The Crossing Guard

Now, I have been watching over children crossing at my corner of Temecula Parkway and Consuelo Avenue for sixteen years. Over those years, I've learned most of the children's names and most of their Parent's names.

   I wear a plastic orange vest and carry a big red and white stop sign.

   Yes, I'm the volunteer Crossing Guard for this neighborhood.

   I've seen things over the years that would make your hair stand on end. Cars swerving around the kids when I'm holding up my sign in the middle of the crosswalk. Kids running past me in front of oncoming traffic as I'm walking back to let the cars through. Emergency vehicles aiming themselves at me with sirens blaring and lights flashing, while I pick up a toddler under each arm and their parents scoot their other children across to the other side.

   It wasn't until three years ago, when I witnessed a group of kids take back their pride, their dignity, their childhood, and I believe became lifelong friends, that I am most proud to have worked these city streets.

   First I need to tell you why they all became good friends. His name is Duncan Pitts. Bully extraordinaire.

   Duncan was growing up with the fear most children, in any generation, ever experience and endure for as many years as he did in his young life without someone finding out.

   I myself judged him wrongly. Because nobody ever knew what could possibly be so bad about growing up rich in the most influential family in the city and living in the largest house in town.

   This family had money. They bought all the property along both sides of the cul-de-sac street called Loma Linda Hill, leaving all the lots empty.

   It's a pretty good size street too. It could have held eight other homes with large yards bordering those curbs, but now are the unkempt front yard of Mister Bonaparte Pitts and his wife, Abigail.

   Duncan never let anyone come near his home to find out about the daily childhood trauma he was living through. Beatings from both of his drunken parents and the constant psychological and verbal harassment by his two drop-out older sisters.

   He endured the same daily routine about his toughness and manhood by his family year after year. Never letting on how miserable his home life truly was to the rest of the world.

   So, what choice did he have but to become the most notorious bully in the city of Temecula. His anger and frustration had to be funneled somewhere. The poor boy was trying to live up to what he was being taught at home. About what it took to be a real man. Being the only male heir to the Pitts family fortune.

   Duncan, like most bullies, new how to pick his victims. It was the 8 bicycle riding freshmen of our local High School.

   It was an easy choice for the second year student. He wasn't athletic and didn't workout daily. So taking on a baseball, basketball, or a football player was a losing proposition. The wannabe gangsters in town were not a good choice either. You take on one of them and that group comes in force the next day to avenge one of their own. And why take on the loners like himself. You can never tell what kind of rage they might be hiding inside those quit mouths of theirs.

   So there rode in the eight geeky nerds onto the school grounds the first day of school. One at a time. Two gamers, two brainiacs, one otaku, and three cosplayers. All in all, seven pairs of heavily taped goggle glasses and one wearing outdated contacts. The perfect fish to fry. Three girls and five boys, not one weighing in over one hundred ten pounds.

   Duncan was even thinking about rotating the punishment he gave out to those kids so not to intimidate the same one twice in 1 week.

   It started out slow. Name calling from afar. Then the old standing in front of your victim real close so he or she could smell the onions you had on your hamburger for lunch.

   That grew into taking every last cent those kids had before the start of school. Even though he had more money then all of them put together. It just was part of the natural progression.

    Things picked up and started becoming a little frightening for the eight when their locks on their bikes were picked and they were moved to other locations on the school grounds. Sometimes, both tires were slashed and the owner would have to walk his or her bike home. Much to the delight of Duncan Pitts.

   Why didn't the kids complain to the Vice Principle you ask?

   They did. But with no eye witnesses no one dared to suspend the son of the Goose that Laid the Golden Egg. If it wasn't for last year's charitable contribution from Bonaparte Pitts, the football team, the mascot, and the cheerleaders would still be riding to away games in the yellow county school bus instead of the brand new wi-fi, multiple TV, air conditioned luxury bus.

   It was just a couple of kids anyways. Why upset a good thing? Their parents never even contributed to the annual bake sale.

   Then one of the brainiacs, a math genius, saw a pattern in her harassment. One week she was victimized on a Monday. Then she wasn't bullied until Wednesday of the following week. Friday the next week after that. Skip a week, then get hit on a Tuesday. Then Thursday a week later. And finally, back to Monday.

   That meant, either Duncan, was being nice to her during those other days by not bullying her, or she was one of eight kids being victimized.

    The first day back from the Thanksgiving break, Shirley the math wiz, waited for Duncan to drive his brand new Mini Cooper to school. She waited for him in the park, kitty corner from the cross walk I work.

   I could see her metal handlebar basket and the top of the front tire, with the pink side walls, sticking out in front of the dual plastic yellow slide across the street from me. The large slide did hide Shirley and the rest of her bike though.

   Why was she there? I was thinking. By this time of the morning she usually was the first one at school. Trying to beat the bully before he arrived. It was still fifty-five minutes before the bell rang and if she didn't hurry she wouldn't be able to reach the safety of the school building and her first period class.

   Then everyone could hear the black and white trimmed Mini Cooper come skidding through a stop sign a block away. Turning right at the corner of Loma Linda Hill and Temecula Parkway, heading our way.

   Luckily I wasn't holding up my sign in the middle of the cross walk because of no children to protect or I would have had to report his license plate number to authorities since he was traveling at least 10 miles per hour over the speed limit.

   The car zoomed past me and from the corner of my eye I saw Shirley take off from behind the plastic slide pedaling as fast as she could. She was chasing after Duncan Pitts as he drove his car to school.

    This went on every day for two weeks, only missing Wednesday on the first week, Friday the second week.

   Shirley met with each bicycle riding victimized nerd to set up a meeting on the Friday, 1 week before the Christmas break. She only had five days to convince the other seven that she could come up with a viable plan that would stop them from being bullied after the 2 week break.

To Be Continued...

I wrote this on my cellphone, that is the reason for the format and the green coloring. 

This is,

I Thought About Being A Crossing Guard Once

But I Couldn't Make The Commitment Of Being There Everyday

Jim Hauenstein,

“Help someone, you earn a friend.”
- Erol Ozan - 

That is my story and I am sticking to it! 

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