by Manfred Koehler

Tyler Tiessen watched the new kid from a distance.

This boy was from the Ukraine, wherever that was. He was sooo cool and sooo tough. Weirder still, he had a strange accent—but nobody made fun of him.

Tyler saw the guy pick up a couple of third-graders and carry them like footballs.

Suddenly, the recess bell rang. The guy dropped his two footballs, who grew legs and scampered away.

Tyler shook his head in awe.

He remembered seeing the new name on his class list: Nicolai Pavelich.

Weird spelling, Tyler thought.

“Hey, Nicky,” he shouted, while everyone squeezed back into the school. “Where on earth is the Ukraine? Is that like Russia, or something?” Tyler smiled his best smile. This was one guy he didn’t want as an enemy.

“My name is Nicolai,” the new guy said, shouldering Tyler into the doorframe. “You make fun of my name again, I vill shtretch you.”

Tyler’s eyes went wide—at least until Nicolai turned away. Then he almost laughed. Vill shtretch. Now that was funny.

“I vill shtretch you.” The words escaped in a loud, mocking whisper. Tyler swallowed, hoping no one heard.

The school’s hallway was noisy. But not noisy enough.

Nicolai spun around, angry. The hallway suddenly became silent. Everyone formed a circle with Tyler and Nicolai alone inside. Tyler looked for a place to run but quickly found himself in a brain-busting headlock. Nicolai jerked him around, and Tyler discovered what being shtretched felt like.

“Whoa! Chill, dude! Sorry!” Tyler’s cries were muffled by the beefy Ukrainian.

Nicolai finally let him go. Shaking the dizziness out of his head, Tyler looked at Nicolai.

“Wow, you sure know how to get respect!” he said, wishing he could get a little more for himself.

The circle around them disintegrated. Everyone disappeared into classrooms, including Nicolai. Tyler slunk in behind him, hoping his teacher hadn’t heard anything.

Boredom ruled. Tyler had finished the morning’s assignment before recess, but everyone else was still slaving away. He dismantled his pen and began chewing on a piece of paper, glancing in Nicolai’s direction.

“You should have seen that gorilla whip you around!” The loud whisper came from Lance Snead, Tyler’s next-desk neighbor. “You looked like wet spaghetti.”

“Shush, dude,” Tyler growled. “You’re gonna get me in trouble.”

Lance reminded him of a mouse—or maybe a rat. With the school’s no tolerance rule, anything that even resembled a fight meant a three-day suspension for both parties. He pointed his pen barrel in Lance’s direction, daring him to say another word.

The teacher shot him a dirty look.

“Anything we should discuss, Tyler?”

“No, sir,” Tyler replied.

“Good. I’ll collect this morning’s assignment from you first when I return.” Tyler’s teacher left the room.

Tyler shot Snead a dirty look of his own, but Lance pretended to concentrate on the assignment. Slowly turning, Tyler aimed his pen in Nicolai’s general direction, three rows over, near the front.

Nicolai was concentrating, his forehead all wrinkled.

It would so easy to hit that big head of his, Tyler thought.

Tyler decided to exercise a little caution.

“Nicolai,” he whispered.

Nicolai spun around, eyes searching the room. “Did I pronounce that right? Ni-col-EYE.” Tyler’s head bobbed in mock earnestness. Snickers floated through the room.

The gorilla’s mouth fell open, then clamped shut, twitching in every direction. Tyler could almost see steam blowing from Nicolai’s ears.

What an oaf! Tyler thought. So much for respect.

Tyler saw Nicolai stand, his fists clenched—just as the teacher returned. Nicolai sat down with a scowl. Tyler just shook his head.

The teacher was marking Tyler’s assignment. No problem there, but Tyler wondered if he had gone too far with Nicolai. He bent over to make sure his laces were tight. He might have to make like greased lightning come lunchtime.

“Wow, did you jerk that gorilla’s chain, dude!” Lance rasped. “You are in big, hairy trouble.”

Lance was enjoying this. Tyler aimed his pen barrel in Lance’s direction.

“Go ahead, Tyler,” Lance dared. “I’ll squawk.”

Tyler leaned as far as he could to whisper into Lance’s ear. “Come lunchtime, I’m gonna shtretch you. Squawk all you want, you little rat.”

Lance shrunk away. Then Tyler watched him retie his shoes. Lance’s hands shook.

Something inside Tyler went dark. He felt lonely and scared. He glanced at the ceiling, suddenly very aware that what the teacher knew or heard wasn’t that important anymore. God knew. A three-day suspension was no longer the issue.

He had just crossed a line. In fact, he had crossed several. Tyler knew he wasn’t acting in a way that honored Jesus. He swallowed and prayed for God to forgive his mean-spirited thoughts and words.

“Hey, Lance,” Tyler whispered with a smile. “Sorry about what I said.”

“Do not envy violent people; don’t copy their ways. Such wicked people are an abomination to the LORD, but he offers his friendship to the godly.” —Proverbs 3:31-32 (NLT)

	Q: Why did the football coach walk into the telephone store? A: He needed a receiver. Jessica S., 10, Texas Clubhouse Jr. Click here to subscribe