The Bully

12 The Bully first draft 2/29 11:50 PM

The days were warm and grew longer. The summer solstice just passed so it didn't get dark until well after 9 PM. We made plans to maximize our summer vacation. Backyard camp-outs were always fun. Sometimes we weren't even in the yard. Garages worked too and they were dryer.

Bob Van and I had just such a plan. We were sitting on our bikes by our houses on Lea Avenue. Bob had just returned with his sleeping bag and we were about to head to the garage when we saw Jimmy. Jimmy was much larger than us. And he was a bully.

I'm not sure what happened to him in Maryland, but he moved to Swazy Acres to live with his aunt and uncle. They had no children living at home and had plenty of room. We never asked why he wasn't living with his parents. It was none of our business, and we didn't know what would set Jimmy off sometimes. But he was on his bike and headed our way.

“C'mon Bob!”

We turned our bicycles and headed for my folk's garage. The big overhead door was open. We got into the garage and I jumped up and pulled the door downwards. But Jimmy got there too. He stuck his bike's front tire in to keep me from shutting the door. The door came down on his bike hard. Bob and I were inside and Jimmy was out. He pulled his bike from under the door. He glared at us. I locked the door.

And then he put his fist through the garage window. Bob and I were sprayed with glass. Luckily we both wore glasses which protected our eyes. Jimmy rode his bicycle down our driveway and home.

Bob and I cleaned up the glass. My parents came home from shopping and I told them what happened. My dad never gets angry. But he stomped down to Jimmy's aunt and uncle. I never heard what became of it.

Jimmy was a fan of TV wrestling. He would act it out. He put me in a Boston Crab once. That hurt. A bunch of us were hanging out in the third street by a stone wall. Jimmy climbed the wall, jumped, and hit me with a pointed elbow to the top of my head.

But he met his match. A kid named Harry used to walk over from Prospect Hill. Harry wasn't as big as Jimmy and so Jimmy, typically, picked on him. They decided to wrestle. Harry more than held his own with Jimmy. They wrestled for a half an hour to a draw. Harry was quick.

At some point, Jimmy dropped out of school. He got a job working at the Golden Krust Bakery in Cohoes. He bought himself a car

And then, as suddenly as Jimmy appeared in Swayze Acres, he left.

I'LL ADD TO THIS AS WE THINK OF SSTORIES.