A Boys Life

Growing Up

I didn't know what the word normal meant until 3rd grade, and that's the day I knew that I wasn't normal

"Ezra! Don't do that it's not normal!" Mrs. Newberry had yelled.
I looked up at her and a tear ran down my eye.
"Boys don't cry either Ezra" Said the boy I hardly knew.
I wiped away my tear and closed the notebook I'd been doodling on. Mrs. Newberry got up and walked to my desk, the whole class snickered and pointed there tiny fingers at me. She picked up the journal I had been writing in and flipped through the pages.
"Ezra darling, you of all people know that this isn't allowed in Marx Academy"
The class erupted with laughter as another tear streaked my face, Mrs Newberry tried to shush them but the damage had already been done. She got up and threw my journal in the trash can and sat right back down in her chair.

The rest of the school day was a blur until dismissal period came along. I had to walk home from school because there were no parents waiting in the car line to pick me up from school and ask me how my day was, there was nobody in that school line that gave a damn about me. I walked away from the prison they called school only to be stopped by Eli and his gang of juvenile delinquents. He stood right in the middle of the sidewalk and gave me an ugly look.
"Oh look crybaby is walking home from school today" he snarled.
"Yeah I am, and do you have a problem with that" I tried to act brave but I knew I was outnumbered and smaller in size.
He held up his fist and said "This is going to hurt you a lot more than it's going to hurt me" he punched me right in the stomach and I fell on the wet grass. Then a quick kick hit the back of my head and soon all I could feel were kicks and punches hitting every part of my body.
"Today we've learned a valuable lesson," he said "we've learned that Ezra is a sorry low life and a crybaby."
The boys erupted with laughs and ran off to go back to there rich white boy homes where they would have endless food and water all to themselves. I lie there for about half an hour until I finally have the stamina to continue my walk "home". As I walk I start to feel the throbbing of the bruises the boys had caused me and wish I could run into my moms loving arms and she would make everything feel better. I knew that, that day wasn't this day or the next or the day after that. I knew that it was only going to get worse and that the torment had just begun.
I walked by the old mcdonalds that barely had anyone inside and saw a girl, she was a pretty girl but I'd learned the hard way that pretty girls don't fall for me, they just laugh at me. The little girl turned and looked at me and I looked her in the eyes and smiled and waved as any boy my age would have. Then her delicate smile turned into a frown and she tapped her dads shoulder and looked at me, she mouthed something to her dad but I couldn't make out the words. Her dad got up and walked up to me, he had a beer belly and a five o clock shadow, he wore a long sleeve shirt that fit him too well.
"How dare you lay your ugly wretched eyes on my daughter," he yelled at me and got in my face. "Do it again lad and I'll slap your smirk off your stupid face"
A tear rolled down my cheek and I turned away and began to walk home until the man pushed me in a murky brown puddle. I got up and ran because that's all I'd ever known what to do when things got tough and that was too run. Soon i was in the heart of the city and saw the bridge I called "home".