The Real Tournament

*** Warning: This story depicts bullying and physical violence – and contains profanity. ***

“I’ve got a plan,” Tommy shouted as he walked past his father and down the steps toward the basement.

“Hey,” his father yelled.

“What?”

“What happened to you?”

“Same thing as always.”

“You, okay?”

“I’m fine, just leave me alone.”

“Don’t go doing anything stupid,” his father encouraged. “There are only a few weeks of school remaining and then you’re off for the summer. Next year will be better.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever.”

Tommy’s ninth-grade year had been a pivotal turning point in his young life. He felt as if he had been stomped into the ground and couldn’t get himself up. Quite a place for a young teenager to be, mentally.

The past year had been the year when the school introduced wrestling into the physical education program. Unfortunately, Tommy had just entered puberty and was rather small for his age.

He repeatedly found himself paired against other students, who were bigger and stronger. At first, it wasn’t all bad because they were all learning how to wrestle. However, over time they engaged in real matches in preparation for the big event at the end of the year – the wrestling tournament and everyone was expected to participate.

As time passed, Tommy grew wearier of his abilities causing him to consider ways to avoid the class all together. His fear of the consequences for skipping the class prevented him from doing just that. So, he continued showing up. Week after week he was humiliated in class and in front of the class. He couldn’t defend himself in the matches and was continually pinned to the mat.

If the humiliation wasn’t bad enough, during one of the matches as Tommy pulled himself off the mat, he noticed the phys ed teacher laughing at him in ridicule. It was at that moment he began thinking the phys ed teacher was bullying him by matching him against other students that were superior wrestlers – and intentionally.

In preparation for the tournament, the phys ed teacher had arranged a practice tournament and had combined several classes into one. This meant Tommy would be wrestling in front of his entire class and likely other classes. He’d considered forfeiting but he wondered if that would have been worse than simply losing the match. The consequence of forfeiting might have meant increased torment and bullying. It wore heavy on his mind.

On the day of the tournament, Tommy had become sick to his stomach and beyond fearful. That morning he’d reviewed the match board and quickly realized he’d been paired with the student who had beat him handily and frequently in practice. So, he’d decided to intentionally throw the match. However, he failed to realize the consequence of not trying. The other student overpowered him causing a shoulder separation. The pain was excruciating. The referees hand seemed to slam the mat in slow motion, as he cried out in pain. It was much worse than he had imagined. As the referee’s hand finally slammed to the mat for the last time, Tommy felt relieved but was not prepared for what happened next. The other student released his grip then slammed his elbow into Tommy’s face. It was intentional, which was supported by the referee in the disqualification of the other student.

Tommy dragged himself from the mat and slowly made his way to the locker room. Along the way, he noticed his phys ed teacher made no effort to assist, which supported his theory that the phys ed teacher was part of the problem. Thankfully, the football team’s trainer had followed Tommy into the locker room. He popped Tommy’s shoulder into place and told him he had a broken nose. Tommy cleaned himself up, put on his clothes and walked off campus.

Due to his injuries, Tommy couldn’t participate in the real tournament, but he didn’t care. He spent the last few weeks of the school year avoiding everyone the best he could. By the time school was over, his face had finally begun to appear normal, and his shoulder felt good.

On the last day of school, he boarded the bus and took a seat on the side of the bus facing the school. He contemplated never returning. As the bus pulled away, he noticed the student that had injured him walking to his vehicle. The student never saw him, but it left a sickening feeling in his stomach.

Once home, he stood in front of the mirror and quickly remembered what he needed to do – follow his plan to focus on his physical development. He wasn’t necessarily focused on revenge, but felt he needed to better protect himself and stand up for himself – no one else was seemingly going to do it.

Within a few short days, Tommy had convinced his neighbor to let him borrow his weight set, since he hadn’t used it in several years. He quickly developed a training regime and taught himself basic self-defense. The days turned into weeks and Tommy had begun to turn the corner of progress. He had managed to add some muscle and weight and recognized his strength increasing. He made several trips to the local library, when his parents would take him, to do some research and make photocopies of materials for self-defense and training.

As his body quickly changed, he couldn’t help thinking that others would also notice, and he began wondering if that would have consequences. More specifically, would he continue to be bullied because of his efforts not to be bullied?

His main goal was agility and strength – not appearance. He adjusted his routines accordingly and created a homemade punching bag and assorted secondary equipment such as a pullup bar and dip bar.

There was very little engagement by – or with – his family over the course of the summer. It didn’t much matter, as he had always been disengaged. He did have a handful of chores, including cutting the grass, but he kept after them. No one questioned him.

As the summer drew to an end and the date for the first day of school quickly approached, Tommy lobbied to get a new pair of shoes because he didn’t want to be the only kid in school with old shoes. That may have led to further bullying and torment. Sadly, his parents couldn’t afford them, and he knew the consequences, but there was nothing that could be done.

He hadn’t seen any of the other students since the end of the last school year and had no idea what to expect as the first day of school had arrived. No matter, he boarded the bus and rode the twenty minutes to school. By the time the bus had pulled up to the school, he could barely breathe. He exited the bus and made the long journey to the other end of the school, which was where his locker was located.

His walk through the halls seemed to take forever. He was overwhelmed with the sounds of chatter, locker doors slamming, and books hitting the floor. Everything was amplified. He passed many students he recognized, but there was no exchange.

