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.
