Bullies! What Do You Do With Them?: The Courtney's Mysteries and Adventures

By Timothy Willliam Lawrence

In this exciting novel about pre-teens and best friends since five years old, Coco and Courtney learn the challenges of managing and navigating their interactions with bullies they encounter, On their church youth mission trip, they contend with a gang of bullies who work feverishly to thwart all the mission team's hard work and effort. As you r

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lt-Writing
• Release date: May 11, 2024
• ISBN: 9781963609271

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The Courtney’s Mysteries and Adventures

Bullies! What Do You Do with Them?

Timothy William Lawrence

Copyright © 2024

Tim Lawrence

eBook ISBN: 978-1-963609-27-1

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-963609-28-8

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-963609-29-5

All Rights Reserved. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is strictly prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express wrote permission from the author.

All reasonable attempts have been made to verify the accuracy of the information provided in this publication. Nevertheless, the author assumes no responsibility for any errors and/or omissions.

DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate this third novel to my wonderful wife, Vicki, who through the years has stood by my side and supported everything I’ve attempted to achieve. She has given me provocative thoughts and challenges only to hone me into the man I’ve become. I’m extremely grateful that she has stuck by me for these 44 years. I love you, sweetheart!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter One: The Lake, Ashton And The Playground

Chapter Two: The Blow-Out

Chapter Three: An Interesting Road-Trip

Chapter Four: The Mission Work And Convenience Store

Chapter Five: Confrontations

Chapter Six: More Mission Work And More Disappointments

Chapter Seven: Another Workday With Struggles And Surprises

Chapter Eight: Roadie’s Brother And Mr. Skelton

Chapter Nine: Roadie-Part One

Chapter Nine: Roadie And The Gang-Part Two

Chapter Nine: Roadie-Part Three

Chapter Ten: Revenge And Reunited

Chapter Eleven: Change In Plans

Epilogue

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my precious wife of 42 years for her patience, wisdom, and support. She has endured much with this bonehead throughout our years together.

The Bible says in Proverbs 27:17, As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

Thanks to all those who have invested their time, given me constructive comments, driven me to be the best I could be, shared their wisdom, and continued to support me through the years. I’m a rich, rich man because of the relationships God has blessed me with.

INTRODUCTION

I began writing this novel in 1994. My wife, Vicki, and I had been given the joy of having an amazing daughter. Her name is Courtney. When Courtney was eight years old, her best friend’s name was also Courtney, hence the basis of my first four novels.

I’m not sure why I waited so long to pick up my writing again and finish this first novel. The only reason I could give is that the timing was right. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed putting on paper past events and memories and turning them into novels. It’s been quite therapeutic and extremely enjoyable.

I have been in the music ministry and student ministry since 1972. My primary purpose and prayer for publishing my novels are to help pre-teen, young people to know that they have value and purpose, and that God cares about them and everything they are involved in. I want them to know that He is that personal. In fact, so personal that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for their sins so that they might experience eternal life and also enjoy a wonderfully rewarding life on earth.

I hope you and your pre-teen child will enjoy reading about various adventures and mysteries the two Courtneys’ experience. May it be an encouragement to you, as a parent, to remember the serious responsibility we have in raising our children to be Godly, respectful, polite, and helpful to others. In today’s world, we have an epidemic of bullying. It seems that more and more individuals of all persuasion have to push their way and force it upon those in their circle of influence. This novel was written because there are many young pre-teens who are experiencing this in their everyday lives. It might be at the school they are attending. It may be when they are with their friends just enjoying their time together and some bully intrudes. It could actually be in their own home with family members. Bullying is pervasive throughout our society. My hope is that a preteen will read Bullies! What Do You Do With Them and get comfort and insight in how to deal with situations they might encounter.

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Chapter ONE: The Lake, Ashton and The Playground

Don’t do it! Don’t do it!

Why not? Courtney questioned. It’ll be fun!

Yeah, and you’ll break your head wide open, too, Coco replied.

By the timeCoco could get that last sentence out of her mouth, Courtney had already done it. She had jumped off the twenty-five-foot cliff into the lake water below. Courtney screamed as she dropped into the water. What seemed like minutes was only a few seconds. Then, she popped up out of the water and hollered for Coco to do it.

No way! I ain’t crazy.

Then Coco climbed about halfway down the cliff where the tree swing was ten feet off of the water. She was all about that. She grabbed the pole to pull the rope swing back to her, climbed onto the rope, held on tight and there she went. She swung out to where the rope stopped, and dropped into the water.

