Where Have You Been, Julian?

When I got home, the first thing I did was hug everyone. Needless to say, they weren’t expecting it.

“I’m back,” I shouted happily. “Back in the home I love; back with the people I love! Home sweet home!”

I gave my mom another hug as she was leaving the kitchen.

My brother Josh looked at me funny. So I planted a big wet kiss on his forehead. And he socked me in the stomach. “Ew!” he shouted, backing away. “Get away from me!”

But I was so grateful I was alive, I just beamed at my brother like he was an angel. I stuck out my chin. “Put one there if you want, bro,” I said and he didn’t hesitate a nanosecond to hit me a good one. And I went down. For a few seconds, I didn’t know where I was. Then I looked up at my brother and there were two of him!

“Holy guacamole!” I shouted. “That’s what I call brotherly love!”

“Are you nuts?!” he said, moving even further away from me.

I rubbed my sore chin and grinned at him: “Maybe.”

That’s when Josh looked at his fist, at me, and realized what he’d done. “I’m crazier than you! What’s wrong with you?”

“Just glad to see you, bro,” I said.

He must have been embarrassed because he let out a big sigh and stared at his feet.

That’s when my mom came back in the kitchen. “You’re both crazy, if you ask me.”

“Julian’s lost it, Mom,” Josh announced, then marched out of the kitchen.

“Maybe,” I yelled after him. “But can’t I be happy to see you and Mom without getting punched in the stomach and socked in the jaw?”

My mother sat at the kitchen table and put garlic into the garlic press. She looked at me carefully and then smashed with all her might.

“Where were you, Julian?” she asked and all I wanted to do was hug her again. I wanted to tell her the truth. I wanted to tell her I was in hell, but I didn’t. If she knew how rough it was out there with those bullies, she might not let me play anymore. No, keeping quiet was the best approach in this situation and that’s how we left it.

“Out,” I said.

Same thing happened the next day at school.

“Come on, Julian, tell me, where were you yesterday?” Roger called out to me. “Dimension 8 is really tough,” he said. After the other day, no one called it Division 8 again. As far as the Wild Soccer Bunch was concerned, it was Dimension 8, because we were so happy it felt like we had all been transported to the 8th Dimension.

“Everyone else in our division is a year older and most of them are bigger than us,” Roger continued. “Larry had to sign us up in that division so Tyler could play. We need you, man. Without you, our defense is Swiss cheese.”

The other members of the Wild Soccer Bunch looked at me long and hard. But that wasn’t all. I could feel enemy eyes on me, too, and they burnt like charcoal in a barbecue. Honest, the ground beneath my feet turned hot and it felt as if I was dancing barefoot on hot coals.

I felt rotten inside, and I know Mickey the bulldozer loved every minute of it. There he was in all his grossness, standing at the edge of the schoolyard, under the trees, leering at me.

“Hey! You all right?” Zoe asked. It must have shown in my face, but I quickly hid it again. I was humiliated, but I couldn’t tell her that.

“I’m fine,” was all I said.

“Really? Well, tell that to your face!” Tyler said.

But Kevin saw right through me. There was no “Julian, we’re counting on you!” No “All is well as long as you’re wild!” He just looked at me, and I knew he didn’t believe a word I said.

Man! I was too young to be stressed out. I wanted to tell them what happened. I wasn’t a liar and I sure wasn’t a traitor. I was part of the Wild Soccer Bunch. My friends would protect me. Mickey the Bulldozer could kiss my goal post. That was it; I’d had it. I would tell Kevin and Tyler and Zoe what happened. Yeah, that’s what I was going to do – tell the truth.

But then I heard a bubble pop. Someone was chewing gum. Mickey. I turned around and there was Octopus, Grim Reaper, and Kong. Like tiger sharks in a kiddy pool, coming right at me. I was about to be in the middle of a feeding frenzy.