Free Bullied by Patrick Connolly Page B

inches below the previous one indicating a more accurate position of his nose. Then I took a rolled up newspaper and using it, again estimated where his nose would be. After drawing another line on the door that was fairly close to the last one drawn, the last line I drew seemed to be exactly in the right location. Next, I went through the process of stretching my right hand out with a clenched fist on the mark, and then measured the distance between the door and my chest again. After that, ruler in hand, I walked up to the door a lot of times to practice, stood the estimated distance from the door, and verified it with my knuckles on the mark. It was easier now to check if I was hitting the mark accurately because my knuckles would leave red marks on them from the blood. I think I am ready.
    The next day, I tried to get my route done as early in the afternoon as possible so I would not have that big paper bag on me when I went to his door. I hope that his Mom will not be home this time but, to be sure, I have to get there as early as possible. Arriving at his house, I rang the bell and opened the screen door.
    Jerry came to the door and said,
    “Hello, little redhead shit, red shit, red shit” He then grabbed me by the shirt. I looked down and measured the distance between my chest and his big belt buckle, moved slightly to my left so my right arm, when extended, would be in the same vertical location as the belt buckle, and swung my right arm in a stiff arc, as hard as I could. I did not see my fist strike his nose because I was still looking at his big belt buckle to estimate the distance, but I heard a loud smacking sound and was surprised when he dropped to one knee in the doorway. Then he then began crying hysterically and walked away toward the kitchen, screaming, “Mom, Mom, Mom”. I ran away from the door as fast as I could, very pleased with myself but still surprised at the great results. Geometry sure is a great subject!
    A few days later, I got a call from Mr. Garvey, my Manager at The Endicott Daily Bulletin and he asked me to come in to his office. I knew Mr. Garvey liked me because I was good at getting new subscriptions for the paper and had won a recent contest. As a prize for winning that contest, he had taken me and several other boys on a paid trip to New York City for a weekend.
    The next day, before delivering my papers, I walked into the Daily Bulletin office on Main Street and asked to speak to Mr. Garvey. They showed me to his office and I sat in the chair on the other side of his desk. He said, "You know I just got a visit from one of your customers and the woman brought her son in here with her. The boy has two black eyes and his Mom is very upset with you for punching her son at their front door one day last week.”
    I told Mr. Garvey the whole story about how long this kid has been hitting me whenever I came to collect for the Bulletin and that I had finally had enough. Mr. Garvey looked at me very seriously for a long moment, then finally smiled, and said, “Those were two really big black eyes you gave him, have you seen them?” “No, I replied, I just ran away so he couldn’t hit me anymore.”
    “He's a really big kid, isn't he? He looks like he is at least a foot taller than you are! He shook his head with an amused look on his face.
    “You really did a number on him.” he chuckled. He stood up and I knew our meeting was over.
    “All right, Patrick, you be a good boy and please try not to hit any more of our customers, okay?”
    As I walk out of his office, he is still standing, shaking his head and grinning as he picks up his telephone. Two days later, I got a notice that Jerry’s Mom had cancelled her subscription to the Bulletin. I was elated and never went back to collect the money she owed me, even though it would come out of my pay. I was never so glad to lose a customer.
    After that, kids starting coming up to me asking how I gave Jerry two big black eyes. The bigger kids