I'm Not Shouldering This Blame [BL]

Ch. 31

STB Chapter 31: Protagonist

The shop signs fell on the street and got soaked in muddy water.

Several old houses tilted, its roof gone with the continually pouring rain washing the furniture inside. Many things are floating in the stagnant water: Clothes, plastic bowls, and a half-deflated basketball.

You won’t know where the fuzzy sound of radio came from: “ *zi zi*……fourth day of Hurricane Jennifer’s attack on Southern State……Hurricane Jennifer, which was originally predicted to land on Mexico，changed direction on November 7th this morning, and eventually landed on the Southern State at seven in the evening……most areas near the Gulf of Mexico suffered serious losses, and traffic is paralyzed *zi*……”

The wind is small, but the momentum of the rainstorm has not diminished.

An apple is in the rushing water, half-floating and bumping into all kinds of debris. The rain continues to drop. The apple drifted to the top of a sheltered place, continuing to move.

Suddenly, this “difficult” journey was interrupted.

A thin hand stretched out from the dark. It quickly fished the apple out of the muddy water, and casually wiped the apple on his clothes, acting as if it cannot wait to bite into it.

Rain hit his face and reddish-brown hair wetly attached to his forehead.

His appearance of biting the apple is like a frightened hamster. His freckled cheek bulging, and his restless eyes always looking around. After a minute of subtle chewing sounds, the teenager reluctantly threw away the apple core into the muddy water.

His name is Johnson Brown.

Fourteen years old, just a ninth grader.

About four days ago, he blew up his school……

For an American boy at this age, Johnson is very thin. Because of his poor family, he wore ill-fitting, old clothes from the relief station, dirty sneakers and often don’t wear socks. His hair is also not well-groomed. All this makes Johnson look very sloppy, becoming a subject of ridicule in his public school.

His textbook was torn to pieces, and the homework he handed in was missing, making him be severely reprimanded by the teacher.

The finished product for the handwork class was smashed, lockers are often forced open, the inside covered with sticky with mud. There’s even a mouse’s body. Once, it was a rabbit that was just skinned.

Johnson does not know who did it, but the people around him whistled at seeing him make a fool of himself.

If he tells the teacher, not only can’t they find out who, he will also suffer from more retaliation.

He did not say anything and endured. Gradually, this cold violence escalated.

The students playing basketball ruthlessly pushed down the passing Johnson. Their mouths saying sorry, but grinning at the tooth they had knocked off. The fourteen-year-old boy squeezed his fist, but his arm is not as thick as the other students, like a chicken. The other person “unintentionally” hit him with their elbow, and he fell to the lawn again.

Since then, he often has purple bruises, all because he “accidentally” fell and hit the ground.

A new teacher came in the past year who kindly helped him, but Johnson’s situation has not improved.

Lawyers who offer free services to victims of school violence came to the school. But except for that teacher, no one from the school came out to prove that Johnson was bullied.