Tale #79: Arts and Craps (Part 1)

Tale #79: Arts and Craps (Part 1) (Part 3 to 'Not That Special') (Content Tags: Somewhat realistic slice of life, messy diapers, humiliation, diaper check, teasing, special ed setting, underestimated intellect) "Great, another diapered dummy." Tina huffed, folding her arms as she sat at the table. "...Another boy too." The class had been split into two groups at two different tables. The partition didn't end there though, as the table itself had ended up split by hierarchy of undergarments; Tina and Zack sat at one end, while Ryan had been relegated to sitting next to the class 'baby' and resident thumbsucker. It hadn't really been an organic separation either; Ryan had walked over to the table and Tina had pushed him away from sitting at 'her' end. So Ryan was sitting next to Joshua, the Kindergartner that'd yet to say one word all class. The diminutive boy carried a small blanket in his other arm, which made Ryan think he looked like Linus. The shortalls also made Ryan consider that toileting wasn't really on the table for the little kid, at least not right now; if he was just slow to pottytrain, then his parents would have dressed him in something that offered at least the possibility of getting it off in time to use the toilet. Looking at the other two, and starting to hear them converse, Ryan quickly gathered that they were somewhat more normal than Sammy, Joshy, or Bobby had so far proved. Tina came across as very brash, but she didn't seem dumb. Zack on the other hand seemed fidgety and immature, but again, didn't appear to have any real intellectual deficits. They were the sort of kids that he was more used to at his old school's SPED program; when proper stratification was employed, special ed really wasn't all that different than normal class. Things were taught on a more one-to-one level and with different approaches that catered to individual learning disabilities or behavioral problems, but all of the kids were at a fairly similar range of raw IQ. Nobody had been pooping in a diaper less than five feet away from him, that was for sure. It would have been scandalous for Ryan, or kids like him, to be grouped carelessly with actual mushbrains. Those types of kids, like Sammy, were in the self-contained room, and Ryan had only ever had to see them or acknowledge their existence in passing. The higher levels of SPED didn't do the 'self-contained' approach; Ryan and the others had been intermixed with the general ed classes, with the special ones only being for a part of the day. Ryan had doubts that the same kind of integration was used here. He obviously hoped the school was at least sophisticated or progressive enough for that, but those hopes were diminishing the longer he sat here. Besides, even if they did, Ryan was sitting at this table in a *diaper*. If anything were to prevent him from sharing partial attendance with the 'normal' kids, it was that. "..New kid! New kid! Hey, dummy!" Ryan's frazzled analysis came to an abrupt halt. He'd been so fixated on the particulars of his situation, that he'd completely zoned out from the group he was supposed to be a part of. It'd taken the annoyed tone of Zack to snap him out of it. "..H-huh? What?" Ryan stammered, giving his alleged 'superior' his full attention. "Ugh...He had that same face that Sammy does, whenever he looks all spaced out and starts messing himself." Tina scowled. "You didn't just do *that*, did you?" His ears burned at the accusation and he frantically shook his head. "N-no! I was just thinking about stuff!" "Thinking? Yeah, okay diaper-boy." Zack snickered. Tina meanwhile looked skeptical and somewhat disgusted. "Ugh, whatever. If it starts smelling like poop over here though, then you're leaving." Ryan didn't like the fact that he'd already been categorized like this. They were all in a special ed class that smelled of talcum and failure, and yet the 'smartest of the retards' were callously segregating the kids deemed dumb enough for diapers. It was a classic situation of always needing to find a 'lesser' group to pick on, even when you yourself are in a marginalized group of your own. "Me and Tina will do the hard stuff. You and the baby can just...I dunno, eat glue, I guess." Zack waved his hand, immediately discounting Ryan's potential participation. The assignment in question was something that looked more befitting of the caliber of class that Josh was supposed to be in. It was basically Kindergarten arts and crafts. The table had construction paper, glue, plastic safety scissors, crayons, and other little decorations that could be used. "I don't eat glue! I can help, just tell me what we're supposed to do." Ryan insisted, embarrassed that he felt like he had to prove himself and ashamed that he was so desperate. "We're supposed to make a poster that has everyone in the class on it." Tina told him, already beginning to reach for the necessary supplies. What was the intended lesson supposed to be? It felt more like the busywork given by a babysitter than something that should have academic merit. It actually awoke thoughts of another possible horror that this class had to offer: what if no real learning even went on in here? If the 'teaching' was geared toward the lowest common denominator, than it was possible that Ryan wouldn't be met with anything even approaching an appropriate level of mental stimulation. With kids in