Elaine took comfort in the trust she was able to achieve with this group

of students. The bond she had established with them last year now stood
them in good stead. This is not to say that the students became less
frightened of William; they did not. What they did become, however, was
much more astute in reading him and knowing when and how to hide their
fear. Elaine quietly observed these developments with a mixture of pride and
sorrow. However, she felt that they were all doing the best they knew how
under their circumstances.
The only exception to this cooperative effort was Eddie, a small, spare
boy who seemed unable to resist attracting Williams attention. Elaine
believed that, in his own way, Eddie was at least as troubled as William. In
fact, his records showed that he had been referred repeatedly to his previous
schools child study committee because of behavior problems. His parents
had refused to allow a formal evaluation by which the school could establish
eligibility for special education services.
Because he was small, his behavior, although erractic, was more of an
annoyance than a real problem, except when it came to William. Elaines
students were growing accustomed to Eddies unexpected bids for attention.
At almost any given time or place, Eddie would poke, slap, or punch
classmates much larger than himself, apparently without heed of possible
consequences. Any opportunity to get out of Elaines eyesight provided him
an occasion to provoke other students. Elaine remembered the day that,
returning from lunch, she found Eddie crawling around on th floor biting his
classmates on their ankles. Reprimanding him for such behavior usually
brought a blank smile to his face. Although she had attempted to provide
meaningful consequences for his behavior, she had yet to find either a
positive consequence or a negative one that really seemed to mean anything
to him.
As with William, the class demonstrated more patience with Eddie than
Elaine felt she could rightfully expect from a group of fifth-graders. To be sure,
some students had more patience than others. On occasion, a less tolerant
student would reciprocate Eddies most recent annoyance with a sound slap
or a decisive shove against the nearest wall. Because these retaliatory astc
appeared neither to faze nor to hurt him, and because they rendered at least
momentary results, Elaine usually ignored this vigilante form of justice.
It was when Eddie picked on William that Elaine could not ignore the
repercussions. Unlike her other students, Eddie simply did not seem to
understand that he should not provoke William, nor did her seem to realize
that she could not guarantee his safety when he chose to incite Williams ire.

That she could not ensure Eddies safety was clearly illustrated on a
crisp November day as she led her class in from their midmorning recess
period. She had established the routine of having her class line up for water
before returning to the classroom. After each student had gotten a drink, he
or she was to proceed to the classroom to prepare for the upcoming lesson.
On this particular day, Eddie, who appeared to be bursting with energy from
the preceeding kickball game, left his place in line. Escaping Elaines notice,
he whizzed past William, giving hima playful push in his way to the end of the
line.
Eddies piercing scream caused Elaines stomach to lurch and brought
her rushing past the fine of wide-eyed faces. There she found William on top
of Eddie with right knee planted squarely in Eddies spine.