Take That Bully!

Being one of the bigger kids when I was growing up, I was never really picked on in school. There was however one kid that decided to make me his target when I was in the 7th grade.

He was actually a year younger and not quite as big as me but had the advantage of being completely insane... plus he rolled with a posse of about 5 or 6 other insane kids. They were known for catching other kids alone in the bathroom then beating and robbing them.

His name was Juivon (pronounced like Joe-Vaughn) and it all started one day I was opening my locker. It seems that for no reason other then "wrong place-wrong time" Juivon decided to run up from behind me and punch me in the side of the face... I had never even spoken to him before.

Without realizing 'who' had punched me or 'why' I instinctively turned around and shoved my assailant to the ground. Then I saw who it was... gulp... Juivon... and of course all of his friends were there too.

I thought for sure I was in for a severe beat down, but instead, Juivon's friends all started laughing... at him... "That white kid fucked you up!" they taunted him. You can imagine how their reaction made him feel.

Embarrassed, Juivon got up, shoved me back, and unleashed a stream of insults and threats. I wanted to punch him. My arms were actually shaking because I wanted to throw a punch so badly. But I knew that if I did, all of his friends would jump in and I would end up at the emergency room.

Luckily, a teacher saw what was about to happen and broke it up. We both went our separate ways, but of course, this was only the first chapter. A pattern soon developed. I would see Juivon with his friends and he would hurl insults at me, shove me, spit on me, do anything he could to try and provoke a fight so that they could jump me... and I would just stand there and take it.

But whenever I'd see Juivon by himself he wouldn't even make eye contact with me... He was a really tough guy with a group of friends behind him, but alone, he was a coward. Of course the knowledge that deep down he was really afraid of me didn't help much when his posse had me cornered in the hallway.

Finally I ended up telling a kid on my basketball team about it. He was from the same neighborhood as Juivon and had a way of making problems disappear. And just like that the Juivon issue was over and done with. He would give me the occasional dirty look, but there were no more punches, no more spitting, no more insults. Eventually he just disappeared from my life.

I didn't see him again until a few years later in High School. By then he had grown a lot bigger than me and his arms were covered in tattoos. I remember seeing him in the hallways once and my heart stopped. I was frozen with fear but when he looked at me there was no recognition on his face. Thank god.

Why am I telling you all of this?

Well Moe Greene sent me an email today from the local paper where we grew up... it seems Juivon has gotten into a little bit of a pickle.

Turns out the DEA doesn't like it when you sell an undercover cop 247 grams of crack!

He was facing 27 separate drug charges in local court but the DA instead decided to turn him over to Federal prosecutors. I can only hope his prison tale turns into something out of "Shawshank Redemption."

Let clarify that... I don't mean to say that I wish he find life long friendship with a wise older Morgan Freeman type... I don't want him to find "a purpose" by helping other prisoners earn their GEDs... I'm not hoping that he have any happy endings on a beach in Mexico. In fact, I don't wish that he find any kind of "redemption" at all... Basically, I just hope he gets butt fucked by a gang of creepy prison rapist. I don't think it's too much to ask.