Chapter 10

The teens arrived at Amelia’s flat after school. They were talking about seeing Hanford being videoed and interviewed in front of the school by several TV stations as they left the building.

“Let’s watch the news later,” Jeremy said. “I’d like to see what he told them.”

“Jeremy,” Amelia asked, “you know why I started trying to do a blog on FGM, but when did you get into the human rights stuff you write about?”

“Hmmm, that’s complicated. I guess I was interested almost forever. I started my first blog in Korea and wrote about the way the North Korean government treated their people. I also wrote about the terrible pressure on kids for the tests they have to take to get into uni there. I called the blog Nuga Juuija, ‘Who’s Real.’ Then when I moved here, I read about some bad stuff that government officials were doing—and honor killings too, and decided to keep blogging. So I called it ‘The Realist.’ In Korean that would have been hyeonsil juuija which means ‘realist.’

“Yeah,” Amelia said. “I saw some of your early posts. But they weren’t about the Program then.”

“No, that came later. After a few weeks of seeing it in my school. I was freaked when I went to school the first day of the new term and suddenly began seeing kids all starkers. I had no idea what was happening but found out really quick. The kids in my class didn’t realize I moved here from the other side of the world and thought I was a dummy at first.”

“You were in it? Shit! How could you do that? I about panicked when that man started ripping my clothes off.” She started to tear up.

Jeremy embraced her. “Oh, sweetie. You’re shaking! Shit, that must be like what a rape victim feels...”

“Oh, hold me, Jeremy. Suddenly it came back again, those helpless feelings, like I had when I was cut and then on Monday when that awful man was pawing at me...” She began crying, then shook herself. “Ugh. I’m so sorry...” She rubbed her eyes.

“No, sweetie, don’t be; I think it’s natural to have that reaction. Shit! That only happened three days ago! You’re still raw over that. Yeah. You were fuckin’ scared. Of course you’re getting those feelings. It took me months to get over what I saw, when I was in my other school. I hated it, really did. Not being naked, that didn’t matter to me a lot, but the other crap I had to see. Hell, some of those kids, even some guys, were scared shitless.”

Amelia sniffled. “I feel so safe when you hold me ... God, how you looked when you pulled that man off me. I thought you were gonna kill him and you didn’t even know me.”

“Wanna hear a secret?” Jeremy asked softly.

“Okay...?”

“Of course I noticed you in the classes we share, Amelia. Oh, your name is so pretty, too...” She giggled. “I kinda fancied you but when I finally got up the nerve to try to talk to you, you were always rushing off, and then you started hanging with that group of girls.”

“Fancied? as in a crush? Really, Jeremy? You were crushing on me?” she blushed.

“Oh yeah. I’m really kinda shy around girls, I guess, so I didn’t wanna look pushy and hurt any chance to meet you.”

“So is that why you came roaring up to save me?” Amelia teased.

“Oh, no! What was happening up there ... It reminded me of ... Shit. I couldn’t let any girl be treated that way. In fact, I’m not sure I really realized it was you up there; it was so chaotic. The other girl was being assaulted too; I was all the way in the back and was trying to get up there to stop it. I just wish I had gotten there sooner, before Hana got hurt. But I’m happy beyond belief that I was able to help you.”

“Oh, you’re so sweet, Jeremy. You know, you’re so much like Kevin and I can’t get over that he did the same thing for Denise in their school. Life’s so strange.”

Jeremy smiled at her. “Kevin’s my role model. You just made my day, saying I was like him. I really like you, Amelia, I’m so glad you’re my girlfriend.”

They hugged. Then Amelia pulled away. “Um, you didn’t answer when I asked how you could have gotten naked when they picked you.”

“Is it okay with you if we talk about that rot, honey? I don’t want it to scare you again.”

“No, I’ll be okay—if you’re here to hug me, that is,” she said shyly.

“Okay, it wasn’t the nudity itself that bothered me. I’ve kinda been naked in public before so that part wasn’t too terrible. In Korea I went to the jjimjilbang with my friends’ families...”

“What’s that?”

