During the fall quarter of my fourth grade year at St.Pat's, it had to be 1989, my mother saved a young boy's life. This kid was the frequent target of abuse from the "in" crowd of boys in my sister's second grade class.

St.Pat's was a small school composed mostly of children from upperclass parents and the occasional, catholic beyond appearance, lower middle class family (like my own). Although all students were forced to wear uniforms the rich kids were able to spot an outsider with ease. If the shoes any brand lower than Docker, if the shirt was lower than Polo, if the pants aren't Perry Ellis, or if they are scuffed, or if there is dirt under the boys finger nails, or if his hair hasn't been cut in more than two weeks; all of these characteristics let the "haves" know who's a "have-not" or at least "has-less", which is just as bad.

This boy was a member of the "has-less" group, although it's not much of a group. Out of the thirty-some odd children in the class, there were probably four not-so-priviledged kids. But the designer clad boys didn't let this number advantage hamper their brutality. The class was divided into two factions: one bent on abusing the other, the other looking to be left alone. The tormenters were composed of the popular, good looking, athletic types, and at St.Pat's those characteristics coupled with high class and big money (often old money which is the worst kind) gave these boys the freedom to get away with murder... and they almost did.

On an October afternoon, Bobby C., the leader of the in-crowd, decided to pick a fight with the meek, quiet boy, Eric who spent most of his lunch periods with his nose in a book and his recesses walking the perimeter of the parking lot until he would hear the bell ring.

Earlier that day, Bobby was chosen to answer a long division question on the chalk board in class. Not being concerned with academic achievement, Bobby rarely put forth an effort to do more than merely get by, so he put down an incorrect answer. The teacher, probably assuming that brilliance compounded as immunity, asked Eric to go to the board and correct the mistakes. Shyly he rose, and with a reddened face he erased Bobby's answer and quickly chalked in his own. As Eric slinked back to his desk, the teacher quipped to Bobby that he should ask Eric to be his tutor. Eric stared at his worn and faded trousers, avoiding the menacing look from Bobby.

Bobby held his grudge throughout the morning. By lunch time he had spread rumors that he was going to beat up Eric. Along with the rest of the in-crowd, Bobby went to Eric's lunch table in the corner. The lunch monitors were on the opposite end of the room, no doubt gossiping, and not paying attention to the kids. Eric tried to ignore the taunting, but this just infuriated Bobby even more. He picked up Eric's milk, loosened his mucus and spit it in the mouth of the carton. He placed it in front of Eric and told him to drink it. The other boys chanted to Eric to "slam the clam". Eric finally reacted to the pressure and slapped the milk carton from in front of him and it splashed all over Bobby's shirt.

The lunch monitors took notice and rushed over to find Bobby soaked and Eric all flushed and red. They immediately scolded Eric and gave him a pink slip (a reprimand that precedes a detension) and sent him to the principal's office, where he stayed until the end of the lunch period.

Eric didn't want this feud to continue so he took the blame without excusing his action. The principal said that he was too bright a student to act up, and that he should focus the frustration he might experience with classmates into his studies. He was given a detention to be served at the end of the day and then told to behave himself during recess. He was silently hoping that he would be forced to sit in the office instead of being sent outside. He got his jacket and left for the parking lot.

He wasn't outside more than five minutes before he was accosted by Bobby and three of his friends. Bobby put his arm around Eric and forcefully led him to a corner of the building, out of the sight of the recess monitors. Once there Bobby's friends took hold of Eric's arms as Bobby started to punch him in the stomach. Eric fought back the best he could without the use of his arms and eventually kicked Bobby in the mouth, cutting his lip.

Bobby was enraged and took Eric to the ground and started to strangle him (only to "scare" him as Bobby admitted later). One of the other boys had brought a jump rope and tossed it to Bobby who wrapped it around Eric's neck. Bobby had the other boy hold Eric down as he tied the free end of the rope into a noose and threw it over a light fixture.

Eric was frantic and was trying to cry for help, but the boy on top of him bunched Eric's jacket up over his head and pressed down to muffle the sound. He tried to wriggle free but the boy had his knees on his arms and was sitting on his chest. Eric was trapped.

Bobby asked the other boy not holding Eric down to help him pull the jump rope and drag Eric up the wall, but the boy finally felt the gravity of the situation and ran off. Bobby called him a "pussy" and started to pull the rope himself. He was strong enough, that with a couple of tugs Eric was off the ground and clutching his neck. He then hooked the noose onto a door knob.

