The Ruckus

There was a ruckus outside. More than normal. And then there was a knock at the back door.

I went to the door and opened it, but there was no one there. Whomever had knocked had run back down the stairs to continue in the ruckus. It could have been Nola. It could have been Fay. Could have been Bella or her little sister Willa. Or possibly even Nate.

Dunno. Didn't matter. It was a ruckus.

"Hey," I said stepping out onto the deck and looking down into the yard. There were clearly two sides and Fay was the only one on hers. "What's going on here? Are we-"

"Fay made Willa cry," said Bella. "She called her a crybaby!"

"No I didn't," protested Fay.

"Oh yes you did," cried Nate. "We all heard you!"

"No I didn't!"

“Ok, ok, ok,” I said. "We certainly don’t want to call each other names. And we don't want to tattle on each other. We want to be our best selves. Are we being our best selves?"

“She was being mean,” said Bella her arm outstretched and finger fully extended at Fay. It was all very J’ACCUSE!

"Ok, look," I tried again. "We're all friends. We’re all neighbors so we need to-

Fay darted out of our yard and across the next one through the trees and back to hers. The rest of the kids took off after her like a pack of wolves.

"WHOA! Whoa! Guys! Hey, leave Fay alone. She might need some time alone to think things out, so just leave her be.”

Nate could not be herded back, but Nola and Bella came back. And Willa followed Bella.

“Be cool,” I said. “Let’s be our best selves and remember we’re all friends.”

I’m all for kids working out their own problems, so I turned around and went back inside. But before I could do that, Fay appeared on the next door lawn. She just stood there, like a wounded deer, silently luring them.

Bella, Willa, and Nola started to approach her. Fay raised her arms to suggest everyone slow down, that she needed some space. The girls slowed, like a game of Captain May I.

“Just Nola,” said Fay.

“That’s not nice!” said Willa.

Damn straight, Willa. That’s NOT nice.

“Hey,” I said. “No. We’re all friends. We’re not singling anyone out.”

Fay darted through the trees back to her yard.

“Da-ad,” said Nola turning to me, her shoulders slumped and disappointed. “Now she ran away again."

“Come here,” I said.

When Nola finally and begrudgingly made her way up to me, I said, “Fay is not being nice.”

“Yes she is.”

“To you, but not everyone else. And that’s wrong. She’s being a bully. That’s not cool.”

“Fine.”

As Nola went back down the stairs, Fay appeared on the next door lawn again. She sat down. Specifically, she sat down with her little brother Hal. She had reinforcements. And then Nate came from behind the trees and quietly sat down with them.

Now I COULDN’T go inside. I had front row seats to Lord of the Flies.

Willa, Bella, and Nola approached the kids seated. Again Fay raised her arms and everyone moved in slow motion. And then they were all calmly sitting in a circle. Ok, not my business. I can go inside. But as I got up it all being to roil again. A lot of SHE SAID SHE SAID. Fay popped up and I'm not sure if she lost her compass or what, but this time she ran into our yard. The rest of the kids chased after her and shouted.

“No, Fay!” yelled Nate. “You can’t run away! That’s not allowed!”

"You have to come back!" cried Bella.

"Fay!" shouted Nola.

“Hey,” I said. “Everybody. Listen up. Not sure what’s going on here, but let’s leave Fay alone.”

And then Fay sprinted out of our yard again to hers. The kids trailed her.

“Nola! Stop! Come here!”

A lot of harumphing up the stairs.

“Look,” I said. “I don’t think you understand what’s going on. Fay WANTS everyone to chase her.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s being manipulative. She’s trying to control everyone. That’s not nice. Everyone needs to be treated kindly and fairly. Everyone.”

“She’s trying to control us?”

“Yes.”

“Can I tell Bella?”

“Um, yeah, I guess.”

Nola bounded down the stairs.

“Bella!” she shouted. "Don’t chase her! She wants us to. She’s trying to control us.”

As I heard her say this out loud, it did sound very tin foil hat. That wasn’t lost on me. But I felt kinda bad. Like I had picked up the hem so Nola could peak behind the curtain. I don’t know that she really understood what she saw, but I wondered if I had cheated.

😬

---

Full disclosure: No. Pretty sure it’s my responsibility to point out where it’s tricky.

Fuller disclosure: It's somewhere in the parent's by-laws, right?

Fullest disclosure: Damnit, I know I saw it someplace.

---

Addendum: It was around dinner time and everyone was running on fumes. It all worked itself out. By the next day it was all forgotten and it was all about the dead bird they found.

Addendum 2: No, no one touched it.

Addendum 3: I scooped it up with a snow shovel when no one was looking and put it in the trash.