Small Packages
You could say I’m guilty of something. Of what? You might ask. I was like all the rest, we made fun, we kidded, we laughed, taunted, and belittled the skinny kid at the end of our street. We all knew of him, or so we thought. I’m Matt, I just finished my junior year of college. Picking on Jimmy was the norm in our neighborhood, and had been for some time, our human punching bag.
Jimmy recently graduated high school, he had no graduation party, no one would come if he did. Friendless virgin, still the little loser at the end of the street. He wasn’t included in our playtime when we were kids, he wasn’t invited to parties as we grew older. He was ‘the’ outsider, the dork everyone dismissed as a complete loser. He was maybe 5 feet tall, skinny, big nose, his big glasses didn’t help. He looked weak, he was always picked last in gym class, that is, when he was in gym class.
He stopped going to gym class when we started junior high, and he didn’t participate in gym through high school either. Pity, is a hard thing to come by in these parts. Jimmy was the kid standing in rain, just missing the bus to school, the one no wanted to sit near, or share a seat with on the bus.
You couldn’t blame Jimmy for his situation, he was born into it. His house was the last on our dead-end street. Nestled further back through the woods down a gravel road. It was also the only house remaining from the 1930’s, all the other homes from that era had been torn down, and replaced with mostly upscale middle-class homes through the 1970’s into the late 1990’s.
His place was a dump. His father left long ago, only a few of us from the old neighborhood remembered him. His father was a short, frumpy little guy, always angry. Jimmy is an only child with a mother whom didn’t work, and whom was rarely seen. She was scary in her own right. We didn’t trick or treat at their house. In fact, their house was nick named the Double M Ranch. In honor of the fictional slasher … Michael Meyers. Most of us referred to Jimmy as L J. As in Little Jimmy.
It’s present day, mid-August, but my explanation of the events of this summer starts in mid-June. For those of us returning from college, we needed a rage. We, as in the kids who were part of our ‘in’ neighborhood crowd, so we had one of our usual start of the Summer blow out parties. It was past midnight, and since Mitch’s dad is a cop, the cops stayed away. You could say Mitch’s dad was cool, and I couldn’t remember him ever harassing anyone from our neighborhood.
Jimmy wasn’t invited, he never was. Most all of us are older than Jimmy, ranging from 19 to 26 years old. We were all around the bon fire, drinking beer, wine, getting lit, hanging out, and I didn’t notice Jimmy as he approached from the darkness, it was the giggling from the girls. It caused my head to turn, for in came Jimmy, he looked like a ghost coming in from the fog of night. ‘Maybe he’s lost?’ said Mitch under his breath. It was another of our many ‘in’ jokes when it came to Jimmy, since L J always appeared ‘lost’.
The incessant giggling from the girls would scare away most men, but Jimmy wasn’t a man, he was still a kid, a man permanently suppressed into a little boy’s body, an unexpected, uninvited, unwanted guest to ‘our’ party. I suddenly wondered if any of us ever beat him up? It would’ve been too easy; it surely wouldn’t prove anything. He came up to our group, and stood his ground. I wondered if anyone else here, had that kind of courage. I for one, couldn’t believe he was actually standing amongst us as we lay back on our blankets, surrounding the bon fire, taking in the night air. Enjoying our high.
“Look at this … Little L J is making an appearance.” Said Gavin, a middle linebacker for a big ten college, his girl, Mandy, is hanging all over him, nipples all hard, lipstick smeared all over her face, they’ve been making out for the past hour, well past the ‘get a room’ phase.
“So this is L J? … Looks like he’s up past his bedtime.” Said Mandy, hanging all over Mitch, as the rest of us, stoned, wasted, some so drunk they can barely stand, but can’t help but laugh.
“It’s past curfew little boy. Should we call your mama?” Said another.
Jimmy held his ground, nodding his head, looking at all the drunk cool kids with a silly smirk on his face. He always had a thing for Taylor, you could tell, sense it, and I’m not name calling here, you could easily call Taylor our ‘neighborhood slut’. Believe me, she doesn’t mind the title, she loves sex. She lost her virginity when she was 13, and she’s always ‘loved the boys’. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a nice girl, and she’s built pretty well, doubtless, no one would turn her away, but her face is average, nothing to write home about, but to a man, there is something about her that screams ‘fuck me!!!!’.
