On beating Bullies

It’s unlike me, but I was in a bad mood this morning for no apparent reason burnt the toast, put too much sugar in my coffee, the milk was off. Then as I started to reverse out of my drive, a Waterboard van pulled up in front of it and blocked my exit. I threw the car door open and got out to blast the idiot who had clearly seen that I was about to leave.

It turned out to be my old mate from school days, Don, good old Don. We first met when at the age of nine; we started at a new junior school on the same day. Both a little nervous we were watching the other kids in the playground but not really getting involved, when Toffee Holland the school bully came over to where we were standing and launched into his bully act. He started on Don first, because he wore special boots and they stood out. I didn’t know it at the time but Don was fearless, and his reluctance to stand up for himself was due to the fact that he had been transferred to this new school because of his habit of scrapping with anyone who looked at him side ways. He was under orders to behave himself or face the risk of being sent to an approved school. I on the other hand wasn’t, and although not fearless like my chum to be, had an inherent streak of honour and sense of fair play that prevented me from standing by and watching someone being bullied. Very laudable you might think but to be honest very stupid. Toffee Holland like all bullies was a big lad for his age. But as my Dad always told me bullies only bully people whom they think wont fight back, (lets face it there is no fun in hitting someone who will give as good as he gets) and if you stand up to them, they will always back down.

I stood tall, five foot one tall actually at that time, and announced to Toffee and his entourage that if they didn’t leave Don alone they would have me to answer to. Toffee seemed quite happy with this and advanced toward me with a menacing look. I could hear my Fathers voice in my mind, "Hit him before he hits you" there was also another voice in there rather weaker than my Fathers, and as it happened making much more sense, "run away you are going to die, run away". For some reason I listened to the former and launched myself at this mountain of a kid

Within seconds I had reduced his fist to a bloody mess with the skilful use of my face and body, and all at the speed of light. He didn’t see it coming, and if it hadn’t been for the school bell sounding end of playtime he would have had even more of my blood on his clothes. That was the end of this altercation, he ran off to class and I crawled around the school yard looking for my teeth. This was the first time Toffee and I met on the field of battle, there was to be another meeting some years later with an altogether different outcome.

Don and I became firm friends after that, and always looked out for each other, although he did rather more looking than I. He took several beatings over the years to save my skin, where as I had learned my lesson and was a little more conservative with my mouth. Next to my Father he is probably the most honourable man I know, and still will not under any circumstances back down from anyone. For years we lived in each others pockets, even when we were both married, but the last ten years or so we see each other rarely, maybe three or four times a year. Memorable occasions were the swapping of false teeth after a night he spent with an old tug, and the time he almost burnt the house down with a sausage, which I managed to get on video.

So it was a joy to see that it was he who blocked my exit this morning. We went back into the house and talked about old times over a cup of coffee, he now worked for the water board, visiting houses in the Manchester area testing the tap water. This job is easy peasy he told me, twenty-five grand a year, company van and I don’t have to knock myself out. I'm glad he is happy, his life hasn’t always run as smoothly as it does now, over the years he has had a lot of sadness, but he faced it, as he always does, without fear.