A Prick with Ears

 A Prick with Ears

     Greg was a kind man in most ways but if you crossed him he might hold onto a grudge for a long, long time. If a guy consistently behaved like a jerk he would be doomed to Sheehy derision for basically all eternity. Especially in High School you would run into bullies and pricks due to the development of the male teenager. There was a classmate he despised and cursed whenever he mentioned his name some forty years since they walked the hallways of St.Pius X in Downey. Then, there was a mutual distaste for a bully who crossed paths with both of us. Even though he was small of stature he was full of piss and vinegar which lead him to intimidate kids younger or weaker. The problem was he was part of "the in crowd" where Jack tread softly to remain connected to the elite social set for the class of 64. Each class had such a clique that was mostly comprised of jocks and cute girls who lorded over the plain folk who made up the majority of the school. The prick with ears in this particular case was a little banty-rooster know as "Rosie" who hung with the in-crowd and remained tight with Jack for years after high school. Rosie humiliated me in front of a crowd of kids who had gathered at the hangout spot called "Henry's" after a Warrior game. "Rosie" had stolen my london fog jacket out of my car and was wearing it at the gathering. I asked him for it sheepishly since I was an undersized, braces-wearing under-classmen. He refused so I went to Jack and asked for him to intercede which he did and "Rosie" gave the jacket up but not before calling me a pussy and suggesting he beat me up in front of everyone. From that day forward I hated the guy but had to pretend I thought it was good fun. He later became a serious substance abuser who encouraged drunken extremes that exceeded common sense.  At one time I actually took the prick's English test to get his teaching credential as a favor to Jack. "Rosie" was on the varsity football team but his passion was wrestling. He also would play at the Sunday morning tackle football games we young fools had at South Gate Park that were physical but occasionally fun. "Rosie" ended up lining up against Greg who was maybe 16 years old in one of these meaningless scrimages. When the ball was snapped the eight years olders prick, wishing to demonstrate his dominance just punched Greg in the mouth. The response was "that is just Rosie being Rosie!" Greg never forgot and much later when "Rosie" made a career coaching wrestling in Junior Colleges Greg insisted that he was a closet gay man and that when he punched he really wanted to do something else to the young man we knew so well as Greggo.