Her current boy toy has lasted the longest. Probably six months going on seven, and he’s a big dude. Todd stands at least six foot four, big hands, huge feet, and probably packing a huge dick. I guess that’s why Taylor is still with him. He’s older, probably 26 or 27, works as a mechanic at the Jeep dealership.
“What brings you here L J?” Asked Tommy, since this is his parents’ place. Their wide, and deep backyard abuts the woods, has a hot tub, a large stone patio where most of us are hanging, and cool lighting, that hangs from poles all the way around the perimeter, and partly into a path that goes on into the woods, the lighting carries a cool vibe through the whole backyard. A late summer fog was just starting to form, leaving a heavenly glow to the entire scene.
“I’m here to see Taylor.” Said Little Jimmy. Where the fuck did that come from? The little shit can plainly see that Taylor is with a giant of a man. None of us, not even Mitch would want to tangle with him. Todd carries his ‘bad boy’ attitude like a piece of luggage, but he’s a cool drunk, and he started laughing, it became contagious, until almost all of us were joining in. Correction, we were all laughing. This is funny as fucking hell.
Little Jimmy didn’t bat an eye. Maybe he was stoned, drunk, or both. Liquid courage can go a long way, but this moment, doesn’t belong to him. He should cut his losses. Taylor’s body shook in laughter, she always thought Jimmy was creepy, now, she had ample proof. In no way, could Jimmy live this down, nor turn this event in another direction. This would only add to his weirdness factor. I felt for him. I actually felt sorry for him. I didn’t find it funny anymore, there were at least 16 or 17 people remaining in this early morning hour, as the night fog continued to drift and roll over the lawn.
Jimmy walked in closer, directly at Taylor, she looked around at her girlfriends, embarrassed that Jimmy wasn’t backing down, he was coming right in. What the hell is he smoking?
I didn’t hear it, the crackle of the fire, and the weirdness of it all made me miss it, I squinted as everyone who did hear Jimmy, broke out laughing. I looked to my Beth for answer, she heard it, clear as day.
“What did he say baby?” I asked as I whispered down to her, having missed what must have been stupid hilarious.
You could say I’m guilty of something. Of what? You might ask. I was like all the rest, we made fun, we kidded, we laughed, taunted, and belittled the skinny kid at the end of our street. We all knew of him, or so we thought. I’m Matt, I just finished my junior year of college. Picking on Jimmy was the norm in our neighborhood, and had been for some time, our human punching bag.
Jimmy recently graduated high school, he had no graduation party, no one would come if he did. Friendless virgin, still the little loser at the end of the street. He wasn’t included in our playtime when we were kids, he wasn’t invited to parties as we grew older. He was ‘the’ outsider, the dork everyone dismissed as a complete loser. He was maybe 5 feet tall, skinny, big nose, his big glasses didn’t help. He looked weak, he was always picked last in gym class, that is, when he was in gym class.
He stopped going to gym class when we started junior high, and he didn’t participate in gym through high school either. Pity, is a hard thing to come by in these parts. Jimmy was the kid standing in rain, just missing the bus to school, the one no wanted to sit near, or share a seat with on the bus.
You couldn’t blame Jimmy for his situation, he was born into it. His house was the last on our dead-end street. Nestled further back through the woods down a gravel road. It was also the only house remaining from the 1930’s, all the other homes from that era had been torn down, and replaced with mostly upscale middle-class homes through the 1970’s into the late 1990’s.
His place was a dump. His father left long ago, only a few of us from the old neighborhood remembered him. His father was a short, frumpy little guy, always angry. Jimmy is an only child with a mother whom didn’t work, and whom was rarely seen. She was scary in her own right. We didn’t trick or treat at their house. In fact, their house was nick named the Double M Ranch. In honor of the fictional slasher … Michael Meyers. Most of us referred to Jimmy as L J. As in Little Jimmy.
It’s present day, mid-August, but my explanation of the events of this summer starts in mid-June. For those of us returning from college, we needed a rage. We, as in the kids who were part of our ‘in’ neighborhood crowd, so we had one of our usual start of the Summer blow out parties. It was past midnight, and since Mitch’s dad is a cop, the cops stayed away. You could say Mitch’s dad was cool, and I couldn’t remember him ever harassing anyone from our neighborhood.
