The rest of the gang went inside the bowling alley with BB. They had me wait outside next to the flashing beer sign. The cool air was starting to feel cold. I jumped around a little trying to keep warm. The idea was for them to look for someone inside while I stood watch outside. It was an hour before they came out laughing. BB looked at me. They all laughed again, this time at me. “Better luck next time.” I followed the group back to the yellow house half frozen to death.
The next night was the same. And the next. I was starting to get pissed. They were making a fool of me. And I was letting them.
The third night I wore as many clothes as I could fit under my jacket. I even had on my mother’s purple hat. The guys laughed at me all the way to the bowling alley. I didn’t care. They were inside having a good time. At least I was warm.
“Did your mother dress you?” A strange voice made me turn and look at two guys walking up to me. One was white and the other black. Trying to look tough in the cold, they only had on T-shirts and jeans. I could clearly see the dog collars they wore around their necks.
Suddenly I punched the guy who spoke to me in the mouth. I was thankful that I had had a few extra days to recover from my own beating. The punch took the guy by surprise. He crashed to the ground. The white guy, slightly shorter than me, cussed at me and took a swing at my stomach. All the extra clothing softened his blow. I took my knee to his groin. He tumbled over.
I heard someone yell, “Fight!” from inside the building. Soon people came out to watch. By then I had pounced on the first guy and hit him in the face until I saw blood dripping from his nose. The second guy came up on me from behind. He grabbed my head but only managed to pull off my mother’s hat while I took a swing at his stomach. He cussed again and fell down.
“Get out of here now!” I heard Kaden’s voice as I saw him running off behind the bowling alley. I was confused at first. But that’s when I heard the sirens. Someone had called the police. I took off running too.
By the time I reached the yellow house, I was sweating. I stripped off all the clothes as the rest of the gang sat on the couches staring at me. I looked at them and asked, “What?”
They all started laughing. Brian finally said, “I never knew having on so many clothes could actually help you in a fight.” I looked at the pile of clothes I had shed. I felt like a sumo wrestler that had just dropped two hundred pounds. I started laughing. We all laughed.
I didn’t go home that night.