Freddogg Off The Chain

This story went out this morning


The setting is a Catholic Grammar school self contained classroom in 1960. The natural order of phylum distribution was the boys sitting in the front and the girls in the back.
The boys wore coats and ties and the girls canvas jumpers with long sleeved blouses.I still think women are more alluring when they're mostly covered up. Maybe the Taliban have taken that concept to the extreme.Peek-a boo.
Sister Saint Winefred an Immaculate Heart Nun was home at the convent no doubt suffering from some deeply repressed sexual depression misdiagnosed as inappropriate homicidal fantasies which involved the mass murder 13 year old comedians.
So we had what was called a "lay teacher" for the day who looked like The Beave's mother and short of "kiss my meat loaf" she had no idea how to control us.
I honestly saw two trouser snakes make guest appearances under the ink wells because when you control kids through violence when they come loose they look to break all cultural taboos because---they are savages!
There was this boy sitting behind me named James Toll. He was moderately tall but freckled and fat/flacid and always caught grief because Toll sounded too much like Troll the storied under the over pass creature from literature.
This afternoon Toll was being systematically driven crazy as kid after kid was chanting under his breath.."Tollll! Tolllll!"
Toll threatened to cream some faces any faces that kept goating him--no I mean goat as in Billy Goat Gruff.
I was the "top eliminator in the class- 185 pounds of weight lifting muscle- having just lead our basketball team to a 31-1 record. I wasn't interested in Toll one way or another but his constant boastings of retaliation finally got my attention so I turned around and said,"Tolllll!"
"Turn around one more time and I'll punch you in your face, "Toll said.
That was the invitation. I turned around.."Tolll!"
Whamp! Toll closed his freckled fist and punched me under the right eye.
The class grew silent. Trouser snakes fell back through the ink wells. Toll's attack was as ill advised as the Hungarian revolution against the Soviets in 1957.
I stayed calm and invited Toll to a meeting in front of the America Legion after school. There was a World War Two tank out front which would soon be covered with screaming school kids like they were a liberation army.
Toll rode First Bus,was dismissed before the walkers and he most certainly would not show up. But he stayed after school. He was focused and rather full of himself. Maybe at home someone told him,"Stand up for yourself Tollll or it will never stop.
A hundred baby booming adolescents created a human boxing ring. Ironically I actual knew Sonny Liston through a 'connected" uncle. Toll walked out into the center with his duck feet and cordavan shoes and dumb Robert Hall Coat. He assumed a boxers stance hiding behind his arms but his fists were a foot above his head. I walked out to face him.
I looked into the sea of morons and it has always been in my nature to go against the crowd. They knew Toll had no chance and that it would be ugly. Toll kept standing there flat footed. I could get inside my brother in a sparing match and he was 6'4" 250 pounds. Our fights usually ended by him attacking me securing the power German head lock then jumping up and down screaming "why are you such an idiot?"
For a second I considered placed a full velocity punch right through the uprights into the center of Toll's face. I could already see him bleeding and wasted. BUT
Something came over me. I looked at this kid and I admired him. He was incredibly courageous if not stupid but there he was in front of the legion next to the tank and I knew by instinct rather than any great teachings that Toll needed to win.
I offered my hand in friendship which drew cat calls from the crowd. I warned them I wasn't against violence and the next person to mention my name would be sent home with a hand print on their face.
That deep dark evil spot that supposedly exists deep inside us all--well I don't believe it and I don't have it.
And how about Toll discovering those Cookies? You just never know?