Boarding School
by C.L.Chick

Read time: ~7 minutes

Tomorrow was Jimmy’s 10th birthday, the day he would finally begin learning what it is to be a man. Like his brothers and sisters before him, he was to be shipped off to boarding school. Tenth birthdays were always boarding school days for them and so were a mixture of happiness and sadness for the family.

Everyone was excited for the person who was going. It was a big step toward adulthood. But there was also sadness because all the best boarding schools were far away, so far that once the children left, they couldn’t visit. On occasion, his mother read letters to them from their older brothers and sisters telling of their many adventures, but she said the distance was too great and the expense too much for visits.

And goodness knew she couldn’t afford to send them money to come back. With no father around, they barely got by, living off of scraps in their run-down, little shanty that leaked every time it rained. Strange men came and went often, none of them treating his mother well, many of them smacking her around when they thought none of the kids were looking, and sometimes even when they knew the kids were watching.

Mama’s belly was getting big again now too and she was more irritable than usual, complaining often about having too many mouths to feed. She told Jimmy there would be tons of food available at boarding school though, all type and kinds. She described food he’d never seen before, food he couldn’t wait to eat. He planned to try it all.

She instructed him to say goodbye to his brothers and sisters before bed that night. They’d be off very early in the morning, before everyone else was up. They all hugged him and said they’d miss him. There were a few damp eyes. He’d miss them too, very much, but he couldn’t help but look forward to finally having food to fill his empty belly. That, along with the promise of education and a future, and Jimmy could hardly wait. The excitement racing through him meant he had a hard time falling asleep that night though he did eventually.

He woke to throbbing pain at the back of his head, put a hand up to it, rubbed it and found a bump nearly as wide as his fist. His vision wasn’t quite right either. Dark. Blurry. He tried to blink several times to gain focus, but couldn’t. Then he shivered and realized he wasn’t wearing any clothes. He didn’t go to bed naked. Was this a dream?

A few more blinks and things became slightly less blurry, though still dark. He shifted to release an arm that was lodged under him in a precarious position. Rattling and clanking filled his ears and an unfamiliar grate pressed against his skin.

Someone lifted the cover and peered at him. He squinted. It was his mother, but the light hitting his blurry eyes for the first time meant everything was still a fog. Nonetheless, he thought she might look concerned.

“Hush now,” she said. “Behave.” She turned away and began busying herself with something. He couldn’t tell what.

“Mama, what’s happening? Where are we?” he asked rubbing his eyes.

She pivoted quickly. “Hush, I said. Not another word.” she commanded. She turned back to complete her mystery task.

He obeyed as he rubbed his eyes in an effort to regain his vision. Once it started coming back, he saw he was in a cage covered by a black cloth on all sides other than the one his mother had lifted. He shifted to stand in the tiny space but remembered his nakedness and changed his mind. Instead, he scanned the room and, though his vision was still somewhat blurry and the room wasn’t well lit, he could tell there were some other people milling about. They appeared involved in their own tasks though. None seemed to notice him.

This was so confusing, he couldn’t stay silent. “Mama, why am I in a cage? Where are my clothes?” He asked the questions in a hushed tone in case there was a reason they were supposed to be quiet.

“No questions, Jimmy. Just do as you’re told. If you stay quiet and behave, you’ll be safe,” she assured him.

Be safe? What did she mean by that?

“But I don’t understand,” he replied, his confusion mounting.

She turned to face him. “I know, Jimmy. I know. But you promise me…” She took a deep breath and released it. “You have to promise me, Jimmy, promise me you’ll be a good boy, that you’ll listen and do as your told. If you listen and obey, you’ll stay safe.” She looked at him with a desperation he hadn’t seen on her face before.

“Okay, Mama,” he answered. But still, he didn’t understand was happening. She seemed satisfied with his response though.

