FROGS SNAILS AND PUPPY DOG TAILS
DISCLAIMER: The Mummy and The Mummy Returns belong to Stephen Sommers, and to Universal Pictures. I own nothing.
NOTE: Special thanks to Marcher for the idea to this story.
CHAPTER 1: The Phone Call
With Alex at school, and Rick off someplace unknown to her, Evelyn sat in the parlor with her nose buried in a book. Quiet times were rare in the O’Connell household with an active seven year old boy, and it was times like these that Evelyn liked to just get away from it all.
Before she could get too into her latest story, the ringing of the telephone quickly drew her attention. For a moment she waited to see if anyone was inside and would pick it up, but it soon become evident that she would have to answer it. Setting the book beside her on the couch, she quickly stood up, then hurried across the room to the little stand where the ornate phone sat. Her heals clicking on the smooth surface of the floor, and the click of the old grandfather clock were the only two sounds to be heard.
“This is the O’Connell Residence,” she said, hoping that whomever was on the other end had not hung up the phone. Intently she listened, and the features on her face twisted into worry. “Yes what..” before she could ask, the caller hung up. Now worried, Evelyn set the receiver back into it’s brass cradle, then headed for the stairs. “RICK,” she called out as she took the steps two at a time. It only took her a few minutes to figure out that her husband was not upstairs, and knowing him as well as she did, Evelyn headed toward the front of the house.
~*~
Two days ago Rick O’Connell became the proud owner of a brand new Beauford. It was powder blue on the outside, and sparkled in the light of the mid day sun. After taking Alex to school, and dropping him off, Rick came home, and spent almost two hours polishing the outside, and now stood admiring his handiwork. He had yet to test the range of speed on the back roads, and was about to do that when the front door of the house opened, and Evelyn stepped out. Immediately he could tell something was wrong, and for the moment testing the speed of his new car was forgotten. “Evie what is it?” he asked as he met her half way to the door.
“The school phoned, and said we need to come there straight away. They didn’t tell me why, or what was wrong, but I have a terrible feeling,” she said as he guided her to the car. She allowed him to open the door to the front passenger seat, and didn’t realize that she had forgotten her satchel until they were at the end of their long drive way. “I’ll need it if he is ill and has to be taken to the Doctor,” she said.
Without panicking, Rick backed the car all the way down their driveway then stopped it. “You stay here and I’ll get it. It’s in the Foyer on the coat stand right?” he asked as he stepped out of the car. He looked at her and saw that her hands where shaking. “Hey, he’s a tough little boy Evie, I’m sure he’s all right.” Rick leaned in the car and placed a kiss on her cheek, then left to get her satchel, trying to remain calm himself.
~*~
The drive to Alex’s school seemed to take forever, and both parents were trying their best to keep calm. On her lap, Evelyn held her satchel, fidgeting with the straps while her husband focused on getting them there without being pulled over for going too fast. “We have never been called in to school,” Evelyn finally said, unable to stand the silence any longer. She looked at her husband, needing some sort of response.
“Only the time he came down with the Mumps, maybe he is sick again, what did they say that time?” he asked. Last year, Alex’s first year of school, the forth week, they had been called in to get him because he was sick. Rick had been away with Jonathan for the day, and had not been there to get the call.
“The nurse told me he was ill, and I picked him up. This time they told me to come to school straight away, then they put the phone back on the receiver,” she said as she began to bounce her left leg.
~*~
After twenty minutes of driving, Rick pulled his car along side of the school and once it was parked he got out, and had to run to catch up to his wife. When he reached her side, he took hold of her hand, trying to slow her down. “We’ll soon find out what this is all about,” he said.
Her husband's calm voice reached her, and Evelyn realized she was practically jogging to the entrance of the school, in heels no less. Forcing herself to remain calm she slowed down to a normal pace of walking. “I do hope he hasn’t come down with that nasty cold Jonathan had last week,” she said. Taking care of Alex when he was not feeling well was no easy task, because like her, he never wanted to be still, and often times overdid things, making himself even more sick.
Soon they were walking toward the Head Master’s office, walking at a slow pace, both still worried. When they stepped inside they found the room empty, and the door to Mr. Roberts office was open.
“Hello,” Evelyn called out.
In a moment Mr. Roberts stepped out of his office. He was a middle aged man with thinning gray hair and a mustache. Most of the time he was a pleasant jolly man to be around, but the expression on his face was anything but pleasant. “Please step inside,” he said moving so they could walk in.
His office was lined with shelves of books, mostly on Education and discipline. Rick and Evelyn both sat down in front of his desk, waiting to find out what was happening with their little boy.
“I’m sorry I was so brief over the phone. Your son and a few other boys have made a game out of bullying the younger girls, and for the past few weeks I have kept them off of the playground during recess. That punishment hasn’t seemed to work for Alex or the other two boys, and today they pushed a young girl into a puddle of mud.” He stopped to let them speak.
Hearing this news came as quite a shock to both of them. Alex was always on his best behavior at school, or at the museum. “Are you sure you are talking about my son?” Evelyn finally asked not wanting to believe him. “Alex knows better than that. He has never had an aggressive bone in his body,” she said, ready to defend her only child.
For Rick hearing the news that his son had become a bully was also hard to take in. “Where is he?”
“In class for the moment. I thought perhaps it best if I told you what was happening first. Most of the time children are not forthcoming when there is trouble to report at school. The other parents came and took their boys home for the day, and I think it best that I send Alex home with you. Perhaps you talking to him will help work all of this out,” he said.
