Donny's Whisper

Billy Miller stood up to Donny. That was a big mistake. Donny is almost twice his size, but I guess you can say that about most people compared to Donny. Most 7th graders are about 5 feet tall and weigh 100 pounds. At 5 foot 7 and 180 pounds Donny is the biggest kid in our grade. There are only a couple of 8th graders who come close to Donny’s size. I guess Billy was tired of being picked on. Donny was only joking when he “accidentally” spilled milk on him. Everyone was surprised when Billy picked up his pile of ketchup-coated fries and threw them at Donny. Billy screamed that he was tired of Donny’s bullshit. Red-faced, Donny tried to grab Billy, but a Mr. Williams yelled for us all to knock it off. I’m pretty sure he saw what happened, but he was too lazy to write any kids up. Donny just looked at Billy and said, “After school.”

Everyone tells Billy to just run home after school, but he is too stubborn, so here he is, about to get his butt beat by Donny. We all head to an empty lot behind the laundromat. It’s a block away from the school and where all the big bouts happen. Billy is already there when Donny and the spectators arrive. Donny, seeing Billy, pauses and looks around in disbelief. “You actually showed up. I hope you're ready to . . . “

“Shut your mouth Donny! I’m tired of your . . . ”

SMACK! In the time that it took Billy to say his last regretful words, Donny walked over to him, and with an open hand, slapped Billy across the face. The clap echoes throughout the alley. The audience is stunned. No one really expected a real fight to happen. Usually, Donny would just rough up the kid or scare him into crying. Donny shouts out, “Don’t ever disrespect me again!” I feel sorry for Billy, but I have my duties to perform.

I shout out, “THAT’S RIGHT. NEXT TIME YOU'LL KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!” I run up to Donny and give him a high five. The crowd looks angry.

Someone in the back blurts out, “Hey man, that’s not right. He’s a lot smaller than you.”

I reply, “Who said that? Are you looking for an ass beating too?” No one answers back. Donny and I look around at all the students, but his heartless stare shuts them up and they begin to disperse. A couple of the girls help Billy up and walk off with him. Donny and I are left alone in the lot. “Donny, I can’t believe you hit him. You said you were only going to scare him, maybe push him down.”

“I know,” Donny says remorsefully, “but he was trying to embarrass me in front of everyone.”

“Yeah, but you have to be careful. You don’t want to get in trouble again.”

“Billy thought he was being funny at lunch today,” Donny explains. “You heard him. He said my mom must have dated Bigfoot and started calling me Baby Bigfoot. He had the whole table calling me BBF.”

Donny, despite his size, is still just a sensitive little boy. I would never tell him that. He has a love and hate relationship with his size. I’ve seen him run over juniors in high school when playing football with our brothers and their friends. However, he can’t stand the attention it brings him as a freak of nature. People see his size, not who he is. I guess that’s why we’re friends. I met him a few years back when our brothers started high school. Donny or I would be the tag-a-long kid whose brother had to watch. Hanging out with Donny, I learned that we both love Pokemon. Donny won’t talk about Pokemon at school, but we still collect cards. He makes his mom take him to stores outside our neighborhood to buy them. I also know that he still sleeps with a night light and wishes his dad spent more time with him. I see him, others see the giant.

In 4th grade Donny was only slightly taller than me. As he hit his growth spurt, the dynamics at school began to change. At one time or another, the boys in our class would get into fights. They were usually for dumb reasons that no one could remember the next day. I remember Brian got into a fight with Johnny on a Friday over a “your momma” joke. By the next Monday, they terrorized the girls who started wearing bras, trying to snap their straps. The problem was that Donny was a kid in a man’s body. A typical boy fight turned serious when Donny picked up Joey and slammed him down on the ground. Joey started teasing Donny about his size. He kept asking if Donny had hairy balls. He actually pantsed him in his effort to find out. Donny turned around, picked him up like he was Andre the Giant, and threw him to the gym floor. Donny got in big trouble and was labeled a bully afterward. A lot of our friends stopped hanging out with us, but I stuck with him, so it was just me and him.

We talk for a bit before we head home. “You’re probably right, I shouldn’t have hit him so hard.”

“Dude, I don’t want you getting in trouble, but you can’t let him treat you that way. He started it. He can’t call you names and expect you to do nothing. Billy is always talking smack. He was making fun of me in gym yesterday. He said that I was your little minion. With my glasses and yellow gym uniform, he kept making “minion” noises. He got what he deserved. Just don’t get carried away.”

Donny looks at me, “Maybe you’re right. He is an asshole. He shouldn’t talk if he can’t handle it.”