here like Sammy, Josh, Timmy, and even Bobby, then a 'one-size-fits-all' learning approach could never veer up from the bottom. The class would continuously be stuck doing something that everyone could participate in. Ryan was no nerd, and he hated schoolwork, but he at least had a vague understanding of its value. He could understand that being stuck in a class that didn't teach anything would mean that he'd fall further and further behind than his age-group. Heck, being stuck doing baby stuff like this felt like it could cause intellectual decay! He idly picked up a crayon and tapped it against some crisp manilla paper. "Umm...Is this the stuff you normally do in here? Or is there schoolwork too?" Zack snickered at the question and began to cut some paper. "How well do you know the alphabet? Or how to count?" "We get real work. You won't, though." Tina added, matter-of-factly in tone. "What's that supposed to mean?" The two kids exchanged a look, and then looked between Ryan and Josh. "The really dumb kids don't have to do anything actually hard. You pretty much just get to drool and poop in your diaper all day." Ryan furrowed his brow and got red in the face. "I'm not dumb!" "Then why are you wearing a diaper, huh? You crapped your pants because you weren't wearing one. Teacher even said your file says you need them." Tina grilled, seeming upset that Ryan was trying to talk back. "T-that stuff was all old! And I...Well...My tummy just doesn't feel well--" "--Save it." Tina interrupted him, "The teacher is always right. If she says you're dumb, then you're dumb!" Ryan felt more irritated than intimidated by the younger girl; she wouldn't even allow him to explain himself! Admittedly his justification was a fabrication, since his stomach was fine and it was instead his emotional state that'd led to the soiling, but that still wasn't a matter of intelligence! Still, it didn't sound like she was going to give him much room to justify what had happened; it would be better to just prove his competence through his actions, rather through stammered words. He zipped his lips and looked back down at the paper in front of him; he began to doodle on it with one of the crayons. "...Need that one." Came a sudden whisper from the other side of him and Ryan lifted his head back up to see that Josh had finally taken the thumb out of his mouth. Ryan honestly hadn't been sure that the Kindergartner could even speak, but it would appear that he could, albeit very softly. Ryan looked down at the crayon in his hand, "This one?" The little boy nodded his head and stuck out a tiny hand. Ryan wasn't all that invested in using it, so he happily relinquished it as a sign of good will. He deposited the crayon in the boy's hand and picked a different one to use for himself. "...So, you're Joshua?" Considering that the other two kids in his group were completely freezing him out of the discussion, it behooved him to make some inroads with his other 'partner'. If not for the sake of the work, then for the sake of not feeling completely alone at this table. "..Uh-huh." It wasn't much of a response, but it was *something*. Ryan watched the younger kid begin to color and wondered what might make for a conversation starter that'd make him a little less shy. "Umm, well, I'm Ryan... You like to color?" "Uh-huh." Ryan furrowed his brow and frowned. He wasn't really getting anything to work with here. He decided to look over at the other table, to see how things were going, and felt some relief once he realized things were worse over there: Sammy had a crayon in his nose and was chewing on a different one in his mouth, Timmy was eating his own booger, and Bobby was obnoxiously trying to carry on a conversation with the only other person with a brain. Ryan had gotten off pretty easy with the group he'd been given. Josh might be non-communicative, but he wasn't acting like some special ed cliche; Zack and Tina were ignoring him, but that was better than them actively annoying or bullying him. Things could definitely be a lot worse! He continued to doodle for a while. He wasn't the most artistic, so his scrawls were but rudimentary representations of his 'classmates'. After a while, he'd seen Josh start to fidget in his chair a lot; Ryan didn't give it much attention, since he was a pretty wiggly kid himself and had been even more-so in Kindergarten, but the thumbsucker eventually got out of his chair. Joshua got behind his chair and put his hands on the back of it. Then, without so much as a single word, he lowered his knees down into a deep squatting position. Ryan thought he was trying to hide himself, but then he began to hear little grunts coming from behind the chair and it became more obvious what was happening. When Sammy had dumped into his diaper earlier, it'd been in a very boisterous way that showed a distinct lack of control or intelligence; it had been shameless and self-indulgent, as if happy to proclaim to the newcomer that he was a pantspooping retard and was proud of it. Joshua was doing it in a way that reminded Ryan of a somewhat older toddler; there was more intent involved and more of a sense of embarrassment over what he was doing. It was more akin to finding a three year old hiding behind the couch to fill their pants; there was supposed to be some element of secrecy involved. The Kindergartner didn't really have a lot of options for 'hiding' in here