Pico de Orizaba

Pico de Orizaba
Taken from Huatusco, Veracruz, the closest town to Margarita's family's ranch.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Speaking of Bullies in 1982...

trying to jog your memory... the same year Todd had everyone calling me "Poor Boy"... but different school year.  Now we were in 8th grade.  Because Todd's mother wanted Todd to have more time to study for his bar mitzvah the convinced Rabbi Abraham to give Todd my date (June 19th; the day before my birthday) and moved me to November, which was a horrible injustice you can not imagine.  Do you remember the cast on my wrist during my Bar Mitzvah?  Do you wonder why... what happened?  Did I bring it on to myself...

Ok.  One October day in English class, I don't know what had gotten into John Kalmbach's head to start playing as he did.  But, suddenly he started saying out loud, "Ross, what did you say about Mike's mother!?"  Mike Szmanski (neighbor of the Cohns) was a class bully; not the worst one.  But, for some reason he liked to start fights.  Hence, Mike got up from his desk and walked straight up to me... I trying to play calm... and said, "what did you say about my mom?"  I'm sure he said some other words.  But, truthfully, I don't remember other than the important details.  And I said, "Nothing. John's trying start things," and he responded, "I hope not.  Or else!"  and he walked back to his desk and his friends...  And then John does it again, "You've gotta be kidding Ross!  Mike's mother did WHAT?"  This time, Mike returns, pushes my chest and says, "TODAY after school, in back of Rodney Carr's house at 4:30.  You better not chicken out! or I'll have to come find you."  

If I didn't go to fight (and I had never been in a fight before.  I wasn't a fighter.  I didn't know how to fight), I would hear from everyone the following day.  So, I went.  And I broke my hand on his cheek bone... But at first I didn't throw a punch, just blocked his.  And he started to laugh and then snare... because I wasn't throwing punches.  

I didn't call attention to the bullies.  The attended towards me.  I spent my school days trying to avoid them.  Remember Hank Toyes; occasional friend, occasional bully.  Why did he have me as a friend and then, for some reason, pull "older-brother/Sheri pranks" like, pull Ross's hood off his coat and play keep away from Ross in the 4th grade Old York School playground.  And when Ross lost his patience at being used as a joke in Monkey-in-the-middle (one of Sheri's favorite games), Hank decided to show the friends in the circle how he could be like Rocky Balboa...  

But, you would later accuse me of making-up these things or even later on, of bringing them onto me...  Did I bring on dad's death and the Familial Poliposis/Gardners Diseases, and Uncle Stan's violence when my father was dying in Sloan Kettering or Sheri's horrible possessiveness and jealousy of me when I was born...  You're who said, when I was a baby, she would pinch me to make me cry.  Now, what did she do when you weren't observing?  Do you know what she did on the corner with Chris Love waiting for the school bus when I first started going to Old York School with her?  Can you imagine?  She did the same with Barry and then with Craig when Barry left...  She had this incredible need to control and ostracize... me.  

Do you know what growing up with Sheri was like?  You remember what Mrs. what's her name said Sheri did to scare away her daughter (our baby sitter) and Sheri's reasoning.  But, you can't imagine just how abusive Sheri was towards me.  And Sheri says that she doesn't remember anything bad between us...  And everyone believes her.  I must be inventing.  

As if it wasn't bad enough to lose my father suddenly, inherit his disease, have my mother how you were.  Do you remember how you were? Be deathly scared of Uncle Stan who beat the shit out of me when you left us with him while visiting dad before he died... Why would the uncle beat his brother's son when his nephew's father was dying in the hospital? And be picked on in school from age 8 (2nd grade) and ignored by the teachers who allowed the children to ostracize me in class and on the playground...  I complained to you.  And you accused me of inventing...  

Why so much accusation of me inventing?  Was I truly a lier as a child?  Didn't you say that I was a very tranquil/calm toddler?  So, when did I suddenly become a lying bastard?

But, it was something I brought onto myself... like the gang-rape victim...

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