Page 69 - Demo

%u00a9Jack Fritscher, Ph.D., All Rights ReservedHOW TO LEGALLY QUOTE FROM THIS BOOKWhat They Did to the Kid 57%u201cHey, big, strong, and stupid,%u201d I said, %u201cYou%u2019re a real two-ton Teuton. You%u2019re a real tank. You%u2019re big Hank the Tank.%u201d%u201cSays you,%u201d Hank shouted.Hank and Ski disappeared around the upper landing.%u201cWhy do you antagonize him, Ryan?%u201d Mike said.%u201cRyan gives as good as he gets,%u201d Dempsey said.%u201cHank, Hank the Tank, he antagonizes me.%u201d I held my ground. %u201cMy dad says when I was three years old I stood on the sidewalk in front of our house and said to anyone walking by, %u2018I%u2019m rough and I%u2019m tough, and I%u2019ll beat you all up.%u2019%u201d%u201cForget it.%u201d Demspey pulled me around. %u201cLet me show you what I smuggled in from home.%u201dMike went on down the stairs to spread the Roth story. I followed Demspey off the stairs through the hall, a little mad he was so obviously changing the subject.After he had stopped wetting the bed, Dick Dempsey got to be one of the most popular boys in our class, except with Hank, who kept doing things to him like putting a pair of panties he%u2019d bought on vacation into Dick Dempsey%u2019s bed. %u201cWhat%u2019s that word dick mean?%u201d he%u2019d say. %u201cIs that a name or a description?%u201d Despite Hank the Tank, or maybe because of him, Dempsey%u2019s stock rose.Some boys thought Dempsey was a saint.Little cliques opened and closed and opened again. Gossip put some people up and gossip knocked some people down. Down was always easier.Every boy had a reputation created by all the other boys. A whisper could cause a scandal or an ostracism. Any weakness in any boy was picked like a scab.All of Misery watched with only one comment: %u201cA boy needs to have his corners knocked off.%u201dMy greatest fear, anxiety, and thrill was to try and find out what the other boys were saying about me behind my back. I didn%u2019t want my corners knocked off. Who does? I was no Dick Dempsey, because Dempsey would do anything for any boy, even for Hank, sometimes, even, especially, for Hank who ruled him. His charity was noted by some of the priests.Once in religion class Rector Karg asked Dick, what if some boy vomited in the study hall and Father Gunn told him to clean it up. We all, except Dempsey, started to laugh. He said, %u201cI%u2019d try to see Christ in the sick person and pretend it was Jesus I was wiping up after.%u201dSaint Dick.%u201cWhat%u2019d you bring back?%u201d I asked.