The Abdication of King Jeremy the Wicked

This story is inspired by the eponymous Pearl Jam hit, "Jeremy". In the song, Jeremy gets to 'speak' in class, which results in a terrible tragedy. What if Jeremy had had an advocate, somebody willing to stand by him when he was at his weakest and most vulnerable? Below is my take on how that may have happened.

It’s not right, thought Caleb. He stared across the classroom at Jeremy, the boy staring blankly into his Algebra textbook. Everybody knew about Jeremy’s home life and his neglectful parents. It’s not like Jeremy suffered from a lack of food or other necessities, his parents were very well off, in fact. The problem was that they didn’t care about him. Jeremy had, for all intents and purposes, been caring for himself for a few years. His parents simply didn’t pay attention to him. And they didn’t care that the entire town knew… they took a bit of pride in it, seemingly.

Jeremy, when he and his class began middle school three years ago, actually took pride in the fact that he could do whatever he wanted, and his parents didn’t care. It was freedom that he flaunted in front of his classmates, even if it didn’t get him many friends in the process. Jeremy became reclusive after that. His parents didn’t need him, and he thought that he didn’t need them, either. He had his classmates… until he didn’t.

Caleb had watched him over the years since, he had watched him become more and more quiet and isolated. And he had also watched him become an amazing artist. Caleb had never seen anybody that could draw like Jeremy, but the drawings were frightening. Jeremy saw himself as a king, and he wasn’t the King Arthur type. King Jeremy was a tyrant. King Jeremy had no qualms about death, or about putting people to death. Always there were the skulls of his parents attached to the top of throne. Jeremy had become the wicked king of a world within his own mind, and nobody stood a chance against him.

Many times, Caleb had tried to approach Jeremy, if not to befriend him, then to at least become a part of his life in a cordial way. But Jeremy would have none of it, the boy just walked by him silently and uncaring. Then there was Jimmy Hankins, eighth grade superstar and superstar bully. Jimmy thought he was God’s gift to middle school, and the girls fawned over him so hard that he had a different girlfriend every week. Jimmy felt that it was a good idea to ‘take Jeremy under his wing’. All it turned out to be was the physical and psychological bullying of the reclusive kid, and while Jeremy took it all with a grain of salt, King Jeremy became angry.

Caleb tried to keep the school administration and his parents aware of how deep Jeremy’s mental state had gone, but there was nothing they could do. Jeremy hadn’t done anything but keep to himself. Enter Jimmy Hankins stage right. Jimmy had decided that it was time to humiliate Jeremy during a pep rally. The quarterback stood before the entire school, the gymnasium packed and loud, and called out Jeremy. Jimmy wanted Jeremy to come before the crowd of students and lead them all in the school’s alma mater. When Jeremy just sat there without moving or saying a word, Jimmy played the politician by insulting the boy without actually insulting him.

“Good thing he’s not on the football team, there’s no place for somebody with so little school spirit to fight for the school!” Jimmy winked at Jeremy as the crowd erupted in applause, a few balls of paper took to the air and flew in Jeremy’s direction.

After the pep rally, Jeremy walked right up to Jimmy and threw a spot on right hook that caught the quarterback right on the jaw, sending him to the floor in a heap. Jeremy paid the price from the other football players, leaving the scene with a teacher and a bloody lip and nose. But nobody stood with Jeremy, and King Jeremy reveled in it. But the focus on Jeremy only lasted through the football season. By the time the holiday season had rolled around, it was all forgotten, including Jeremy himself.

Today was the first day of spring. It had dawned warm and sunny in Liberty, Missouri, and the aroma of flowers swept through the Kansas City suburb on a welcoming breeze. Caleb watched Jeremy Stare blankly into his algebra textbook, and he was worried. Jeremy’s normal form of staring blankly during class never felt dangerous, only disconnected. It didn’t feel that way on this morning. And as Mr. Fetterman droned on about a difference of two squares, Jeremy twitched, got up from his desk, and threw his backpack on his back as he stormed from the class. Mr. Fetterman paid no attention. But Caleb did, and he followed Jeremy a moment later.

Caleb knew that something unforgettable and tragic was about to happen, and he felt the need to do something about it. He never would have done anything of the sort in the past, for Caleb was never known for his bravery. The twins had driven him lately to keep a close eye on Jeremy. He could never remember their names, but they were twins from a small town in Pennsylvania who had gone viral several times for innocuous, but amazing, events. Caleb had watched the videos more times than he could count, and each time he was fascinated by the directness of their interventions with their classmates, and the resulting peace that followed. They knew that they put themselves in harm’s way, but their ability to face it and overcome it shot right to Caleb’s heart. He knew that he had to do something about Jeremy.

