Social Warrior of Bryson avenue school

 The Social Warrior of Bryson avenue school



                                                                  social warrior Sheehy


                                                                     the monster

     This story goes back to the last of the 1950's when good boy Greg attended Bryson avenue school in South Gate. Bryson was almost exactly equidistant from the Creason house on Annetta and the Sheehy home on McNerney. It was as boring boomers would bend your ear about the time when you could walk to school without being assaulted by perverts. As a matter of fact I walked to Bryson as a kindergartener with my only friend Mary Carroll Stanley. It really frustrated me that we skipped home and she was faster than me which injured my young male ego. I assume Greg walked to Bryson too as he was about five blocks from door to school gates. The Sheehys did not attend Catholic grammer school and Greg spent six years on the blacktop of Bryson, playing amiably with the future punks of the Gate. That was until the arrival of a bad seed transfer from Texas named Tom Barney. Tontin as he later was called was raised up wrong and quickly developed a reputation as trouble on the hoof. Thomas lived a door down from the Knowltons on Annetta and was immediately cutting a swath of bad behavior through the kid-filled neighborhood. What Thomas lacked in brains he made up for in bulk and he sometimes bullied smaller kids to create a name for himself. Thomas created a legacy around the Gate for misdeeds and mendacity that continued into the late 1970's. As a transfer into Bryson in fourth or fifth grade he decided to roam the playground bulldozing kids to the ground and terrifying children of lesser grades. He gave himself a name like "the monster" or something and was wreaking havoc where peaceful kid games had once been the norm. So, Greg saw this injustice and was determined to put a stop to it. Even though little Greg was maybe forty pounds less than the big for his age Tontin he stood in his way and called him out. Greg boasted of this act of selfless courage and never tried to twist the truth. Thomas throttled him but was chastened enough to give up being "the monster" and became sort of friends with Sheehy the Social Warrior. Soon enough Barney was one of those kids who took recreational drugs way too far and was messed up on whatever he could find for years after. A dozen years later  Barney under the influence of two quarts of Boone's Farm Apple wine and a hit of acid threw an empty but thick glass Puritas water bottle at Greg but luckily it missed. That tale is for another post.



                               Mary Carroll far left 


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