“Means ‘heated rooms’ but they’re actually upscale bath houses. They’re almost all segregated by sex, but my best friend’s family liked to go to a coed one and took me there often. I really liked going, too. So being naked with boys, girls, men, and women there wasn’t a big deal. But everyone there was naked—or discreetly covered by the water. It’s a whole different thing when you’re starkers and no one else is, you know, in school. Being the only one naked bothered me a lot—well, there were a few others too but maybe only a dozen at the same time in the whole school, so we were basically alone. I just did it for two days—actually only part of two days—and then I stopped; I didn’t do the whole week like you have to do. And I did stuff that got me in trouble too.”

“You did? What happened to you?” Amelia asked, intrigued. “And ... um ... what did it feel like to be naked going to school ... everyone looking at you ... and touching you...? Ugh!”

“I never told anyone the whole story, not even my folks. It was way too embarrassing. Mum and Dad supported me against the school, especially for my helping this one girl, but didn’t press me for details. But yeah, maybe it would be good to talk about it now. Let me tell you about that week...”

Jeremy had just started school in London; it was during the change of classes after the first period on his first day when he first saw them. Two naked girls! Standing in front of a row of lockers, red-faced, while a few boys were feeling their breasts and one had his hands between both girls’ legs.

“What the bloody...” he exclaimed as he hurried over to the group; a small cluster of kids was watching. “Hey, stop that,” he called.

A boy pulled on his shoulder. “Hey mate, let them be. They have to do that and you can’t stop them. You get punished if you interfere with Reasonable Requests.”

“What the hell do you mean, Reasonable Requests? They’re being assaulted!” he objected. “And why the fuck are they starkers?”

Another boy motioned to catch his attention. “Hey there, mate, you a clot? You never heard of the Program?”

Jeremy was now surrounded by six guys. Another grinned at him and taunted, “Yeah, he’s thick. Doesn’t know about the Program. Where’ve you been these last few years, mate?”

“Hey, cut it out,” Jeremy objected. “This is my first day here. I just moved here from Korea.”

“No shit!” one of them muttered.

“What about the girls?” Jeremy asked as the first bell rang and he saw them run off as the rest of the group moved toward their classrooms.

“Get a Program book!” one of the boys called as he dashed off.

That was Jeremy’s introduction to the Naked in School Program.

Jeremy found it very difficult to keep from interfering with the groping of the girls he saw and was surprised to see that even some boys in the Program were getting abuse—having their penises pulled or slapped by giggling girls as they passed a naked boy, watching boys being forced to masturbate and spray their semen on the floor, and made to push their fingers into their rectums. He even saw girls who were forced to allow their vaginas or rectums be penetrated by their tormentors’ fingers.

Of course he got a Program booklet and was even more disturbed when he found that many of the activities he had witnessed were actually not allowed by the rules.

Jeremy saw naked students being made to do humiliating tasks or demonstrations in some of his classes too. So he began listing all of the abuses he saw each day and then he posted his list to the school’s pupil comments web page. After a week’s postings, he was called to see the head teacher.

“Mr Porter,” the head teacher told him after he was in the office, “I realize you’re new here and completely unfamiliar with the Program. But I must insist that you stop your criticism of the things you see as they are all part of the objectives of the Program.”

“Sir, I read the booklet,” he replied. “Categorically the items I’ve posted are violations of the rules. For example, boys aren’t permitted to put their fingers in girls’ vaginas or anuses but I see that happen almost every day. Even on both of the first days, both Mondays, I saw touching being forced on some kids. You’re not supervising properly.”

“That’s just an example of kids being kids, young man. If someone objects, they can complain at the office.”

“Mr Jamieson, I heard how complaints were handled last term. You typically claimed that since you had no way to verify that the improper contact occurred, you dismissed the complaint. The kids don’t bother complaining anymore. I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

“Regardless, Mr Porter. If you don’t stop your improper criticisms of the Program, you’ll be subject to severe punishment.”

“Do you plan to expel me then? I believe I have the right under British law to express my views. I read an article that mentions my rights, like free expression, in a recent magazine. I’m going to look up that law. And sir, I will not stop until you stop the abuses.”

“Don’t be impertinent. I will be in touch with your parents about this, young man.”

“Please do, sir. Is that all?”

“You may go. And remember what I told you.”

