Only Takes a Second

Only Takes a Second 1

A young man well to do man most say when talking about him, he was only thirteen at this time. His looked much different then any other he was a perfect boy, a face that would be compared to gods, a body trimmed and tight. Unlike what most people think of when you think of a good looking person he had smarts. A mind gifted from birth, he had everything when he was brought up. He was brought up to be a well rounded and well mannered young boy. At thirteen this all changed2

The day that he had his first fight with another student was the turning point of his life. The fight happened on February 22, he ran into another student that goes by the name of Big Billy. Everyone knew that he was not to be offended, touched or bothered. Billy had a reputation at school for being the boy who has been kicked out of 13 schools for fighthing. This fight proved to not much different to the others that Billy had been in. 3

Jake was walking down the hall talking to Jimmy and Georgie when they passed Billy in the hall. Jake was using his hands while talking to the boys when his elbow hit Billy’s lower arm. Billy stopped abruptly turned around gabbed Jakes shoulder and swung his densely clutched fist right into Jakes left eye. Jake had no idea that this was come directly for his face so he had no time to defend himself. Smack dab in the eye, it was a direct hit on Jakes face. His head was wrench backward and his body followed his head to the ground. His body hit the floor first then his head smashing against the ground bouncing up and down making a drum roll sound as it hit. As his head hit the floor his eyes went blank, knocked out from the force of the hit. Billy now jumps on top of Jake and begins to pound away at the face. After five more hits, one to the right eye one to the nose and three to the jaw, a teacher come up from behind and tackles the 230 pound boy off of Jake. Blood is pouring down for the right eye brow, a gash from the pinching between the bone of Jakes face and Billy’s fist. Billy began to run away from what seemed like a lifeless body. The gym teacher who was the larges teacher at the school and was called in for every fight because of his size grabbed Billy and squeezed him so that he could not run. The teacher that tackled Billy off of Jake gets up and rushes up to Jakes body whose head his lying in a pool of blood. The teacher stood there in shock at the head of Jake, which now looked more like a hunk of butchered meat. With no idea of what to do in this situation the teacher began to lightly smack Jakes face trying to wake him up from what looks like a comatose state. After about ten minutes of smacking and waiting an ambulance arrives. Rushing in to the main hall where Jake was laying they put down their stretcher and moved his body in one smooth motion on to it. Lifting up the stretcher and running out the door right into the back doors of the ambulance. They put a oxygen mask on him and began to pump. They rushed to the hospital with the sirens roaring until they arrived. 4

Two days later Jake regained conciseness. He sprung up from his bed and a loud beeping came over the room. Bandages coved his eyes and were rapped around his head and jaw to keep it closed. A nurse runs in to the room. 5

“Sir, please lye down and stay calm. You are in the hospital and you have bandages on your eyes and jaw to help them heal.” Her voice was soft and was full of kindness.6

He thrashes and brings his hands to his face. Clawing at the bandages on his eyes, but she runs over and stops him from doing that. 7

“You can’t do that”, she said hold his hands softly, rubbing them up and down from finger to wrist trying to calm him down. She has been told that those bandages have to stay on for the next four weeks because of the extent of the damage to the eyes.8

Then after a minute or two he finally calms down and the nurse holds his hands guiding him to the bed. 9

Telling him every step of the way, “You’re doing great”. Then they made it to the bed and he sat there for a few minutes.10

“How long do I have to have the bandages on?” He asked with distress in his voice.11

“Three weeks and then you should be able to take them off.” She said holding his hand trying to comfort him. Unable to go to sleep for the next day in a half he started to become angry about the whole thing. 12

Three weeks after the bandages were put on they doctor said that it was time to check to see what is under those bandages. Slowly removing the bandages from his eyes, Jake begins to scream like an animal being skinned. It was much like that, his scabs from the blood have bled in to the bandages. Every inch that the bandage that comes off from his eye causes scabs to tear and ooze blood and puss. Jake screams for help and wants them to stop so that the extreme pain would fade. After the doctor takes off the last bandage, he tells Jake13

