“Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if I had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate, to say that for destruction ice is also great, and would suffice.” (Fire and Ice, Robert Frost)

One day Henry stopped coming to school. I thought he was sick. When Mrs. Brown no longer called his name during roll call, I knew Henry had moved.

Well, I needed a walking buddy, because if you walked by yourself, you became a target.

During the previous year, I had been attacked by three boys from Slab Town. They knew the route I took home. They had been waiting for me. Every day I crossed in front of Robert’s Grocery Store. Johnny, Ricky and Tommy were my age and had hid behind the store’s dumpster. I had stopped to pick some yellow flowers along the side of the road. I felt a warm presence pressing at the small of my back when I stood up holding the flowers in my hand. Whatever it was urged me to walk in an opposite direction. I did not heed the warning. I gazed at the bunch of flowers I held in my hand wondering if Mother would like them. I began to walk home when the three boys confronted me.

Ricky and Tommy stood in front of me, while Johnny walked to my rear.

Ricky spat on the ground near my shoes. “Got any money?”

My heart pounded in my head. “No.”

“You’re lying,” he said.

I looked at him. I saw the angry look in his eyes. He had a reputation for hurting animals and such. Strange, his father was the minister of the only church in Slab Town.

I felt a cool breeze on the back of my legs. ‘What in the world?’

A roar of laughter exploded from the three boys.

“We saw your underwear,” they chanted.

That slime ball Johnny had pulled up my dress!

All three were nasty! I hated them! How dare they humiliate me! For the first time in my life I saw ‘red.’ I could not stop the fury inside me. I spun around. I smacked Johnny in the face with my reader. He bent over placing a hand to cover his bloody nose. Then, I slammed the book on the nape of his neck. He fell hard on the ground.

The other two tried to run away, but I got one of them. I threw my reader at the back of Ricky’s head. I did not miss! He stumbled on some broken glass in the road cutting his hand. He ran bleeding behind Tommy.

I went over and picked up the reader. I yelled in a deep voice which echoed through the core of my being, “I’m going to get you!”

When they ran into Slab Town, I stopped. I gave up! No way was I going in there!

People in Slab Town drank a lot. They fought in the streets, morning, noon and night. Their dogs ran wild and so did their children.

I turned around. I pinched myself to keep from crying. I needed to wait, until I got home. I knew Mother would handle it. I played innocent, because I was. It was not my fault if two boys wore bruises I had given them. They deserved their fate!

The next day, Mother went to school and met with the principal. She wanted all three boys to be suspended. When the boys were summoned to the office, they were allowed to give their version of the story. At first, they claimed no one had pulled up my dress. For some reason, Ricky and Tommy covered for Johnny. Since he could not get a confession from Johnny, the principal asked them to apologize for teasing me and not do it again.

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