout simultaneously.

Kimmie’s parents find out about Spencer’s immaturity. They take out a restraining order on Spencer, which states he must never make any contact with Kimmie for an  indefinite period of time.

Due to the restraining order, Spencer is required to go to a different high school, North Vista.  It is out of his district. This means he would have to ride the city bus (his parents don’t want to drive him). He fiercely resists, but eventually realizes he has no choice.

First day of High School for Spencer. It’s pouring rain and colder than usual. He was supposed to catch the bus at 7:14 AM. As he is shivering in his soaked hoodie, he sees it at a red light. The light turns green, and that’s when he realizes it’s too late.
With a one hour lag time, Spencer goes back home. There’s a number he doesn’t know, making the phone ring off the hook.  He lets it go to the machine. Once he hears it’s a tardy notice from North Vista, he trashes the message – but in his panic, forgets to fully delete the message

By now, it’s almost time for the next bus. Not wanting to miss it AGAIN, he dashes off to the bus stop. It’s 8:10 AM. The bus leaves at 8:14.

Spencer gets on the bus and fumbles around in his cargo pocket for fare. He finds a mangled, wet $1.00 bill. He yanks it out of the pocket and puts a rip in it. When he tries to put it in the fare box, the fare box rejects the cash.  He tries again, this time putting it in a different way. Finally, an older gentleman offers Spencer an unharmed dollar bill and trades bills with Spencer. Spencer says a hasty “thanks” and walks quickly back to the front to pay his fare.

As Spencer puts in the fare, he realizes who the bus driver is.  She (the bus driver) is a family friend (especially with Steffie, who rides the bus almost every day with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend is the resident expert on buses and taught Steffie well).

After completing her run, the bus driver goes to the house to let the dog out like she did every weekday. After letting the dog   out, she walks back inside to check on the answering machine. She notices there is a message in the machine’s trash folder. She checks    it. When she hears that it’s from North Vista High School regarding an unexcused tardy, she calls the school. She explains that she is the across-the-street neighbor and that she took Spencer to school.  She also tells the school that she is a bus operator for the city public transit system, when she picked him up, when she dropped him off, AND mentions that he was supposed to be on the first bus that was scheduled to come an hour prior to the second bus.

The driver, her husband, and her two daughters are coming over to the house for dinner.  The conversation revolves around the first day of school. Steffie and the two daughters are friends and go to the same school. They had a great day, and can’t stop chatting about their experiences. Spencer is trying to keep his mouth shut. Then the driver asks, “So, Spencer, what time did you catch the bus this morning?”

Everyone at the table knows very well that this is the driver’s  “I-caught-you-red-handed” voice. All eyes turn toward Spencer.  Spencer acts evasive, “I…um…caught…the…”

The driver interrupts and says, “I picked you up at 8:17 this morning.” She then turns to the family and explains that she saw Spencer just         missing the first bus. Spencer, more embarrassed than ever, runs to his room (rudely leaving the dinner table).

Spencer, still on punishment, feels bitter.  One night, he’s sitting in his room, and has the radio playing. When he hears a rueful love song on the radio, he pauses. When he hears the final chorus, he thinks of Kimmie and the fact that he will never have her. Tears well up in his eyes as he comes to the realization. After he cries for ten depressing minutes, he shuts off the radio.  He thinks: “I gotta straighten up.”  From that moment on, Spencer is hell-bent on improving himself.

When he gets to school the next week, that improvement is threatened – by a “perfect” girl. He  likes her, and she likes him too.

On Friday, a teacher workday is scheduled. The girl is an only child. Knowing that her parents are at work and the house will be unoccupied, she invites Spencer over to have sex. (She’s done this before many times, but it’s Spencer’s first time, and he’s unaware that she’s gotten around.)

Spencer is getting ready to leave.   He thinks the coast is clear, considering Steffie is playing a video game in the living room, which just so happens to be located by the front door.  Steffie hears the door squeak as it opens and calls out: “And just where do you think you’re going?”

