Was It All Worth It?

Tags

Americans, Asperger's Syndrome, books, bullying, friendship, Great Britain, He Was Weird, lawyers, school shootings, social settings

Over the past four months or so, I have posted about most of the bullies from those three horrible years of my life who influenced me in writing “He Was Weird.” Now that it’s all over, I sit back and now ask myself if it was all worth it. Well, from my angle, the answer is “Yes.”

First of all, I got all the bad experiences of the bullying off my chest although I achieved most of that when I completed the writing of “He Was Weird.” The main advantage was that because I had written the book when I posted about those experiences on here, I did so without reliving them. It’s in my past and now I can say that I will no longer let it influence any events in my life. Then there is the added bonus of actually naming those who made my life so miserable. What’s better is that the way in which I did it, I now feel that I have the power, not them and as I stated in each and every post, my offer of forgiveness is there should they seek it and express true sorrow. Will any of them do it? Probably not, but the fact that it’s out there makes me feel empowered.

On the flip side, while I feel empowered, I also feel a slight bit paranoid. My paranoia is linked to this time last year when I went back to that town and donated copies of the book to the public library and the local school I went to. The town in question is full of lawyers, some of them have characters based on them. My fear is that they will not only try to deny any wrongdoing towards me, they will challenge me to prove their wrongdoings in court via a lawsuit. I would not be at least one bit surprised if a former bully has taken his former victim to court and won because the victim couldn’t completely prove the bullying. Only in America, although the UK is getting just as bad that way.

If not denying their bullying, they might attempt to take power back by trying to wear their bullying as some sort of badge of honour. Being a bully warrants no such badge and I will be quick to remind them of that. However, while both of these things are a worry, they are not a big enough worry to take any power from me.

So, was naming all of those bullies and experiences worth it? Certainly, if it sells more copies of the book. Apart from that, it completely closes a terrible chapter in my life. A door which I left open for far too long and influence too many instances in my life since. Part of that was down to my Asperger’s Syndrome but much more of that was my fear to express those dark moments and try to forget and move on. It was only be taking control of those things, getting them out in the open and then closing the door that I could finally do that.

Next post: The Advantages of Group Bullying

To buy He Was Weird: http://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447783346&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

Literary Bullies- He Was Weird: David Fitzpatrick

Tags

books, bullying, guns, He Was Weird, school shootings, schools, Self Esteem, teasing

Hooray! This is the final chapter in my accounts of the bullies who appeared in “He Was Weird” to cause so much pain and misery to the main character Mark. This post is dedicated to the character of David Fitzpatrick. Now David is not the normal type of bully Mark has to deal with. Instead, he is the most cowardly form of bully. Sure, he does tease Mark and even call him names but Mark never walks the school halls in fear of David like he does with so many of the others. What he does is encourage others to bully Mark and steps back to enjoy the show.

The one big instance occurs during “The Episode.” Mark is beaten up by a boy named Danny Hamer and while that happens, David wrecks Mark’s bike by kicking the seat and the stick shift, breaking both. He is taken aback afterwards when Mark’s mother goes into the school demanding justice for her son. She not only drags both boys before the principal but their parents as well. Furthermore, she states that if it happens again, she will press charges against the boys and suggests that they should buy Mark a new bike.

Danny shows true remorse for what he did to Mark and even lends him his own bike while Mark’s is dealt with. David, on the other hand, wears what he did to Mark as a badge of honour. He brags to all about it and uses the threats of arrest to get others to stamp Mark as a total wimp and shows no remorse. However, he gets especially upset at the notion of having to buy Mark a new bike. He rants to all about it and threatens legal action. Cue David’s father, a rich lawyer who steps in and takes the broken bicycle away to repair. Going off track for a moment, Danny’s family is of modest means and is still willing to contribute to a new bike. It is evident that David’s rich kid status prevents him from getting into any serious trouble.

As a result of the episode, David now feels free to say anything he wants to Mark and encourages bullying against him. He sets the stage for Mark to get into a fight with another boy by falsely accusing him of picking on little kids but shuts up very quickly after Mark actually wins the fight. Of course David manipulates that and even tries to escalate a minor disagreement between Mark and Gene Lancaster into a fight. In the years after, David takes great delight in seeing Mark get bullied and even fuels the bullies on. In one case, he tells Mark that all the kids in the school should beat him up and his mother press charges so his father can make a profit defending them in court. This adds to Mark’s total sense of helplessness towards the end.

