THE KID, part 2

THE KID, part 2

By Melanie Schulz

The teacher had just run out to pitch, giving Seth ample unsupervised time for his amusements.  Several others congregated around him, sensing the opportunity.  Just as things were getting good; Seth was really on a role that day, the crowd behind him jeering. THE KID seemed to flip; or perhaps he had seen a glimpse of all that Seth had tried so hard to hide.  Either way he was done taking his crap; you could only take a verbal weggie so many times before you just snapped.

And snap he did.

He delivered, in great detail, just what he thought about Seth and all of his berating remarks. It wasn’t just THE KID’S words that caught Seth’s attention, he had heard all of them and more when he was in elementary school; it was THE WAY they were spoken, with a hint of power.

Seth didn’t realize the extent of that power until THE KID uttered his last phrase before abruptly turning to head into the locker room.

It wasn’t until Seth turned to face the crowd to slam THE KID behind his back, in an attempt to save face, that he realized something was seriously wrong.

The way that people looked at him, their bodies recoiling; a few horrified murmurs being the only sound that was heard as the thick silence permeated the air.

Seth’s underlying insecurity quickly rose to the surface as he immediately became combative; hostile.

“What the hell are you looking at; do you really want to mess with me?” He asked each person in turn, misinterpreting their eyes as they all looked away; he just figured he had shown them, no one would dare stand up to him again.

Each person gladly took the opportunity to leave; no one wanted to be there when HE SAW.