Long Islanders

27 - Peter and the Bully

The music was loud at the party.

Jimmy could barely hear himself think over the sound of Led Zeppelin playing over the speakers. He wound his way through the crowd, searching for John, who had stepped outside for some fresh air.

When Jimmy left the house, he glanced around but John was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he saw Jeremy, one of the kids from Mike Lane who had a reputation for being a bully, talking aggressively to Ada, the girl hosting the party.

"Jeremy, please get away from me," Ada was saying, trying to step away from him, but the guy wouldn't let her. "Please, just leave me alone. Go enjoy the party."

"Come on, Ada, come on," Jeremy said, and Jimmy started over to teach Jeremy a lesson. But Peter Abato beat him to it.

"Come on, Jeremy, leave her alone," Peter ordered, striding across the lawn toward them. "She asked you to, didn't she?"

"Leave us alone, Pete," Jeremy growled. "No one asked you to come over here."

"Get away from Ada, Jeremy," Peter warned. "Or else."

"Or else what?" Jeremy challenged, turning away from Ada to face Peter. Jimmy finished crossing the lawn and Ada moved toward him as soon as Jeremy's attention left her.

Peter moved so quickly Jeremy had no chance to avoid the fist streaking for his face. Blood went everywhere as Peter's fist collided with Jeremy's nose. The kid yelped and collapsed, hands flying to his face.

"She said to leave her alone, Jeremy," Peter stated. "Next time, listen to her."

"Thank you," Ada whispered fervently to Peter before turning and hurrying back to the house.

"Man!" Jimmy exclaimed as Peter turned away from Jeremy. The punch had been very unexpected from Peter Abato, he being such a laidback guy. "Nice, man! Jeremy deserved that."

Peter just nodded.

The following day Jimmy, John, Andrew, and Peter were walking around town, strolling down the sidewalk, when they ran into Jeremy and a group of his friends. "Hey, Abato," he called. "You're gonna pay for last night."

"We've got you," John muttered to Peter.

"Look, Jeremy, last night's in the past," Peter said. "Let's just leave this alone."

Jeremy stepped forward, hurling his fist at Peter. Peter sidestepped and threw his own fist, striking Jeremy in the eye and sending him crashing into a nearby parked car. Slamming his head against the bumper, he slumped to the ground, seemingly unconscious.

"Darn," Andrew commented and Jeremy's friends all clenched their fists, preparing to fight.

A workman walked over to the car, frowning slightly at the downed boy. "Ah, I've heard of this kid," he grumbled. He looked up at Peter as Jeremy's friends suddenly made themselves scarce, muttering threats about how they were going to get Peter for this later. "Good job. He needed to learn a lesson."