Part Two
It was early Spring. The Ninth Grader had experienced an interesting few months since his fight with Sean. He had been unable to find a karate or judo class. He was convinced that this was what he wanted to learn. Since the fight, he had seen more martial arts on TV. Bruce Lee was becoming well known after his role as Kato on the Green Hornet. There were rumors that there would be more martial arts centered programs on TV. It all just made the Ninth Grader more committed to this path, if only he could find the path.
One day he was visiting the local pharmacy, Yates Drug. The drug store had a soda fountain and it was a great place to get a milkshake. The store also had a small section of paperback books. The Ninth Grader checked out the books. Whoa, wait. What was that? He found not one, but two books of interest. They were both by Bruce Tegner; “The Complete Book of Karate” and “The Complete Book of Judo”. He had hit the jackpot. Just what he had been searching for since the fight.
He bought the books and soon discovered that it is difficult to learn a physical skill from a book, but he did get some value. He learned that bullies are basically cowards and can only feel valuable by making others feel worthless. They tend to choose victims who are seen as weak, easy targets. It would not be long before he would find out if this was true.
One afternoon in the school yard he was approached by 2 classmates. They had been friendly in the past and all 3 had known each other for years. Since the fight, even some of these normally descent fellows had begun to pick on the Ninth Grader. That was exactly what they had in mind. They wanted his lunch money. The Ninth Grader decided that wasn’t happening today.
They began to strong arm him and he resisted, telling them he would not give them his lunch money. They persisted. The Ninth Grader had an idea. He had his cartridge pen. It had a wicked looking tip. He pulled off the cap and held it as if to stab with it. The 2 classmates took a step back in surprise. One laughed nervously and said, “It would really be funny if he actually stabbed one of us with that.”
They made a few more rude comments and moved away. The Ninth Grader could hardly believe it. He had stood up to the 2 bullies and had come out unharmed. This was good. The rest of the school year he noticed that that nobody picked on him anymore. He figured the word had gotten around that he was no longer an easy target. Progress, but he still wanted to learn a martial art. Back to the books. He might pick up some more useful information and maybe figure out how to do some of the physical techniques detailed in the books. It was a start.
(To be continued as “The Tenth Grader”)
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