Woohoo! That is so much fun! Coco hollered.

Courtney swam over to her and said, One of these days I’m going to talk you into jumping off that cliff.

Don’t think so, Court. Won’t be doing that, ever. By the way, it’s a good thing my mom didn’t see you do that. She probably wouldn’t have approved. Look out Courtney! Dive down, quick.

A jet ski was coming their way and fast. Both girls dove down as quickly and deep as they could and if they had not done that, it could have possibly been disastrous for both of them. When they came back up for air the two boys on the Jet Ski were laughing their heads off.

Hey, Spence. You need to be more careful. You almost hit those two little water rats.

There was more laughter between the two boys when the other one said, So what if I did, Todd? It wouldn’t be a great loss.

Then he threw his empty beer can at the girls and sped away almost hitting a boat that was anchored down not twenty yards away.

Jerks! Courtney yelled.

Yeah! Coco chimed in. I agree with you. That was dangerous.

And very mean. Courtney seethed.

​Girls? It’s time to go. We’ve got church tonight and if we don’t hurry, we’ll be late. Coco’s mom, Vicki, didn’t have a job outside of the hard work she did at home so throughout the summer months she would take the two Courtneys to various fun activities. Courtney’s mom, Melinda, had a full-time job and was a little jealous that she couldn’t be with the girls as often but was extremely glad that Vicki spent time with the girls and kept them busy.

Oh, and Ms. Sims, I don’t want to see you jumping off that cliff again. If your mom and dad tell me it’s okay, then I’ll be glad to allow it next time we come here, but I can’t take that risk personally.

Yes, ma’am, Mrs. Lawrence. I apologize. I should have asked before doing it.

Thanks for understanding, Court. Let’s get back to the house.

Courtney Lawrence and Courtney Sims had been best friends since they were five years old. To keep the confusion down to a minimum, they called Courtney Lawrence, Coco and Courtney Sims, Courtney. They never were your run-of-the-mill students who stayed inside watching TV shows and playing video games. They were always outside riding their bikes, goofing off in the park, playing in the woods, or exploring some new place. They seemed to always be on an adventure of some exciting event. They just experienced one of their most exciting adventures ever and scary, too! They finished spending two weeks with Coco’s grandparents in Altonville, as they had done for the last two years, where they found their selves smack dab in the middle of some local teenager’s criminal activities. The girls were exploring in the woods and found an old run-down shack and didn’t know that it was a place where the teenagers would meet and discuss their illegal endeavors. The teens found out that the girls might know too much and that was when it got scary. They were harassed by the boys whenever they saw them in town to ensure they kept their mouths shut. To really put fear in the girls the teenage boys kidnapped them and dragged them to a different old shack out in the woods. The girls got away but not before they were almost seriously injured in an accidental fire caused by one of the teens. Through several events following, both Courtneys were very influential in assisting the proper authorities with solving the teen’s illegal actions and putting teens and even a couple of adults behind bars. As exciting as those two weeks were, they were glad to be back in Jackson, Mississippi with their families.

The families of both girls went to the same church, Christ Community Church. It only had about three hundred members, but they were some of the finest people who were always attempting to do great things for the Lord. They were led by a full-time pastor, a part-time worship leader and Ashton Hart. She was the full-time student minister and had been serving there for three years. The Courtneys thought she hung the moon. She was twenty-seven years old, five foot, nine inches tall, with an athletic build, light brown hair with blonde streaks running through it and two big beautiful blue eyes. She could also play the guitar and sing beautifully. The church was thriving and many of the members were involved in various mission activities and community programs. Where most churches had weak attendance at their mid-week services, Jackson Community seemed to always have an unusually large turn-out. At 5:30, there was usually a terrific dinner, mostly burgers, hotdogs, tacos, and pizza. All the fun kinds of food! The pastor met with the adults in the sanctuary and had consistent creative teaching from the Word. The younger age children would meet in one of the larger rooms with various parents playing games with them and then having a Bible study. Sixth graders and up met with Ashton in the gymnasium and would experience the best games ever. She had an amazing ability to teach the Bible to twelve-year-old students and eighteen-year-old students and keep it pertinent for both age groups. You were guaranteed to learn something that would make you want to be more like Jesus, well, that is, if you chose to apply the Biblical truth to your life that she was teaching. She would constantly emphasize that point after each lesson. It was a little more difficult, however, to have games that were relevant to all ages. But actually, the older teens were pretty cool about being involved with everything the student ministry did. They realized how difficult it had to be for Ashton to always have relevant games that all ages would enjoy. Many times, Ashton would use the older teens as referees or group leaders, which they thought was pretty awesome.