David is marked as a prime target on the big day. It is by chance that Mark sees David when all the kids are trying to flee his bullets and Mark is able to score hits which render David unable to move. Even then, David still hopes that some sort of mercy will be shown when Mark goes over to where he is laying. He couldn’t be more wrong as Mark unloads half a magazine into him.

Remove the ‘patrick’ from the second part of the surname and replace it with ‘simmons’ and you will have the person who inspired the character. There was an episode like I describe which he wore as a badge of honour. He also made a big stink about buying me a new bike, even though he wrecked mine, and had his rich lawyer daddy come and get him out of it. This person is probably the very reason why I have become what my first wife calls it, an inverted snob. I have a dislike for rich kids. The ones who feel privileged and think they can do what they like without consequence because daddy will always bail them out. But because we are not kids anymore, I would hope that David will see things through different colour glasses and show remorse this time around. Then I would fully forgive.

Next post: Was it Worth It?

To buy He Was Weird, go to: http://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447192720&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

 

 

 

 

Literary Bullies- He Was Weird: Tommy Allen

Tags

Asperger's Syndrome, books, bullying, guns, He Was Weird, school shootings, Self Esteem, social settings

So far, the bullies I have covered who appear in “He Was Weird” have been nothing in comparison to the one I am about to talk about now. All of them only bully Mark during a fixed length of time or when the opportunity arises. Tommy Allen, on the other hand, bullies him from near the end of fifth grade, all the way through sixth and seventh grades.

It first begins when a smaller kid steals Mark’s hat and Mark chases the boy down to get it back. Tommy steps in pretending to be the hero intervening on the boy’s behalf. He threatens Mark he is going to beat him up if he does anything to the little kid while at the same time, encouraging the boy to ditch Mark and keep the hat. This plays havoc with Mark’s aperger’s syndrome as he doesn’t want to lose his hat but nor does he want to get beaten up. What’s more, Tommy is impervious to Mark’s threat to have him arrested if he does beat Mark up. Fortunately for Mark, the child grows tired of his little game and gives the hat back without incident.

After that, just about every meeting between him and Tommy is a negative confrontation for Mark. Tommy uses every type of bullying against him whether it’s teasing, threats of violence or actual violence. One instance, Mark tries to argue against people who tease him by calling him by his former name. Tommy steps in and informs Mark that his fist says his name is Marvin. There isn’t any escape for Mark, even in the summer. While collecting for his paper route, he is accosted by Tommy and a group of his friends who let the air out of his bicycle tyres. With these and other instances, it is safe to say that by the end of sixth grade, Tommy is Mark’s number one bully.

Tommy seems determined to keep that title in seventh grade. By then, the bullying is much more physical. By now, just about any time they pass in the hall, Tommy punches Mark in the stomach and then says, “Sorry, my hand slipped.” Naturally, his hand slips quite a lot. The other forms of bullying still persist as well. There is one time when he threatens Mark that he is going to ram his glasses down his throat. As a result, it is little wonder that Tommy is at the top of Mark’s list when he plans his big day.

For Mark, the big day couldn’t have started better. Just as he loads his gun, Tommy and his friends come through the school gate. After getting his attention, Mark tells him that his finger slipped before letting loose making Tommy the first casualty of his school shooting. Then, after he shoots as many as possible in that part of the school playground, he goes over to Tommy and puts a pistol round through his forehead just to make sure.

We learn that after his death that Tommy Allen never was a good person. He bullied other kids as well and was getting into constant scrapes with the law. However, since his father was a local businessman, he never got into any serious trouble. It could be argued that Mark did the town a community service by eliminating Tommy. Unfortunately for his father, the lawsuits on account of his son’s bullying of the school shooter forces him to sell his business and move out of Ramsgate.

Tommy Allen’s character was influenced by real life bully Tommy Adams. He often threaten me with violence and his hand did ‘slip’ once or twice although I do exaggerate the frequency in the story. I don’t know about any confrontations with the law but I do know he was in trouble a lot in school. I do mention this in the story. As for his father, I know he was a bar tender but don’t think he owned the bar. However, I can say that he was most certainly my number one bully. What was worse is that he was in my class in eighth grade and with some of his buddies, made my life hell for the month I was in the class. Had I not moved after the first month, I don’t know if I could have survived the year mentally or emotionally. Saying all that, I am still ready to forgive him if he acknowledges and is genuinely sorry for the misery inflicted upon me.

Next post: David Fitzpatrick

To buy He Was Weird, go to: http://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1446498908&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird