William Bunker

Uncle Harry's fists pounding on the door woke William up from an uneasy sleep. Glancing over at the dresser, the clock read 6:15. Too early for William to even consider waking up. However, he knew that school started at 8:10 sharp and in order to make it on time, he'd have to wake up no later than 6:15. Pushing the covers off of his body, the cold air instantly clashed against his warm skin. The uncomfortable temperature change gave William incentive to run as fast as possible to the shower.

Letting the hot water run over his weary eyes relaxed all of William's anxiety about starting at a new school today. All night the same question ran through his mind, Would the kids be different here than they were at home? Nevertheless, the water began to get cold again so William quickly finished his shower and got dressed.

Opening his bedroom door, his sister stood in front of him holding a bagel in one hand and bus fare in the other.
"Do you remember the name of your school?" she asked.
"Oakdale Elemetary, at the corner of Appleton St. and Bronze Avenue," he replied subjectively.

Handing William the bagel and bus fare, the two made their way out the door and onto the elevator that took them to the street. Mary pulled out the morning paper out of her oversized purse. William always felt that she carried too many things in there. On the front page read in bold letters, "FAMOUS RAPPER ARRESTED IN FRONT OF JAGUAR, THE PRESS NOW WONDERS ABOUT HIS CAREER AHEAD."
"Hey Mary, who got shot last night?" William asked puzzled.
"Some big rapper, I'm not sure of his name," Mary stated.
"Why was he arrested?" William asked.
"You should keep your mind on school William, don't worry so much about this rapper," Mary insisted.

Taking a left out of the apartment building, William and Mary approached the bus stop, but before they had time to rest, the bus pulled up to the street curb.

"Okay, here is your bus fare and lunch money, use it wisely because I don't paid until the end of the month, I'll be right here after school to take you home you here? So no diddy daddling, hurry home from school. And if you get lost, you ask that nice bus driver to take you where you need to go. I love you, be careful." Mary breathed hard and kissed William on the cheek and continued to walk to the diner.

Walking onto the bus, William inserted his fare and found a seat towards the front, close to the driver. William sat next to a man who looked fairly solemn. However, William saw pain in his face. Glancing down at the man's leg, William saw a large white bandage over his calf. Apparently the man noticed that William was staring so he replied to William, "I was shot last night by some lunatic in a SUV, can you believe that?"

"Oh...I wasn't...I mean...that's actually quite," William stuttered
"Save it kid, I know you don't know what to think, say, where are you headed off to this morning so early?" the man replied.
"School, I'm starting school today." William responded.
"Well, good luck, I'd chat more, but this is my stop, nice talking with you kid."

The man got up from the seat and walked out of the bus with a bit of a stumble but certainty of where he was going. The rest of the bus ride to school William thought about the man's encounter with the bullet wound, and that made him think of his parents. If only the car accident hadn't happened. If only the other driver had his parent's best interest, if only, William's life would be so much different.

Arriving at school, William pushed open the doors to the place he'd been avoiding until now.