I was in elementary school; fifth grade. To “freak” someone back then meant to pin them against a wall or fence and dry-hump them by rubbing your fully-clothed body against theirs. I remember a female teacher asking another what the term meant during the aftermath of this very incident. It’s something the boys would do to the girls, especially during outside recess when we kids were less restricted. Some of the girls liked it, I guess depending on who the boy was or who was watching, but it seems most didn’t. That’s where me being falsely accused of what is essentially a sex crime comes into play.

This one girl was gang-freaked by a group of boys during recess one day. At least that’s what she alleged. I don’t know if she said whether the boys took turns or did it all at once, but she was apparently upset about it; I remember her crying; and I was named as one of the assailants. I don’t even remember being around during the attack. I don’t even know if it was her who initially accused me. One of the other kids could’ve mentioned my name. In either case, there I was; on the chopping block with at least three other boys; facing big trouble in the form of the school notifying our parents, getting suspended or worse.

Lucky for us it never went that far because our homeroom teacher; Miss Daniels; didn’t take it as seriously as she could have. There was tension in the air; people talking and whispering about it; but she kept her cool. That’s one thing I liked about her. She was cool. She did punish us in her own way though; it was later that same day, I’m almost sure; by calling us alleged freakers to the front of the class one by one and smacking each of us on the hand with a ruler or some other wooden object. It stung like heck, but I didn’t really mind. Nor did I protest my innocence. I was just glad I wasn’t getting in real trouble for it.