Daniel and Adrian were halfway home when two large shadows burst out from behind the bushes near Mr. Randall’s house. Daniel’s first thought was that the Grundy boys watched too many Our Gang reruns. After all, who actually waited in the bushes anymore?
Both boys had white-blond hair and angelic blue eyes, yet they were no angels. Jim-Bob, the taller one, had been left back in the second and fourth grades and used his age and size advantage to inflict terror on his younger classmates. Elijah belonged in Daniel and Adrian’s grade; a prodigy in the Grundy home, he was the first and only of six siblings never to get left back. What everyone knew, except for the Grundys, was that this feat was accomplished by years of complaints from parents about the Grundy clan’s consistent cruelty toward the younger kids. The school decided to push the last of this brood out for the benefit of future generations.
Adrian was sweating like a race horse. His problem, as Daniel saw it, was he couldn’t stand not to be liked. Adrian never risked an action that might make someone angry. The Grundys’ animus disturbed him more than their beating. He was an unapologetic mama’s boy, the target of those who fed off the desire to be accepted.
“You made us wait in the cold for five hours, fat stuff,” said Jim-Bob. “Where the hell were you?”
“We didn’t realize you’d made an appointment,” Daniel said. “He’ll do better tomorrow.”
“Stay the fuck out of this, Hauer. ’Less you wanna get creamed, too,” Elijah said.
“Does anyone need to get creamed?” Daniel asked.
Elijah shoved Daniel back and stood between him and Adrian.
“If you insist,” Daniel said, and he stepped away from the scene. He surveyed the surroundings. Mr. Randall had been renovating, and there was a lot of construction trash on the side of the driveway.
“D-Danny, where’re you g-going?” Adrian stammered.
Adrian and the Grundy boys disappeared into the darkness behind Daniel as he walked only twenty feet away.
“He knows enough to mind his own business,” Jim-Bob’s disembodied voice said.
Daniel heard Adrian take a punch to the stomach. He was sure it hurt less than Adrian’s wailing implied. The boy had more natural padding than a walrus in winter. That didn’t stop him from throwing up though. He heard Adrian crying, begging them to leave him alone.
Daniel had to get close to the trash before he spotted what he wanted. He picked up a discarded two-by-four post and headed back with it propped on his shoulder.
“You back, Hauer?” Jim-Bob said as Daniel emerged from the blackness. “What you think you’re going to-”
Where Jim-Bob stood, Daniel imagined Josh Lundgren’s mesomorphic form: his chiseled jaw, wavy hair, and fancy wool jacket with giant letter on the front-his lips tasting Katie’s sweet breath, his fingers fondling her…
Daniel smashed his club into the side of Jim-Bob’s head. Jim-Bob hit the ground at thirty-two feet per second squared and didn’t move.
Elijah tripped backward over a tree root. Daniel walked over to him and thrust the end of the two-by-four into his face. Elijah was a bloody mess.
“Don’t pick on my friends,” Daniel said.
“Screw you, Hauer! When we get through with you, you’ll-”
Daniel smashed his bludgeon into the boy’s face again, this time resulting in a resounding crunch. The boy yowled, then passed out.
Daniel threw the weapon back on the trash pile.
Adrian trembled. “I can’t believe you…”
“What can’t you believe, Adrian? That they’re bigger than us? Huh? They’re bullies. They don’t know how to deal with anyone who stands up to them.”
“But…”
“All you had to do was hit Jim-Bob! You didn’t even have to hurt him! You don’t have to win a fight to make it not worth picking on you.”
“Don’t yell.” Adrian kept crying.
“There are worse fucking things in the world than these losers! Things that are out of our control.” Daniel realized he was crying, too. His face was flushed and tears streamed down his cheeks. “When are you going to stand up for yourself, Ade? When are you going to stop letting others pick on you?”
“Stop yelling at me!” Adrian screamed.
Daniel collapsed on the curb, shoulders hunched, breath coming in spurts, shivers, and gulps. “I don’t want to go home,” he said. A shudder started in his shoulders and ran down his legs.
Adrian put his hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “Come to my house,” he sniffled.
“I can’t,” Daniel said.
“Oh, come to my house, Danny, please. Don’t go home.”
“I have to. It’ll be worse later if I don’t.”
Daniel stood up and started to walk. He didn’t look to see if Adrian followed. He wasn’t even sure if it was the right direction. He just walked. The air was cold. Layers of clothing couldn’t stop his sweat from cooling to a chill. His muscles ached, as though he’d been moving for hours. Then he realized he was in front of his house.