Approaching the boys’ bathroom, he could hear Jeremy arguing with himself. A few moments made him realize that King Jeremy had come to life, and he wanted blood.

“They need to die!” he heard Jeremy say, but he knew that they were the words of King Jeremy.

“Does it need to be this way?” pleaded Jeremy. “We’ve made it this far…”

“Shut up you weakling! You… we are not to be trifled with! We will not be made the fool!”

Caleb heard the unzipping of the backpack, then he heard the cocking of the pistol. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Be with me, guys, he said to the Pennsylvania twins in his head. Then Caleb entered the bathroom.

He saw Jeremy standing in front of the mirror, the pistol at his side and his face red and sweating. The reflection Caleb could see in the mirror made him shiver as he could swear that the reflection was not the same as the person staring at it. It only took a fraction of a moment, but King Jeremy quickly pointed the pistol at him.

“What the hell are you doing here?” The danger in his words was nearly tangible, and the fear grew inside Caleb swiftly.

“I’m here to help you, Jeremy,” Caleb said, trying with all of his might to make the boy see that he was serious.

“Who did you bring with you? Are they outside?” he asked, certain that he was being ambushed. Jeremy took a step forward, that barrel pointed right at Caleb’s forehead.

What Caleb did next nearly made him throw up from fear, but he did it with no outward evidence of his inner fear. Caleb raised his right hand and placed his palm right over the end of the pistol.

“You don’t need to do this, Jeremy,” his resolve solidifying now as he had done the craziest thing ever. “I’m here for you. Let’s talk.”

Jeremy squeezed his eyes shut, his face getting unexpectedly redder, and his expression becoming ever angrier. “It’s not me,” he said, his voice almost a growl.

Then Caleb knew, King Jeremy wasn’t just a figment of Jeremy’s psyche, he had become almost real. He kept his calm as he switched who he was speaking to. “King Jeremy, why are doing this?”

“They all need to die! All of them!” he screamed, the authority in his voice palpable. “They will bow to me or die! I’ve put up with their bullshit for too long. I… will make them pay for what they’ve done to me!”

Caleb kept his hand firm on the gun, “You should be here to make Jeremy stronger within himself, to protect him.”

“This is protecting him,” the acid in the king’s word dripping. “Nobody is on his side but me. Not even his parents give a shit about him! Why should you?”

“There are other ways!” Caleb pleaded. “There is help for you, Jeremy! I know you’re in there! I know you can hear me!”

“Jeremy is gone! He is weak!” King Jeremy’s eyes flashed.

“No, he isn’t. I can see him, and so can you.” Caleb nodded to the mirror, and he could see the moment’s hesitation on King Jeremy’s face.

Caleb watched as the king was broken, he watched as Jeremy the kid broke through once again. The sweat that was pouring from Caleb’s brow finally began to let up.

“What can we do?” Jeremy asked, his voice timid as the tears began to well up in his eyes.

Staring at Jeremy’s reflection, Caleb could see Jeremy, not King Jeremy. The king had abdicated his throne. There was no wickedness remaining, only a sad, frightened teenage boy. Jeremy released his grip on the pistol, and Caleb carefully uncocked it and enabled the safety. He quickly stuffed it in his own backpack and put his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder.

“C’mon…” said Caleb with a smile.

He led Jeremy out of the bathroom, his arm around the boy’s shoulder, and took him to the school counselor. Jeremy had urged the counselor to let Caleb stay during their talk. The weeks and months that followed saw Jeremy become a ward of the state as the investigation into his parents began. The state even allowed Jeremy to stay with Caleb’s family. Recognizing that Jeremy’s entire family seemed to want nothing to do with him, the state granted the petition of Caleb’s family to care for him, ensuring a strict psychological treatment schedule, and granted Jeremy emancipation from his parents on his 16th birthday.

Jeremy’s artwork became the sensation of their high school years, and he parlayed that into a very successful digital art scholarship to a local university. Caleb and Jeremy had become more than just best friends after the incident in the bathroom, they had become brothers. All Jeremy had needed was somebody that cared. Jeremy had been about to speak violently in class that day, but Caleb stepped in thanks to the courage he found in two Pennsylvania twins he would never meet.