No Control

Aggression

   Whether we like it or not, we have to use aggression for certain situations. People are cunning and ruthless, meaning they'll do almost anything to block your path or take what's yours. Even if you don't recognize it right away, someone is always out there to hurt you. People will do crucial things to you out of jealousy, hatred, or just because they think you're scared. Jay was the type to always avoid trouble. He now had to learn that he couldn't sit back and take it. Others would assume he's weak and attempt to control him because he's scared of conflict.
   Growing up around the same people, it was one person in particular who Jay was unsure about. This kid would hang around Jay from time to time, and the next minute, he would try to prove the people around him he's a cool guy. He'd sometimes use Jay as his prop to get attention. The kids' name was Elijah, and he wasn't very popular and a liar. He was another casual student in Jay's grade. Jay knew Elijah's goal, that all he wanted was to be known to others. To Jay, as long as Elijah wasn't interfering with his business, Jay paid little attention to him. Jay continued selling his snacks, and soon Elijah was buying from him as well. Elijah attempted to scam Jay and to do it discreetly while he knew. Elijah purchased snacks from Jay and claimed he left his phone at home, and he'll send the money once he makes it home. Of course, Jay was reluctant to the idea but allowed him to pay him later. Once school was out, Jay knew the majority of the students went home, and the rest had after-school activities, Elijah wasn't a part of those activities. After his after-school activities, Jay checked his phone to see if Elijah had paid him. The transaction never appeared from Elijah.
   Jay knew he'd made a mistake, and he had to get his money. The next day, Jay confronted Elijah and asked him about the transaction. Elijah's exact words were, "It didn't go through? Alright, don't worry, I'll send it to you when I get home. I got you.". Jay knew he was being hustled, and he didn't know how he should go about it. He couldn't tell anyone because he wasn't allowed to sell snacks to begin with, and he didn't want to disrupt his reputation or get into any more trouble by fighting. Jay had to come up with something in order to maintain his reputation and stay out of trouble. This situation was fairly new to Jay. This was technically his first real time in conflict, and he was being robbed of his snacks, his profit, and his power. Jay had to abandon and completely rid himself of his biggest setback, his kindness. Jay was too kind, and it was being used at his disadvantage once again. In order to continue business and maintain order, Jay had to eliminate this dilemma before others caught wind and attempted to scam him as well. Now was the time to deal with this issue, and fast before anything else happens.
   Elijah wasn't popular, nor did he fight or pose as an actual threat to anyone. He wanted to be popular and have some sense of authority over others whom he deemed where below him. Taking all this observation and prior knowledge of Elijah, Jay knew exactly how he would handle Elijah.

Step One: "Elijah's nowhere near my level. I'm not about to let nobody take what's mine. To destroy what I'm building.". With this mentality, Jay knew he and Elijah weren't close in comparison. Jay knew he was smarter than to be fooled so easily, a rookie mistake, he thought to himself. In order to solve this problem and avoid trouble with the staff, Jay would have to be passive-aggressive. The first phase would be to tarnish Elijah's current reputation. Jay was becoming more popular, and he had more trusting allies than Elijah had. Jay told his friends Elijah scammed him, and immediately they asked Jay if he would like them to handle Elijah for him. Jay was appreciative, but he told them to spread only lies and how he scammed Jay among the other students. Jay's allies spread the word, and the majority of students turned against Elijah. Even Elijah's own allies turned against him, which left Elijah extremely vulnerable.

Step Two: Feeling all the pressure from the other students, Elijah was confused and even shocked. Jay knew it was a matter of time before Elijah would speak to him. Jay sat back and soaked in how great his plan was working and continued business until Elijah confronted him. Finally, the day came when Elijah approached Jay. Elijah looked stressed and confused, and Jay kept a neutral expression masking his joy. Elijah proceeded to speak with Jay about everything that was happening, "Jay? People have been talking, and I was just trying to see if we had a problem. They were saying you wanted to fight me, and they were going to jump me if I didn't pay you or something like that." Jay looked confused, and as if he had no idea all this was happening. "I didn't want to fight you or nothing E.". When in actuality, Jay very much wanted to. "And I didn't know all that was going on. Come to think of it, when you bought from me, some of the same people were around, and they probably overheard us yesterday when I told you the transaction didn't go through.". "Maybe they just assumed you lied and was never going to pay me.". Jay came up with what would sound more believable. He saw how anxious his plan made Elijah, and Jay knew what Elijah's next words would be. "Yeah, maybe. I just found out my account locked, and I couldn't send you the money. So I'll just pay you in cash tomorrow, I hope that's cool.". Jay knew Elijah was going to come up with some kind of excuse to make it seem like he wasn't lying.

