Trolled

by Steven Sandor

  When he got back up the stairs to where Enalyn was sitting, she was staring at him with wide eyes. Her hand was over her mouth. Through her fingers, she whispered, “Andy. What. Have. You. Done?”

  “I talked to Miriam Said. Like I said I would.”

  “No, Andy! You didn’t just talk to her! You hugged her and then you kissed her! Before she could get her robe back on!”

  “I just said something into her ear!”

  “Stop lying, Andy, I could see it. It was a kiss! And you were both practically naked! Get away from me! I don’t want to talk to you right now!”

  Stunned, Andy headed for the men’s change room. The two Leslieville swimmers were there.

  “Did you see it? I did it,” Andy said.

  “I can’t believe it. You should never have done that. Miriam Said is like, awesome.”

  The second Leslieville swimmer nodded. “Dude, we can’t even talk to you anymore. You’d better get out of here. You’re gonna be in so much crap. I mean, it’s bad enough to kiss any competitor, but Miriam Said? We all respect her beliefs.”

  What? Andy’s jaw dropped. He watched as the two swimmers packed their bags as quickly as they could.

  “What do you mean, her beliefs?”

  “Dude,” said the first Leslieville swimmer. “Don’t you know anything? Her family is Muslim. She petitioned Swim Canada to let her wear a swimsuit that covered her arms and legs — and her head.”

  “Wait, yeah, I kind of remember hearing that,” Andy said. Enalyn was always going on about her idol. “But they said no.”

  “Still, dude, you’ve got to know that she’s not cool with anyone she doesn’t know touching her. Especially when she’s not covered up.”

  “Sorry, we can’t be around you, Tiger Shark!” the second Leslieville swimmer said as he rushed out the door. “No way are they gonna let you race at nationals!”

  It was like Andy was glued to the spot on the change-room bench. A minute after the two swimmers left, someone else entered. It was Travis Holloway. His face was red.

  “So, here you are,” he said to Andy. He crouched down so he could look the young swimmer in the eye. And, even though they were close to each other, Holloway spoke as loudly as he could.

  “What was the meaning of that? Were you trying to embarrass our country’s finest swimmer? Or yourself? What? What!”

  Andy realized he’d made a horrible mistake.

  “Coach,” he said quietly. “It was a stunt. Someone dared me to . . .”

  “I don’t care!” the coach roared. “I don’t care who put you up to it, or who dared you to do it. The fact is, you did it!”

  “But, Coach, can’t we just forget it happened?”

  “You just don’t get it, do you?” Holloway said. “You of all people! You’re the kid who became the Internet star! Did you see all the people who caught that on their phones? They got you on video, don’t you get it?”

  Andy didn’t say a word. As Travis Holloway stormed out, Andy tiptoed to his locker, opened the door and dug out his phone.

  On Twitter, it was already making the rounds. There was already a vine that was being shared and shared some more.

  CHECK OUT THIS VINE OF CANADIAN CHAMP @TheREALMiriamSaid being attacked!

  Attacked? Andy thought.

  Andy clicked on the vine. It showed Miriam Said smiling. And then, there was Andy. The camera closed in, so all the viewer could see was Andy and Miriam from the shoulders up. Andy watched himself draw close and deliver a kiss. He watched as his towel slipped down and his bare shoulders brushed Miriam’s.

  And he saw Miriam Said’s eyes open wide as she pulled away. After Andy had fled, Miriam Said’s hand went over her mouth. An official came over and tried to console her.

  Andy recognized Miriam Said’s actions. She felt like she had been attacked. By Andy.

  14

  Unplugging

  @MaryMillions

  Check this out: @TheREALMiriamSaid attacked at provincials! Video link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuRzUDllAXz

  @RealSwimFan2016

  @MaryMillions So, who is that with @TheREALMiriamSaid! Did he just run up naked and kiss her????

  @Women4Equality

  Have you seen this video? A female athlete shamed! www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuRzUDllAXz

  Retweeted 287 times.

