Deciding Which Direction To Go

After Marna walked out of the meeting with the superintendent, everything seemed so surreal to her. As she drove, her head spun. She didn't know which way to turn or who she could talk to. At this point, they had only told a few family members and a few close friends; they all had their advice and opinion on what they should do. The suggestions ranged from teaching Beckham different kinds of self-defense, to pressing charges, to suing "Joe's" parents, the teacher, the principle, the district; you name it, it was brought up.  Marna kept thinking she needed to talk to someone; someone who would be logical and not emotional. Someone who knew what they were talking about, that would listen to her and could give her some sound advice. She had never been involved nor had ever personally known anyone who had ever dealt with bullying this extreme. She didn't have a clue on which direction to take the situation. They weren't sure if they were going to take legal action or not, so they didn't want to call an attorney and be persuaded to go that direction. For the first time in her life, Marna didn't know what to do. She was dying inside; she truly felt helpless. The only thing she knew, was that she had to make sure Beckham would be okay. She needed to do everything in her power to make sure Beckham knew he was protected and to make sure that he could heal properly. 

She did not want to do anything that might harm Beckham or prevent him from healing down the road. She wanted her happy, loving, sweet, confident little boy back and Beckham needed to find himself again. This is Beckham's life! She needed to make sure she wasn't an emotional roller coaster; she couldn't just react and fly off the seat of her pants. She knew everything she did, everything she said, would effect Beckham and his recovery. She had to make sure that she kept a level head. At the same time, she had to make sure Beckham knew and felt that his parents were doing everything they could to protect him, help him feel safe, help him feel peace, and to make sure he felt justice had been carried out with his attackers through proper punishment. Marna did not know who to turn to for advice. She really did not know what she was going to do. 

Marna found herself pulling up to Beckham's best friend's house. Beckham had gone there after school to play. She just wanted to see him and give him a hug. After she gave Beckham a hug, he let her know he wasn't quite ready to go home yet and asked if he could play a little longer. Both mothers agreed to this. Since it was close to dinnertime, Marna just stayed and talked to other mom, while she made dinner. The friend's mom was aware of what was going on, because Beckham and her son were in the same class. It wasn't until Marna had this conversation that she realized her father was a local judge. They ended up talking for quite a while. Everything the other mom said made sense. Marna finally felt like she could take a deep breath and move forward. She knew that she needed Beckham and others to know that what had been happening to Beckham was not okay; that hurting others is not okay. She needed to do everything she could to make sure this message got across without anyone else getting hurt and she needed to make sure it was okay with Beckham.