He arrived at his locker some ten minutes before the bell rang. He felt like he needed to vomit, and he was sweating profusely. As he loaded his locker with his folders and pens, he couldn’t help noticing his hands shaking.

He stood staring into his locker to avoid conversation and to calm himself, but it wasn’t working. He wanted to turn and walk out the emergency exit – never to be seen again. He shut his locker and locked it when he heard someone yell out, “Nice shoes, asshole.” Without hesitation, he turned and threw a punch. As the punch landed, he realized that it was the student that had injured him during the wrestling match. It all had happened so fast that he couldn’t quite make sense of it.

The student fell backward and up against the lockers on the opposite side of the hall. His head slammed against a locker, and he slumped to the floor, somewhat unconscious. The sound was so horrific that it silenced every student. Before Tommy had time to think, he had leaped on top of the student and began an assault of punches that splattered blood in all different directions. He couldn’t control himself.

Within seconds, two teachers had arrived and were attempting to pull Tommy off the other student – one on either side of him. As they began to subdue him, Tommy spun and punched the one teacher, sending him across the hall and against a small cluster of students. By then, two other teachers had arrived, and Tommy punched one of them. He was finally subdued after a few minutes and with the cooperation of other students.

Tommy was held to the ground until the school guard arrived and then was escorted to the main lobby. Shortly after, two local police officers arrived. They immediately cuffed him and dragged him to the waiting room just outside the principal’s office. The two police officers remained at his side. The one officer began berating Tommy with statements along the lines of, “You’ve done it now, punk. You can’t punch a teacher. You’re certainly fucked. What the hell is wrong with you?”

The comments continued as Tommy was dragged into the principal’s office. The principal wasn’t as vulgar and berating in his comments, but essentially relayed the same message. An immediate suspension was invoked and for ten days, pending any charges. The police officers then escorted him into the police cruiser and off campus.

Later that day, Tommy was released into the custody of his parents and was basically under house arrest. No one ever knew why, but charges were never filed against him and so he served his ten-day suspension.

Prior to Tommy’s return to school, his parents sat with him and attempted to understand what had transpired two weeks prior, but Tommy brushed it off as an isolated incident. He returned to school and continued riding the bus, mostly because he had no other option. He wasn’t quite old enough to have a driver’s license and had no friends who did.

Over the next few months, there were no other incidents. No one bothered him and he bothered no one. During the nights and weekends, he continued his workouts and practiced his fighting skills. His parents never questioned his continued training, mostly because he had gone months without incident.

After the holiday break, all students returned to school, including Tommy. As he entered the school and just inside the main door, there was information posted regarding the wrestling tournament, scheduled for the end of the school year. He made it a point to sign up at that very moment. He felt it was an opportunity to regain his respect.

About a week later, Tommy was walking to the cafeteria when he noticed someone being bullied. The bully was slightly bigger than Tommy, but it didn’t stop him, however. He approached the bully and punched him in the back of the head sending his face into a locker. Tommy grabbed his head and made sure to slam it into the locker a second and third time, drawing blood. As the bully turned around, Tommy punched him square in the mouth sending several teeth flying into the hallway.

The bully dropped to his knees putting one hand up, begging Tommy to stop. Tommy never said a word and simply walked away. He never went to the cafeteria. Instead, he went straight to the principal’s office, which ended in a three-day suspension and a warning that the next time would be the last and would end in expulsion.

Everyone knew the bully that Tommy had handled had a history of bullying and, in fact, had been suspended several times himself. It went without saying that the bully got what he deserved. However, the Principal had full intentions of expelling Tommy following another incident.

It wasn’t long that a third offense occurred and in a big way. Tommy got mixed up with the biggest bully in the school and not by accident. The bully had confronted Tommy and challenged him. Tommy never batted an eye as they exchanged punches in the middle of the cafeteria. The fight was even until the guard was spotted coming in. That’s when Tommy’s martial arts training took over. He maneuvered behind the other student and into position for a rear-naked choke. He knew he needed less than ten seconds as the guard got closer and asked for Tommy to let the student go.

The student’s body went limp, and Tommy let him drop to the floor just in front of the guard. The student was faced down and unconscious. Tommy gave himself up to the guard but not before stomping his foot into the back of the student’s head. It was a sickening display, even in the mind of Tommy. He felt he had crossed the line.

While waiting for the police to arrive yet again, Tommy took the opportunity to share his feelings with the principal.

“I used to be bullied all the time and no one ever did anything about it. In fact, I felt I was bullied by certain teachers, and no one ever did anything about it. So, I took things into my own hands and now I’m the bad guy? You’ve failed me, my parents have failed me, my teachers have failed me, my own classmates have failed me. I’m the bad guy? Fuck you.”

The principal responded, “That’s not the way it works…”

“Fuck you,” Tommy screamed. “The system has failed me.” With that Tommy turned and ran out of the building.

That was the last anyone ever saw Tommy. He spent his remaining years living the same life of violence. He served years in jail and at one point had been paid to street fight. Tommy had been disposed of by society and abandoned by everyone he ever knew, even his enemies.

In the end, Tommy’s body had been discovered early one brisk and fall morning in an alley hanging from the side of an abandoned building. There was no investigation, and it was never known if someone had killed Tommy or if he had taken his own life.

Tommy was twenty-seven years old and had failed the system.