by Danette M. Scott

Created on: January 22, 2008

Short stories: Bullies

Sam was so short and stout that the other kids in the neighborhood teased him quite a bit by calling him stubby. A name Sam didn't like, but he always tried to show the other kids that he had a sense of humor. The one thing Sam didn't have a sense of humor for was being bullied. Since he was so short and stubby Sam had a hard time being completive in sports. Every kid around the neighborhood played basketball at the local park. Sam was always the last one picked for a team.

I'll never forget that day in July, back 1973, when myself and 8 other kids had a pickup game of basketball going on down at Pierson's park. Sam showed up and watched us from the side of the court. Of course, Jerry Jacobs, a typical neighborhood bully, decided he was going to have a little fun at Sam's expense.

Jerry smirked as he yelled over at Sam,"Hey Stubby! You wanna' play center for us?" Then he started laughing at Sam. But he didn't laugh for long because Sam decided to take him up on his offer.

"Yeah, I'll play" said Sam in a serious deep tone of voice. The kind of tone that certainly sent a secondary message to Jerry. "Only I want to play for the other team, against you."

Jim, Jerry's friend and teammate during the game, kind of snickered knowingly,"Heh-heh, it's too late to take it back now." Jim couldn't wait for Jerry to bully Sam out on the court. He was just as mean spirited as his friend was.

Jerry, thought Sam was looking for a fight when he ignored his taunting and accepted the challenge to play and he was right. "OK, stubby. Let's get started."

Sam joined the game on my team. I threw the ball to Jerry and said,"You go first."

Jerry had this mean mischievous look in his eye. The sinister kind of look you see in cartoon characters on Saturday morning TV. I knew something was going to happen during the game between Sam and Jerry but I had no idea at the time that it was going to be an event that was going to haunt us for the rest of our lives.

Jerry dribbled the ball down the hot asphalt court while sweat beaded up on his forehead. He passed the ball to Jim Thompson who shot right over my head for a quick and easy two points. Then we had the ball. I threw it to Sam, who threw it to Greg. Greg attempted a lay up but was deliberately knocked down by Jerry. Greg sat on the court holding his arm and whined that he was in pain.

I looked over at Sam for some kind of clue as to what he was going to do, but he didn't say anything except that he wanted to keep

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>