Fans

[LuckyCharms]

14. Jr. high was rough

Grades 7, 8, and 9.

My elementary school was mild. Everyone was peaceful for the most part.

When I went to Jr. High, there was a lot of animosity between my grade school and the kids on the north side of the tracks.

They fought all of the time. Fistfights, cops, all that. They smoked pot (7th grade). They drank. they carried knives.

I'm certainly not slender now, but I was back them. And I got picked on. I had knives pulled on me, and I had a loaded shotgun pointed out a car window at me by a peer who was riding around with some older guys.

We were kind of poor, and one day in homeroom, this guy was making fun of my house, and I lost my shit. I had just lost my dad the previous year, and he was busting my ass about being poor.

I pulled him out of his little desk/seat combo (remember those?). I beat the shit out of him in homeroom, and then we agreed to fight at the tracks after school. These things were always a big deal, and about 100 people showed up. The guy had about 4 inches in height on me, and he weighed more.

We traded a few punches, looked at each other, and shook hands. Nobody bothered me after that. A rite of passage I guess.

This kind of shit happened once a week at my Jr. high. It was terrible, and it must have scarred me mentally apparently, because I still talk about it...at our age.