A popular teacher discovered that the kids in his class were bullying a poor boy because he couldn’t afford to buy a jersey — how did he fix the problem? After Captain Man’s movie debuted in the cinemas around Brian Hill’s town, everyone seemed to catch the frenzy of attempting to look like the crime-busting superhero. Brian was no different.
Captain Man was his favorite hero, and there was no counting how many times the boy had watched the new movie. The hype around it quickly led to the creation of Captain Man costumes mandated to be sold by the corporation behind the franchise. It was a little expensive, but anyone who loved the Captain was ready to deal with the consequences.
The trend was even more in vogue within the school premises because the kids wanted to show off their cool superhero outfits. One month after the movie was released, everyone in his class had the superhero jersey except Brian. The boy lived with his granny, who only got by on her pension.
This meant that they did not have money to waste on frivolities like the jersey. Nevertheless, Brian decided he would attempt to get his granny to buy him the costume. “I can’t know until I try, that’s what momma used to say,” he told himself as he made his way home one afternoon.
When he arrived home, he met his granny, tending her small garden. “Gran,” he began. “I was wondering if you could spare me some money, there’s this superhero jersey I want to buy.”
“Oh my dear child, we both know I can’t afford to spend money so recklessly,” his grandmother said, patting his head as she passed him.
Brian was unhappy for the rest of that day, and his granny noticed this. It made her feel sorry for not being able to provide him with all his needs. Not one to wallow in self-pity, the old woman decided she would make her grandson happy by making him a jersey anyways.
To that end, she stayed up all night knitting, and by the time Brian woke the following morning, she presented him with the gift. It looked like a fuzzy ripoff of the original jersey, but Brian did not tell his granny that; he simply thanked her for the gift and threw it on to make her feel happy. He wore it to school that day, but he began to regret that when the other students started making fun of him.
Everywhere he went, there seemed to be a snicker or stifled laughter following him until he felt very unhappy. The last straw was pulled when Brian ran into a girl he had always liked, and she laughed in his face. “What are you wearing?” she had asked.
It made him very sad, so he quickly left and ran all the way home with tears in his eyes. Mr. Barton, a popular and jovial young teacher who taught their class, noticed what had happened the whole day and when he discovered that Brian had run home crying, he decided to do something about it.
That weekend, Mr. Barton paid a visit to Brian’s home while Brian was out riding his bicycle. After some time, Mr.
Barton left, but not before Brian caught a glimpse of him leaving as he returned home on his bike. “That must be my imagination,” Brian thought. “Mr.
Barton doesn’t live around here.”
The next day, Brian chose to go to school again in the same jersey because he did not want to hurt his grandmother. He expected laughter and snickers as he entered, so his face was focused on the ground. He had almost made it to his seat when he realized everyone was quiet.
The story doesn’t end here — it continues on the next page.
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