Spencer breaks  down in tears and explains everything honestly, choking on tears. Steffie is shocked and doesn’t know what to say. This is not how Spencer usually acts when faced with a difficult question. Seeing that his tears are genuine, Steffie wraps him in a comforting hug.  Spencer whimpers: “Mom’s gonna kill me…”

Just then, the phone rings. It’s the girl. Steffie picks it up. Steffie answers how she always answers (because that’s how her parents taught her to answer):  “Hello, this is Steffie Talon.” A pause is on the other end. The girl was expecting to hear Spencer’s voice.

She thinks to   herself, “Oh shit… it’s his mother.” Contradicting her thoughts, she stutters, “I-I think I dialed a wrong…” Steffie knows the truth due to the caller ID on the phone, and realizes that this is the girl Spencer was interested in.

“Wait one minute,” snaps Steffie. “I know a liar when I hear one.”

The girl screams, “Fuck you, bitch!” She then rudely and abruptly hangs up.

That night, Steffie and Spencer have a heart-to-heart talk alone. Spencer is sobbing, slouched in his beanbag chair. Steffie sits in  the beanbag chair and puts her arm around Spencer. The beanbag chair is big enough for both, but Steffie has to get really close. Steffie soothes: “I know you’re down in the dumps right now. But we’ll make it through, like brother and sister should. I promise.” Spencer looks at Steffie with tears streaming down his face. “Come on.” says Steffie gently. “I’ll  tuck you into bed.” Steffie takes Spencer’s hand. He was in PJ’s with a track suit over them. Spencer crawls into the bed as Steffie tucks him in and sings him an improvised lullaby until Spencer falls asleep.

The next Monday, the girl is going around holding the Varsity Football Captain’s hand. The captain is bragging that he had sex with the hottest girl in school. “I got this opportunity only because Spencer Talon chickened out.” Gossip spreads that the Varsity Football Captain did it with the girl  (which is true).

A few weeks later, the girl realizes she’s not  having her period. The next Monday, the Varsity Captain gets kicked off the football team, is charged with statutory rape, is ordered to do his part in taking care of the child, and also ends up taking mandatory parenting classes. On top of all this, he loses his   football scholarship (the university doesn’t want a convicted sex offender as a star football player.) The university also withdrew his acceptance.

Spencer finds out about the whole  incident. “Man,” he breathes, “Am I glad that Steffie noticed the door squeaking!”

Spencer goes home and sees Steffie doing homework. He comes up to Steffie, puts his arm around her, and whimpers through restrained tears, “We need to talk…” Steffie looks up from her homework and sees Spencer in tears again. She stands up, leads Spencer to the couch, sits down, and holds him  tightly.

“Let it out,” she whispers, “Just let it out. This is  one of those times when it’s OK to cry.” Upon hearing this, Spencer begins to wail. After what seems like an eternity, Spencer explains what happened. Steffie rolls her eyes.

“Those Raptors play dirty, both on and off the field,” She hisses.  Spencer nods his head, but it doesn’t console him much. He bites his lip to hold     back crying. Steffie says, “Keep crying if you have to. I don’t love you any less because of your emotions.” Spencer stops biting his lip and cries again.

Progress reports come out. Spencer (who has been working like a draft horse in school) comes into the house beaming. He proudly displays a flawless progress report – straight A’s. His Earth Science teacher says, “Spencer’s lab work is amazingly precise.”

His English teacher says, “Spencer is an amazing writer, and wrote the best personal narrative I’ve ever seen in all my years of teaching.”

His World History teacher says, “Spencer’s dedication to learning and knowledge are worthy of an Athenian philosopher. ”

His Physical Education teacher says, “Spencer’s efforts are that of a champion. He earned record-breaking scores on the Physical Fitness Tests.”

His Japanese teacher says, “The Japanese language is a difficult language to learn. Spencer has nearly mastered the art of speaking,  reading, writing, and translating this beautiful language.”

His Algebra 1 teacher goes so far to say, “Judging by his outstanding improvements, I believe that Spencer Talon will do well in the  regular math program.” The progress report frees Spencer from his punishments.