Jimmy wasn’t invited, he never was. Most all of us are older than Jimmy, ranging from 19 to 26 years old. We were all around the bon fire, drinking beer, wine, getting lit, hanging out, and I didn’t notice Jimmy as he approached from the darkness, it was the giggling from the girls. It caused my head to turn, for in came Jimmy, he looked like a ghost coming in from the fog of night. ‘Maybe he’s lost?’ said Mitch under his breath. It was another of our many ‘in’ jokes when it came to Jimmy, since L J always appeared ‘lost’.
The incessant giggling from the girls would scare away most men, but Jimmy wasn’t a man, he was still a kid, a man permanently suppressed into a little boy’s body, an unexpected, uninvited, unwanted guest to ‘our’ party. I suddenly wondered if any of us ever beat him up? It would’ve been too easy; it surely wouldn’t prove anything. He came up to our group, and stood his ground. I wondered if anyone else here, had that kind of courage. I for one, couldn’t believe he was actually standing amongst us as we lay back on our blankets, surrounding the bon fire, taking in the night air. Enjoying our high.
“Look at this … Little L J is making an appearance.” Said Gavin, a middle linebacker for a big ten college, his girl, Mandy, is hanging all over him, nipples all hard, lipstick smeared all over her face, they’ve been making out for the past hour, well past the ‘get a room’ phase.
“So this is L J? … Looks like he’s up past his bedtime.” Said Mandy, hanging all over Mitch, as the rest of us, stoned, wasted, some so drunk they can barely stand, but can’t help but laugh.
“It’s past curfew little boy. Should we call your mama?” Said another.
Jimmy held his ground, nodding his head, looking at all the drunk cool kids with a silly smirk on his face. He always had a thing for Taylor, you could tell, sense it, and I’m not name calling here, you could easily call Taylor our ‘neighborhood slut’. Believe me, she doesn’t mind the title, she loves sex. She lost her virginity when she was 13, and she’s always ‘loved the boys’. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a nice girl, and she’s built pretty well, doubtless, no one would turn her away, but her face is average, nothing to write home about, but to a man, there is something about her that screams ‘fuck me!!!!’.
Her current boy toy has lasted the longest. Probably six months going on seven, and he’s a big dude. Todd stands at least six foot four, big hands, huge feet, and probably packing a huge dick. I guess that’s why Taylor is still with him. He’s older, probably 26 or 27, works as a mechanic at the Jeep dealership.
“What brings you here L J?” Asked Tommy, since this is his parents’ place. Their wide, and deep backyard abuts the woods, has a hot tub, a large stone patio where most of us are hanging, and cool lighting, that hangs from poles all the way around the perimeter, and partly into a path that goes on into the woods, the lighting carries a cool vibe through the whole backyard. A late summer fog was just starting to form, leaving a heavenly glow to the entire scene.
“I’m here to see Taylor.” Said Little Jimmy. Where the fuck did that come from? The little shit can plainly see that Taylor is with a giant of a man. None of us, not even Mitch would want to tangle with him. Todd carries his ‘bad boy’ attitude like a piece of luggage, but he’s a cool drunk, and he started laughing, it became contagious, until almost all of us were joining in. Correction, we were all laughing. This is funny as fucking hell.
Little Jimmy didn’t bat an eye. Maybe he was stoned, drunk, or both. Liquid courage can go a long way, but this moment, doesn’t belong to him. He should cut his losses. Taylor’s body shook in laughter, she always thought Jimmy was creepy, now, she had ample proof. In no way, could Jimmy live this down, nor turn this event in another direction. This would only add to his weirdness factor. I felt for him. I actually felt sorry for him. I didn’t find it funny anymore, there were at least 16 or 17 people remaining in this early morning hour, as the night fog continued to drift and roll over the lawn.
Jimmy walked in closer, directly at Taylor, she looked around at her girlfriends, embarrassed that Jimmy wasn’t backing down, he was coming right in. What the hell is he smoking?
I didn’t hear it, the crackle of the fire, and the weirdness of it all made me miss it, I squinted as everyone who did hear Jimmy, broke out laughing. I looked to my Beth for answer, she heard it, clear as day.
“What did he say baby?” I asked as I whispered down to her, having missed what must have been stupid hilarious.