Bobby and the other boy were standing there laughing as Eric was fighting for breathe and clawing at the wall hoping to take the weight off his neck. As he started to change color, the boy that had been holding Eric down started to worry and was about to lift Eric up. But Eric was writhing and flailing his legs and kicked the other boy in the face, sending him to the ground with a bloody nose. Bobby didn't know what to do and took off around the building.

It was then that my mother rounded the corner. Her shift had ended the period before and she was walking to her car when she saw the boy that refused to pull the rope run around the building looking frightened and decided to walk over to check out what scared him. She came to see Eric almost blue in the face and a boy on the ground crying and holding his nose. Immediately, she grabbed Eric's by the legs and hoisted him up. She could hear him gasp as he was able to get some air despite the taught rope. Positioning Eric to be held with one hand, and with the other she worked to unhook the other end of the rope. After some struggling, she worked it free and Eric collapsed on top of her in a panting heap.

She brought Eric to the nurse and she treated the rope burn around his neck. He was still very pale, but his breathing had gone back to normal. She asked the nurse where the principal was and learned that she had left for lunch. My mother then left for the parking lot.

She found the boy with the bloody nose standing near his friends and asked him who was responsible for hanging Eric. The boy said nothing but was furtively looking at Bobby. Bobby was leaning non-chalantly against the wall, not seeming the least bit disturbed nor paying any attention to my mother. She walked over to Bobby and asked if he did it, to which he replied with a smirk that Eric "hung himself".

My mother could no longer contain herself. She slapped him hard against the face. The first slap stunned Bobby, by the second he started to protect himself and called her a bitch, but after the third tears were streaming down his face. She grabbed Bobby by the hair and dragged him to the principal's office as he cursed at her the entire way.

Once in the office the principal's secretary separated Bobby from my mother's grasp. The principle arrived shortly thereafter, to find my mother fuming about what had happened. After hearing the story she sent for Eric, who with a raspy voice confirmed that Bobby had hung him. Bobby objected saying that it was Eric's idea and that they were just playing. The principal brought Bobby to her office to call his parents.

My mother remained with Eric in the waiting room for sometime, trying to make him feel comfortable and lessen the fear that was surely building inside of him. The principal came out with Bobby looking emotionless by her side of the office and told Eric to go back to the nurse and wait for his parent's to come and pick him up. She then had Bobby sit down and summoned my mother to her office.

The office was quite large. At one side there was a wide oak desk below a painting of the first principal of St.Pat's, Dr.Louis Richards, on the other was a large crucifix with a grimacing Christ hanging from the cross.

My mother sat down opposite the desk with the principal behind it. They went over the details of the "incident" again. After the principle asked my mother what happened after she brought Eric to the nurse. She explained finding the boy with the nose bleed, slapping Bobby and dragging him to her office by the hair. When asked why she used such brutality when dealing with Bobby, my mother said that given the situation the boy deserved much worse. The principal asked if my mother had actually seen Bobby hang Eric and she said she hadn't. With that she said that there was no proof he had and since Bobby is denying it, it would be one boy's word against another's and that the school couldn't punish him severely without proof.

My mother was shocked and asked how Bobby was to be punished. The principal replied that it would be up to the parents to punish him. She added that Bobby and Eric were to attend peer mediation sessions after school for two weeks. Still stunned by the turn of events, my mother asked how she arrived at her decision. The principal answered that it was her idea and that Bobby's parents were in complete agreement.

With her temper rising my mother started to accuse the principal of going soft and catering to the already catered. The principal didn't enjoy the truth being pointed out to her and explained that my mother was lucky that Bobby's parents didn't press charges against her for slapping their child. She added that the parents were major donors to the school and church and that to expel Bobby would be detrimental to the budget since so many families were on tuition assistance (implying my mother's family and Eric's).

My mother shook her head, giving the principal a contemptuous glare, and turned to leave. Leaving the office she met Bobby's eyes, and her stomach turned when she noticed the sly smile on his face. She fought the impulse to slap this child again, and walked briskly out towards the exit of the school.

That winter Bobby's family donated money to install wood flooring for the entire gymnasium. That same winter Eric's parents pulled him out of St.Pat's and sent him to public school. My family left the school and the church the next year over a different incident. I'll tell that story some other time.