It was evening again. When the family found out that the ultimate culprit bullying little Sheldon was just a six-year-old girl, they all wore expressions of sheer disbelief.
Meemaw, trying to stifle her laughter, asked, "Moon Pie, is that true? You got bullied by a little girl?"
With his embarrassing secret exposed, little Sheldon didn't deny it. Instead, he explained with utmost seriousness, "She is not an ordinary little girl. She is a miniature demon."
Hearing her precious grandson admit this, the amusement in Meemaw's eyes became even more obvious. She curiously pressed on, "So, how exactly did this six-year-old demon bully our Moon Pie?"
"She... she used psychological torture on me..." Sheldon stammered, his face unconsciously twisting into a fearful expression as if recalling a traumatic memory.
Facts proved that little Sheldon was emotionally hypersensitive. When someone directed obvious "malice" toward him, he would spiral into panic—even if the antagonist was just a cute, six-year-old girl.
Hearing her grandson's answer, Meemaw finally couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.
Meemaw had seen the Herschel family's youngest daughter many times. She was an incredibly adorable little girl, half a head shorter than Sheldon. Meemaw simply couldn't picture her precious grandson being bullied by a tiny thing like that.
On the other side of the room, Sheldon looked at the smile on his grandmother's face and felt incredibly aggrieved. Immediately, he clamped his arms to his sides, spun around, and marched stiffly toward his room.
Then, with a loud BANG, he slammed the door shut.
"Alright, everyone be serious," Mary said, being the first to wipe the smile off her face. "Since we've found the real culprit bullying Shelly, we need to solve the problem quickly."
If there was anyone in this house Mary was most nervous about, it was definitely her youngest son. Plus, she had seen the hurt look on Sheldon's face just now.
So, even if the bully was a six-year-old girl, Mary was taking it very seriously.
"George, why don't you go talk to the Herschels? Tell them to keep an eye on their daughter," Mary assigned the task to the man of the house.
"No, no, no," George, who was holding a beer, shook his head. "It's just kids messing around. It hasn't reached that level yet."
George, who hated hassle, basically meant he couldn't handle the embarrassment.
"I agree. There's no need for George to get involved," Meemaw chimed in from the side.
With her wealth of life experience, Meemaw knew that once adults stepped into a conflict between kids, a small issue could escalate very quickly.
"Then what do we do? We can't just let Shelly go on like this..." Mary muttered, then turned her gaze toward Georgie and Mike, who were watching the drama unfold.
Since George, the father, wasn't suitable for the job, Georgie and Mike—who were still kids themselves—were the perfect candidates to negotiate with the Herschel family.
"Georgie, Mike, why don't you two go over there?" Mary suggested.
"No problem. Leave it to us," Georgie accepted the task readily.
As mentioned before, Georgie actually cared quite a bit about Sheldon, and it was rare for the family to actually need him for something. So, Georgie wanted to use this opportunity to look a bit more like a man in this house.
Soon after, having accepted the mission, Georgie and Mike arrived in front of the Herschel house and knocked on the door.
The Herschel house was less than a hundred yards from the Coopers'. Compared to the Coopers' detached house, the Herschels' place was larger and had a big, fenced-in yard.
The door opened, and a tall, burly figure stepped out.
"Oh, you're the Cooper kids..." Herschel looked at the two of them in surprise, then asked, "It's late. Something wrong?"
Herschel was holding a beer, and his face, sporting a short beard, looked a bit lazy. clearly, he had been enjoying his downtime.
"We... uh..." Georgie, who had prepared his speech, suddenly started stuttering when he saw the man's imposing figure.
"We're here to remind you to ask your daughter not to bully Sheldon anymore," Mike added, stepping in.
"Right, that's what we're here for," Georgie quickly chimed in, finding his voice.
Standing in the doorway, it took Herschel a moment to process what they were saying.
Then, with a weird expression, he asked, "Sheldon is getting bullied? And you're saying my little girl did it? Are you sure?"
"We're very sure. We saw it earlier," Georgie answered firmly.
Since Sheldon was a locally famous boy genius, Herschel was familiar with him. But he couldn't fathom how his six-year-old daughter could bully him.
"Alright," Herschel said. Although he found the whole thing comical, he turned back into the house and shouted, "Bobbi~ come out here a sec."
"What is it, Dad?" A sweet voice rang out as Bobbi's tiny figure appeared at the door.
"Bobbi, tell Daddy the truth. Did you bully Sheldon?" Herschel asked gently.
"No~" Bobbi tilted her little face up and answered.
Her big, blinking eyes made it very hard to suspect her of lying.
Sure enough, Herschel believed his little girl. He immediately said, "It's fine, Bobbi. Go back and play."
"Okay, Dad~" Bobbi replied sweetly again. Then, she curiously glanced back and forth at Mike and Georgie.
Finally, while her dad wasn't looking, the little girl made a huge funny face at Georgie before happily running back into the house.
"You saw that. Bobbi said she didn't bully Sheldon," Herschel said, turning back to them after watching his daughter leave.
"That's impossible, I saw it with my own eyes earlier..." Georgie protested.
"Alright, Georgie, that's enough," Mike pulled him back and shook his head slightly.
Then, he turned to Herschel and said, "Sorry to bother you."
On the way back, Georgie felt more and more frustrated. Finally, he couldn't help but complain, "Mike, why did you stop me? We saw that little brat bullying Sheldon with our own eyes. And she just made a face at me!"
"I know all that, but do you have evidence?" Mike asked.
Mike had noticed earlier that Herschel was absolutely wrapped around his daughter's finger. Without solid proof, he would definitely side with her.
If you put yourself in his shoes, it made sense.
And judging by Bobbi's behavior just now, while she was a bit mischievous, she was definitely still a cute little girl.
Thinking about it logically, Bobbi bullying Sheldon seemed more like a little girl looking for a playmate in the wrong way.
Of course, that was just Mike's personal take.
Next, when they got back, he planned to suggest to Sheldon that he try making friends with Bobbi.
For kid stuff like this, it was best to let the kids work it out themselves.