Angus L.'s Short Story

The Card of Agony

By: A.L.
Author of online hit Notes of Victory!

"Mom! Mom!" Joe Bush screamed as he tore off the school bus and dashed into his house.
"Mom! Hey! Mom! Mom?" he called desperately, out of breath and panting.
"Mom‟s outta town, dude. C‟mere and help me cook these hot dogs and baked beans for the tailgate, and then we‟ll go out and toss the football," Joe‟s dad, Jay Bush, announced, drawling.
"I hate tailgates, and tossing a football‟s pointless, anyway. It‟s too silly," Joe shot back angrily, and couldn‟t help but think back to the day where he had developed this attitude.
"Joe, always strive for success. It pays off, and you‟ll be happier. So, study hard, and don‟t engage in silly activities," Joe‟s mom, Georgia Bush, lectured.
"Aw, don‟t be silly. Look at me!" Jay Bush drawled.
Joe knew his dad was rich and famous because he was lucky. Joe‟s mom had earned fame by working hard. Joe vowed only to listen to his mom, and never to listen to his dad.
"So, ya gonna cook those „dogs?" his dad asked him.
Joe suddenly snapped back into focus, and stomped up the wide, wooden front staircase. He strode into the telephone room and dialed a number.
"Yes, who is this?" a fuzzy, distorted voice came through the phone.
"Hi, it‟s me. I finally got an A+ in all my subjects!" Joe announced excitedly.
"Great! Good for you! Now, remember to study hard and work hard, and not to do silly things. When your dad goes to tailgates, go to your friend John‟s and study," Georgia Bush, Joe‟s mom, lectured over the cell phone.
"Sure, Mom. Where are you, anyway?" Joe asked.
"I‟m at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, on a short-notice business trip. Bye, Joe," she explained, and hung up.
Joe went to bed cheerfully, delighted at finally achieving one of his most important goals. For years, he had nailed all the "close but no cigar" report cards and test grades to his bedroom wall, and studied there for hours every day. Now, he had finally earned a perfect report card. He fell asleep congratulating himself.
The next day, Joe was called to the front of his classroom
Joe rolled his eyes at his best friend, John Smith, then said, "Yes, Mrs. Miney."
Joe didn‟t like Mrs. Miney. He thought she was too casual, and didn‟t teach anything but bad habits. She even played "toss the ball" games when they were supposed to be learning.
As Joe came to the front desk, Mrs. Miney gushed, "Oh Joe, I‟m so sorry! I mixed your report card with Adam‟s. Here you go," and handed him a manila envelope with "Joe Bush" scribbled on the front in black marker.
Joe immediately wanted to vomit.
"Adam!" he thought angrily.
Adam Ralanuck was the smartest 5th grader in the school. Joe was extremely jealous of him, since he was one of the only people smarter than him in the school. He got A‟s without apparent effort. Many people enjoyed studying with him.
Joe began to shiver, and there seemed to be a hollow pit in his stomach. He quickly stuffed the envelope into his folder, in fear that the grades would not be A‟s.
"Adam, please come to the front desk," Mrs. Miney called.
Joe strained to hear the whispered conversation at the front desk. He heard "misplaced report cards", "grades actually are", and "so, this is the correct report card".
"Hey, Joe," Adam smirked as he passed Joe‟s desk, "you might want to study more. A lot more."
Joe felt like giving himself a slap on the head.
"Of course I need to study more! I only study for three hours a day. Now I need to study for four or five hours! I need to succeed! My life depends upon it! Study more! Work even more! Never rest, ever! Everything is worthless except work! Never, ever play! If
you do, you‟re worthless!" Joe raged silently in his mind. He wanted to be studying, not filling out a worksheet about the things he had to study!
Joe awoke from his trance as Mrs. Miney announced,"Okay class, it‟s time for recess!" as the bell rang and children started to charge out the door.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Miney, but I would like to stay inside and study today," Joe called over the excited babble of kids rushing out the door.
"Oh, Joe, don‟t be silly!" Mrs. Miney laughed. "Just go out there and have fun."
Since Mrs. Miney was the teacher, Joe had to obey her. With slumping shoulders, he stomped out the door.
On the bus ride home, Joe finally summoned up the courage to look at his report card. With hands sweating and legs trembling, he slowly ripped open the manila envelope.
Inside the envelope was a yellow sheet of paper declaring, "D.C. East School 5th Grade Report Card." Joe nervously unfolded the paper and carefully examined the markings on the paper.
Everything appeared to be A‟s, and now…
"Wait…," Joe thought.
