Opposite Sides by Susan Firman

him for such a trivial thing. It was so unfair!
    He waited for the next
sting to arrive.
    “ You may
stand up now!” Miss Turner relaxed and laid the cane across her
desk. “I hope that will send you a message: take more care with
your learning next time. Your family did not send you here to waste
time. Many sacrifices have been made to allow you to come here.
Don’t dishonour that. And, don’t test my patience again, Mr Resmel.
Now, go back to class! And I think you owe an apology to your
master.”
    How he hated her: not
because she had punished him but, because this time, he felt it
unjustified. She had humiliated him. It was open warfare,
now.
    It was during another
Friday afternoon when gardening duties were handed out again - Mr
Moore made sure Hans was handed the dreaded scrubbing brush and
ordered to clean the dreaded fountain. He did so while the master
was watching but the moment he felt the eyes were no longer there,
Hans threw the brush down in anger.
    A prefect had seen him.
Six lashings this time. In the prefect’s room he was instructed to
bend over the chair. Three short swishes from the long slender
weapon.
    “ This will
hurt me more than you!” A routine saying to every boy who was to be
caned. And then, “I hope you take it like a real man!” Whatever,
that was meant to mean seeing he was constantly being told he
needed to grow up.
    The prefect, a year or
two older than himself, threw all his feelings of anger and hate
into that cane. There was a swishing noise as it cut through the
air. Then a hiss as it made contact with Hans’ rear end. This time
the sting bit hard. It lingered for much longer than
before.
    “ You may get
up now. Return and report to Mr Moore.”
    When Hans did return, the
master had no more time for him.
    “ Report to
Miss Turner. If you cannot obey the rules, let her deal with you.
Good bye, Mister Resmel!”
    Hans knocked on the
matron’s closed door. He waited alone in the corridor and this time
he knew better than to lean back against the wooden panels of the
wall. He waited and watched the door intently. He really didn’t
want it to open. But, he knew that sooner or later, it would open
up and then he would be swallowed up and sucked inside. The voice
on the other side summoned him in. In a hypnotised state, he opened
the mouth and entered the digestive tract of the
monster.
    Miss Turner sat behind
her large desk. She almost looked demure as she peered around a
high stack of what looked like student exercise books. Hans told
her what had happened.
    “ You can’t go
on like this, Mr Resmel, Hans. You must obey orders. If the school
is to operate in an effective way, there must be order. Do you
understand that, young man?” Hans nodded so she continued. “What
are we going to do with you?” she asked but did not wait for him to
answer, for she speculated none. “That arrogance of yours is doing
you no good. No matter what the task, do the honourable thing by
getting the task done, no matter what the job. Do it without all
this anger. If this college teaches you nothing else, you should
learn to be willing to do whatever is asked of you and do it
well . Is that understood?”
    She waited for him to
answer.
    “ I
understand, Miss Turner.”
    “ Good. That’s
what I like to hear. Now, how to help you? I am not the enemy you
take me to be and I take no pleasure in punishing you like this,
believe me. What I hear is that you are having a difficult time.
Most boys do when they first come here. You are not alone in that
so I suggest you try to make more of an effort to fit in with the
other boys. Let me give you some advice: do the things they like
doing and I am sure life will prove to be much better.”
    Hans slid his feet over
the floor-boards, silently shuffling towards the door. He did not
want to tell her about the bullying or the threats he had received.
He had decided that he would have to deal with them
himself.
    “ Hans!” It
was one of the very few times