Marco

Marco was the bully on the block. He would never share or play nice. He called everyone names. He pushed kids, took their stuff and was mean deep into his core.

Gloria and Anna were in front of their house drawing on the sidewalk with bright colored chalk. They had glass coca-cola bottles lines lined up full of little pebbles and sticks that they had found. Their brother Joe sat on the front stairs reading a spider-man comic book.

As the girls drew on the sidewalk, they had no idea that Marco, who lived next door, was approaching. He saw their bottles lined up and grabbed one in each hand. Hey brats he called, watch this. He raised each bottle above his head and smashed it to the earth below him.

The girls stunned stared in disbelief and before they could speak, he grabbed two more bottles and smashed those against the floor as well. Joe jumped up and ran over. Hey, what’s wrong with you, he yelled? Marco laughed and said, nothing stupid.

There was glass everywhere. Who’s gonna clean this up Joe said as Marco laughed? Not me Marco said, I’m not a dummy. You clean it up dummy.

Joe said to Marco, listen if you can do something, I’ll give you a dollar and we’ll clean this up. But most people are too stupid to know how to do it and you probably can’t.

Ha, I can do anything Marco said, I’ll beat your butt at anything. Great, sounds good, come here Marco. Marco walked over to where Joe motioned him to on the stairs.

I’m gonna lay the dollar on this side of the rail. If you can get it, it’s yours. The wrought iron rail divided the two sides of the cement steps. Easy, Marco said as he smiled.

Joe laid the dollar on one side as the girl’s watched. Marco climbed the stairs, got on his knees and looked through the rail. He tried reaching with his arms but they could not reach, He tried his legs too, but it was just out of reach. He pulled back and said wait, I can try to put the top of my body through. The girls watched quietly as he turned his slender body to put a shoulder and a arm through. It didn’t work. Hey Joe said, you almost got it, the trick would be to put your head through first.

Marco getting frustrated at this point tried. Unbelievably, his head fit through the bars, as he tried to get a shoulder through, he became stuck sideways . Joe started to laugh. Ha bully, you stuck, you can stay there all night. Marco tried to pull his body back through but he was good and stuck. Joe walked up the stairs, grabbed his dollar and walked around to the other side. He gave Marco a nice kick in the seat of his pants.

Marco began screaming and then began to cry, maaaaaaaa. Marcos mom, Mrs, Maria came running out of the house holding a broom. Joe was still laughing as the girls stood still taking it all in. Maaaaameeeee he cried, they did this.

His mother came down the stairs swinging the broom and hit Joe with it first. Gloria was next and just as Anna was about to get hers, their Aunt Mabel was there grabbing the broom as it swung towards Anna. Get away from my kids, get away from them Mabel yelled.

Look what they did to my baby, Marcos mom said and the group turned back to look at Marco crying, trying to work his way out of the railing.

Joe got grabbed by his arm as Mabel motioned for the girls to follow her into the house. A short time later they heard the fire trucks sirens. They were coming to saw the railing in half in order to free Marco. Joe got hit with Aunt Mabels slipper later but he told the girls that it didn’t hurt. Marco never spoke to them again.