“And you”—Lester’s father pointed at him—“will be doing double chores for the next month. I’m ashamed of you for picking on a kid half your size.”

“What’s he gonna hafta do?” Lester glared at Braden. “He hit us, too.”

“Probably get a medal,” Mr. Wallace said.

“What about school activities like the junior livestock show and the rest of the basketball season?” Mack folded his arms over his chest.

“The policy book says that while a student is in ISS, they cannot participate in any extracurricular activities. So no basketball, baseball, or anything else for these two boys the remainder of this year,” the principal said, and hit the desk with the policy manual so hard that the noise made both boys jump. “Next, you two will clean out your lockers and report to ISS. Mr. James runs a tight ship over in his building, so you should know that if you get in trouble there, you will be expelled.”

“This ain’t fair,” Lester said. “I’m the star of the junior high basketball team.”

“And I got show goats ready for the livestock show,” Martin said.

“Too bad,” his father said. “I paid a lot of money for those goats. You can work it off on Saturday and Sunday afternoons after your regular chores are done.”

“Can’t we do something else? Pick up trash or do Saturday school?”

“No, son, you can’t.” The principal shook his head. “You were here the first day of school when I told the whole student body what would happen if there was any bullying. All y’all signed the contract. Now you can suffer the consequences. I’ve taken a picture of Braden’s black eye and have his height and weight on file. He and Isaac gave me permission to record their statements. Isaac went into full detail about what you threatened to do to their sisters and the language you used. Should I play that for your parents?”

“I don’t even want to hear it,” Lester’s mother said. “I’m very sorry my son has behaved like this, and he will take his punishment like a man. If there’s any more bullying, call us, please.”

The four parents filed out of the room without a backward glance at their kids.

“Now you can go to the bathroom and clean the blood off your face,” the principal told Braden, “and if your folks don’t have any more questions, we’ll all go about our business now.”

“Yes, sir.” Braden stood up and extended a hand to the principal. “Thank you, sir.”

Mr. Wallace shook with him and said, “From now on, son, bring problems like this to me first.”

“Yes, sir, I will,” Braden said. “Mama, I’ll see you and Mack at home.”