Fight for Justice

by Lori Saigeon

  In less than two minutes, Justice had changed and bounded into the shallow pool. He and Vance fooled around there together, playing a keep-away game with rules they made up as they went along.

  “Hey, Jus!” Vance exclaimed suddenly, “Let’s go off the high board!”

  Justice groaned to himself. Why did Vance have to be so brave? He was always the first kid to get onto the school roof when no adults were around and he was a daredevil with stunts on the monkey bars at recess, too. Justice loved the lower boards, but the high board looked about twelve storeys above the water. Could he even do it? And what would be worse – admitting he didn’t want to, or climbing all the way up only to chicken out at the top?

  Justice knocked some imaginary water out of his ears.

  “C’mon, Jus, it’s really cool up there!” Vance insisted. “You’ve been up there, right?”

  Justice wondered if this was the time to be honest or to “put on a show,” as his mom called it. But Vance was his friend, after all. He should be able to trust him.

  “Not yet,” he replied, hoping it sounded as though he just hadn’t gotten around to jumping off the frightening tower.

  Vance’s eyes lit up. “Well, let’s go then!” he shouted, pumping his fist in the air. Vance didn’t seem to notice Justice’s hesitation. Despite his fear, Justice chuckled at Vance – act first, think later.

  Reluctantly, Justice dragged himself to the edge of the pool and pulled himself out. He tried to look enthusiastic as he approached the deep pool.

  The tower loomed overhead as the two boys neared it. Again Justice wondered if he was ready for the long drop to the water. He had seen lots of kids go off the tower and it looked like an exciting freefall. That is, if someone else was falling, not him.

  “C’mon, Jus,” Vance urged again, starting up the ladder. “I’m gonna run right off!”

  Not me, Justice thought. I’ll be lucky if I don’t have a heart attack on the way down. He gave himself a pep talk. You can do this. Lots of kids do it, and they don’t die. But they’re not me, he argued with himself.

  “Okay, Jus, watch this!” Vance took a run and disappeared over the edge. “Woo-hoo!” he yelled on the way down.

  Justice watched Vance splash into the pool and bob up a few seconds later. Other kids had started up the tower stairs behind him. He was trapped – there was no more time to think. It would be obvious if he went back down now.

  Justice inched toward the edge of the tower and peered over at the water below. Jeez, it’s a long way down. He tried not to think about it, held his nose and jumped.

  A million thoughts went through his mind as he fell and yet it seemed as though he couldn’t think about anything except hitting the water. He remembered to keep his legs together. His mom had told him it hurt if you didn’t. Finally, yet almost instantly, he plunged into the pool. He’d made it!

  Justice clawed his way to the surface to take a breath. His heart was racing. He couldn’t tell if it was from the leftover fear of jumping or maybe from the excitement of still being alive. He heard Vance’s voice from the edge of the pool.

  “All right! Way to go! Wasn’t that awesome?” Vance chattered. “Let’s go again!”

  Justice could hardly believe he had done it. Wait until Mushum and Kokum hear about this. They’ll be amazed, he thought. He glanced over to where Charity and his mom were watching, and they gave him the “thumbs up.” He grinned at them. Even they saw his bravery!

  “Yeah, let’s go!” Justice called back. He clambered out of the pool and raced Vance to the tower. His feet flew like they were on air and he wanted to jump around and yell about his achievement.

  •••

  The two boys made several more jumps until, too soon, Mom came over to the deep pool. “Justice, we’ve got to get going, my boy,” she said. “We need some supper and I’ve got to get ready for work tomorrow.” Reluctantly, Justice made his way to the edge of the pool.

  “Van, are you staying?” he asked his friend. “The pool’s pretty empty.”

  “Yeah, I’ll go home later,” Vance replied without meeting Justice’s eyes. He continued to fool around at the edge of the deep pool.

  “Where’s your dad?” Justice persisted, careful not to mention Vance’s mom, who had taken off last year to Vancouver.

  “I don’t know. At home,” Vance answered vaguely. He suddenly seemed quiet. Where’s the kid who couldn’t stop talking? Justice wondered.