"What!" Joe screamed at the top of his lungs. "A B+ in math? What?! No!" he wailed in distress. "This is unacceptable! Be better! Study more! Get one hundreds or else!" he continued threateningly.
"I just can‟t! No! Why me?! I can‟t take it! No! No! Study! Now! I can‟t!" Joe continued, wailing, oblivious to his best friend, John, trying to comfort him and have him calm down. Joe continued to sob and kick and his friends were unable to help him with the B+ that tainted his report card.
"Stop for Joe Bush!" the bus driver called over the noisy racket in the fifth grade section.
"Joe, your stop!" everyone chorused.
Joe was still like a baby, kicking, screaming, and overall unaware of his surroundings. He could not bear the B+ that tainted his report card. He buried his face into the science test study guide.
"Element- the base materials of the world; cannot be separated into smaller components," Joe mumbled.
"Electron- the negatively charged part of an atom; located in the electron cloud. Electron cloud- the outer shells of an atom, outside the nucleus," Joe continued.
"Hey!" he suddenly yelled, irate. "Quit distracting my studying! You‟re so annoying! Stop it already!" And before anyone could tell him that it was time for him to get off, his face was buried in the study guide again, with his report card still lying on his seat, next to him.
"Nucleus- the center of an atom; where the protons and neutrons are," he mumbled to himself.
"What? Huh? Wahhh!" he suddenly screamed as the bus driver marched up the aisle, stuffed Joe‟s things in his backpack, then picked up Joe and dropped him down on the
front lawn roughly. Joe glared at the bus driver‟s bushy, bearded face, then marched into his house and shut the door like he was trying to break it.
Joe ran up the stairs, and found his dad there.
"Hey, dude. C‟mon, let‟s toss that football," Jay Bush drawled. "We‟ll be goin‟ to a tailgate at FedEx Field, the Redskins‟ stadium today. Let‟s go," he continued in a lazy, carefree voice.
Joe screamed some inaudible words, and then pushed his dad into the bathroom he was standing right outside of. He ran into his room, slammed the door shut, and promptly punched the lock button, loud and clear.
"Do not disturb!" he screamed angrily.
Joe pulled out the study guide from his backpack, and immediately began studying. He studied all night, and fell asleep without dinner, with the study guide still in his hand.
The next day, as Joe descended down the stairs, Jay Bush announced, "Mom‟s comin‟ back tonight, dude. I‟ll see ya after school. Later."
After school, Joe slumped back home.
"Why, Joe, I‟m so proud of you!" Georgia Bush declared happily. Joe hadn‟t told her about the report card mix-up.
"Actually, Mom, I got almost all A‟s, but a B+ in math," Joe explained miserably. "The report card got mixed with Adam‟s."
Georgia suddenly stepped away from Joe, with an angry glare on her face.
"Oh, Joe! Why did you get a B+?! You know much better than to do that! Get up to your room, now! You need a spanking! A B+ is completely unacceptable!" Georgia stormed angrily, yelling. "A B+! How could you?! Get up to your room, now!" Georgia slammed her hand on a table.
Joe stomped up the stairs loudly. Georgia followed him, and as soon as he stepped both feet into his room, Georgia grabbed him, turned him upside down, and spanked him forcefully ten times. She then threw Joe roughly onto his bed, and screamed, "What do you have to say for yourself, you miserable excuse for a person? No dinner for you! You will study with me from now until midnight! Is that clear?!"
Four hours later, Joe and Georgia were taking a ten minute break.
"Okay, maybe I struck the wrong tone here," Georgia finally admitted. "You should learn how to cope with failure. I‟ll teach you how to right now. First of all, when you fail, stay calm. Second of all, do the best you can, and if you did, its good work. And lastly, if it‟s not 100%, and you still tried hard, I would be happy. That‟s what I wanted you to do, not having a fit over a B+. I thought that you got that B+ because you slacked off your studying, and didn‟t try hard enough. I guess that maybe you forgot something on an important test."
"That‟s what happened, Mom," Joe whispered, too stunned to say anything else.
Joe quickly relaxed about his grades. At that moment, he had changed. He was no longer a worried boy who fretted about his grades. He was a focused, determined boy who did not let setbacks hurt him.
Joe never did get better than Adam. But he did live a happy, successful life.
Joe was then a better person. He coped with failure after that, and that drove him to success. Joe showed the world what a great man he was.

Dedications
This piece is dedicated to:
Mrs. Hartle and my parents.
-A. L.