Mark Phillips' Pages: Workbook: 12/2/08: In third grade I punched out a bully kid who'd been picking on me.

Jacob Lawrence, "The Marble Players" (1949) — Jacob Lawrence, *The Marble Players* (1949)

December 2, 2008:

In third grade I punched out a bully who'd been picking on me. I was very proud of myself.

In sixth grade I broke a bully's nose with my cast-covered arm, 'cause he was picking on my friend's little brother. I was very proud of myself.

In eighth grade I knocked a kid down and sat on him. Didn't want to hurt him. Later his brother knocked me down and stood on my head. Did want to hurt me. I was neither proud nor ashamed. More surprised that anyone could be so malicious.

Around ninth grade I knocked a neighborhood kid down and smacked him once or twice. I was angry. I was not proud.

That same summer I punched a different neighborhood kid in the face, hard, who'd been trying to bully me. I was very proud.

This is not a large fighting history.

Such as it was, it came to a complete end when the drugs started.