In high school, a girl who didn’t like me for reasons I still don’t know became incensed with me because my friends and I wouldn’t get up and leave a table in the cafeteria when she and her friends decided they wanted to sit there. We were already there, there were like 20 other spots they could have sat, and she just thought she was better than everyone else and could tell them what to do or something. She and I had never really interacted much, but we had some friends in common, and these people were even standing there asking her to just drop it. When she demanded we leave, for the third or fourth time, I stood up so that we were face to face and told her no, once again. She insisted that “they always sat there” to which I responded that the cafeteria didn’t have a reservation system, as far as I knew, and she could have the table tomorrow, if she got there before anyone else did, but we had a limited time for lunch and my friends and I had already unpacked all our stuff. It was stupid and petty, and normally I would have just moved, but she had such an attitude in the way she tried to order me around that I couldn’t let it slide. This made her really mad and so she screamed at me, cussed me out, and took all my books and papers and my lunch and threw it in a nearby trash can, one of those huge bucket ones that can hold a whole person.
So I picked her up and threw her in the trash can. Not head first or anything, I just kind of scooped her up and deposited her in it. Definitely not hard enough to hurt, although she did get stuck and the janitor had to come and unstick her because she went in butt-first and was kind of folded up with her arms and legs and head sticking out of the can. They had to have someone come and hold her back while I picked my stuff up out of the can, too.
Years later I worked with her cousin, who reported that she still hated me deeply. I can’t imagine being the kind of person who still is that mad over something that happened in high school, especially when she was the one yelling and cussing and throwing other people’s property away for no good reason. So I imagine she’s not doing too well.
There were two, let’s say, “major” bullies at my school. One of them was aggressive, strong and stupid to the core. He was the one to be really afraid of because he had that something in his eyes. Something terrible. To make a long story short, he ended up in jail for murder.
The other one was quite smart and used his gang to do the dirty job as he was physically weak. Back to school days, I listened to heavy metal and had a long hair (Actually, I still have the similar haircut like on my profile picture). The length of my hair was the reason to call me names and so on. To be honest, he never intended to harm me physically because we lived nearby and we were like…neighbors. Anyway, once I got tired of it and confronted him while he was alone and bit him up. Not too bad, no broken bones or something, because I wasn’t a kind of a fighter guy, but he was on the floor. That fight taught him a lesson and, surprisingly, he never tried to have his revenge. And, to be true again, I was always frightened he would.
Eventually, he’s been imprisoned for stealing. He spent two years in jail. Some years ago, I visited my parent’s house and accidentally met him in the street. We recognized each other straight away. We had a small talk and he said that he still lives with his parents in the same house and works as an auto mechanic. We didn’t talk about his term in jail nor our fight, we just exchanged some standard phrases, then shook hands and walked away.
I thought to myself: “What a chance meeting! After all these years, wow!”
I can’t prove it, but I think he’s a regular citizen right now. Because, again, he had that something in his eyes, that something of a man who has learned from his mistakes. At least, I hope he has.
“I will fucking kill you! And don’t tell your mom I said it, I will know!”
When I was a first grader, a young, blonde haired boy who was about my age moved into the house right behind us.
I first met him when he was jumping on the trampoline, which instantly made him super cool, at least in my eyes.
Forget candy, this is what a stranger should lure kids with!
He graciously let me on, and we bounced together.
Over the next few months, we grew closer as we were both social outcasts and lived right next to each other.
We built “ cars” out of LEGO with each other, we pissed off my cat together, and we had water fights in the blazing hot summers.
Life hack: Put bleach in your gun if you really want to win!*
His name was Daniel and he was always a bit different. That’s okay, I was different.
He said some weird things at times and would get really hyper and aggressive rather quickly.
But he was still a good kid.
However, he started to act more and more belligerent as the years went on.
One day, he invited both me and my little brother onto the trampoline. We were bouncing carefree when he rammed into my little brother and shoved him into a support pole.
My little brother screamed in pain and Daniel laughed while kicking at him.
“Daniel, STOP!”
“Shut up! My house my rules!”
And he then kicked me hard in the….
From that that day on, we were told not to play with Daniel.
….and I broke that rule in like, two days. See, Daniel was the only kid my age in my vicinity (or so I thought) So if I wanted to play with someone, it was going to be him.
One day, Daniel showed me his brother’s weapon room.
Kind of like this…
His brother wasn’t crazy or anything, he just collected historic weaponry. He usually kept the door locked (for obvious reasons) but one day he forgot.
So, Daniel was showing me around when he suddenly grabbed a katana and charged towards me like a fucking maniac!
I ran away and decided to listen to my mother for once.
Daniel got more hostile as the years went on.
When I was in fifth grade, I was swimming at our Community pool when I saw Daniel jump in on the deep end.
He won’t hurt me, he is all the way on the other side!
So in blissful ignorance, I continued to swim…
Fucking Dory, your advice didn’t work at all!
When I wasn’t paying attention, he went underneath me and grabbed me down by the ankle!
I swam back up, coughing up the water when he kicked me in the groin.
He then said ,
”Don’t tell on me or I will fucking kill you. And don’t tell your mom I said this, I will know!”
Looking back, I probably should have just told someone, but I was young and genuinely believed he would find out and was able to murder me. So I stayed silent and vowed to avoid him at all costs from that point on.
As for what happened to him?
I don’t know.
He and his family moved out a couple of years ago.
What I do know is that after he moved out, my mother revealed that he was adopted and was actually a “crack baby”. His real mother did all sorts of drugs and was an alcoholic during her pregnancy.
Perhaps that explains his erratic behavior, maybe not.
While he was a bully, he also was one of my few friends when I was young. The same kid who tried to drown me also was the same kid who built a Lego rocket with me as we laughed together.
Wherever he is, I wish him the best.