Tonight’s mid-week agenda was no different. The dinner was spaghetti, salad, rolls and brownies. The games were four different group relays using balloons. The game that everyone seemed to enjoy the most was called ‘Stomp!’ Even the older teens enjoyed it. Each person had a balloon tied around each of their ankles, then everyone was scattered throughout the gym. Ashton counted down from three to one and that’s when the craziness began. Every person scrambled to stomp with their feet on someone else’s balloons. Once a person’s balloons were busted, they had to sit by the wall and watch the game continue. The two people who still had their balloons unbusted won the game. The Courtneys made a pack between each other to go after everyone else’s balloons and not theirs. Their strategy worked for a while until their balloons got busted by Donnie and Braden but not before the Courtneys destroyed their balloons, too. After the competition was over, a sixth grader and an eighth grader were the declared winners, and as usual, Ashton always gave great gifts to the winners of the games and tonight was no different. She gave both winners a $10.00 Dairy Queen gift certificate.

Braxton, the sixth grader said Cool, Ashton! I love me some Dairy Queen!

Yeah, thanks, Ash. Mark, the eighth grader added.

The Bible study that Ashton brought to the students this night was something the Courtneys needed to hear. She communicated how Christians should treat people whom we connect with throughout the day. Both Courtneys felt they treated people most of the time with respect and politeness. The hard part of the lesson to receive was when Ashton shared how Jesus’ followers were to treat mean and hateful individuals with the same respect and politeness that they would to individuals who were kind and considerate. The girls looked at each other at the same time and pantomimed, Even jerks on jet skis who try to run over you? They both snickered. Ashton saw them and stopped and asked them what they were giggling about.

Embarrassed, Coco said,Sorry. We didn’t mean to interrupt. It was nothing. Just something that happened to us earlier today while we were at the lake.

Courtney spouted out before she knew it, Yeah, some jerks almost ran us over on their jet ski.

Hmm, well did they mean to or was it an accident?

We think it was on purpose. After we came up from being underwater, they laughed at us, never apologized, and then threw an empty beer can at us and sped away.

Ashton saw this as the perfect opportunity to drive home what she was attempting to teach the students.

I remember once when I was in Bible College, I was trying to study for a very significant exam. I was at a coffee shop where I could slide into a quiet corner, take in my laptop, put my headphones on and study away without being bothered, or so I thought. Four college-age girls came over and asked me what I was doing. I told them I was studying for one of my Bible class exams. They began to taunt me about being a Bible thumper and a goodie-goodie. I wanted to reply back with a couple of snide remarks, but the Lord helped me keep my mouth shut. The students were listening with complete silence. The girls left my corner and ordered their specialty drinks. As the girls were leaving, one of them intentionally bumped into the girl closest to me and she spilt her coffee all over my laptop.

At that, all the students sat up a little taller and leaned in to find out how this story was going to be played out.

I was so mad! I stood up, knocking my coffee onto the floor, promptly grabbed my laptop, tried to get as much of the coffee off it as I could and screamed at them. I called them idiots and hateful little punks. They just laughed and laughed as they walked out the coffee shop door and not one of them apologized to me.

Ben, one of the teenage boys in the class said, I think I would have thrown something at them.

Many of the other students agreed and made similar comments.

Ashton answered their remarks. Yeah, I wanted to, and I might have, just to be honest, if I’d had something to throw. She grinned after that statement and continued with her story. "I went home that night fairly late since I was studying for that exam. I went straight to bed and couldn’t sleep. When that happens, I will normally pull my Bible out and read a few passages. Wouldn’t you know it? I flipped it open to the passage I’ve been teaching about tonight. Luke 6:27 – 28. It reads this way. ‘But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.’ At the coffee shop, I had felt justified calling those girls those names and whatever else I could to get back to them. I felt everyone I knew would have agreed with me, too. That might have even been true to some extent, but the One’s opinion that matters are the Lord’s. It’s what He thinks is right or wrong. . The verse was noticeably clear, and I talked to the Lord and told Him that my response to the girls was wrong, and I was very sorry for acting as the way I did."

Cassidy, one of the sixth-grade students spoke up and said, "Yeah, but