Unfiltered Story #266200

My best friend my whole life has a rather large family. He has a brother who was 2 years older than him, a sister 2 years younger than him, twin sisters 7 years younger than him, a brother 9 years younger than him, and a sister 11 years younger than him. His uncle and grandparents also lived with them from time to time. When he was a sophomore in high school, his older brother passed away from cancer. Then, the next year his family was involved in a car crash that killed his uncle and brother and crushed his youngest sister, causing her arm and leg to be amputated near the shoulder and knee. That time, he became very depressed. In school, he started hanging out more with his sister, who was a freshman.
I came upon this scene a few minutes after it started, but Friend and his sister filled me in on what had happened. Basically, between classes, Friend and his sister had been walking through a famous shortcut hallway. Another kid, famous for being a bit of a jerk, started yelled something like “Hey, Junior! Nice freshie you got there, Pedophile
!”.
Now, Jerk’s friends weren’t very nice people, but even they were advising him against harassing Friend further because of his family situation. He instead said something along the lines of “Oh, boo-hoo! Your brothers died? Well, guess what? Everyone dies at some point. Besides, he probably had it coming to him anyways.”
My friend yelled “Shut the f*** up, you f***ing b***ard!” just as I showed up. He was usually very calm and easygoing, so I knew that something was wrong, as was the eccentric history teacher that was walking past. The teacher politely inquired “What is going on?” Jerk said “Thank goodness you’re here! That kid was just yelling at me for no reason!” Teacher smiled and said “I doubt that is true. Friend here doesn’t yell. In fact, I had no idea he could even speak. Moreover, his family is going through a tough time at the moment, with multiple deaths less than a month ago. You, on the other hand, have had a history of harassing your classmates. Let us walk calmly to the principal’s office.”
Long story short, he was suspended for a week and a half. That’s not the whole end of the story. That Friday, I was helping Friend and his sister babysit their younger sisters, and we decided to go out for dinner. I was pushing his sister’s wheelchair and holding his younger sister (she adores me and hated her wheelchair), when we ran into Jerk and an older man and woman who were later found out to be his aunt and father. The father in particular was a very scary man, what with a thick moustache and looking like he had never heard of a volume that wasn’t yelling. Jerk paled when he saw us, while the father grew furious. He yelled “Is this that kid who you were bullying earlier? Apologize! Now!”. and so Jerk apologized meekly. Then his aunt gave us pamphlets about the suicide prevention hotline that she worked at. I could here them yelling at Jerk as they left. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.