One day he was sitting in his high chair in the dining room waiting to be spoon-fed his lunch when a gaggle of fifth form girls came in all excited. âWeâve made you a pair of mittensâ, one of them told him. He was used by now to the flow of new humiliating outfits so he just held his hands out for them to put the mittens on him. He noticed that there were no fingers or thumbs in these mittens.
While he was looking at them curiously two girls simultaneously buckled the mittens at his wrists. They stood back and giggled. He wondered what they were so amused about. Just then his lunch arrived â the usual bowl of pureed vegetables. âGo on, try and feed yourselfâ, one of the girls told him. He looked down at the spoon in the bowl and then looked at his mittens. He reached for the spoon but the thick sheer fabric of the mittens meant that he couldnât grasp anything.
The girls giggled again. Tony tried to pull off the mittens. Again he couldnât get any purchase. He stuck one mitten under his arm and pulled. It wouldnât budge. The girls were highly amused now. Everyone in the dining hall was watching. He examined the buckles fastening the mittens on his hands. They were way too small for him to be able to undo them even with his teeth.
âNow heâs as helpless as a real babyâ, one of the girls announced triumphantly. Tony just sat there among the hall of laughing girls until someone eventually took pity on him and started spoon-feeding him his dinner. The mittens were left on him all day and they did make him as helpless as a baby. He couldnât let himself out of the high-chair or his pen and it was difficult for him to even pick up a dolly or toy. He couldnât read his picture books anymore without someone turning the pages for him. Every morning the mittens were put over his hands.
After a month he had spent time in the care of each form. The first form was the most humiliating for him. He was taller than all of the girls in this class but here he was having them crowd around him as they changed his nappy and spoon and bottle-fed him.
He counted the days until his month-long punishment would be over. His mother came in on the Saturday and when Ms. Grimstead showed her in she found him sitting in his play-pen. He looked up at her with a visible sense of anticipation.
âWell, weâve come to the end of your monthâs punishmentâ, his mother told him. He nodded eagerly. âIâve spoken to your headmasterâ, she continued. âHe is concerned now that youâve missed a whole month of school.â The eager anticipation fell from Tonyâs face. âHe thinks the best thing would be for you to skip this year altogether.â Normally this would be music to Tonyâs ears â a whole year of no school! But he suspected tha*****wasnât going to be so simple.
âSo I was wondering if Ms. Grimstead wants to keep you here for the whole year.â Tony was shocked. He looked at Ms. Grimstead mouth agape, dummy in danger of falling out, desperately hoping that she would refuse. âWhy, that would be wonderfulâ, she replied. Tony was by now so used to not speaking that he simply grunted disapproval through his dummy. âNg, Ng!â He got up on his knees and placed his hands on the side of the pen. He looked up desperately at his mother. âNg, Ng!â
His mother could now see his beautiful peach lace-trimmed bloomers below his heavily flared dress. âOh arenât those adorableâ, she commented, âwhich class made those.â âThe third formersâ, Ms. Grimstead replied. Tony shook the pen in frustration at their ignoring his protests.
âThatâs settled thenâ, his mother said. Tears were running down Tonyâs face now. âYou know I suspect that his headmaster was glad to be rid of him. I know he has been in trouble so many times.â
His mother went to leave. Finally Tony dropped the dummy from his mouth. âPlease Mum, donât leave me hereâ, he begged. The women were surprised to hear him speak. It had been so long since he had uttered anything intelligible. âBut dear, itâs for the bestâ, his mother said. âYouâd be miles behind the others at school. Iâm not leaving you at home alone while Iâm out at work so here youâll be in safe hands.â
He couldnât believe she was doing this. He was facing the prospect of being in nappies and baby dresses amongst all these schoolgirls until next July! But his mother continued towards the door. Tony continued to beg her not to leave him there. She looked over her shoulder at him before going out the door to see Ms. Grimstead push his dummy into his mouth. âThere, there, donât be so upset. Weâll look after you. The girls will be thrilled to hear that youâre staying with us all year.â His motherâs last image was the look of utter shock on Tonyâs face.
When his mother was gone Tony sat back on the backs of his legs. Suddenly he looked down at his bloomers and frowned. Ms. Grimstead noticed. âHave we had a little accident?â Tony went vividly red and she knew that he had actually wet himself without realising it.
He was in floods of tears not knowing which was worse - the fact that he was going to be kept in nappies for a year or the fact that he was now wetting himself uncontrollably. What would he be like after a year of this?
By the next Saturday the weather had turned colder as winter approached. When his mother arrived on Saturday morning Tony was wearing a pair of thick white tights under his lavender dress. âWell it was either that or find a very large pair of pants to go over his nappyâ, Ms. Grimstead said.
When she brought him around the grounds for his walk the boys beyond the wall hollered and guffawed at Tonyâs new tights. The poor boy strained on the harness trying to get around the building as quickly as possible.