Bluffing Works by Accident


 I was always on the edge of getting a beating by reason of my smart mouth, I was constantly pushing the buttons of whomever I was around but more especially I loved going after athletes and bullies, which more often than not were the same kids. I was a couple of weeks into ninth grade when I was in gym class and I offended what was probably the toughest kid in the class, maybe the grade, by implying he may be less then manly in his tastes. I thought it had been some good-natured ribbing and as far as I knew was water under the bridge. I found out later that after I left the locker room this kid had started saying that he was going to kill me and murder me and other mean things of meanness. I was waiting out in the gym for the bell to ring to send us to other classes when he came boiling out of the locker room doors looking for to do me some physical discomfort. I, still thinking we were basically buddies if not friends misread the situation to a terrible degree and thought he was just having a fun little threatening joke with me. I decided to play along with his little joke when he said he was going to beat my bottom. I stood up and closed the distance so we were nearly chest to chest and looked him right in the eye and said something I think I may have heard in a movie, or at least the gist was the same as what I had seen in a movie once. I told him that if he felt like he was man enough then he should swing and see what happened. I think his plan had been to humiliate me into grovelling and begging for my life which I normally would have done but somehow I missed all the signs and was only being a tough guy by accident. His demeanor changed and he looked like he was having second thoughts, the bell rang and we walked away staring each other down. One of my friends from the class caught me up in the hall in awe of my bravado. I told him the tough guy was just joking around and that it was no big deal. He told me that it had not been a joke and that in the locker room he had sworn out oaths of maiming and was planning on a fight. For some reason when I heard it had been a earnest confrontation and even though I was no longer in immediate danger I was terrified. That kid was sixty pound or more heavier then me a foot taller and made of only muscle and hate. He would kill me. I spent the rest of the day laying low and ran around the outside of the building to the buss to avoid a possible rematch. Now that I didn't have the convenience of ignorance, who knew how it would go? I did I would be beat, probably start crying and most likely not maintain my glorious reputation for bravery in the face of insurmountable odds. I skipped the next gym class with that kid and avaoided halls I knew he would be in for a week just to let him cool down and hopefully allow his primitive brain to loose the impulse for rage when he was confronted with my image. It worked, we never fought and were actually okay all the way until graduation.