  @SportsShorts

  Canadian Olympic hopeful @TheREALMiriamSaid and an unwelcome fan.

  @CanadaNewsUpdate

  Champion Said target of sexist Islamophobic act.

  @CanadaEh

  Confirming that the idiot in that video is @TigerShark time for @SwimCanada to do the right thing. BAN HIM.

  @SportsNutz

  @TheREALMiriamSaid is Muslim. Not a REAL Canadian! She shouldn’t even be allowed in the stands! Yay @TigerShark.

  @KristenKrezowski

  @SportsNutz @TigerShark yer both pathetic. Shame on you.

  @ReplaySports

  See the video everyone is talking about! ONT swim champ @TheREALMiriamSaid assaulted by @TigerShark!

  “Assaulted?” Andy said as he flicked his thumb up and down on his screen. “I didn’t assault anyone! It was a hug and a peck!”

  Enalyn sat in the front of the van with Coach Ocampo. Neither had said a word to Andy since they pulled out of the parking lot at McMaster. They were on Highway 403, headed back toward Brampton. Andy sat in the back of the van with the Eel.

  “I am sure it’ll blow over,” the Eel said. “I mean, it’s totally obvious that you didn’t attack her. But it does look kinda creepy.”

  “I don’t know what this is about,” Andy sighed. “I mean, I didn’t really know what I was doing. It was a dare! It was innocent. I hope this isn’t going to be awkward when I see her at nationals.”

  Andy heard Enalyn make a harrumphing sound in the front seat.

  @CalgaryWomensCentre

  Shocking video. @TigerShark should be ashamed.

  @CanadaSportsChannel

  From Internet hero to zero. @TigerShark outed as misogynist and racist.

  @CatherineBHorvath

  Sign the Change.org petition. Ban @TigerShark from @SwimCanada for life!

  Andy clicked on the link that took him to the Change.org petition.

  Given that sport should reflect our values, and be inclusive, we feel that Swim Canada must not allow @TigerShark, Andy Kovacs of COBRA swim club, to swim in any events or represent our national swim program in any way. His actions against Miriam Said show a blatant disregard for the rights of women and people of all faiths. Our national teams should represent the values of Canadian diversity. We, the undersigned, demand that Andy Kovacs not be allowed to compete at another provincial competition or any national meet.

  Andy swallowed hard when he saw that the petition had already been signed 676 times. He refreshed the page; 684 times. Again; 688.

  “How did they know it was me?” Andy asked the Eel. “I mean, this only happened a couple of hours ago.”

  The Eel laughed. “Andy, dude, you’re an Internet star! How many hits did that flutterboard thing get? Someone got a video of you today and posted it right away. Really, I’m surprised it took that long for someone to put two and two together. It’s all over the Internet that the flutterboard guy is the same as the Miriam Said Bandit.”

  “Wait, did you just give me a nickname?”

  “Dude, this will make you a rock star in the end, just you watch!”

  ***

  Andy couldn’t sleep. His mom had made paprika chicken and dumplings, his favourite dish, to celebrate his win at provincials. Luckily, his mom and dad didn’t know anything about Andy’s latest claim to social media fame.

  Andy asked to be excused and went to his room.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” he told his parents. “After everything that’s happened today, I’m
exhausted.”

  “No worries, son,” his dad said. “Sleep in. You’ve earned it.”

  But Andy didn’t sleep. He couldn’t sleep. After climbing a steep set of stairs to get to his room, he turned his phone back on.

  @Freddie2000

  Hey @TigerShark, go kill yourself.

  @LockedDown77

  @TigerShark yer a ladies man what a player ha.

  @StaceyByrnes3809

  @TigerShark You make me vomit. The way you touched her was disgusting.

  All of the tweets aimed at him were like this. There were thousands of them.

  Andy decided to delete his Twitter account.

  When Andy saw there were more than 2,000 notifications on his Facebook account, he deleted that, too.

  His Gmail inbox had hundreds of unread messages. Instead of reading them, he turned off his phone.

  He couldn’t take it anymore.

