The Giant

  We went to summer school together, not because we had to, but because we were bored and not yet in high school. It was a JROTC (a military sponsored class to teach things like responsibility, pride and teamwork) course for middle school kids going into high school. Even then he was a giant, especially standing next to a kid like me, who's growth spurt waited till senior year to kick in, but he was about as intimidating as a bologna sandwich with no crust (aka extremely scary!). We were friendly to each other, we talked and had the same interests in video games and x-men. Then one day a trouble maker in class, who had been trying to start fights with everyone for no apparent reason, flew by us on his bike as we left the school. The giant said "have a great day!", and there was no sarcasm in his voice (he hadn't found out what that was yet). The boy stopped as if slapped, turned and flung his bike at me and the Giant, and then began to yell and bring his hands up as if to fight us, spouting the gibberish that usually comes up when someone is trying to start trouble. We tried to walk past, I swear we did because me and the Giant are the same in that we are very nearly always in control and not in the least aggressive, but the boy would not let us. He even went so far as to swing at the Giant. In a move that would have been used to swat at a fly, he raised his right hand (he's left handed) and connected with the boys cheek, to my eye it seemed barely a nudge but a nudge from a giant can't be measured in the same way I suppose, and the boy staggered back with a look of astonishment and fear with his hand pressed to his cheek. When he pulled his hand away, it was bloody from the cut appearing at his jawline. He ran straight back to the school. We could have run, we could even have just kept walking, no one would have taken his side or said anything, but we didn't. The Giant went back, I think he even took the boys bike with him, and got expelled from the class for fighting, even though the teacher knew it wasn't his fault. When he did the right thing, when he did the opposite of what every other kid I knew would do, that's when I knew we would be friends for life, me and the Giant.