Branded - Eric Walters [9]
chapter six
I opened my locker and put my gym bag inside. There was a loud thud as Oswald tossed his team uniform, shorts, socks and shoes—in one wet ball—into the bottom of his locker beside mine.
He and I were on the basketball team… well, on the bench on the team. We were both good enough to make the team but not good enough to get any serious playing time. The only time we worked up a real sweat was at practices.
Oswald’s stuff had the odor of rotting compost.
“Are you planning to take that home to wash anytime soon?” I asked.
“When the basketball season is over,” he said.
“The season still has weeks to go.”
“And during those weeks my plan will become more effective,” he said.
“And that plan is?”
“If I can’t break an ankle with my crossover, I can at least knock them over with the smell,” he said. “Would you want to cover me?”
“Point taken.”
I saw Julia coming down the hall. I’d promised her I’d think some more, because last night I hadn’t been able to come up with a plan. I still hadn’t.
“I’ve been doing a lot of research about school uniforms,” Julia said.
“How about saying, ‘Hello, how are you?’”
“Sure, fine. Hello, how are you? I’ve been doing a lot of research about school uniforms,” she repeated.
I didn’t want to know, but I also knew what the correct response was.
“So what did you find out?” I asked.
“Well, almost every single point that Mr. Rober t s made ha s an opposite argument,” she said.
“For example?” I asked.
“Even if everybody wears the same uniform, there are other ways that students set themselves apart from each other, including hairstyles or strange colors, makeup…”
“So I guess that means that I’m going to have to start dying my hair,” Oswald joked.
“Or putting on makeup and wearing jewelry,” I added.
“Or wearing a fancy watch, or smoking, or something like that,” Julia added.
“I’m sorry, but don’t people smoke because they want to fit in, not stand out?” I questioned.
“Uniforms are just like smoking,” she said.
“Do you want to explain that one to me?” I asked.
“That’s easy,” Oswald said. He reached into his locker and pulled out the uniform jacket and put it on. “When I’m wearing this, I’m smoking hot.”
I laughed. Julia looked like she’d bitten into something bad tasting. Maybe she’d caught wind of his gym stuff.
“Which reminds me, I have to go get changed,” Oswald said.
“What?”
“I’m going to change into the new school threads,” he said. He pulled a pair of black pants, a white shirt and the tie out of his locker.
“Are you insane?” Julia demanded.
“That’s not what my imaginary psychiatrist tells me.”
“I think you need a real psychiatrist,” Julia said.
“He’s real to me,” Oswald protested. “Him and my imaginary friend, Ian, here. I know you can’t see him, but he’s real and his name is Ian and—”
“Just give me a normal answer. Why would you put on that uniform when you don’t have to?” she asked.
“Simple. Haven’t you heard that females love a man in uniform?”
“First off, that would be a man, not a boy, and second…well…no,” she said, shaking her head.
“Oswald, are you really going to put that on?” I asked.
“Have to. Mr. Roberts told me to.”
“He ordered you to put on that uniform?” Julia demanded.
“Not so much ordered as suggested. He said I could wear it and get marks for his course. It would be like an extra assignment. And believe me, I could use the marks.”
Nobody would argue with that. Oswald walked away.
“And they don’t really save money,” Julia said, hardly skipping a beat.
“What?” I asked.
“Uniforms don’t save money.”
“How can they not save money?” I asked. “Even if we paid for them—and lots of people are getting them for free— they are still cheaper than designer clothes by a long shot.”
“That’s assuming that kids will wear them all the time,” she said. “Don’t you think they’re still going to need other clothes for after school or weekends? They’re still going to buy the regular clothes. The uniforms are an extra cost.”
She had a point—one that I hadn’t thought of.
“Maybe you should mention