  Andy pulled the curtains to shut out the streetlight that shone right into his room. He lay on his bed. He felt drained. But he couldn’t sleep. He stared at the red light from the smoke detector on the ceiling. He tried to remember every move he had made before hugging Miriam Said. It was all a blur. Surely, in a day or so, everyone would forget, right?

  Finally, there was a loud knock on the door.

  “Yes?”

  “András, it’s me. Mom. We just got a strange phone call downstairs. It’s almost midnight but there was a Travis Holloway on the line. From Swim Canada.”

  “What?”

  “He just wanted me to give you a message. He wants to talk via Skype tomorrow morning. At nine. He has your handle, whatever that means, he says. Just accept his, um, contact request, that’s it. He says it’s urgent.”

  ***

  Andy sat on his bed. It was 8:55 a.m. and he had just activated the Skype app on his phone. The screen went blue as the system automatically logged him on. Once he got to his contacts screen, he accepted the invitation from TravisHollowaySWIM.

  He waited five minutes. Then ten. Then half an hour.

  His dad knocked at the door. “So, have you heard from this coach yet? They probably want to fly you to Edmonton first class!”

  “Not yet,” Andy said. He looked at the alarm clock on his night table. It read 9:32 a.m.

  And then the icon on the screen started to vibrate. The Skype screen showed an incoming call from TravisHollowaySWIM. Andy hit the video-chat button. He saw a pixelated blur of two silhouettes that suddenly came into focus. Travis Holloway was sitting next to a woman with grey hair and dark, heavy eyebrows that sat angrily over her wire spectacles.

  Travis spoke. “Andy, sorry to keep you waiting. But our meeting went over time. The meeting was about you. This is Marguerite D’Youville, the president of Swim Canada. We’ve spent much of last night and this morning discussing what happened. We also spoke with Miriam.”

  “But . . .” Andy began. “I thought this was going to be about nationals.”

  “Andy, zip it. It’s better for you the less you talk,” said Holloway. “Unfortunately, this talk is about nationals. We came to a decision that we can’t allow you to swim at them. In about two hours, Swim Canada is going to issue a press release announcing that you’ve been banned from competing. And the length of the ban is indefinite. That means there is no planned date to reinstate you.”

  Andy felt the tears start up in his eyes. “Seriously?”

  The president said nothing. She just looked forward at the screen as Holloway kept talking.

  “Look, kid,” Holloway’s voice softened. “You screwed up. Even if I believe that you didn’t know how offended Miriam would be by your actions, you should have known better. You say you were put up to this by some other kids. Well, we asked around all the swim teams last night, and no one says they dared you to do this. Really, I have no doubt that someone did put you up to this, but there’s no way to prove it. And it doesn’t change the fact that you could have said no.

  “On Facebook and Twitter, everyone is talking about swimming today,” he continued, “but it’s not about racing. It’s about this. The sponsors who pay the bills for nationals want you gone. Women’s groups want you gone. Islamic groups want you gone. Heck, I need to tell you that I’ve gotten a few calls from government MPs who want you gone.”

  “B-b-but I wanted to be like you, I wanted to go to the Olympics . . .” Andy protested.

  Finally, the president spoke. “So, you think you can go to the Olympics? You don’t have the class to be an Olympian!”

  She got up, smoothed her long black skirt and left the room, leaving Holloway alone.

  “Look, kid, keep your head down. Don’t talk to anyone. And please take down that embarrassing fundraising site you created.”

  The next thing Andy heard was a click, and he saw a CALL ENDED message appear on the screen.

  15

  Found Out

  Andy was still trying to dry his tears when his mom opened the door to his room. She didn’t knock.

  “Come downstairs. Now,” she said coldly.

  “But, Mom, I just got some bad news . . .”

  “NOW, young man.”

  Shaking, he rose from his chair and followed his mom down past the kitchen to the living room. His dad sat on the couch, watching the end of the Sports Channel’s Misplays of the Week.