  He felt funny leaving Vance at the pool alone. “Want to walk home with us?” he asked without thinking. He glanced around, looking for support from Mom. Too late, he thought. She was already heading into the change room, pausing only to catch his eye – to make sure I’m going to change, too, thought Justice.

  “Yeah, okay,” Vance shrugged. He swam to the edge and hauled himself out.

  As the boys pushed and joked on their way to the change room, Justice couldn’t believe his eyes. There were Trey and the other guys, just outside the big windows of the swimming pool building! Were they following him? He stopped and stared at them. No, they seemed to be fooling around at the side of the building. Are they lighting matches? Justice wondered what they could possibly be up to.

  Chapter 4

  As the group of four headed back up Wetmore Street, Justice’s mom had a hard time keeping them moving along. Funny how fast we went to the pool, Justice thought. He didn’t have much time to think about it because Vance was once again chattering like a monkey.

  “So then I went to the Shop ’n’ Go, too,” he was saying. Justice’s heart almost stopped. Was that yesterday? Had Vance run into the same group of kids who had bothered him?

  “Wha’...? When did you go to the store?” Justice interrupted.

  “Yesterday. Me an’ Thomas. We went to the Shop ’n’ Go. Trey was there.” Justice’s breathing quickened as he looked blankly at Vance. “You know. Trey.” Vance gave Justice a puzzled look.

  “Yeah, Trey,” Justice repeated, his mind racing.

  “Well, anyway, I got a bunch of licorice and Thomas had money for chips so we had that, too.” Vance went on. “Then we went over to his house. He’s got that sweet GamePlayer, you know? We played Car Crash, but I never won. You can’t beat Thomas when he plays it 24/7.” Vance paused. “You know?” he looked at Justice.

  “Yeah,” Justice nodded. He hated to ask Vance about Trey but wished he could.

  They reached Vance’s house. “See you tomorrow, Jus,” he called as he went up the walk. The house looked dark, even though dusk was falling.

  Isn’t Vance’s dad there? Justice wondered.

  Before he thought any more about it, he heard a man’s voice yelling from the darkened house. “Where have you been?”

  Is that Vance’s dad? Justice wondered, shocked. He sounded so different from his usual friendly self. Justice and his mom and sister stared at each other in silence. He could hear Vance’s muffled reply but couldn’t make out the words.

  “I don’t give a ——!” the man’s voice nearly screamed. “Get the...” the rest of the sentence was lost as a bus rumbled by.

  Then the house was silent, except for the sudden blaring of the tv. “I think we should head home,” Mom said. Her voice shook a little, her eyes on Vance’s house.

  The rest of the walk home was quiet. Even Charity seemed subdued. When Justice looked at her, she was biting her lip.

  As Justice hung up the wet swim clothes in the bathroom, he heard Mom on the phone. “No, he wasn’t crying, but I could hear yelling,” she was saying. Was she talking about Vance?

  There was a pause as Mom listened to whoever was on the other end. “Yeah, Harold can get like that,” she agreed with the speaker. Harold – that was Vance’s dad’s name. “Maybe we should call Betty.” Justice wondered who Betty was. “Okay, I will.” Mom seemed to have made up her mind about something. “Can I tell her what you saw last week?” she paused, waiting for an answer. “All right, but I wish you would.”

  Justice
’s mind raced. What? What did the other person see that happened last week? How could there be so much going on that I don’t know about?

  As Mom said goodbye and hung up the phone, Justice realized he’d better look busy. He shouldn’t have been listening in on her private conversation.

  Mom suddenly came up the stairs as he grabbed another towel out of the bag. “Are you still hanging up wet stuff?” she teased. “You sure move slower after swimming than before!” Justice shot her a quick look but she was smiling. He relaxed. “Come on, you can set the table.”

