Catholic Singles

CONFRONTATION
BY: MARK ANTHONY ROSOLOWSKI

The young boy was in second grade, his father had recently died, he had to wear glasses, and he was the brunt of the jokes in the class. He took these jokes with good humor, laughing at himself as the others did. It did not appear to bother him, but inwardly and deep inside it caused him pain. The young boy would go home every afternoon and lie on his bed, crying and wishing his life were different, how much better it would be if daddy was still alive.

As the young boy enters third grade all remains the same. His classmates continue to knock his glasses off his face, he laughs along with them. They mock the boy because he has no father to take him to the school events for fathers and sons. They leave him out of conversations, they do not want him around, and he is just for jokes and pranks. The boy is useless, he has no one to teach home to throw a football, catch a baseball, so he is not invited to play with the rest, he just sits and watches the others play. He walks home alone, as soon as he is in the house he rushes to his room. He wishes they were nicer to him, he cries as he thinks of his daddy. If only he was still alive.

The same thing happens in fourth grade, except now there is a new student; he waits for the boy everyday. He pushes the boy down the stairs, trips the boy in the hallway. He constantly hits the boy, the boy takes it, and he does not know how to fight back. In the playground the young boy is attacked by the new student, his glasses get broken, his nose bleeds, all the other kids laugh as the young boy is kicked and punched. The boy goes home, and cries himself to sleep, he dreams of happier times, but when he wakes it is not as it once was.

A day comes when the boy is pushed and he notices his hand is forming into a fist, he feels years of anger building up, wanting to be released. As the boy gets up he attacks the boy that pushed him, he strikes him repeatedly; the attacker taken off guard is too surprised to fight back. The young boy hits the attacker breaking his nose, busting his lip, knocking teeth out of his attacker. No one has ever seen the boy act like this; everyone backs away as one runs to get a teacher to help.

The teacher finally arrives and he sees the young boy, dirty clothing, sweat running down his face, standing over his attacker. The attacker is lying in the dirt mixed with his blood, the attacker nose is misshapen, his mouth is missing teeth and his lip is busted open. The young boy turns and walks home, as he enters his room he goes to his bed, he weeps thinking if only daddy were still here I would not have had to do what I did.