My entry in the Reader Retention contest.

My entry in the Reader Retention contest.

Rick spoke in a clear slightly voice as he launched into telling them how and why he’d flunked second and third grades. How his failed jock father tried to use him as a surrogate but was too ignorant to realize all he’d succeeded in doing was to age Rick out of sports eligibility for his junior and senior years short circuiting any hopes for college. The he told of the drunken beatings and horrific verbal abuse from his dad while admitting he’d become a bully in elementary school.

My entry in the Reader Retention contest.

An arrogant boy needs to learn some lessons... And to regain a spirit that had died within him...

My entry in the Reader Retention contest.

My entry in the Reader Retention contest.

The summer had been horrible for Rick. He was even more depressed and frustrated than ever. His mother was a nurse, and earned decent money but his father’s falling off the wagon had put a massive strain on the mother-son relationship. Karen was totally pissed off at Frank and that disgust overflowed to Rick. She shut down every and any habits and actions that would be considered masculine. When she discovered evidence of his male puberty maturation she went nuts. The next day, a month before the end of the school year, she gave him an injection, followed by another every week.