though, so right behind the chair was the best he could do. The grunting was reserved, and while Ryan could hear some gas involved in the poopy process, it wasn't the rumbling thunder that Sam had so happily trumpeted. The last sounds were the rustling of his hidden diaper from the log dropping inside and a gentle sigh of relief. He stayed squatted behind the chair for another minute or two, which Ryan assumed was to make sure he was finished or to empty his bladder as well, and then he slowly stood back up. Josh saw Ryan looking at him and anxiously popped his thumb back in his mouth; he swayed from foot to foot, his stance a little more bowed now, and he rubbed his other hand against the back of his shortalls, possibly to either admire his work or judge the size of the droppings he'd let out. Then, without any concern about what kind of mess it would make, the boy sat back down in his chair with a subtle squishing sound. Ryan cringed at how he imagined that felt; he was no stranger to having muck smeared against his buttocks, but he couldn't remember a time that he'd done it on purpose. He also couldn't remember ever being happy to just continue on with poop in his pants, rather than immediately going to clean up. Joshua didn't seem concerned with his pantload. He returned to coloring, even with a steamer crammed in his diaper and trapped underneath his rump. Ryan considered saying something to the teacher or the helper, but decided against it; was it really his place to tattle? He was on thin enough ice as it was with making 'friends' in here, and he didn't want to upset someone who was neutral toward him right now. Ten more minutes and Ryan could start to smell what the boy had done in his pants; the odor was subdued, but it was invariably the distinctive stench of a freshly pooed diaper. Ryan wrinkled his nose and tried to ignore it. The other 'big kids' at the table didn't seem happy to do the same. "..Eww...I think he went in his diaper." Tina grumbled to Zack, and Ryan thought she was referring to Joshua. "What? Mr. Smarty-pants over there? Couldn't be." The boy sarcastically responded. "He said he wasn't dumb, remember?" "I'm getting the teacher." The girl huffed, getting out of her seat and storming off to get the woman's attention. Ryan still thought they were laying the blame upon the right recipient; the one who'd layed a turd in his Huggies. He didn't look up to watch what would happen, instead keeping on with his rendition of the other kids. "Those are very good, Ryan. You like to draw?" Came a voice from over his shoulder. Ryan looked up and turned his head to face the special ed teacher, "Uhh...I guess?" The drawings were *not* good, like at all, so the compliment came across as very condescending. "It smells like poop over here, Ryan. Do you know why that is?" She gently asked, speaking slowly and distinctly. "Ummm...Because someone pooped in his diaper?" He offered, looking confused as to why she was asking for his input on the matter. "That's right! Is there anything you want to tell me?" Ryan raised an eyebrow. He still hadn't picked up that he was again being accused of something that he hadn't done, and instead thought she was trying to get him to tattle on Joshua. Ryan just shrugged, "No?" He could suddenly feel cool air against the crook of his back and the feeling of his waistband getting pulled back; it suddenly made sense what had happened, that Tina thought *he* had been the pantspooper here! His face got red and his waistband snapped back into place. "Hmm...You're not the stinker, which means it must be...Joshy! Did you make an uh-oh in your pants?" She moved on from Ryan without so much as an apology for the invasion of his space or the defamation of his character. The little boy, who was the real culprit, didn't deny it and instead just nodded his head to confirm what Ryan had already known for the last fifteen minutes. "Well, let's go get you all cleaned up, okay? You need to remember to tell me when you've got oopsies in your pants, okay?" She pulled him out of the chair and gently cupped the back of his shortalls in an attempt to check the damage, but with the load being mashed flat, it was difficult to discern. Much like she'd done to Ryan earlier, the woman had no qualms with stripping him down to his diaper in front of his peers. The shortalls came down, which revealed that Joshua wore a onesie underneath it. She unbuttoned the infantile garment and pulled the back up, which gave Ryan a clear view of the toddler-style diaper that the younger boy wore; it had cute prints and designs, just like he'd seen on Pampers. The front was a little yellowed, and the back had some very faint discoloration as well, but not anywhere like on the level of what Sam's destroyed diaper had looked like. She gave his padded rump another squeeze and checked down the back of it; the woman clicked her tongue and picked the little boy up, to go take him to the changing table, again just like she'd done to Ryan. He'd been here for an hour and he'd already had to endure the presence of two diapers being filled. With a full school day still ahead, he couldn't imagine how much time got chewed up in here to simply wipe butts; it added to his justified fear of this being an academic sinkhole for anyone with even half a brain. Ryan felt the diaper under his shorts and bit his lip. He needed to prove he was in the wrong place, and fast.