Someone called her name and she turned and walked away before anything more could be said. He couldn’t tell where she went but, since no one was paying any attention to him, he stood. He noticed a lock on the cage and tried to open it but barely got his hand on it before his mother’s voice admonished him from somewhere in the darkness. “Leave it, Jimmy.”

He felt like he was five-years-old again, trying to steal his older brother’s food, his mom scolding him from the other room, and him wondering how she could know, if she had secret ears and eyes everywhere. He lowered his hands and noticed leather around his wrists, leather attached to thin chains that led to somewhere outside the cage. He was well and truly trapped. His confusion began to turn into panic.

Looking around, still not able to see his mother anywhere, he tried the lock again, this time in earnest. The rod came out of nowhere and hit three of his knuckles with enough force to send pain shooting through him. He pulled his hand away and yelped, but not too loudly. He was familiar with the rod and mother didn’t like it if you wailed when she hit you, especially if it was in public.

“James Thomas! I told you to behave!” She looked at him squarely. “Now you stand there. Be quiet and do as your told. Do you understand me?” She waited for his response.

 “Yes, Mama,” he said in a soft voice as he shrunk away from her.

She rubbed the back of her neck and looked at the clock as sweat started to bead on her brow. “It’s almost time now,” she said. Her hands were trembling, her eyes watery.

A burly man approached and gestured, but didn’t look toward Jimmy as he scanned a piece of paper he held in one of his huge hands. “Number 241, previously known as James Thomas Turner?” he asked in a deep, gravelly voice.

“Yes, that’s right,” his mother said, her voice cracking.

“Alright, say goodbye then,” the man instructed before he bent to grab the tow handle on the dolly under the cage.

“You mean you have to take him already?” Jimmy’s mother asked, her eyes widening.

The man didn’t respond, just picked up the tow handle and began pulling the dolly away. Jimmy turned toward his mother, his eyes pleading, still not understanding what was happening.

She held out a hand out. “You be a good boy, Jimmy. Do as you’re told and you’ll be safe,” she repeated. A single tear rolled down her cheek before she faded into the darkness.

Jimmy bounced around and hit the sides of the cage repeatedly as the dolly was towed to the edge of a brightly lit platform. The burly man removed the black cloth from the cage exposing it and Jimmy entirely. Then, Jimmy hands were lifted above his head as the man grabbed two pieces of thin chain and pulled. He attached the chains to something at the top of the cage, and Jimmy was left standing in its center, hands above his head, his body naked and on display for all to see. Cold. Afraid. Embarrassed. Confused. Forget boarding school, he wanted his Mama and to be back in their run-down, little shanty with the leaky roof.

The man pulled him up a ramp and onto the platform under lights that assaulted his still sensitive eyes. But the lights shifted as someone in the back made adjustments and, for a single moment, Jimmy was able to make out a sea of faces – the largest most distinguished audience he’d ever seen, well-dressed in suits and frills and hats – all staring at him. The room smelled of pipe tobacco and clouds of smoke filled the air. There was a man on the platform with him who boasted a ridiculous looking mustache, oily hair and a cheap suit that didn’t fit quite right. He carried a thin, black cane though he didn’t need any aid to walk.

“This is the last of them?” he quietly confirmed with the burly man.

The burly man responded with a gravelly sound of affirmation, then turned and made his way off stage.

The man in the cheap suit seemed unfazed. He approached a microphone set in the center of the stage. “Ladies and gentleman,” he said in an announcer’s voice as he hit the cage with his cane. Jimmy startled. “Let me present our final specimen, Number 241, the youngest, and therefore most desirable of today’s collection. This strong and agile 10-year-old comes ready and able to serve, though his mother admits the whip might be necessary for initial discipline.” He grinned. “And we all know many of you do enjoy administering discipline.” He wiggled his brows and chuckled as though he’d said something funny.

Then he continued. “We’ll begin the bidding at 1,000 quid.”

“I knew this wasn’t going to be good... That was distressing.” - Mena Buchner