Jeremy’s mother got the call from the head teacher. She told him that Jeremy was indignant about how the school wasn’t protecting the students from abuse. She mentioned that she had read about the honor killing that had happened in the fall and told the head teacher that she supported her son in his writing his objections to the problems he saw.

Meanwhile, Jeremy began researching the education laws, including the law that created the Program, and downloaded copies of policies, laws, and manuals which covered school administration, and began quoting their violations in his postings on the school site. He had already begun writing a blog about human rights based on one he had started in Korea and began thinking about including the Program abuses he saw in the blog, but the school’s site gave him better access to the kids and teachers he wanted to reach. But within a few more weeks, he found that his comments were being edited or even removed. Then he turned to the school’s Facepage and posted his objections there and got reprimanded for doing that.

Small wonder that when March arrived, Jeremy was called to participate in the Program.

Amelia interrupted Jeremy’s reminisces. “Oh, so that’s how you know so much about all those laws. Is that when you started blogging about the Program?”

“Not yet, sweetie. I’m coming to that. The selection of kids for the Program was supposed to be random. My school had about 1200 kids. The head teacher told me that I’d be punished so I wasn’t at all surprised when I got picked. So when March began, my name was called to go to the office on that first Monday morning. I had been thinking what I’d do if I got picked...”

“Jeremy Porter,” the teacher called that Monday morning. “Go to the office, please.”

Jeremy heaved a sigh, picked up his rucksack, and went to the door. When he got to the office after dropping his rucksack off in his locker, he was ushered into a small conference room next to the head teacher’s office and found over a dozen kids already there, milling around and talking angrily, complaining about their bad luck. Two girls were in a corner, crying softly. Jeremy noticed a stack of Program booklets on a table; he picked one up.

“Hey everyone,” he called. Kids looked around at him. “The worst of this rot is the Requests but look at page 7, item 2(b)(ii). It says, ‘Program participant is the sole judge of the reasonability of any request that involves physical contact. Any attempts to coerce the participant into physical contact beyond what the participant finds reasonable will result in disciplinary action by the school administration in accordance with the judgement of local Program officials. This will apply even if it is later decided that the participant was not acting reasonably.’ So don’t let them do anything to you that bothers you!”

Some students exclaimed “YES!” loudly at that.

“Read the booklet carefully, follow the rules to the letter, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” he continued, as the head teacher came in with a few more students.

“Mr Porter, just what are you telling them?” Jamieson asked.

“Only to read the booklet and follow just what the rules say, Head Teacher,” he answered.

Jamieson looked at him suspiciously. “I’m sure you did...”

A few boys spoke up. “Yeah,” “He did.” Another boy looked at the head challengingly. “He did, told us t’do what the bloomin’ rules say an’ naught else.”

“Well, then, good advice,” Jamieson remarked. He launched into a brief explanation of what the students were expected to do and then told them to disrobe.

Most began, very reluctantly, as two teachers entered the room and spoke quietly to Jamieson.

“Then get her and bring her here,” he replied.

Several minutes passed as most of the kids, naked now, were pointed to the door and told to leave. Jeremy was still dressed and a few others had stopped undressing.

Jamieson looked at them all. “You all need to finish undressing. Mr Porter, why haven’t you undressed?”

“Sir, my records show I’m an American citizen and not subject to British law for this idiocy. Did you not notice that fact? Did you ask for a legal opinion? The Program booklet states on page 10, item 1, I’ll read right here: ‘Local Program officials may make exemptions for students unable to participate in the Program. These exemptions will not be given lightly and will be limited to... ‘ and lists these two items, ‘diplomatic status, international treaty.’”

“Well, Mr Porter, I didn’t notice your citizenship status but don’t see that it’s important. As a registered pupil, you’re required to follow all school rules, including the Program. If you refuse to strip off, I’ll get a teacher to assist you.”

Just then the two teachers returned, pulling a girl between them. She was dressed in her uniform but it had an oversized top and a long flowing skirt. She was wearing a hijab.

She was crying, “No, I can’t, I won’t do it, you can’t make me...”

Jamieson told the teachers to take her to his office.

“She’s a noncomplier,” he told them softly. They nodded. He turned back to Jeremy. “Do I need to get assistance for you too, then?”

