Page 29 of Protecting Addison
MacGyver wasn’t so sure about that. Smiley was one of the most observant men on the team. No one had seen him so serious about anything as he was finding this Bree person. “All right, but if you need us, you know all you have to do is ask.”
“I know. And I appreciate it. Has the bitch been through yet?”
MacGyver smothered a grin. He knew exactly who Smiley was talking about. “I don’t think you’re allowed to call a kid a bitch,” he told him, even though he’d said the same thing when Ellory had first told him about Chrys.
“She’s bullying Ellory for things she can’t control. She’s getting her friends to turn on her too. She’s making that girl miserable. I can call her a bitch if I want.”
“Well, hopefully she’ll figure out that being a mean girl isn’t the path she wants to take,” MacGyver said diplomatically.
“With a name like Chrysanthemum, I wouldn’t bet on it,” Smiley muttered, before stepping away to speak to Kevlar. Just as a new batch of kids started to trickle into the room, Smiley headed for the door.
MacGyver really hoped he found Bree. She’d obviously struck a chord in the usually taciturn and unemotional SEAL, and MacGyver could only hope that wherever she was, she was all right.
“Ricky!”
Turning, he saw Ellory rushing toward him. He opened his arms and was pleased when she walked into them without hesitation, giving him a big hug. “Hey, El.”
“You guys are a hit,” she told him quietly. “People are talking about you and your presentation all over school. And they can’t wait to see you in action after lunch, when you and Wolf’s team give a demonstration of some of the stuff you do, outside in the square!”
MacGyver smiled. They’d set up a small obstacle course in front of the middle school, and they’d brought the gear they usually wore while on a mission, minus the weapons, to show the kids.
“Cool,” he said.
“She’s here,” Ellory whispered. “Chrys. I tried not to get in her group, but since our last names both start with W, I usually get stuck with her.”
The first thought MacGyver had was that if she changed her last name tohis, Douglas, she wouldn’t have that problem anymore. But it was way too soon for that.
“She been giving you problems today?” he asked quietly.
But Ellory simply shrugged. “No more than usual.”
Which meant she was.
“Okay, kids, everyone find a seat so we can get started,” a teacher called out.
“Gotta go,” Ellory told him.
MacGyver nodded, but hugged her again before letting her go.
Once everyone was seated, Kevlar started his spiel once more. They had it down pat now, since this was their fourth time giving the presentation today. He talked about the history of the Navy SEALs, their motto,The only easy day was yesterday, then each of them gave an entertaining story about Hell Week. After the basics were covered, they opened the floor for questions.
Many of the things the kids asked were the same questions others had asked in previous sessions. But when a girl who could only be the infamous Chrysanthemum—based on Ellory’s description of her—raised her hand, MacGyver straightened.
“You guys are all so big and strong,” she said with a smile. “Were you all athletes in high school and college?”
It was a ridiculous question, but maybe not so much for a twelve-year-old. MacGyver was eager to answer.
“We’re all strong because we’ve workedveryhard to get this way. Muscles don’t grow overnight—neither do brains. You have to train both. And to answer your question, I was small in high school. I was probably the kid you’d like to make fun of…skinny, short, and nerdy. I played the trombone in band. I was bullied a lot. By kids who thought they were smarter, cooler, better-looking than I was. You know what my bullies are doing today? One is a drug addict; another is a businessman who made a lot of money, but went to jail for tax evasion; and the third guy—the one who bullied me the most—is grossly overweight and has had four heart attacks.
“Just because someone isn’t an athlete or doesn’t meet society’s standards of ‘beauty,’ doesn’t mean they aren’t going to be someone important or successful. The person you bully today, might end up being the paramedic who shows up at your door in the future when you call nine-one-one because your baby is choking. Or is the next Taylor Swift or Lady Gaga. But even if they aren’t…even if they don’t end up famous, or rich, or a Navy SEAL…doesn’t mean they aren’t good people contributing good things to society. These men standing next to me? They’d be my best friends even if we weren’t SEALs. I can count on them to have my back no matter what. Whether I run out of gas on the interstate, need a couple bucks to buy a hamburger, or if I’m pinned down by enemy fire and have no chance of escape unless they risk their life to help me.
“You’re all young. You have your entire lives ahead of you. You don’t have to be an athlete or popular to be successful. You just need to be a decent person. Do what’s right. Be the kind of teammate you’d want to have atyourside if everything in your world went to sh—um…went bad.”
He wasn’t being very subtle, but MacGyver didn’t care. He was just about finished with his little speech when he thought of something else he wanted to say. A warning of sorts.
“Oh, and being an athlete isn’t always about being the biggest or strongest person in a crowd. It’s often about knowing proper defense. I’m teaching my own wife and kids to stand up to anyone who might try to harm them. It’s not about violence, just as being a Navy SEAL isn’t all about shooting up the bad guys. Being a SEAL is about standing up for yourself and your country. Not backing down when the bullies who are in charge of other countries decide to flex their muscles. At home, that means when someone at a store or a bar decides to pick on my wife—or a kid in the neighborhood or at school picks on my children—I want them to be able to defend themselves.”
Again, not subtle, but MacGyver wanted Chrysanthemum to get the message. He was going to start that evening, teaching both Ellory and Addison basic self-defense moves. While he didn’t condone violence, if things continued the way they were for Ellory, the torment couldturnviolent. Bullies loved when people were afraid of them. That went for leaders of countries as well as seventh-grade girls.