All three of them heard the door open, and both Rick and Evelyn turned around to find their little boy standing with his head turned down.
“Alexander. You are going to spend the rest of the day with your parents. You may return tommorow, but I expect a written note of apology to Mary Jane and her parents for ruining her skirt,” Head Master Roberts said as they all stood up.
When Alex didn’t respond, Evelyn did. “Alex answer him please,” she said as she walked over to her baby.
Ever so slowly the young boy lifted his head. “Yes sir,” he whispered. Once he finished he looked back down at his shoes. On the way out to the car he kept his eyes on the ground, wondering what his parents would do to him. It hadn’t really been his idea to push Mary-Jane into the mud, but seeing her make such a fuss about it had been quite funny.
Once inside the back of his father’s car, Alex kept his eyes focused on the floor, and he didn’t have long to wait before they started to talk to him.
“What right did you have to hurt that little girl?” Evelyn asked as she turned so that she could look at Alex. “I want an answer young man.”
“I didn’t push her, Pete did,” he said as he looked up, seeing the anger in her eyes.
“But you participated, and in my eyes that is just as bad as pushing her down. Alex you know better than to act like this. You knew you would get in trouble, so why did you do such a thing?”
Again his eyes focused on the floor. “I just did it is all,” he said holding back his tears.
“You will never do this again, do you understand. You are grounded for two weeks, which means no friends to come over, or no visiting them.” Ashamed of the way her son acted, and saddened that he was now crying, Evelyn turned away from him, focusing on the road ahead.
~*~
When they arrived home, Alex had fallen asleep in the back of the car, and as Rick put the car into park, Evelyn was the first to leave, making fast tracks to the house. She was more angry than he had ever seen her, and while he shared some of her dismay, Rick knew that all boys hit a stage where they picked on the girls.
After putting his keys in his pockets, Rick walked a few steps to the back door of his car, and opened it. He easily lifted Alex into his arms without waking him; a task he had mastered a long time ago, when the only way to get him to sleep was to drive him around town.
In his room, Rick put Alex down on his bed, and draped a blanket over him. Gently he kissed his son’s still wet cheek, then left to find Evelyn and have a talk with her about why she was so infuriated.
~*~
It took a while, but Rick finally found her outside in the garden. She was sitting with her back toward him looking out at the field where the horses were grazing. From the way she was sitting, Rick could tell she was still very angry, and debated about going to her.
“You didn’t say a word in the car,” Evelyn said as she turned around.
Taking a deep breath, Rick steadied himself, not willing to get into a fight with her over this. “No, I think you said enough to him for the both of us.”
Evelyn looked at her husband's features, finding that he wasn’t angry, which only fueled her own anger. “Rick what he did was inexcusable.”
His mind made up, Rick walked over to where she was sitting on a polished wooden bench and sat down. “Your right Evelyn, but all boys go through something like this. Now hold on a moment, I didn’t say I agreed with him on this, but it happened, and I think he knows the next time to steer clear of being a bully. I think right now we need to get over this, and move on." For a few long moments Rick waited, hoping that she wouldn’t steer them into an argument. When she leaned against him he sighed, happy that they would be going to bed together this night.
“I suppose I was rather harsh with him,” Evie said as she held his hand out, entwined her fingers into his.
“I think maybe he needs to know that you still love him,” Rick said, knowing that he was still on unstable ground.
After a moment of cuddling with her husband, Evelyn left him to go have a talk with Alex; a quieter talk, and to try and get him to talk about what happened at school.
~*~
Not long after his father left, Alex woke up feeling awful. He cried again despite his best efforts not too, and was just calming down when he heard his mum call out to him. Not willing to let her see him in such a state, Alex asked that she wait, and hurried to the bathroom. He wet a washcloth with cool water and blotted his face, the way she had done for him in the past when he was upset, then ran to his bed and picked up a book. “You may come in now,” he said.
Evie opened the door finding that her son’s face was hidden from her by a book. She had a feeling he had been crying, and felt guilty for not handling things better. “Alex I wanted to talk to you about today. I should not have yelled at you as I did, and I am sorry for that,” Evelyn said as she sat down in the rocking chair close to his bed.
“She always tells us we have cooties, and tries to boss everyone around,” he said as he put his book down, looking over at Evelyn with watery eyes.
“Have you tried ignoring her?” As she waited for his answer, Evelyn went into the bathroom and picked up the washcloth Alex had used moments before. She carried it over to the bed, and sat down on the edge handing it to him so he could wipe away the fresh set of tears.
Alex sniffed and blotted at his tears. “No, we usually call her mean names, but she never goes away,” he said. “When she fell in the mud it was rather funny. I know it ruined her skirt but she screamed like it was a pile of scarabs,” he said, resisting the urge to chuckle.
“Being mean to her won’t make her go away, and doing so will get you in to trouble every time. I know little girls can be a bother sometimes, but you are older than she is, and I know a few times in the past you have been hurt by others teasing you.” By now Evelyn was laying beside her little boy, with him cuddled against her left side.
Wanting to change the topic, Alex brought up his lengthy grounding. “Do I really have to stay inside for two whole weeks?”
“Yes you do. Now, you need to get started on your lessons, and write that letter to Mary Jane and her parents. I love you Alex,” Evelyn said holding him a little tighter.
Most of the time getting hugs from his mum wasn’t cool, but this time Alex didn’t mind. Once she was gone, he took his books out of his satchel and sat down at his desk to start on the assignments his teacher had given him.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
More soon.
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