Writer's Block: Anti-bullying month
The biggest bully in my life was Mark, my neighbor. I was in 2nd grade at the time I was about 8, and I remember I feared him like no other; he was a senior in High school. Mark would wait for my twin brother and I outside out of the elementary school, with his friends, smoking cigarettes, while yelling at teenage girls passing by. My brother and I would take different routes, trying to avoid him, but it seemed impossible, he was everywhere, Wherever he'd catch sight of us, he’d immediately chase us down, knock us over, grab one of us (while one of his friends chased the other), get on top of us and spit in our faces, punch us in the stomach and/or face and grab dirt and grass and rub it on our faces and make us eat some too. He would also take any money or candy we had. We would end up with dirty, muddy, grass stained bloody clothes, but no one ever found out because my brother and I were good liars, and I’d get bloody noses frequently during summer, so we never told anyone, as most bullying victims go about, fearing embarrassment and maybe punishment, but then one day after Christmas my brother and I were outside of our house, (in the worst block, in the worst part of town, by the way) minding our own business, playing with our Christmas gifts which were bikes. This is where Mark comes over, trying to steal a bike, of course I tried arguing and stopping him, it was of no use, but I managed to slip away on my bike and all I remember was never before being that scared in my life, I peddled and peddled so hard, but even on a bicycle, mark caught up to me and knocked me over. He beat me so hard, and all I remember is him taking off on my bicycle, and me crying my heart out on the floor next to the train tracks, (being that we lived yards from the train). Well we later came home, and my dad asked me about my bicycle, I didn't know how to lie to him about this one, so I confessed everything, all Mark had done to me, and how he would torment us. My father was FURIOUS, he didn't even hesitate, and he just told me to get up so we could go over to Mark's. I WAS TERRIFIED. we went over and my dad told me to wait outside, and although to this day, I’m not sure what went on in there, I do remember later hearing Mark's yells, to which I assume came from his mom beating him, which wasn't news, everyone knew Mark would get beat almost daily... either him or one of his other 8 siblings would get beat, you never knew what went on in that house, they lived with dozens of cats and dogs topped off with the most dysfunctional parents. It would be rare to not see the police there a least once a week. We later moved and It took me a few years to realize what really had happened, that I was a victim of bullying, by someone about a decade older than I was and that a person that age must have to be really messed up to bully an 8 year old kid. I ran into Mark a few weeks ago when he came into my work, a loans company, to apply... not surprisingly he had about 5 kids and his wife was pregnant, he was wearing a wife beater and he looked disgusting. He didn't qualify, he then asked me why, and I told him maybe he had done something wrong in the past, so now it showed up. I told him not to bother reapplying till he fixed his problems.