Real Courage- Focused Freewriting

"Maria, your so fat and ugly!"
"No I'm not..."
"Yes you are! And your useless, too! Just go away no one wants you here!"

We were at church one Sunday and all the kids were being mean to Maria. They usually do that every Sunday, but this time in particular made me furious. We were all sitting at our usual table in the Hellenic Center during coffee hour and eating the cookies and other snacks they had that day. My best friend Alex, her brother Pantelis, my brother Connor, Maria, her brother Pantelis, Lucas, Peter, Koula, her brother Yianni, and I were at the table that day. We were laughing and talking and having a good time together, as usual; nothing was quite wrong yet.

"I'm going to get something to drink," I announced.
"Okay!" everyone replied.

I grabbed my plate and my cup and walked over to the trash can first to throw away my plate. Then, I walked over to the drink table to pour myself some fruit punch. When I got there, there was a little about 4 years old attempting to pour herself a drink. She was wearing a beautiful white dress and in an effort to save the dress from turning red, I grabbed the bottle from her and poured it into her cup. Then, I carried her cup back to her table so she would not spill it. I talked to her for about 10 seconds before she noticed her little brother and ran off to go play with him. So, I walked back to the drink table to pour myself a drink again. I was successful this time and began to walk back to the table with all my friends. As I approached the table I noticed that everyone was laughing except for Maria. Upon closer inspection, I realized that Maria was crying. I walked over to her and asked her what was the matter. All I got in reply was the shake of a head.

"Maria, come here," I said.
"No. I'm fi--ne," she replied between sobs.
"Maria, your not fine. Come with me."

I finally convinced her to come with me. As we were walking away, I could hear the laughter explode again from our table. I had no idea what had happened, but I could tell it was not good and by then I was already mad. I took Maria's hand and lead her to the bathroom. I sat her down on the counter and began to dry her eyes with a paper towel.

"Maria, tell me what's wrong."
"Th--ey were ma--ki--ng fun of m--e," she sobbed.
"What?!" I shouted. "What were they saying?!"
"Tha--t I'm fa--t and ug--ly and no one li--kes me and to just g--o a--way."
"Why would they say that? Maria, don't listen to anything they say. They are just stupid and immature. And do you know what? I love you. So that's all that matters."

At that, her eyes lit up and I could see the beginnings of a smile.

"Do you really?" she asked.
"Yes, of course I do! Don't be silly! Now I'm going to yell at all of them," I told her even though I was halfway out the door.

I heard the door shut behind me, but a moment to late and I turned to find Maria following me. I assumed she just wanted to see what happened to them so I continued toward the table.

"WHO WAS MAKING FUN OF MARIA!" I shouted at all of them.

All the fingers pointed towards Connor. Of course, I should have known it would be my brother. Some fingers drifted towards Lucas, too, which made perfect sense since they are best friends and partners in crime. I debated on who to yell at first and decided on Connor since he is my brother.

"Connor! You stupid idiot! Why would you say those things to Maria?! She is not stupid or fat or ugly or useless and for your information I love her! Don't you ever, EVER say those things to her again. Don't you say those things to anyone! And Lucas... why do you always follow suit?! Do things for yourself and not what Connor does!"

I didn't even give them a chance to try to answer before I turned on my heels and stormed away with Maria right behind me.

"Cassie, thank you so much for doing that," Maria said when we were far enough away from everyone. "No one has ever stood up for me. It makes me feel like someone actually cares about me. That was so awesome of you to do. Thank you!"