The Fight

The first punch misses John's face by mere inches. He recoils all the same and assumes a defensive position in the corner of the school hallway. Jay throws another wild punch at him and it connects just below the shoulder. John raises his fist to strike back.

Jay wasn't like this. Rather, he didn't used to be. Just two years ago, he wanted nothing more than to go to the Philadelphia School of Arts and become an artist with Marvel comics. It had been his life long dream; all he ever aspired to since elementary school.

The summer two years ago when he discovered the white powder in his sister's room was the summer he lost himself. Now all that mattered was the scoring of any number of anonymous drugs. It was a wonder the police hadn't thrown him in jail yet, but he was still a minor and the couldn't make any charge stick. In fact, the reason he was attacking John was that he supposedly cheated a dealer.

Jay didn't hate John. They used to be best friends in elementary school. They used to draw comics for each other in the margins of passed noted. All that was a hazy, near forgotten past for Jay now. Jay's growth was stunted by his excessive drug use. He was scrawny and weak physically. For the drugs though, he could muster up enough strength to be a menace. He was still sufficiently numb from his last hit, this couldn't hurt him. Well, not until he came down, at least.

John's father worked for the police. Rather, he did until his parents split up. Everything lost focus then. All his aspiration to become an artist disappeared. It didn't seem to really matter much anymore. Nothing really did. He didn't understand why Jay wanted to fight with him. No one ever wanted to fight with him, as his sheer physical strength was awe inspiring. No one was ever stupid enough to try. He didn't want to hurt Jay. He wouldn't. He got in trouble quite a bit for pulling the fire alarm several times and "defacing" the school with his artful graffiti. One more suspension, he knew, and he'd be expelled. He so wanted to get his life back in order, he couldn't allow Jay to ruin it for him.

Neither of them wanted the trouble. Ironically, John's dad left his mother for Jay's mom. Neither of them knew that. Their only escape from their pain was on a sheet on paper. Only now, Jay's piece of paper was covered in psychotropic substances.

Just as John was about to lower his fist, the principle came by, saw the scene, and zeroed in on John. The principal assailed John for picking on a defenseless little boy like Jay. He would be expelled from school. Jay would get another hit to soothe the pain from a fight that didn't happen.