Ronit couldn't help herself and she burst out laughing.

"Ronit, there is no need to make fun of Bernard. That's what I am here for".

Ronit laughed even harder.

"I meant, to teach him better," said the teacher.

They were saved by the bell or so Ronit thought, but Bernard passed her by on the way to the lunch room and whispered in her ear:

"You should have known better than to mess with the Saliva Gang".

She didn't know what to make of it, so she just paid him no mind, but later on when they went into the yard for play time, he was waiting for her. There were some nine or ten other boys with him and he yelled out:

"There she is," pointing at Ronit "charge!"

The group of boys surrounded her and they all started spitting on her.

She cried out and one of the teacher was there at once but she had saliva dripping from her hair and from her clothes. Luckily she had covered her face in time, but still, this was ridiculous. She went to the girls room to wash up a little and she called Ms. Rodriguez to come and pick her up. Ms. Rodriguez showed up in forty-five minutes and signed her out for the day. Ronit explained to her what had happened and told her that she was not going back to school anymore.

"You do know that there are laws about that right?" asked Ms. Rodriguez.

"Yes, of course. I have been thinking about it for a while. Let's stop by the bank and get some cash. I have it all planned out".

The next day was actually Ronit's ninth birthday. Her mom had baked her a peach cobbler cake which was her favorite, so after dinner, they all sang the birthday song and urged her to make a wish and blow out the candles.