We walk home. Donny drops me off at my house and continues four houses down to his place. When I get inside, my mom asks why I’m late. I can’t tell her about the fight, so I tell her that Donny and I stopped at the playground to play basketball with the guys. She had no clue that we didn’t really hang out with anyone else at school. She had no clue that without Donny, I’d be pretty much alone.

Before I could take my shoes off my mom shouts out, “I’m going to the Jewel, I need to get some groceries, come with me so you can help me.”

“Mom! I already took my shoes off.”

“I can see they’re on your feet, get in the car.”

I grudgingly obey and go with her. As we turn to go down the cereal aisle, I notice Billy, so I stop and hide behind the endcap.

Mom yells out, “Come on, I thought you wanted some Cookie Crisp.”

“You grab it. I’m going to go check out the chips.”

“We’re not buying any more chips. We have four half-eaten bags at home.”

“I’m just looking,” I call out as I get away from Billy. I do not want him to see me. I don’t need him crying about him getting his ass kicked in front of my mom. I figure I needed to go toward the front of the store, so I head to the bakery section. Maybe I can convince my mom to get some brownies or a coffee cake for breakfast tomorrow. If I pick something she likes, she might be tempted. I’m looking at the breakfast items at an island display. I’m thinking that mom would be enticed to get the chocolate chip coffee cake. As I’m rummaging through them all to find the biggest one, I feel someone staring at me. I look up to see Billy eyeballing me from the other side of the island. “WHAT?” I shout.

Dead-eyed, Billy says, “Where’s Donny? I bet you’re not so brave when he’s not around.” He shifts to the right to come around the island, so I move so that I stay across from him.

“Are you scared without your bodyguard?”

“I’m not scared of you. I’m just not getting into a fight in the middle of the Jewel.”

He starts to move to the left, so I change directions as well. “Listen, you shouldn’t have talked shit to Donny. It’s your own fault. The milk was an accident anyway.”

“That’s a lie. Samantha told me.”

“Told you what? She doesn’t know anything.” We continue our back and forth dance around the island.

“She heard you. You told Donny to spill milk on me accidentally,” he says with confidence.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” I dart backward to the cookie island to create some distance between me and Billy.

Billy follows, “Why are you running? I knew without your boyfriend around you’d be chicken.”

I could feel the heat rise in my face, “Listen, you better back off!”

“Or what? What are you going to do? I’ll tell you! Nothing! You’re just his toadie.”

“SHUT UP!” I’m going to get Donny to beat the snot out of you again. I’m not his freak’n minion," I explode.

My heart is pounding and the boiler in my stomach is on full blast. I want to hit Billy, but I can’t. Before the situation can get any more heated, I see mom on the far end of the bakery section. She sees me and heads over. Billy notices and heads in the opposite direction.

When she reaches me she asks, “Is that one of your friends from school?’

“Yeah, that was Billy.”

When I get home, I hole myself up in my room. I’m still buzzing from my encounter with Billy. I’m not afraid of him, and I should have smacked him like Donny did. I can feel that same heat start rising in me again. I play some Mario Kart and Golden Eye to keep my mind occupied, but that hole in my stomach remains. As I try to fall asleep, I relive the argument over and over in my head. The conversation plays out in my imagination a hundred different ways. In one version, I push Billy into a bread display causing him to crush the loaves. In another, I get in his face and let him take the first punch. In yet another, I just punch him knocking him to the ground. Eventually, I fall asleep, only to wake up again thinking about what happened. The process repeats itself throughout the night.

In the morning, I still feel the emptiness in my stomach. I get ready in a fog, not even remembering how I got dressed or what I had for breakfast when Donny arrives to pick me up as he always does. On our way to school, I matter-of-factly state, “I saw Billy at the jewel yesterday.” I see that Donny lowers his head and makes a deep regretful sigh. “You won’t believe it, but he was running his mouth again.”

“No way. What did he say?”

“I don’t think you want to know. It will only make you mad.”

Donny stops. He looks at me, “Come on. You can’t tell me he’s talking trash and not tell me what he said.”

With hesitation in my voice, I say, “He started in on the Bigfoot crap again. How your mom went into the woods to find Bigfoot because she wanted a big one. He also said you were a pussy because you sucker punched him.”

The red rose up his neck and settled in his cheeks. “What did you do?”

“I was ready to kick his ass, but he kept hiding behind the bakery displays. My mom came by before I could get him. She thought we were playing tag in the store and yelled at me.”

Donny got quiet. His eyes became serious, “Let’s go.” He started walking really fast, almost jogging. We got to the playground where the kids hung out before class started. He looked around frantically, finally locking his eyes on his prey. He made a beeline toward Billy.

Donny shouted, “You’re still talking shit!”

Confused, Billy replies, “What? Is that what your little sidekick said?”

“KICK HIS ASS!!”