Confusion
(Some names may have been changed to protect the innocent--and the guilty. Just so you know.)
What many would consider one of the worst days of their lives came about as a result of confusion.
Let me explain. I was a freshman at Maple Creek High School in a Midwestern state. There were probably about 150 students in
my class, so I really didn't know everyone. Since there were over 500 students at the school, not everyone knew everyone
else, either. I, for example, didn't know the Henderson brothers, Rob and Stu, real well, even though I bore a slight
resemblance to them. I did have relatives at the school, of course, and we even (in some cases) shared a last name, but we
were cousins and didn't look all that much alike.
Vic Jones and his older brother Dave didn't like the Hendersons--or much of anyone else, for that matter, though they had a
small circle of friends. Vic was a wiry kid with permed hair, while his brother was more muscular and athletic, and had been
on the wrestling team till he got kicked off for smoking weed. I didn't know either one of them, except that I knew they had
a bad reputation, and I tried to avoid them as much as possible, which usually wasn't too difficult.
All the pretty girls in my class--or so it seemed--had boyfriends in the upper classes. A couple didn't, but they said they
had boyfriends in other towns. One claimed her "beau" was in the marines, and would beat up anyone who tried to mess with
her. I thought she was kind of ugly, and kept away from her. But there were a couple of sophomore girls, one an Asian (I
didn't know if she was Chinese or Japanese or something else), who didn't seem to have boyfriends, either at my school or
anywhere else. Probably scared off any guys who might think of asking them out. I know I was scared of them, and could barely
speak if one of them spoke to me. Still, they seemed kind of nice.
Well, on this particular day, I was walking down the hall headed to my English class with Mr. Braggs. I heard someone call
out, "Henderson!" or something like that, but I didn't know who it was or what they wanted. There was a teacher at the school
named Mr. Anderson, and, for all I knew, someone could have been calling to him. As I was about to turn the corner to Mr.
Braggs's classroom (it was at the end of a short side hall), I felt someone grab my shoulder. "Henderson," said Vic Jones.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Henderson. I wanna talk to you."
I was confused. "About what? Henderson?"
"Look, I don't like smart asses--"
"I don't know--"
Vic punched me in the gut. "Don't interrupt me, Henderson."
The punch made me bend over, which made Vic even madder. "What the hell are you talking about? If you've got some problem
with the Hendersons--"
Another punch in the gut, then one to the face. "No, I've got a problem with you, smart ass--"
"Get away from him, Vic!" shouted the Asian girl I mentioned earlier.
"Stay out of this, Sophie, you little Jap--"
By now I was standing up. I tried to punch Vic in the mouth, but I would have missed wildly even if Sophie hadn't grabbed my hand. "No," she said. "Don't hit him. You'll get in more trouble than he will."
A crowd had started to form. "Yeah, Vic," said a senior boy that I didn't know. "I'd hate to have to tell your brother how
Sophie protected you from her boyfriend."
"I don't need no Jap to protect me from a freshman like Henderson."
"What's going on out here?" shouted Mr. Braggs. At the sound of his voice, Vic and most of the kids in the crowd moved on to
their next classes. The senior and Sophie stayed with me.
"Vic Jones was trying to work over Henderson here."
"My name ain't Henderson," I said.
"'Isn't' Henderson," said Mr. Braggs, apparently determined to correct my English.
"I'm not a Henderson," I said. My stomach hurt. "I don't feel like I should come to class, Mr. Braggs."
"No, you're quite right. Here's a pass to the office. Sophie, what's your class this period?"
"It's OK, I'm a T.A. in the office," said Sophie.
"And Mr. Swartz," he said to the senior, "where should you be?"
"I'm supposed to be down at the gym helping get it set up for the game tonight, but if you need a witness or something--"
"No, I think Sophie can explain things well enough, but make sure you get Tony Swartz's name as a witness, will you, Sophie?"
The walk to the office seemed to take forever, but one of the secretaries met us about halfway along the way. "What
happened?" she asked.
Sophie explained that Vic Jones thought I was one of the Hendersons and tried to pick a fight with me. "Tom didn't throw any
punches," she explained, apparently forgetting about the one that she had deflected.
"Tom, Tom, Tom," the principal muttered. I later learned that he repeated himself when he had no clue as to what to do.
"It wasn't my fault. . . I mean, what was I supposed to do?"
"You're sure you didn't do anything to provoke him?"
"I ignored him. I didn't think he was even talking to me till he grabbed me."
"He called your name?"
"He called, 'Henderson,' a couple of times, but I didn't know he was calling me. Or thought he was calling me."
"Yes, well, this is a problem, I must admit--"
There was a knock on the door, and one of the other secretaries came in. "Sorry to interrupt, but there's all hell breaking
loose. We need your help."
I heard Mr. Pembroke cuss under his breath as he and the secretary went out. I started to stand up, but felt weak and sat down. Sophie called for the nurse.
"It started with him," the principal told the police officer who came in to talk to me a while later.
"No, it didn't," Sophie said.
The cop looked at Sophie. "Miss, could you step outside while I interview Mr., uh, Carter?" Sophie reluctantly stepped out into the hall.
I told the policeman that Vic Jones had called to me, then grabbed my shoulder, apparently thinking I was related to the
Hendersons, with whom he had some issues. I hadn't had any problems with Vic or his brother, though I did make it a point to
stay away from them as much as possible. I just didn't like them. They had their own friends.
Sophie admitted that I had tried to throw a punch at Vic, but only because he had called her a "little Jap," and that Tony
Swartz had seen the whole incident, or at least enough of it to show that it was Vic's fault, not mine.
Meanwhile, the fight between my cousins and some of the Jones gang had resulted in school being cancelled for the rest of the
day. My parents came to pick me up, and were very angry. The Hendersons' parents explained to my parents that their sons had
problems with the Joneses, and that apparently Vic had decided I was a Henderson, not a Carter.
"But why did Tom punch out Vic?" my mom asked, apparently still confused.
"Not even close to that, Mrs. Carter," said Tony. "After Vic punched Tom a few times, he called Tom's girlfriend a name. Tom
tried to hit him, but Sophie stopped him."
"Girlfriend? Sophie?" I don't know who asked which question. Mom and Dad were confused.
"Hi, I'm Sophie Lowrie." Sophie looked at my parents and smiled. "I'm sorry about all of this. I don't think Tom would have
tried to hit Vic if it hadn't been for me."
"Tom would have whaled ol' Vic if Sophie hadn't gotten between them," said Tony. He then added, "Sophie's cool."
The basketball game was cancelled, the police interviewed me again a couple of times, and the principal popped a few
antacids, or so I heard. Mom and Dad insisted on giving Sophie a ride home; when it was evident her parents weren't there,
they took her and me out to lunch. "We're glad you're Tom's girlfriend," Mom said to Sophie.
"Actually, we're not even a couple," I said. "I mean . . . Sophie, would you like to be my girlfriend? I promise I won't get
you into any more fights."
"Fight all you want," she said, "so long as you're fighting for me. And I'll always fight for you."
The worst day of my life turned out to be one of the best. For a lot of other people, however . . .
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