The day I baffled the bully

One of the many elementary schools I attended was populated with some real special characters.  This was an Atlanta elementary school, and I was there for sixth and seventh grades, right before going to high school the way we did in those days.

We had our “early maturing” types who developed secondary sex characteristics–and primary sex interests–way before the rest of us.  They would “party” and “make out,” whatever that actually meant, in the basements of unsupervised homes in the afternoons.  We also had our little boys and girls who just needed some time to catch up.  One kid in our class, however, had already had quite enough time to catch up, to forge ahead, actually, except he hadn’t, academically anyway.  He was about two years older than the rest of us, and a real dull tool.

He didn’t seem quite as developmentally disabled as his lack of progress in school would lead one to believe.  A good part of his problem seemed to come from his lack of cooperation with the educational process.  He knew what everybody wanted him to do.  He just didn’t feel like doing it most of the time.

Another of our number was a great George to his Lennie.  Well, I say, “great.”  He was not great in the sense of taking care of him as George did Lennie in Of Mice and Men, but great in the sense of at least hanging out with him.  The rest of us didn’t have much to do with him, really.  This George–I think his name was Jimmy, actually–was especially good at bending the big guy to his will.

One day Jimmy decided it would be fun to get the big guy whipped up and angry at me.  As the school day was ending, Jimmy apparently told him some lies about something I had supposedly said or done, and they were both waiting for me when I came out, along with a bunch of other kids who were there to watch the show.

We had a brief set-to right then, and being caught by surprise, things weren’t going very well for me.  The big guy was in a rage, and I was just standing there, confused about what was going on.  He had about 20 pounds on me and was maybe a half-foot taller, so it was clear that I had to get out of there or get beat up pretty bad.  It was an easy choice.  There was no principle to defend; there was just an ass whuppin’ to avoid.

Luckily, for all his imposing bulk, the guy was not that fast.  I was able to stay ahead of him pretty easily and come up with a plan as I headed for home.  The streets in these neighborhoods were sort of scraped out of the hilly terrain, so there were plenty of steep banks where the engineers had tried to flatten out the hills a little.  I was able to lead him right up to one, slowing down a little to make him think he actually was about to catch me.  I could hear him thundering along right behind me as I approached the edge, and that was when I hit the ground and let him trip over me and fall all the way down the bank.

I was surprised–and fortunate–that a 30-foot tumble down a steep, rock-strewn bank had such a persuasive effect on his attitude.  I found that he had become quite reasonable and ready to listen.  I began shouting down at him, explaining that I hadn’t done or said anything against him and that all this had been the doing of Jimmy, who by this time was standing there right beside me.

There was a dawning.  I left Jimmy spluttering an explanation of his own, but the way the other kids were laughing, I think even “Lennie” knew what the truth was.

Oddly, this entire episode never came up again.  The big kid kept clear of me, and Jimmy all but quit picking on me.  The rest of the kids seemed to develop at least a little regard for me, but I don’t recall anyone ever bringing it up again.

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