"J for Judith" by Jiyoon Rhee

J for Judith

Judith and the narrator are students in KMLA. The narrator does not like Judith and suspects her as a thief. However, nobody except the narrator dares to suspect her. This is not from certain chapters of the book Catcher in the Rye, but I wanted to reflect my own experience and view it in a way that Holden sees the world.

     Judith was sitting in front of me. It was a mistake that I sat in the seat. I had totally forgotten about Judith’s favorite seat. It was such a hard time for me because I had to see her bulky back every time I tried to look at the clock. What was more annoying was that I could not go to the damn restroom for whole 2 hours of self-studying period. That girl—Judith—is a thief, and I know so well about her “crimes”. How could I leave my stuffs alone in the studying hall when Judith was sitting right in front of me?

     I have never told anybody about Judith’s crimes. If I ever did, Judith would eventually find out that I have done so, and bully me until I graduate and all. I am serious. I really am. She had been always like that. Who she does not like becomes every girl’s enemy in couple of days. She had her own power of persuasion.

All the crazy things always happen around her. Her explanation about the craziness was absurd and lame. What was even more interesting was that nobody figured out the damn clear fact. If you think about all the incidents, you can easily find out how Judith had created all the disturbances of my school. People are never caring about other people. Many pretend to be. However, they are not interested in other people’s business. What they are really interested is that there might be a bitter impact on them when people around them get in troubles. Most of people are phony. Most people in this school are phony.

     I could not concentrate because of Judith’s presence. She was not doing anything strange or suspicious. Actually, she was studying very hard. Her brown hair was clipped with an enormous hairpin, and she was sticking her nose onto her Calculus book. She liked to put on damn make-ups and spending bunch of time doing her hair. It is crazy that she wakes up in the morning at 5 o’clock and spends two hours of preparation and make-ups. What was more urgent for her is to get on a diet and to get rid of her damn broad hips. She walked like a model with her red skinny jeans, her big butts moving left and right.

I stared at her, without noticing it, and she turned around. Maybe she had felt something, and I pretended that I was looking at a clock. Judith smiled at me with strange confidence. She thought that I was looking at her bleached cheap brown hair because I had a crush on her or something. That smile killed me.

     I know how that girl had done many things that are cruel and inhumane. Small and big things disappear around her. From small things such as pens and hair-laces and to big things such as iPods and wallets.

     Then, I heard a sound of footsteps. Eunice was walking between the tables of the study hall. Eunice came to Judith, and started whispering and giggling about something. Eunice is the kind of girl who never gets mad at anybody. It drives me crazy when a girl like Eunice hangs out with a bastard like Judith. Judith is never mean to Eunice. She knows how to cope with girls and attract them to her side and all. Phony.