24/7 - Behind the Tussle for the Texas Instrument Pt. 1

Prior to my arrival in high school, I had gotten my ass thrashed, kicked, whopped, flogged, on multiple occasions in junior high. The main reason I lost most of my bouts wasn’t because of skill (at least not in my head it wasn’t). I lost primarily because I either fought fair (who knew you should never turn your back to take off your coat), or if I fought back at all, I would be fighting that dude plus his crew for the remainder of the school year (and probably all at once), so I opted out of defending myself. Students and teachers alike understood the severity of fighting the wrong person and actually winning. It could literally mean your life. These weren’t imagined prepubescent exaggerations. This is after all 1986-1989 and there seemed to be a free giveaway on Israeli made Uzi’s with every purchase of butter crunch cookies at the local bodega. Why the f*ck did everyone have a semi automatic under their pillow at that age? Whatever the reason, I RAN CONTRA the violence and ended up rerouting my daily commute after school for years, as illustrated in the ass whooping diagram below (double click to enlarge):

There was no sanctuary aside from the other battered survivors I called friends with whom I shared war stories (and beat downs). My parents would surely aggravate my assault if they were made aware that I had been fighting in the first place. I remember a specific instance where I got jumped, fought back, got suspended for fighting, got punished for getting suspended, then got jumped again by the same kids on the last day of school to ensure there would be no further suspensions. Consequently, my folks provided little reprieve. I drew several conclusions from these experiences: 1) I hate crews of kids who bully people 2) parents just don’t understand and 3) I AM NEVER GOING TO LOSE ANOTHER FIGHT AGAIN!! Now keep in mind that I am the alleged smart kid. I am no trouble maker to say the least, which made me more of a target. Because of all this perceived intelligence, I have earned a ticket back to the Brooklyn to attend one of the premier high schools in NYC where I am sure to never encounter insecure bullies again ( I told you my intelligence was perceived).