Chapter 1

It started in third grade during a dodge ball game. I managed to hit Dickie Moore a pretty good lick and after that he became my very own personal nemesis. In that grade and at that age I had no idea what a class bully was, but Dickie was one. That afternoon on the way home from school I found him waiting for me. I had no idea what was coming; after all, Dickie was not only my classmate, he was my neighbor so when he walked up to me and without a word punched me in the face it came as a total surprise. Then he pushed me down to the ground, kicked me once and said, "That's for hitting me with the ball." He walked away and I got up and ran home crying.

My nose had bled all over my shirt and I was still crying when I got home and my mother wanted to know what has happened and I told her. That night I heard her and dad talking about it in the kitchen. Mom wanted dad to go over to the Moore's and have words with Mr. Moore "about that little brat of his." Dad listened to what mom had to say and then he said, "Maude, you know that ain't my way."

"You're just going to cause more trouble Don."

"The world ain't nothing but trouble Maude and the boy needs to find that out now."

Five minutes later dad called me into the kitchen and asked me what had happened. I told him and then he asked, "What did you do boy?"

"I didn't do nothing but hit with the ball dad, honest."

"That ain't what I'm asking you boy, what did you do after he hit you and pushed you down?"

"I ran home."

"You let him get away with it? You didn't get up and go after him?"

"No sir."

"Why not boy?"

"Because momma said I shouldn't fight; she says that it doesn't solve anything."

I saw something change in his eyes and he said, "Well boy, there are some things that me and your ma don't agree on. You're a Dixon boy, and Dixons don't back down from nothing or nobody. We fight back boy and even if we lose we find a way to get even. It don't matter none if it takes years boy, we always get even. When you go to school tomorrow I expect you to bloody that boy's nose just like he did yours."

"But he's bigger than me."

"Don't make no never mind boy. You fight him until you win or lose and by losing I mean you fight him till you're so tired you can't lift your arms to hit back. There's people in this world boy who will walk all over you if you let them. When they try you have to let them know that they can't get away with it and that if they try they will have to pay a price. You don't let nobody get away with nothing boy, at least not without fighting back. Now you run along and do your homework and when you go to school in the morning don't forget what I told you — you're a Dixon."

The next day at school during recess I walked up to Dickie and without a word I punched him in the nose, knocked him to the ground and kicked him.

"That's for what you did to me yesterday" I said, "Now we are even."

Dickie's response was to come scrambling up from the ground and the fight was on. We beat on each other for maybe two or three minutes before a couple of teachers pulled us apart and marched us to the principal's office. The parents were called and the usual, "He started it" and "no I didn't" took place and a whole lot more followed, but the bottom line was that both Dickie and I knew that the fight wasn't over, just temporarily interrupted.

Over the next ten years Dickie and I duked it out a couple of times a year. Sometimes he won and sometimes I did. That is until the ninth grade. There was a Boy's Club of America chapter in our town and I joined. On of their programs was teaching boys to box so they could participate in the Golden Gloves Tournament. I participated and by the eleventh grade I was putting Dickie on his ass every time he started something and he started a lot. Dickie might have been a bully, but he was no coward and he kept on coming back at me.

Just before the senior prom we got into it over a girl that we both liked. She seemed to prefer me to him, he called her a few names, made some accusations and I called him on it. That fight turned into the worst we ever had and before it was over I had knocked out four of his front teeth, broken his nose, and left him lying out cold in the Werth Theatre parking lot. That was the last time I saw Dickie before I headed off for college.

The next twenty years went by. I went to college, graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering and went into the Army to fulfill my ROTC scholarship requirement and met and married Tammy. I landed a solid job when I got out of the service and five years later I started my own company.

Business was good, the company prospered and grew and I was sitting pretty when the invitation to my high school class twenty-year reunion arrived. It was at a busy time. I had several construction projects going, a couple more that I was bidding on and I was in negotiations to purchase a piece of land that I hoped to build an office complex on. Not necessarily a good time to be gone, but I would be less than human not to have a desire to go back and show my classmates what a success I had become. How I had gone from dirt poor and living on the wrong side of the tracks in Dutchtown to a successful businessman in twenty years. But being a successful businessman means taking care of business so I tossed the invitation into the trash.

"Why did you do that?" my wife asked.

I gave her my reasons and she said, "Hogwash. It's a weekend. I know that you think you are indispensable, but things can get along just fine without you for that long. You know you want to go back. Do it, it will do you good."

I let Tammy talk me into it and three weeks later the two of us walked into the hotel ballroom where the reunion was being held.

The first person I saw was Dickie Moore and he saw me at the same time. He stopped talking to the woman he was with and headed straight for me. Oh shit, I thought as I braced myself. I didn't know what to expect, but I was betting on something unpleasant so I was surprised when five feet from me his face lit up in a smile and he extended a hand for me to shake. Warily I took it and we shook hands as he said, "I wondered if you would be here for this. And I suppose that this lovely lady is your bride?"

I introduced Tammy to him and he said, "Come on, let me introduce you to my lady and he led us over to the woman he had been talking to. Another surprise — his wife was Kim Baker, the very same girl who had cost him four front teeth and a broken nose. Dickie invited us to sit at his table and before I could say, "Thanks, but I'd like to circulate a little before we sit down" Tammy said that we would love to join them. I was a little uneasy because my relationship with Dickie had never, ever been cordial, but what the hell, that had been twenty years ago and people do change.

Dickie (he preferred to be called Rich now) was charming the pants off Tammy, regaling her with tales of when we were young.

"Did you know that your husband and I actually fought over Kim?"

Kim blushed and Tammy looked at me and said, "No, I don't believe that. You really didn't do that, did you?"

She could tell by the look on my face that it was true and Rich laughed and popped out a partial plate and showed it to Tammy.

"Oh yes indeed he did and I have a constant reminder. God, but the stupid things that we did when we were kids." He chuckled and said, "You always hear people say that they wish they could go back. Not me. No way I'd want to go back to being that way."

The drinks flowed and I circulated saying hi to old classmates and introducing Tammy. I danced with Kim a couple of times when Rich danced with Tammy. Once, when I was sitting at the table with Kim while Tammy and Rich were out on the dance floor Kim caught me looking at her.

"Surprised?"

"Just a little."

"You never figured it out, did you?"

"Figure out what?"

"That it was always Rich I was interested in. He was the one I wanted, but he wasn't really interested in me. I wasn't a real bright kid back then, but I did know how your relationship with Rich worked and I knew that the quickest way to get him interested in me was to let him see me with you. He doesn't know that by the way, and I would just as soon that he never does. If he found out he'd hate me almost as much for costing him those four front teeth as he hates you for knocking them out."

"He sure isn't acting like someone who is carrying a grudge."

"Don't let him fool you Slick, he's never forgotten and he's never forgiven. Watch your back Slick, watch it real close."

Either I didn't watch it close enough or it was all ready too late.

About half an hour after talking with Kim I began to feel dizzy and disoriented. I was feeling real bad. Tammy was out on the dance floor with someone and Rich said, "I think that you need to lie down for a bit. Come on, I'll help you up to your room and then I'll come down and let Tammy know what is going on."