“Sir, no one can use physical force on me, they would be damaged if they try. I’ll comply but under protest, and may look into legal remedies.”

Meanwhile the final kids had stripped and left the room; the two weeping girls holding onto each other.

Jeremy quickly stripped off his clothes and put them into the box provided. Just then he heard a series of piercing shrieks coming from outside the room. Dashing out of the room, he saw the teachers pushing the naked girl out of the head’s office; she was struggling against them, trying to avoid being pushed out, and screaming. Jeremy looked around the outer office wildly. Then he ran to the window and pulled one of its curtains off the rod. Before anyone could react, he sprinted back to the girl and pulled her away. Throwing the curtain over her, he hoisted her into a fireman’s carry and ran out of the room while the head teacher and the others stared, flatfooted, amazed. Jeremy got out the door before anyone reacted.

“Don’t struggle,” he panted at her as he kicked the door closed, “you’re safe. I’m gonna hide you.”

“Aagghh,” she grunted, “please help me.”

“You’ll be okay...”

Jeremy dashed to the stairway next to the office. He assumed that the flight down this stairway led to the mechanical room; the gate across the descending steps indicated that the area was off limits but it wasn’t locked. He carried her down the flight and put her down on her feet.

“Shhhh, let’s get out of sight,” he whispered as he grabbed her hand; her head was still covered by the drapery and she couldn’t see.

Jeremy led her down the corridor, trying doors; the third one was unlocked and opened. It was a custodial storage room, full of shelving with supplies and piles of cartons.

“Here, this place should be safe,” he told her. “What’s your name? Mine’s Jeremy.”

“Mersiha...” she sniffled. “Where are we?”

“Storage room. I know you need privacy, so I’m gonna go behind some shelves so you can wrap yourself up in the curtain so you can see. Then we’ll figure out what to do.”

“Why are you helping me?” she asked as Jeremy moved away.

“You wear the hijab. What they did to you was like a rape. No one should be made to suffer like that.”

“OH! You know how it felt! Are you Muslim? Okay, give me a minute ... Erm, I’m kinda decent now...” she said shyly.

Jeremy came around the shelves.

“Aiy Allah! You’re naked! Oh, oh, I can’t look!”

“I can’t help it, Mersiha. I got put in the Program too. No, I’m not Muslim, but I know some of your customs. If it makes you feel better, none of the kids saw you—just the head and the two teachers. Me too, but only for a few seconds before I wrapped you in the curtain. I hope you can forgive that breech. They didn’t hurt you when they stripped you, I hope.”

“Oh, Jeremy, you saved my honor by what you did. No, I wasn’t hurt; I think I almost fainted from the shock while they undressed me but when they tried to push me out of that room, I kinda recovered and fought back. So I can’t forgive the head or the teachers. I don’t know if my family will allow me to stay at this school. Erm, I need to let my big sister know. She’ll probably hear that I was picked and might panic.”

“Where is she? I’ll try to get word to her.”

Mersiha told Jeremy her sister’s name and where to find her.

“But how do I get out of here?” she asked plaintively.

“Got an idea. I noticed that naked kids seem to have an automatic hall pass. Here’s what I’ll try doing.”

He explained his plan and Mersiha giggled. “Oh my, that is so audacious!” she exclaimed.

“Okay, stay hidden behind that pile of boxes. When I come back, I’ll tap on the door like this before coming in.” He tapped a series of thumps on a shelf, then left the room to contact Mersiha’s sister.

Being naked, Jeremy found, was indeed just like a hall pass. No one stopped him. He went to the classroom where Mersiha’s sister was, entered, went to the teacher, and told her that the girl was asked to go to the office. The teacher let her go with no question. Jeremy told her to take her things with her. Out in the hall, he quickly explained the situation to the worried girl and she gave him a quick hug. He asked her if she could get into Mersiha’s locker for her coat; she could.

“Good. Get her coat—yours too if you’re taking her home and go to Mersiha’s classroom to get her schoolbag. Tell the teacher you were sent for her stuff. Then here’s how to get to the storeroom where she’s hiding and then tap like this on the door first so she’ll know it’s okay.”

He tapped, then told her how to get to the storeroom.

