A little "Fight" fable, for you...

...looking back...I was kinda lucky, not to have to mix it up, too often...Fighting...

...After all, I hung out with some bruising maulers, growing up, who could take people down, in one punch...Eddie B was the toughest kid in our hood, hands down...and all the takers, that came on, one-by-one, , to go toe-to-toe...with Ed...got the ass-whipping of their life...Yet, I never, ever seen Eddie B start a fight, but you could surely remember him, finishing it...

...So I had a free ride...carousing the neighborhood...only running into a few bullies, now & then.

...I remember one incident, while I was about 11 years old, where I was playing ball out on ths streets of 84th Place, on Eddie's block...as we ended our play for the day...I started walking, towards Washtenaw Ave. and this little weenie of a brat, jumped out...and started calling me...RETARDED...over & over...No one was around, except this little fiendish kid...

His name was Danny Deacy, a wretched little punk, who was only a bit bigger than me...

I did stand there, puzzled, wondering who this fool, was...as he kept echoing his little buzz word, retarded, to tick me off...I knew I was short & slight of build, with my head, tilted, a bit...but I knew I was not retarded...He was the goofy retard...

Eventually, every time, he said, RETARDED, I punched him hard, in the arm...And that went on, for 5 or 6 times...

Somehow, he switched gears, and said something even more wicked, so I wound up, my fist, and sent him to the ground....It was a lucky, yet powerful shot...and I topped things off, by stomping on his head, for good measure, trying to ooze his brains out...for about a good 3o seconds to a minute...

Finally, the taunts ended...as he was curled up on the ground, like a ball, reeling, as I angrily stormed off...

When I got home, that day, my Mom, tried to stop me, as I walked by her, in the kitchen, as she said, "Somebody's Mom just called...Why did you step on that boy's head...Don't you know any better..."

My quick reply was, "He called me Retarded...and he got what he deserved..."....as I briskly made my way downstairs, to watch cartoons...with a little tear in my eye...but I was never haunted by this, at all...

Fast foreward, from the 5th Grade to my college years...I'm down at a wild sorierity party at the Little Red Schoolhouse...at Illinios State University...always a great time...when my old childhood buddy, Johnny Murph, ambles up and says..."Guess who just walked in the door...Danny Deacy!"

There was a little bit of fear, in Murph's message...but I was not even phased...I barely remembered the kid...Murph then went on and said, Deacy, was now an avid, body-builder, cut like a rock, about 6'4'' tall, 22o pounds...

At that point, my jaw dropped, and I understood Murph's fair warning...I quickly looked around for an escape route...No go...I was stuck in a room of kegger revelry, and there was only one way out...past the ominous brute, Danny Deacy...

Well, it only took Deacy, about a minute to spot me...and started to slowly walk up to me...I was expecting the worse, at that point, a crack to the jaw, at least...but as Deacy, got up close to me, a small smile, emerged on his face...

He said..."You're the kid that kicked my ass, and tried to stomp my head, into the ground!."

I nodded and said "Yes"...and waited for a level punch...to send me flying...

He then laughed and said..."What a little obnoxious creep I was, back then...Sorry about that...I deserved it...You need a beer...???..."...

I kinda laughed and let out a huge sigh of relief...and took the beer, and we chatted for about 10 minutes...I think he said he was studying to go into law enforcement...and loved being down at Illinois State U...It was the coolest...

We laughed a bit more...and I edged my way, out of there, a little wobbly, from what had transpired...out of the wild kegger party...and into the night...

The moral of the story is obvious...That kid you beat the crap out of, as a young lad, may grow up to be the biggest, baddest dude, you could ever imagine...so watch out...

Not many fights for me...but surely, a good lesson...from it all...