The younger ones generally had more to report of the weekend because both Justine and Tash tended to be the ones at home looking after kids or the like. The events at The Rock on Friday night took some time to tell. Every little bit that could be embellished was, especially the bit about Maggots McGee ramming his car into the fire hydrant. Everyone saw this as an act of the Cosmos repaying his meanness with misfortune.
“Do you have to put up with mongrels like him very often?” Justine knew that Aaron was gay but they really hadn't talked about it much.
“I used to cop it a fair bit at school. There must have been something different about me even in Primary School, although I can’t exactly say I remember what it might have been. I used to enjoy being with the girls without putting them off like the other boys did. That got me into tons of trouble. I played all the sports that boys did, but I just got on better with the girls.
“Then, when I was about 14 I told one of my mates who I thought I could trust, that I thought I might be gay. He seemed to be okay about it, but soon after he always had an excuse to avoid me and eventually it became painfully obvious that he had told some of the other boys. Once a couple of them got the news, I was fair game for anyone, and Maggots was probably the worst of them when he was at school.”
“Did anyone stick up for you, or try to stop it?”
“Not really. A few times Maggots got in trouble for bullying. He beat me up on the way home from school one day. He got suspended for three days but it didn't make any difference. He just said it was worth it!”
“I can’t imagine what it would be like having to put up with that sort of thing.”
“It used to get me down a lot. I didn't tell my Mum at first but eventually I could no longer explain it away and so I told her, and she was fine. In fact she helped me plot ways of avoiding Maggots and even seeing if we could kinda get back at him. I never actually paid him back in kind, like belting him or insulting him, but there were a couple of times when I was able to make him look rather silly in front of people that he didn't want to look silly in front of. It was like making sure he got the natural consequences of his stupidity.
“I got pretty good at avoiding him. But sometimes it got pretty lonely. In Year 9 I got into the choir. The other boys gave me heaps because they thought singing was gross, but at least I could have fun with that group, and the girls, especially, were great. I suppose because I wasn't giving them the “come on” all the time they felt like we could just be ourselves."
“Did you do any of the school shows? They did Joseph this year, and the Mikado last year.” Justine would always go to the school shows - good fun and cheap entertainment.
“They did Toad of Toad Hall the year before that and I got a part in the chorus. Mr Kenworthy was Toad and he used to really ham up his part. I reckon he was trying to put us off, to make us laugh when we were supposed to be singing.”
“It’s fun when you see your teachers doing something instead of being the boss of you in a classroom, isn't it?”
“Yeh. He was the best, and who would have thought he was a maths teacher?”
“Did any of your teachers give you grief when they knew you were gay?”
“Not really, although I reckon old Barnesie started marking my work down by 10% - at least.”
“What a nasty thing to do, and he probably got away with it because 10% isn't enough really for someone to be sure about and get him. Did you do anything about it?”
“What could I do? Mum noticed in my term reports, and we decided that it was only one subject and only for that year. So we didn't make a scene about it.”
“I hate it when people can do the wrong thing and get away with it because it is too hard or only makes things worse if you try to deal with it. Sounds like you and your Mum have done a good job of avoiding too much trouble, but it still makes me mad that they can get away with it.” Justine’s sense of justice was very strong and she invariably took the side of the underdog, gathering around her waifs and strays of all sorts.
“I think the best thing that has ever happened to me was when I got this job and could leave school. I don’t have to go anywhere and be stuck with the likes of Maggots McGee. He still tries it on, like he did on Friday night, but it generally rebounds on him. One day he will work it out that it really isn't worth it.”
“I am glad you feel like that. I like having you here and if being here makes it better for you that’s gotta be good.”
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