Then came the difficult part of his plan; getting Mersiha’s clothes. He had heard announcements over the PA system that he and Mersiha were being looked for. Going into a vacant classroom near the office, he used the intercom phone in the room to call the office, telling the clerk that he and Mersiha were hiding in the trainer’s room in the gym and wanted to speak to the head teacher before they would come out. About a minute later, the head teacher rushed out of his office and headed down the hall toward the gym.

Jeremy slipped out of the classroom and went to the office. He was able to enter unobserved and went into the head’s office. Looking around, he spotted a clothing box and confirmed that it contained Mersiha’s clothes. Taking it, he headed out when the clerk saw him.

“I was told to get this stuff to take to the head,” he called, “he needs it right away.”

The clerk waved him on out. He ran down to the storeroom, tapped on the door, and entered.

The two girls were holding each other and crying. When Mersiha saw Jeremy with her clothes, she began sobbing even harder.

“Alhamdulillah, you are an angel,” she cried. “You are wonderful ... you did this ... you don’t know me and did so much...”

“Please, it’s okay,” Jeremy objected. “You needed help and I could help you. Now hurry; get dressed and get out. At the other end of the hall, there are stairs that lead to an outside door. You can get out there but can’t get back in, I checked. Tell your parents what happened. I don’t know what they can do to keep you out of the Program, but I’m pretty sure that the teachers aren’t supposed to be allowed to use force to strip off your clothes. Your folks will have to decide what to do. Anyway, I gotta get to class. Good luck!”

The two girls both hugged him and he left.

“Ohmygod, Jeremy!” Amelia exclaimed. “You really are a hero! That was awesome, like an adventure story! Damn, you must have gotten in deep shit for doing all that.”

“No kidding. Not for a while, though, since the head didn’t think to look for me in my classes until the afternoon.”

As Jeremy emerged from the stairway to the maintenance area into the hall, the bell for the next class change rang. He headed off to his locker, grabbed his books, and went to his next class, completely ignoring all of the calls for ‘Reasonable Request’ as he brushed past the kids.

He entered the classroom and took his seat. When the teacher began the class, she asked Jeremy if he needed relief.

“No, miss.”

“Well then,” she began the class. “Last time we were discussing ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ Austen paints compelling personality traits in her characters, like foolishness, pomposity, and snobbery. Let’s talk about character development by looking at the characters in her novel and seeing how she makes their traits clear to the reader. Mr Porter, please come to the board and as we mention a character, write the character’s name and the trait.”

“Miss?” Jeremy asked the teacher. “If no one here was in the Program, would you have a pupil do that?”

“Of course not,” she replied. “We’re supposed to use Program pupils to do things like that.”

“Well, I decline then. That’s not a proper Program demonstration as the rules provide for. There’s no teaching purpose which requires the display of a naked body.”

“You have to comply, Mr Porter.”

“No, miss, I don’t. And since this isn’t an academic matter, you can’t mark me down for that. Tell the head I declined.”

“Well, I never...” she huffed, stared at him while the class tittered, but he stared back at her impassively. She shook her head, then resumed her lesson.

The head teacher found Jeremy in his last class of the day.

“Come to my office now, Mr Porter,” he called from the classroom door.

Jeremy followed Jamieson into the hall.

“Do you think you will get away with your flagrant...” he began.

“Sir, in private. I won’t discuss this in the hall,” he replied.

Jamieson, red-faced, led him to the office. Inside, he went to his desk and sat.

“Now first, young man, where is Miss Kassem?”

“I suppose she went home.”

“You stole property from my office...”

“Sir? I stole nothing. Her property—her garments—were stolen from her. I found them and returned them. It was my civic duty.”

“Why, you ... you ... impertinent ... you also interfered with the operation of the Program, and damaged school property...”

“I’ll tell you where the curtain is. If there’s any damage, I’ll pay for it, but I just slid it off the rod. And I’m sure her parents could claim sexual assault and battery, since I read that the use of force is not permitted against pupils in school,” Jeremy retorted.

“In the Program it is,” Jamieson replied.

“I beg to differ, sir. Read the Human Sexuality Act. I did. It doesn’t mention that force can be used with a child.”

“For your blatant violations of school policy, I’m contacting your parents and will seek to have you expelled,” Jamieson declared.

