Nikolai felt the sun on his face and the first traces of sweat on his forehead.  He stood on a patch of flattened grass behind the school, butterflies in his stomach, and a terror slowly building in his mind.  He wanted to run, but knew they would catch him.  He didn’t want this, but had no choice.  He was already dreading the thought of letting his mother know he had been in another fight.  It was never her anger, but the guilty look she always held in her eyes as she tended to his scratches and bruises.  But today, he had a feeling things were going to be much worse.

Nikolai had been walking into the classroom, talking with his friend, and didn’t notice Bobby.  They were talking about a fish that Nikolai had caught the previous weekend at the river when Nikolai bumped into Bobby, shoving him forward and causing him to trip over Allison’s foot.  Nikolai had always made a point of avoiding Bobby as he was the largest kid in the class and was known for being a bully to the younger kids.  Unfortunately, as Bobby glared back at Nikolai, he knew he was doomed.

Nikolai quickly said “Bobby…I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to push you.  Here, let me help you up”.  Bobby slapped away Nikolai’s hand and jumped to his feet just as the teacher walking into the classroom and cleared his throat, “Is there a problem here?”  An evil grin formed on Bobby’s lips as he said “No, no problem Teach.  Nothing that Nicky and I can’t resolve later this afternoon”.

Nikolai felt his heart drop and knew exactly what Bobby meant.  It was common knowledge that Bobby would drag younger kids behind the school and “teach them to bark like a dog”.  And even more unfortunate, many of the other kids would race to the location upon hearing the school bell ring, anxiously waiting for the beating to begin.  Nikolai had always avoid this area and thought these spectators as being just as guilty as Bobby for what happened.

All through the day, Nikolai would glance up to see that Bobby was glaring at him.  Any hopes of Bobby simply forgetting about the accident of the morning disappeared as the hours slowly ticked away on the clock.  Nikolai thought about leaving the school early or running out the door and sprinting for the safety of home, but each time, he knew that his father would have been ashamed.  His father had been killed in the war and was a hero in Nikolai’s mind and there was no way he would ever cause him shame.

Nikolai set down his bag of books and removed his good shirt, folding it neatly and laying it on the bag.  He turned and looked at Bobby that was standing with his group of buddies, laughing as he cracked his knuckles.  Bobby was a year old at age 13 and at least six inches taller than Nikolai and twenty pounds heavier, but that didn’t matter to him.  He used this as an advantage to make sure he could dominate the fight.

Bobby’s normal tactic was to beat the opponent down until they refused to get off the ground.  Then Bobby would wrench the prone boy’s arm behind his back, twisting as the boy cried out in agony before demanding “Bark like a dog”.  The normal torment would continue through tears and crying until the broken opponent would begin barking like a dog, much to the pleasure of the blood thirsty crowd.

Nikolai knew he had no chance of winning this fight.  But he knew he could not walk away.  As Bobby walked toward him, he stood, chin held up defiantly, and waited.  When Bobby was only a few feet away, he brought up his fists, taking on a fighting position, any hint of smile gone from his face as he succumbed to enjoyment of dominating another.  “Let’s go Nicky….Time for you to learn to bark!” he spat.  Nikolai just stood there, staring into Bobby’s eyes, refusing to raise his fists or even provide a defense.  After several seconds, the smile returned to Bobby’s face when he said “Looks like Nicky is too scared to move….This is going to be easy”.

Nikolai only caught a glimpse of a fist coming for the side of his face.  As the fog over his mind lifted, he realized he was lying on the ground, face down, and could feel a warm liquid running across his face and down his nose.  Attempting to blink his eyes, he noticed that his left eye hurt severely and he was unable to open it with significant pain.  As his right eye began to look around, he could see blood dripping of the tip of his nose and dropping down into the dirt near his face.  As he rolled onto his back, as if on que, he began to hear the voices around him of the kids that had come to view his beating.  But then he heard someone say “Nikolai is bleeding” and noticed that the crowd was subdued and actually somewhat quiet, except for whispers.

As he peered up from his one good eye, he could see that Bobby was standing over him, rubbing his fist.  Bobby said “Get up Nicky.  There’s more to come”.  One of Bobby’s buddies said “Hey Bobby, maybe we should stop now.  Nikolai has a pretty nasty cut on his eye”.  This reproach fueled Bobby’s craving for domination as he said “No, Nicky is going to bark.  Everyone eventually barks”.

Nikolai slowly pushed himself onto his hands and knees.  The world was spinning slightly, but was slowly coming under control.  He watched as droplets of blood continued to drop into the loose soil below.  Slowly, he stood to face the bully once again.  With a snear, Bobby said “Nicky, you better put up your hands on the count of three.  1……2…..3”

Nikolai felt the wind knocked out of him as Bobby didn’t punch him, but kicked him directly in the stomach, knocking him over backwards.  Nikolai hit the ground, clutching his stomach, desperately trying to take a breath.  Instantly, he felt the larger boy on top of him, rolling him over, then pulling his arm behind his back.  As his arm was twisted and wrenched upwards, searing pain shot through his shoulder when he heard Bobby whisper in his ear “Bark like a bitch Nicky”

Nikolai cried out in pain, but refused to succumb to the savage treatment.  He would not beg or “bark” as Bobby wanted.  As the pain continued, his thoughts drifted to the picture of his father that sat on the mantle of his fireplace.  How many times had he stared at that picture, seeing his father in the military uniform, proudly smiling into the camera.  His father would never give up and neither would he.

Expecting his arm to break or dislocate at any second, he was relieved when he heard a loud “CRACK” and felt Bobby release his hold.  Nikolai felt Bobby roll off of him and begin scrambling to his side.  Then he heard Allison’s voice “Bobby, it’s about time someone stopped your bullying!  I hate you.  I will not stand her and watch you enjoy picking on someone so much smaller than you.  You’re an embarrassment to your family.  And if you think you’re going to pick on me, you just try.  My daddy already showed he how to defend myself and the  first thing I’ll do is gouge out your eyes!”

In shock, Nikolai rolled over to see Bobby sitting on the ground several feet away, holding the back of his head with both hands.  As he removed one of his hands, it was covered in blood.  With wide eyes, the bully stared up at Allison, in shock of what had just transpired.  Nikolai looked up to see Allison standing with a four foot section of lumber, raised above her heard as if she was playing baseball.

The crowd around them was quiet, but then Nikolai noticed that only a few of Bobby’s friends approached him and helped him to his feet.  Then he felt hands grabbing his arms and shoulders, helping him to his feet as Allison continued to stand guard between him and Bobby.

As Bobby stumbled off, still clutching his head with both hands, Allison turned to Nikolai and said “You may be the bravest and dumbest boy I have ever met, but we need to get you cleaned up and home.”  With one boy carrying his books and dress shirt, one boy and one girl on either side of Nikolai, and Allison walking in the point position, they slowly walked him home and helped him get cleaned up before his mother returned home.

Later that evening, Nikolai’s mother said as she cooked dinner “Niko, you really need to pay more attention.  I cannot believe you ran into a tree after school today.  Son, you’re going to cause me to go into an early grave!”  And as he was gently scolded by his mother, a smile crossed his face as the thought of his father, and then his new friend Allison.