When I was in Grade 7, there was a mentally retarded boy in my class. It was Jack.

Born with a low IQ, Jack could not talk normally. Every time the teacher spoke, he stuttered “F … F … Foolish!” loudly after the teacher. When he was throwing a tantrum, Jack could even hit our teachers or even smash down their phones. Due to his disability, all the teachers tolerated him despite his sporadic insanity.

Unluckily in the teachers’ absence, a lot of students kicked Jack in the ass to vent their anger on him. One day a boy was in a bad mood. As Jack was coming his way, the boy booted him. When the kicking started, some other yobs joined the perpetrator instead of giving poor Jack a hand. Jack was so innocent that he never struck back, in large part because of his mind problem. Instead, he took the abuse with a smile on the face. Actually, Jack was powerful enough to beat them all. The reason Jack did not fight back, I reckon, was also to some extent that he wanted very much to be friends with us.

The fact that no one, me included, came to his side when Jack was being victimised saddened me. Even today whenever the mean act is playing back in my mind’s eye, my eyes moisten.

Poor Jack!