“I’m not going to argue, sir. Let me state some facts. First, you drafted me into the Program without checking my status vis-à-vis any existing treaty or diplomatic matter. Second, you instructed teachers to forcibly strip a child. I found laws that say that doing that’s a felony. Third, you use the Program to punish pupils for non-Program offenses. That’s illegal. Fourth, you don’t properly supervise pupils in the Program to ensure their safety. Shall I go on? I won’t make threats. But I will make those facts public.”

“We’ll see, young man, we’ll see.”

“How could you talk back like that to the head teacher?” Amelia asked, amazed. “Where did you ... weren’t you scared?”

“I was kinda pumped, you know? I felt like it was when I was testing for a new dan in taekwondo. I concentrated on my objectives, my fighting plan, what I knew, and parried his attacks. I knew my folks would back me too. Probably the diplomatic part would help me too, but I didn’t want to bank on that. So I used what I knew about the laws and stuff.”

“Well, this is such an awesome story. What happened with your folks?”

“Ha. Talk about quick action. I guess I’m a privileged case. As soon as I got out of the head’s office I called Dad. He picks up my calls no matter what he’s doing. I told him what happened very briefly; in just a minute I told him what I did. Didn’t leave out a thing. He told me not to worry; that he was on it.

“When he got home that evening, he told me what he did—he told Charles Wixom, he’s the U.S. ambassador, you know, about what happened to me and what I did for Mersiha. And that I was in the Program under protest. Dad told Charlie that he was gonna call the head teacher but Charlie told him to let him take care of it. You know? Charlie called the fuckin’ prime minister of the U.K. I’m surprised he didn’t call the Queen too. Dad said he really told the PM off and asked her if that was an example of how the Brits treated their children—and especially their minorities.

“Charlie told Dad to tell me not to worry about getting expelled, but I should keep my nose clean. I should use my judgment about being in the Program, but—get this—they’d support me if I protected anyone else from being harmed.”

“Oh, wow. Now I understand why you reacted that way at our school,” Amelia said. “But I still want to think of you as my knight, riding to my aid.”

“Oh yeah. When I realized that it was you I helped, I felt like I was ... well ... walking on air, I was so happy. My girlfriend. Shit, that sounds wonderful.”

They hugged.

Amelia grinned at him. “So was this when you started blogging about the Program?”

“Erm ... No, not yet ... Getting there, though...”

The next day was really cold. During the winter, the school didn’t have the Program kids undress outside, of course; the commons area was designated for what the kids called the “morning grope” session, and as it was Tuesday, this was the first day that touching was supposed to be allowed for the new Program group. When Jeremy arrived at school, he bypassed the commons area and undressed in a restroom. He ignored the opposite-sex rule and used a boy’s restroom anyway. Folding his clothes and putting them in his rucksack, he put his winter jacket back on and slipped out. He didn’t want his clothes taken away where he couldn’t get to them, he wanted them immediately available. Then he put his coat in his locker.

Going into the commons area, he went over to where a group of boys were huddled, suspecting a problem. In all the previous weeks, he had staunchly avoided the morning grope sessions but somehow he felt a responsibility this time, as a fellow victim. Sure enough, there were two girls trying to fend off a flurry of hands. Jeremy waded into the group.

“Okay, you blokes. Cool it! If the girls say no, it means NO!” he called.

Two of the boys turned to him. “Oh, a naked dude! Dude, I request you wank yourself!”

“Go fuck yourself,” Jeremy retorted. “Leave the girls alone!”

“Gonna make us?” a guy taunted. “Let’s see you handle this,” he sneered, reaching for Jeremy’s penis.

Jeremy grabbed the guy’s arm and twisted him into an armlock and pulled up hard.

“That was an attempted assault, you bloody berk,” Jeremy grunted as he pulled the arm up and pushed the kid into two others, making all three stumble away and fall. “If you try it again, I’ll dislocate your shoulder.”

He turned to the girls. “Did you give permission to be touched?”

“OH! Thanks! No, they didn’t even ask,” one cried. “This is bloody awful!”

Jeremy raised his voice. “Program people! Over here, all of you! Anyone wearing clothes, stay away from them!”