Roger and the Bully

As the sun shined through the window, Roger woke up from his first night in the new house. He had been tired from the move, so he went to bed early and had a good night's sleep. Now, he felt well rested and ready to explore the new neighborhood. He got dressed and went downstairs to have breakfast with his parents. After eating a bowl of cereal, he headed outside, turned left, and started walking down the sidewalk.

For a few blocks, there was nothing to see other than houses. This was a quiet suburban neighborhood could easily be described as boring. However, Roger didn't care much where he was as long as he could make new friends. This was a whole new town where he didn't know anyone yet, so he was eager to meet some other kids. He kept walking until he came to a park with a basketball court where a boy was shooting hoops.

"Hi, I'm Roger," he introduced himself to the boy. "I just moved into the neighborhood. What's your name?"

"I'm Tyler," replied the boy. "Nice to meet you."

The two boys hung out at the basketball court for a while, shooting hoops and getting to know each other. They learned that they would be going to different schools for the upcoming school year since Roger was going into 6th grade and Tyler was going into 5th grade. Still, they would be able to see each other a lot outside of school since they lived in the same neighborhood. Roger loved that he was able to make a new friend so quickly. It wouldn't take long at all for this place to feel like home.

Suddenly, Tyler's eyes widened and he said, "Oh no!" He looked scared and and ran to hide behind the play structures on the other side of the park. Confused, Roger ran after him, and after catching up, he looked back to see another boy who looked a bit bigger and older than himself.

"That's Louis," explained Tyler. "He's really mean. You need to stay away from him."

"Why? What does he do?" asked Roger.

Tyler continued, "He bullies other kids in the neighborhood, but he's especially mean to me. He always teases me, and sometimes worse. He's beaten me up several times. Now, I try to avoid him and leave places if he shows up."

Roger paused and thought for a minute. He had been feeling excited about having a new home and integrating into a new community. This was his neighborhood now, and he didn't want to let some jerk ruin it for him. He decided that he needed to confront Louis instead of hiding from him.

Tyler protested a bit, but Roger had made up his mind. He came out from behind the play structures and walked straight towards Louis, who in turn started walking towards him. as soon as they were face-to-face, Louis asked in a smug tone, "Who are you?"

Roger replied, "I'm Roger. I just moved into the neighborhood."

Louis grabbed Roger by the collar and pinned him to a nearby tree. "Now you listen to me," he said sternly. "I own this neighborhood. You're living on my territory now and you'd better not forget it. I'm not going to be your friend. I'm in charge around here and you need to act like it!"

Roger rolled his eyes. "Why should I do that? What makes you so special?"

This enraged Louis. "I'll show you why!" he yelled. He then threw Roger to the ground and started punching him. Roger held up his arms to protect himself, but Louis was bigger than him and there wasn't much he could do other than wait for it to stop. When Louis finally did stop, he asked, "Now do you get it?"

Roger felt defeated in the moment, so he meekly replied, "Yes."

Satisfied, Louis smiled and said, "Good." He then walked away. Roger got up and dusted himself off. He was in shock and couldn't think straight, but he didn't want to give up yet. He needed to figure out some way to stand up to Louis.

Roger took a moment to calm down and then looked back to see Louis walking over to the play structures. He panicked, realizing Tyler was still hiding behind them and Louis had probably spotted him! He took off in that direction but tried not to make much noise.

When Roger got to the main structure, Louis was already hassling Tyler, who was cowering and trying not to provoke him. Louis taunted him loudly, which enabled Roger to climb the structure without being heard. He got to the top and then hung off of a bar above Louis and Tyler. Louis looked up right in time for Roger to swing and kick him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Roger then jumped on top of Louis, punched him a few times, and hit him in the face with Tyler's basketball.

Louis had been caught off guard, but it wouldn't last long, so Roger quickly got up, grabbed Tyler's basketball, and said, "Let's go!" Then, Roger and Tyler took off, and once they had lost sight of Louis, Tyler led the way to his backyard. He was impressed with Roger, but also worried about what Louis would do in retaliation. Roger was proud of himself and told Tyler not to worry.

"No matter what he does, I'm going to keep fighting back," Roger explained. "He's clearly not used to being stood up to. That's why he thinks he can get away with being a bully. Well I don't want to let him think that. You said he bullies the other neighborhood kids, too. If we all band together, we can show him that he's not so big after all."

Tyler was a little hesitant, but he agreed to introduce Roger to the other kids. He was still afraid of Louis, but he looked forward to explaining what happened that day. Roger had been so brave, and the other kids were sure to be impressed. Maybe this was exactly what they needed. For so long, they thought that they just had to put up with Louis. But now, this new kid was going to show them that they didn't have to take his abuse anymore.