Danny's Mom by Elaine Wolf

says. “She's really starting to creep me out.” Tina looks straight at Ann and tugs at her panties. Ann turns away.
    “Didya see what Richardson just did?” Tina asks Jen. “She wouldn't look. Well, fuck her! Like I'm not good enough, not her type maybe. Or maybe I turn her on. Whaddaya think, Jen?”
    “If she's into women,” Jen says, “she's gotta be turned on by you, Tina. You got it where it counts.”
    “Yeah, well whatever. I just can't stand Miss Girlie-Eyes watching us dress. I mean, fuck it! We're entitled to some privacy.”
    “You're right, Tina. This sucks.”
    “Yeah, big time. And I was just thinking: I wonder if Richardson's parents know about her being a homo and all. Imean, I wonder if they even think of her as a girl, or if she's more like a son. You know, with all her sports and stuff.”
    “Yeah. And you know what would be so funny? What if Richardson's father's first name is Richard? Then she'd be, like, Richard's son.”
    “That's great. Richard's son. Mr. Richard's Son.”
    I hear about the laughter. They laugh in the locker room all the time. “Poor Richard,” Tina chuckles when Ann's around. “Always wanted a son, and look what he got. A fucking dyke. Mr. Richard's Son.”
    Everyone calls her that now. In the locker room, they all say Mr. Richard's Son this and Mr. Richard's Son that. Everyone thinks it's funny. Or they pretend to. Or they pretend not to hear.
    Then one night at dinner when Mary doesn't have a date and Liz doesn't run to her room, Mary asks about school. The way I picture it, Liz stares at her spinach and cries.
    “What's wrong, Lizzie?” her mother asks. Liz can't tell her about the watch or the volleyball game or the meeting in the hall. She can't talk about the hurt or the threats or the fear. She can't tell her mother. She can't tell anyone, really. Tina will kill her if she does.
    But when tears come, Liz has to say something. So she spills the one thing she thinks can't get her in trouble because it's not about anything Tina's done to her. She tells Mary about Mr. Richard's Son, and how that makes her sad because Ms. Richardson's such a nice teacher.
    “I bet it's Tina Roland who started this, isn't it?” Mary asks.
    “Oh, Mom. It's just everyone.” Liz warns herself to be careful, not to say much—just enough to explain the tears. “It's no big deal. It's just that they're all so mean to Ms. Richardson.”
    “But it's Tina who started it, right? Tina and that one who follows her around. Jen Scotto. Am I right? Those two are just mean. Been that way ever since I've known them. So you stay away from those girls. If you ignore them, they won't bother you.”

    Liz clears the table and goes to her room. She thinks she's safe now. She didn't really snitch, so why should they get her?
    But Mary tells me about Mr. Richard's Son when I see her after Liz collapses on the track. She tells me Liz is stressed about school and anxious about what's happening in gym.
    I meet with Tina and Jen separately. Jen freaks out. “That fuckin' skinny moron!” she cries. “If this gets me in trouble, I swear I'll kill her!”
    I speak with Ann, who says she's on to them. Has been for a long time.
    “Why didn't you tell me everything's that's been going on?” I ask. “Maybe I could've helped. Liz talks to me all the time, but she never said anything about this.”
    “She can't, Beth. It's her private war. The minute Liz makes it public, she loses. She's a smart one. She knows silence is her only defense. And I respect that. I understand it.”
    But Liz's defense isn't working. She knows they're after her again, even though she hasn't said anything to anyone—except that one night at dinner when she told her mother about Mr. Richard's Son. But why would her mother say anything about that? Her mother doesn't blab much, except maybe to Callie and me. Liz hopes I don't know, and that if I do, I haven't said anything to Tina and Jen. She looks for me in the cafeteria.
    Ann