First Fight
By Joe Hendrix
it’s a beautiful day to be
waiting in line for the monkey bars
i tell Nick that I can do a 3 bar skip
we laugh and wait
Ahh… my turn now
random kid comes out of nowhere and cuts me in line
“hey you can’t cut me!...
what are you doing?”
hey kid
hey KID
HEY KID!
he climbs up the ladder
I grab a strap on his overalls
I yank him onto the ground
Oh he looks mad
dusting the dirt off his clothes
“IT’S MY TURN!”
“I don’t care!” he says
he shoves me onto the ground
embarrassment and anger mix for a very pissed off cocktail
I get up and shove him back
he shoves me
wait for it
I shove him
wait for it
he shoves me
wait for it
I shove him
wait for it
he shoves me
POW!!!
right in the kisser like Ralph from the Honey Mooners
his nose starts to bleed a dark red
the red splatter that is the kids face looks furious
it rushes me
duck, bob, weave,
I dart my shoulders for his torso
tussling on the ground
kids gather around
“FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!”
all of a sudden I’m lifted off the ground
mysterious strong hands restrain me and say,
“You two are coming with me!”
I struggle in vain to finish beating this kid’s ass properly
My fists take swings into the air

I find my misplaced self sitting in the principal’s office
I glare at him
he glares at me
that glare follows me for some time
to the fight over the bus seat on the in the 5th
to when he talks about my mother in the 6th
and also when we both like the same girl in the 7th
but at this moment
these events are yet to come
because after all

this is just the first of many fights to come