He’s just a boy. He’s considered as another bully in school though oftentimes he got bullied. He had no friends, not a single one would stick around him. He’s a nerd, with a world of his own. He wore the same old shirt and jeans everyday like he never changed. He’s emaciated. He ate lunch alone in the isolated areas in school – either in the toilet or near the garbage dump where no one could see him. He was often rejected in groups and games. He walked to school alone. He’s an outcast.
He’s Just A Boy. Good For Nothing
He’s just a boy. Nobody knew what he’s holding back. He seemed to have lost his childhood early. His eyes were filled with anger and bitterness and sometimes with a glint of fear. He’s not progressing, not even in grades or attitude. He’s good for nothing, a teachers’ burden, so they thought. He paid no attention to his studies. He wasn’t even listening to his teachers. Many times he was caught scribbling images of blood and violence. In the eyes of many he’s a war freak, a problem child, a frequent in the principal’s office and a regular in the detention. Not a day in school that he never got himself in a fight and that explained the bruises, contusions and scratches he earned every day.
Everyone wondered – parents and teachers alike – but nobody cared to ask. No one knew him deeply except for the fact that he’s being hated.
Expelled From School
One day he was absent. They just thought he might be sick. A week followed, he missed their class’ Christmas party. Classes already resumed after the New Year and still he’s not present. Rumor broke that he was expelled from school. A month later of his absence, his adviser decided to pay a home visit to discuss school matters and his absence. And the truth came out.
There he was… resting peacefully six feet below the ground. The name that used to be in the teacher’s class record was now beautifully carved on a polished rock. He eventually went to a place where there is only happiness. A world that was once existed only in his dreams, probably reunited with his mother. A place of comfort, a paradise he never experienced a thousand years in this mean world. A place where he is accepted, not judged. Somewhere he can enjoy his childhood with friends and playmates to be happy with. A place where he is loved.
The Reason
On that night of December 16, 2012, his last day of attendance in school, he was ruthlessly beaten by his drunken stepfather like he always did almost every night. The neighbors surely heard him cry but they chose to be deaf. They certainly saw the damage, the trauma but they chose to be blind. Nothing was done because they were scared, far more scared than the boy enduring for his life until that fateful night. He caught a fever after the cruelty. He rested for his last breath and fell unto the wings of an angel who cuddled him peacefully. Until then, he left the cruel world and eternally take refuge in a life he always wanted but never had.
It is only then that they realized that the boy was misunderstood. He was neglected, a victim of abuse. A frail soul caught in the bondage of cruelty. After all, he’s just a boy.