  Supper was scrambled eggs and toast. The whole family was hungry after their afternoon in the water, and eggs were the quickest to make. As they ate, Charity asked a bunch of questions. “Is Vance’s dad nice, Justice? Why was he mad? Does he always yell like that? He sounded mean.” “Mean” was her word for anyone who raised his voice, in contrast to Mom, who was soft-spoken – especially around others.

  “I guess he’s okay.” Justice didn’t know what to say. He had never heard Vance’s dad yell like that before. He had always seemed like a pretty good guy. He had even helped Justice once when the chain from his bike came off.

  “Well, I don’t want to be around him,” Charity stated firmly.

  There was an uncomfortable silence around the table for a moment. “Hey, I got water in my ears at the pool today,” Justice said suddenly.

  “Maybe that’s why you’re moving so slowly,” Mom teased. “Water in your head.” Mom steered Charity onto the subject of school, her favourite place. “So tell me more about this project you guys have to do,” she prompted smoothly.

  And Charity was off and running. Justice let the chirping of her voice drown out the shouting of Vance’s dad, still ringing in his ears.

  Chapter 5

  Jus! Chare! Breakfast is on!” Mom called up the stairs. “Let’s get going!”

  Reluctantly, Justice sat up and pulled on his jeans and t-shirt, still strewn on his bed. Why was it so much easier to get up on the weekend? He was still yawning as Charity danced into the room.

  “Look, Jus, Mom braided my hair!” She twirled around Justice’s bedroom so he could have a better look. “Look!” she practically shouted, her voice sparkling with excitement.

  “Yeah, it’s great,” Justice said without much enthusiasm. It was just braids. How could girls get so wrapped up in their looks?

  “Oh, I love when my hair is braided!” Charity exclaimed, flouncing out.

  As the kids ate, Mom bustled around the kitchen making lunches. “Can you cut up some tomatoes after school for burgers?” she asked.

  “Sure, Mom,” Charity answered immediately. Her good mood obviously extended to everyone and everything.

  Justice silently nibbled his toast. Mom and Charity continued to chatter until Mom said she had to run. She worked at the Circle of Colours Health Centre and she had to be there by 8:00 am.

  “You kids be good today. Don’t forget to lock up,” she reminded them, as she did every day. “Love you both.” She leaned over to kiss Justice and he offered his cheek. She chuckled and shook her head as she gave him a hug. “I’ll see you around 5:30.”

  “Bye, Mom!” Charity called from halfway up the stairs. “Have a good day!”

  Justice watched as his mom hurried down the walk and turned in the direction of the Circle of Colours. She pulled her jacket tighter as she crossed the street. It must be colder out today than it was yesterday, he thought. Winter is coming.

  Nearly an hour later, Justice and Charity were picking up their backpacks and heading out the door.

  “Justice,” Charity said, “isn’t that Vance?”

  “Vance!” Justice called. “Wait for me!” Vance didn’t seem to hear him.

  “Vance!” Justice called louder. “Wait!”

  Justice caught up with Vance. “Hey,” he greeted.

  “Hey,” Vance finally replied.

  Justice suddenly felt uncomfortable. “Cold out, eh?” he said lamely.

  “Yup,” Vance answered back without looking up. Justice noticed that Vance’s thin spring coat was only half done up; some of the snaps were missing. He must be pretty cold.

  The two boys walked in silence until they neared the grounds of McTavish School. “Hey, that was fun at the pool yesterday, Van,” Justice said.

  “Yup,” Vance said as he jogged toward the climbing apparatus. He chucked down his backpack. It hit the school fence as he leaped up to the horizontal bar at one end. Vance easily swung himself up and climbed along the metal bars. Justice thought he seemed more monkey than boy. He watched Vance for a few seconds then decided to find someone more interested in talking to him.

  The morning passed by quickly. The announcement for an upcoming “Pyjama Day” caused a small excitement in the classroom. Justice wondered what he would wear, considering that he slept in his underwear only. He wasn’t too worried about it, though. He was getting too old for school spirit days, anyway.

  After the lunch bell rang, Justice noticed Charity heading for the school door with her coat on. She was with her best friend, Dani. “Charity!” he called to her, “Where are you going?”