“Now open your eyes slowly.” Jake then begins to open his eyes. His face was still swollen to the point that he was only able to see small rays of light shine in. His mother was there standing next to him, and finally when that last bandage came off, she shrieked and fell to the floor. She couldn’t believe that this boy was the beautiful boy that she gave birth to and brought up to be a wonderful young man. Jake wasn’t sure at what happened and then he took his hands and placed them on his face to find that everything was different. His eyes felt more like golf balls, he then comes down to his nose, and it was out of place, curved to the right from the force of the punch. Then on his way down to his jaw which was throbbing from pain he touched a sensitive part and screamed. Part of this scream was from the pain that he had from touching the broken part of the bone but most of this was the shock of what happened. His eyes began to water, clenching of his hands with a slam down on his leg. His face turned a bright red and he jumped up from the seat and started to run for the door when the doctor grabbed him. 14

Five years have pasted from that day, things have changed for Jake. He could not stay out of the principles office or in the detention room if it was to save his life. Now being a senior in high school he was one of the most feared students at the school. Ever since the day that he lost his beautiful face he began to work out harder and harder. Needing to make up for the lack of beauty in his face with muscles, his face now at eight-teen is not too different then it was days after the incident. Eyes puffed out, the right one drooping down slightly, His jaw is cocked to the right and nose is still bent out of shape from being broken. With no friends, he was an outcast, no one looked up to him, no one cared about him, and all they cared about is where he was and how to get out of his way. The fight with Billy has been the only fight that he has been in. People weren’t scared about the things he has done, but they did quiver thinking about what they have heard that he has done. Things like that he beats dogs, cuts open small animals and if someone fights him they are on the brink of death and then there was his face. The kids at the school never looked him straight in the eye, a rumor that went around the school was that a sophomore looked at him the first time and puked right in front of him. Not paying attention to any of the nonsense he was able to go through high school with out any infractions besides his grades. He stopped caring about his grades and they fell dramatically. The teachers were so afraid of him that they passed him with a D just so that they didn’t have a chance of dealing with him the next year. No teacher ever confronted him on his grades or his attendance to class. They let him slide on just about everything, but they knew that if something physical ever did go down that they had to address that. 15

Twelve years later. Thirty years later Jake has found him self to become something that he would have never expected to be at thirteen, a bum. He was living on the streets of Chicago, all that he had was the cloths on his back, two pairs of black workers pants one of them had holes in the crouch and then knees, he whore the holey ones underneath, then he had three different kinds of shirts; a t-shirt, a dusty black sweatshirt and a Brooks Brothers button down shirt on under the sweatshirt. He found that shirt in a box outside someone’s apartment building. He had no friends; he had no family, and no wife or kids. His face, nothing like this, to this day people don’t look him in the eyes. If you’re able to find the whites of his eyes in the swollen-ness of his face you are looking too hard. 16

“What the fuck are you looking at you fucking idiot!” he says yelling at a man that was walking by staring at him. “If you want to fight me I’m right here.”17

Then taking a second look at the man he sees a slight resemblance to Billy, his dark brown hair, his big fists, big lips and his big nose. Everything on his face was big and unforgettable. 18

“Billy” 19

The man turns around and stares at him. 20

“How do you know my name?”21

Jake begins to scream and runs at Billy and pulls out a knife wanting to carve up his face. Billy sees the knife and promptly pulls out a small Lugar pistol and aims it at the man running at him. 22

Screaming, “Stop or I will shoot.”23

Jake kept on running and running full speed. Only two feet away from Billy, Billy pulls the trigger, Jake falls, and he slams his face on the floor, his face begins to slide against the concrete carving up his face and he finally rests at Billy’s feet. Blood begins to poor from Jakes mouth and forming a pool of blood. 24