“You Got Punched By A Faggot”

I was 13 years old the only time I ever punched someone in the face. Some stupid seventh grader was picking on my 8 year old brother on the school playground. I told the stupid seventh grader to stop it. He didn’t. He pushed my brother down on the ground. My brother cried. I made a fist and threw it directly into his nose. Blood spattered everywhere and the stupid seventh grader was rushed to the hospital. Later, I was told that I had hit him so hard that the cartilage in his nose nearly pierced his brain and he almost died. I felt really bad.

The stupid seventh grader, my brother, and I was suspended for two weeks. My father took my brother and I to the movies as a reward. We had to stay with him in his baseball card shop during the day. Dad was so proud of me for having stuck up for my younger brother. It was probably one of the times I felt him truly be proud of me. It made me feel icky and weird and awkward. He gave us money to run around the mall to buy ice cream and videos games and love.

I wasn’t moved to hit someone in anger for a very long time after that incident. In college, while I was living with 9 different friends, some friend of a friend of a friend was drunkenly throwing a switchblade around the apartment. He was creepy and largely intimidating. I told him a bazillion times to stop throwing the knife. All the girls were scared and the dudes were either too stoned or lame to say anything. Finally, I demanded that he leave. He said ‘no’ and tried to start a physical confrontation with me. Everyone was watching. A hush fell upon the crowd.

I got right up in his face, butched up, and yelled, “If you wanna get your face punched in by a faggot, then keep it up. If you wanna have to tell all your stupid friends that you got your ass kicked by a fucking homosexual, then stay. Wouldn’t that be a fucking hilarious story for your friends to tell all your other friends about you. Leave now or I’m gonna give you a gay black eye.”

He left. No physical violence necessary. I’m a word boxer.