  “We’re going to O.K.” Charity answered flippantly. “See ya.”

  “Open Kitchen? But we brought lunch,” Justice persisted. It wasn’t like Charity to just disobey their mom like this. Is she trying to act more grown up than she should because of her friend? Justice wondered.

  “I know, but Dani wants me to go and I’m going,” Charity turned, ending the conversation. Justice thought she looked a little unsure about going and didn’t want to keep talking about it. Maybe she’s afraid she’ll change her mind, he thought.

  Justice didn’t want to argue with her. Still, he didn’t think Mom would want Charity to go. Open Kitchen was a free lunch program for kids in their neighbourhood, but it was quite a long walk and Mom didn’t want the twins to leave the school building. For some reason Mom seemed to think O.K. was only for kids who didn’t have enough food at home. She was pretty upset when Justice went to Open Kitchen one time last year. Oh well, thought Justice, Charity is a whole year older now; maybe Mom won’t mind. Justice saw Vance with a big group of kids heading that way, too.

  Still, the nagging feeling of something not quite right bothered him while he ate his sandwich. The only good thing was that Jimmy stayed for lunch and Justice ate with him. They talked about going to the pool together one day. It turned out Jimmy had never been off the high board, either. You should go there with Vance, Justice thought. Then you’d go off the high board!

  The lunchroom was loud, especially with all the younger kids chatting and giggling. Maybe I should have gone to O.K., too, Justice grumbled to himself. I’m getting too old to sit here with a lunchroom babysitter.

  Chapter 6

  By the time school began for the afternoon, Justice knew something was wrong. Charity hadn’t returned from Open Kitchen. It was unlike her to be late for school. As their teacher, Mr. Wilson, took attendance, he glanced at Justice. “Do you know where Charity is?” he asked.

  Justice wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t really know where Charity was but he had a pretty good idea. “Uh, she, uh, went to O.K. for lunch,” he mumbled.

  “Oh,” Mr. Wilson looked surprised. “Didn’t you go?”

  “No.” Justice would have said more, but the whole class was watching. He waited for Mr. Wilson to move on. Mr. Wilson continued with attendance. “Billie? She was here this morning, too. Janet, you’re here. Mr. Wilson clapped the book shut. “Okay, that’s everyone.”

  No sooner had the attendance book been sent down to the office than Mrs. Lipswitch, the school secretary, called over the intercom. “Excuse me, Mr. Wilson?”

  “Yes?” he raised his voice to be heard on the old system.

  “Is Justice Stoneyplain in class? You have him marked here, but Charity is marked absent,” the crackly voice continued.

  “Yes, he’s here, but she’s not,” Mr. Wilson confirmed.

&
nbsp; “All right, thank you,” she replied.

  Justice couldn’t keep his mind on math, wondering where Charity was. His unasked questions were soon answered; Mrs. Lipswitch was back on the intercom. “Pardon the interruption, Mr. Wilson,” she said. “Can you send Justice down to the office, please?”

  “He’s on his way,” answered Mr. Wilson, indicating the door. “Go ahead, Justice.”

  Justice shot out of the room, sweat breaking out all over him. This must be about Charity, he thought. His heart pounded in his ears. He made it to the office in record time.

  “Mr. Baker is waiting for you, Justice,” Mrs. Lipswitch tilted her head toward the principal’s office door, her hands never leaving her computer. “Just knock and go on in.”

  Justice knocked on the door as he opened it.

  “Come on in, Justice,” said Mr. Baker. Two figures were seated at the conference table. One was Dani, looking subdued and pale, and the other was Charity. The right side of her face was scraped and tears still wet her cheeks. Her eyes looked puffy; she had obviously been crying for a while.

  “Charity?” he blurted, his voice shaking. Charity didn’t say anything, but fresh tears ran down her cheeks.

  Mr. Baker began. “Justice, do you know what happened today?”

  “No,” Justice muttered, his mind racing. What had happened?

  Mr. Baker continued. “Charity and Dani say there was some trouble at O.K. Do you know anything about it?”