What Was That All About Anyway?: Step 59

Probably everyone remembers a fight or two from their days in school, but chances are if you are anything like me you have not the faintest clue as to why the fight took place. Two such fights took place during my years at Samuel Morse Junior High. Word spread like wildfire that Mike M was going to fight Vic. Both were Italian. Both were short with well-developed upper bodies. And both had a large circle of friends. Vic had the dark wavy hair and brooding good looks of the stereotypical Italian leading man, while Mike had blonde curly hair accented by his black rimmed glasses and gleaming smile. Vic and his friends had little use for school and only planned to hang around until their sixteenth birthdays when they were eligible to dropout and go make some real money. Mike M was the kid Mr. Hrlavich trusted to lock up his office and make sure everyone was out of the locker room, something that teachers can no longer do because of liability issues. He was also an amateur boxer who fought in Gold Gloves tournaments and had plans to go to college. The fight took place in the grassy area in front of the trees at the corner of 84^th and Congress, a spot later to be designated as a city park. As soon as they had taken off their shirts and were facing each other wearing T-shirts that revealed their muscular torsos Vic charged Mike and kicked him the groin. Mike’s hands went down and Vic plowed his knuckles into the side of his face cutting the flesh and causing blood to gush forth. Vic started to kick Mike in the side, but despite his obvious pain Mike grabbed Vic’s leg and threw him to the ground and started to beat on Vic’s head with one punch after another until everyone heard the sirens. All sorts of rumors circulated about what transpired after the crowd dispersed, and neither one returned to school for a while after the fight. When they did return there were no evident injuries or scars as far as I could tell, and for some reason Vic and Mike M became friends despite their differences. Now, the other fight took place between two girls I had known since my earliest days at Grantosa Drive Elementary. In fact, it took place in the empty lot across 82^nd Street from the school and just south of Hampton in what would become in another year the parking lot for the first Kohl’s Department Store. As described earlier, Linda V was a rather flamboyant and flirtatious girl, which stood in stark contrast to Kathy D. who other than the fact she was on just about every class picture I took at Grantosa and my neighbor Wade liked her quiet demure behavior in the third or fourth grade was somebody who was otherwise completely off the radar. Since this was the first fight between girls I would attend I had no idea what to expect, but being an adolescent boy my imagination kicked into high gear and caused my already out of control hormones to ravage my body even further eliciting several responses that I tried futilely to suppress. As a result I held a certain degree of ambivalence toward watching the actual event and made sure to keep my books in hand. Most of the boys wanted to see the girls rip each other’s blouses and a few even yelled out instructions. They immediately went for each other’s hair and both pulled out clumps from the other’s skull. Then, one threw the other to the ground and they tore each other’s pantyhose and when they yanked on their underwear revealing areas even men’s magazines didn’t expose at that time most of the boys, myself included, turned away disappointed. It took the girls a while longer to resume their friendship, but eventually they shared the same common bond they had for years. Which of course leads to the question, what was that all about anyway?