Step Three: The next day, the moment Elijah landed eyes on Jay, he immediately approached him with the cash. Jay knew Elijah wasn't lying the last time and was pleased to see his long overdue payment. Jay kept his guard up because he suspected that Elijah was the type that wouldn't stop unless he was actually confronted. Elijah never disrupted Jay's business again but sought to harm him in some way. Jay asked his closest friends to keep an eye out for Elijah for a while as a just in case. The next part, which seemed like the final at first, was to have Jay's colleagues keep a close eye on Elijah. This was set in place just in case Elijah was going to harm Jay in any way.

Step Four: One of Jay's friends who rode the bus with Elijah said he, his brother, and another kid Elijah was friends with were harassing Jay's little sister. Jay rode the bus with them as well. The problem was that Jay had sports after school, and the season was still ongoing, so he wouldn't be able to ride the bus until Friday. And every time Jay did ride the bus, the three wouldn't say anything to his little sister or him. Jay knew if he made a move right then, he wouldn't have any proof to back it up. The bus driver was notified about the bullying and did nothing and acted as if nothing had happened. Jay was furious, and when it came to family, Jay would do anything for them and protect them at all cost. He didn't know how to deal with the situation because he was always at practice, and when he was on the bus, nothing happened. One day, Jay's coach had a doctor's appointment, and practice was canceled. Jay knew this was how he'd catch all three, and if no one would do anything, he'd take matters into his own hands. Jay put on his hood and held his head down as he got on the bus and sat down, still remaining unnoticed. After a while of waiting and closely listening in over a noisy overcapacity bus, Jay heard the three picking on his little sister, and Jay grew furious. Jay stood up and confronted the three, spoke aggressively, and was ready to fight. The entire bus was silent as Jay spoke, and the three looked dumbfounded, Elijah looked most shocked and guilty. The three only talked as if they were innocent and did nothing wrong. Jay knew Elijah was getting on his last nerves, and he had to deal with this problem once and for all.

Step Five: Jay knew his Elijah problem was getting out of hand, and it was time to rid him completely. Elijah and Jay returned to school the next day. Elijah didn't even lock eyes with Jay. Jay knew he had to completely destroy Elijah's reputation without drawing unwanted attention. Jay went with the same approach, only this time, he was more ruthless and made Elijah aware he was coming for him. Jay started to spread even worse lies and tell other students he was picking with his little sister. Jay allies respected him, especially those who witnessed his aggression during the bus incident. Jay's allies supported him and helped destroy not only Elijah's reputation but his brother's and the other kids' reputation as well. Elijah, who was practically defenseless, couldn't do anything but accept defeat. After Elijah left Jay alone completely, he didn't bother him the remainder of the school year.
When the next school year started, Elijah transferred to another school.

   Being aggressive is an important factor we need to have when progressing in life. Others will do what they can to ensure your downfall or take what's yours. If we take matters into our own hands, whether it's passive or physical aggression, we can defend what's ours and not be afraid of conflict. Jay didn't like conflict and didn't want to fight anyone. But he had to grow out of that habit, or else everything he was building up to would be destroyed. When his passive approach failed, Jay had to become physically aggressive in order to protect what's his. Though he solved his problem, Jay wasn't fully relieved. In fact, he was still angry at the fact that he was unprepared and he was left with no choice. He hated his business was almost robbed, his sister was being picked on, and he was losing his power. He felt he had no choice but to become aggressive and pull out all the stops to eliminate his problem. He didn't want conflict. He didn't want his sister to be bullied, and he didn't want to lose his business. He was forced into a position where he would have to choose to defend what's his or lose it all. Jay's mental state was steadily becoming worse as time went on. "Why? Why do people have to be this way? All he had to do was just pay me, and none of this would've happened. He left me with no choice. He violated. He had to suffer the consequences. I tried to be nice. I couldn't be nice. I tried to be passive. I  couldn't be passive. I can't ever choose to make my own decisions.". With his brain running rampant, Jay's mental state steadily rose. He eventually left the situation in the past and focused on the future, and prepared for anything else to come his way. Though next time, will things change for the better? Will he have his own decision to make?