Tatsu - The Threat

Chapter 9 - Kannagara

One day during lunch, Anthony, one of the fiercest bullies at Lewis Middle School began to choke Timothy demanding money.

"Give me my 50 cents biatch!"

Gasping for air, Timothy bravely refused to give the bully the 50 cents. To everyone's surprise he didn't cry or panic. Viciously held in a choke hold nearly passing out, Timothy formed the Tora seal with his hands, closed his eyes and slowly played in his mind Brian's glorious two-story jump. He remembered every detail of the kicks in midair. He recalled the intensity in Brian's eyes, an intensity that infected Timothy's soul.

If Brian could believe so could he. Timothy was not the kind to give up either. He was stubborn and determined, but realistic. He was not physically strong and not as agile as Brian, but he had one thing. Tora.

Clear of any fear or pain, he leaned his body to the side, clenched his fist and hit Anthony so hard dead center on the belly that Anthony let go immediately and fell to the ground moaning in intense pain. Brian witnessed every detail.

As Anthony was crying on the floor and all the kids were cheering for Timothy, Brian saw a great inner peace in his friend. He did not see anger. He did not see hate. He didn't even see satisfaction. All he saw in Timothy was peace. Brian whispered to himself. Thank you Tora!

On the way home, they could not stop talking about Timothy's great triumph.

"It's not a win over Anthony. It's a win over your own self!" said Brian.

He explained to Timothy his theory regarding bullying stating that the hardest battle in bullying was the one with oneself. He believed that a person had the power to overcome anything that caused suffering except for death. To elaborate, he told Timothy his experience regarding the Asian homeless man.

"You and me are like the Asian man under the Bellfort bridge who is powerful, but people don't know. All they see is a dirty homeless guy. If he died, no one would care, no one would cry or miss him. But check this out. One night I was going to the store and I see three guys messing wit him. He didn't say nothin'."

Supporting his story with live action moves Brian continued, "After a couple of minutes of pushing him and kickin' him, the Asian man got tired of that crap. You should a seen the look on his face. He was pissed off dog! Honestly, I felt sorry for those guys. My mom told me to hurry up with the milk that day, but there was no freakin' way I was gonna miss what was comin'," said Brian.

"He went to the tall one and kicked him like five times in one second and two of those kicks were right in the nuts. Then he broke another guy's arm and the third guy got so scared he ran away. The Asian man sat down and let them run. They're probably not gonna mess wit him again, dog. That homeless foo was not weak! He's special, but no one knows. Except for me and now you!" said Brian with excitement.

"Nobody knows you Timothy. Only you know who you are," said Brian clenching his fist. With that intense look from the jump in his eyes again.

The school year was going by so quickly. And with each day, Brian grew more confident, more sophisticated, more brazen. He woke up every morning meditating in his room, mimicking the character of the Tora. What Brian didn't know, was that an even more empowering force would pay him a visit. His life was going to get even better like it happens on a good streak.

On Saturday afternoon, everyone was sitting in the living room trying to ignore the gusts of wind blowing off a raging torrential rain. The windows rumbled with each thunderclap emphasizing that they should stay home. Brian didn't have to look out the window to realize they couldn't go to the flea that afternoon. No one complained and everyone was doing their thing, but disappointment was in the air. Brian was moving a small paper hat on a hand-made Monopoly board, ready to get his $200 for passing Go as if it were something unpleasant. Jorge was starting to move his paper car parked on Illinois Avenue, but his hand felt as heavy as his disappointment. Carmen and Jennifer combed and fixed the only doll the girl had. Their smiles were one of those that you have to scrape out from deep within. Francisco had just gotten out of the shower and was trying to watch television with very poor reception due to the storm.