  “Congratulations. You were number one on this week’s list of misplays,” said Andy’s dad. “So when were you planning to tell us about this?”

  “Dad, Mom, I’m so sorry,” Andy blubbered. “It was a dare. I mean . . .” What else could go wrong?

  “Well, after seeing your antics on TV, I thought, That couldn’t be my son,” said Andy’s mom. “I thought about how you’re always trying to do the right thing. The only person who has said a bad thing about you is that math teacher of yours. And then, I thought to myself, Funny, it’s July, and I haven’t seen Andy’s report card yet.”

  Oh no.

  “So, András, I logged in. It said that the reminders were e-mailed out weeks ago. Funny how we didn’t get them. Then, I saw your math mark: a 51.”

  “Well, Mr. Chalmers is an awfully tough marker,” said Andy.

  “Andy, listen to yourself!” his father roared. Andy hadn’t heard his dad raise his voice like that in a long, long time. “You nearly flunked the course, and you’re blaming the teacher. This is math. It’s either right or wrong. A teacher can’t be a hard marker when it comes to math. You might have passed by the skin of your teeth, but your mark is about as D-minus as a D-minus can be!”

  “And then,” said his dad, “we did a little more digging into our so famous son. We saw the fundraising page that you created.”

  “I’m just about to delete that,” Andy said.

  “Don’t you think you should have said something to us?” Andy could see his dad was shaking as he said this. “Do you know how embarrassing it is for us? To have our son asking for money from strangers? To have him begging so publicly? The deal was you’d raise some cash through work, and we’d come up with the rest.”

  “But, Dad, you’re not working . . .”

  “For now! Just for now! András, this wasn’t about you trying to help us! This was about going on the Internet with another reason to say, ‘hey, look at me!’ Well, guess what? People are looking at you!”

  “I knew it was a mistake for you to have school, a part-time job and the swim team at the same time,” said his mom.

  “Mom, Dad.” Andy started to cry again. “You don’t have to worry about the swimming anymore. They’re not going to let me swim at nationals.”

  Andy’s dad softened his voice. “Well, it looks like you’ve messed up school and swimming.”

  It’s a good thing I still have the comic-book store, thought Andy. “Well, I should go. I need to be at the mall at noon.”

  *** />
  “Andy, wait! Come here. I need to talk to you!” Mr. Patel called out as Andy walked past the new-release rack.

  “I know what you did,” he said. “I’ve got hundreds of e-mails and Facebook messages about you this morning.”

  “You did? Why?”

  “On our store’s Facebook page, you were listed as a staff member. The Internet mob found you. People are already talking about boycotting the shop! They’re tweeting to all the comic publishers that they should take us off their distribution lists! Look!”

  Andy went behind the counter to look at the store laptop. It was logged in to Comic Relief’s Facebook page.

  Mary MacDonnell

  I CANNOT believe that you have that sexist jerk working at your store. NEVER SHOPPING THERE.

  Harvey Visscher

  I can’t support a shop that supports racism.

  Danisha Danisha

  +1 Shame

  It went on and on.

  “What are we going to do?” Andy asked.

  “I’m sorry, Andy.” Mr. Patel winced. “There is no we. The question is, what am I going to do? I’m going to have to let you go. And that’s not all. I’m going to have to ban you from the store. I have to save my business.”

  “This isn’t fair! It was meant to be a prank!” Andy cried.

  “Andy, this isn’t about if you’re a good kid or a bad kid or a kid who made a stupid mistake. They are out for blood. And if I don’t cut my ties with you, the store could die.”

  Mr. Patel leaned down and reached under the counter. He pulled out a large envelope with ANDY KOVACS written on it.

  “Termination papers,” said Mr. Patel.

  Andy accepted the envelope. He opened it and saw a blank line that was highlighted.

  “Sign there,” said Mr. Patel, handing Andy a pen.

  Andy signed.

  “Now, Andy, I have to ask you to go,” said Mr. Patel. “I’m just about to post that you’re no longer an employee and have been banned. I’m sorry it had to end up like this.”