Over the past Summers I have become very fond of Jem and Scout. They somehow touched a nerve inside of me that seemed to open my eyes to the world and the people in it. The fact that I intrigued them amused me. I knew it was only because of the rumours but for some reason it did not matter. It”s simple to judge others before actually getting to know them. I know, as the community often misjudged me. When you hear them often enough you actually start believing them yourself. This is the reason I often lonely wandered the streets at night with no real purpose but to look at our beautiful countryside, free of whispers and judging faces.
The number of stories spun about me and my family’s past actions were immense. I think the worst culprit was Mrs. Stephanie Crawford, the neighborhood gossip, who I thought could probably talk under water. A superb example of the way the town gave into rumours is shown in a story Stephanie Crawford began. It is alleged that I was cutting up newspapers with a pair of scissors. My father then came into the living room. As he passed, I supposedly stabbed him in the leg and kept on cutting. I think the children liked this story the most.
The fact that the town listened to such nonsense without any real proof made me angry and depressed. The thing I liked about your children was that despite all the rumours they still wanted to see what I was like for themselves. Sure they listened to the gossip but still they had to know if they were true or not. Because of this I felt as though Jem and Scout had befriended me in sort of a weird way and I was grateful for the respect. They had many escapades trying to catch that elusive glimpse of me. Up until the night in question I don’t think they really ever did.
One summer night Jem, Scout and Dill all tried to catch a look of me by sneaking up to my porch window. I saw them approaching and thought I would give them what they came for. But as soon as they even saw my shadow they were scared senseless and ran as fast as their little legs could carry them. On the way out Jem got his pants caught on the fence and had to leave them there. I fixed them up and left them hanging over the fence. I thought it was only right for scaring them in such a way. I wanted to show them I was nice and not some big scary monster so I began leaving little presents in the old oak trees for them to find.
Then they would put two and two together and figure out that the gifts were from me. Sadly I never did receive any thank you. On the night of the incident, I first saw Jem and Scout all dressed up walking past my house in the late afternoon. Later that night I was finding it hard to sleep and decided to go for one of my pleasant countryside walks. While walking, I saw Bob Ewell in quite a drunken state. To my surprise Jem and Scout suddenly came marching down the trampled pathway. Bob saw them too and began to follow. As the seconds past Bob got closer and closer to the children until he was but a metre away.
I knew if I did not do something, Jem and Scout were done for, so I gathered up the courage and began to fight Bob off the children. Jem looked in a bad way so I rushed him back to the safety of the house. I hid behind the door hoping to get my chance to go home unseen. I did not want any credit or trouble. Any person would have done the same thing in my position. It was a great surprise to me when the Sheriff sided with me and made up a fake story of Bob Ewell’s demise. For I was Boo Radley and such dastardly deeds were expected of me. It was nice to know it is possible to change a reputation even if it is just in the minds of a few.
