TUPELO, Miss. - Little Timmy Johnson, 8, had been having trouble with bullies at his new school in Tupelo, Miss. Having moved with his family to Mississippi several months earlier, Johnson was treated disrespectfully by long-time students of Rumsfeld Grammar School.
"Every day he'd show up with a black eye or with his lunch money stolen," said Sally Johnson, Timmy's mother. "We tried to get him to defend himself, but he was just overwhelmed by opposing forces that hated him for differing reasons."
It was then that young Timmy devised a plan - He approached Jim Baca, the toughest bully in school, and offered him $10 a week for protection. Baca accepted, and within a matter of two weeks, Timmy Johnson was living a peaceful existence.
That all changed a week later, as Baca decided that working for Johnson was against his basic bully principles. From then on, Baca pummeled Johnson daily, stealing his lunch money, shoes and anything else he could take from the diminutive second-grader.
"When the money was right, I did what I was conracted to do for Timmy," said Baca. "But once he was no longer being picked on, I had to look at my own beliefs and profit motives. I realized I didn't want Timmy at this school, either, and have been beating him senseless ever since."
For his part, Timmy Johnson said he has few answers. He said he offered other bullies money to protect him from Baca, but no one wanted to go against the boy everyone considered the toughest second-grader on the planet. Add to that the fact that Baca had a wide-range of selfless followers who would do anything for him.
"You'd think if you paid someone to be on your side, they'd be on your side forever," said Timmy Johnson, nursing a broken nose. "But Jimmy changed sides really quickly. And you never see him coming. He hits you and disappears into the jungle gym."
Despite the fact that her son is being savagely beaten every day, Sally Johnson said she plans to stay the course.
"This will all just eventually resolve itself, I hope. But under no circumstances will we cut and run," said Sally Johnson. "There's been talk about a surge of new students moving into the area, but I'm not too optimistic about that.
"I guess the lesson for Timmy is that he should never have let us enroll him in that school in the first place," added Johnson. "But he's stuck there now, with no way out really. Hopefully it will all work out for the best and the bullies will accept newcomers better. But I doubt it. Maybe some negotiations will help. Or more money."
--WKW