Tough Guy

God how he hated his parents, for naming him Connie. He could really strangle them, but right now, he just needed to get up, off the ground, and let that bastard Tim feel what is was like, to get a damn good shit kicking. He hated having to always do this, just because his parents liked the name Connie.

You don't go calling a guy by a girl's name. There were a ton of songs about it, yet his parents, in their infinite wisdom ignored them all, and so now, here he was, eighteen and still having to fight jerks like Tim, all because of his stupid damn name.

Not like they didn't know a guy's name, after all his middle name of Justin was a good guy's name. Why did they have to make Connie his first name, instead of making it his middle name?

When he first started High School, he already had a reputation for being a fighter, and even though he tried, he graduated with that reputation intact. Hell, he had tried to be different, had tried to use his middle name, but the school wouldn't allow it. His teachers refused to call him anything but Connie, even after he explained it, but did they listen? Hell NO. So what did they expect? Of course he was going to get into fights, especially when guys like Tim were around, allowed to be the assholes they were.

Maybe once college started, he could try using Justin again, but that was still a few weeks away, besides, he still had to live here, in this hick town, where everyone knew everyone, and their business. God how he hated it, but worse, how everyone judged him, thought he was just some jerk who loved to fight.

Like who in their right mind would enjoy the pain of fists hitting their face, of having gone through living with six broken noses, a few cracked ribs, and all before he was sixteen? Yet that is what they thought of him, that he was some pain freak or something, but he wasn't. Connie hated pain, least that kind of pain. Always having to watch his back, always having to put up with the crud, like what Tim kept spewing.

He pushed himself up onto his feet, recovered from the jerks sucker punch, and already a few guys had crowded around, anticipating another brawl between him and Tim. He knew it wouldn't be a fair fight either, as he saw the way Tim's buddies were grouped around, their fists already clenched, eager to join in.

Another fucking mess he'd gotten into, thanks to his parents dumb choice of a name. He relaxed his shoulders a bit, and let his hands rest at his side. His deep blue eyes glanced over the gathering group, noticing where hidden danger lay, where he could retreat to in relative safety. There was Ned on one side, along with Parker, who he would have to keep an eye on, and a few of the non committed dotted the rest of the loose circle, that had formed around him and Tim.

He noticed the new kid too, Jesse or something, who had shown up at the end of the school year. Nice looking guy too, but skinnier than a rake, and a total unknown. His father was the new bank manager, and his mother was the new secretary for their Principal, twathead Michaels.

Jesse had some nice looks, and while he seemed tall & thin, there was a sort of confidence in him, that he didn't notice in other guys. His short blond hair was more white than blond, and he had a wicked smile too. Plus, he wasn't a talker, or anything like that, but you could see his mind working, at how his eyes would sparkle. Connie wished he had more time to get to know him, as he felt a strange connection, each time they saw each other, but he would be off to college soon, thank God.

His head moved back to stare at Tim. Now there was one ugly mother fucker. The guy had thick lips, a sort of do it yourself haircut that only made him look lopsided, and his face was covered in red zits. Tim never did have a good complexion, while his own was rather zit free. Oh he had his bouts, but that was way back when he was a kid.

Maybe all his working out, his fights, helped keep the oil down or something, or maybe the constant sweating, from fighting, from working out, helped. Whatever, it didn't matter as Tim thought he was King Shit, but then, he was a good football player. Made All State too, for defence, which was no mean feat. Didn't give him the right to be a total prick, but Tim thought it did, as did most of his school mates.

The teachers didn't step in either, because no one wanted to risk being the one to hurt the school's chances at winning football games, and a championship. So they turned a blind eye, or worse, made him the scapegoat. He could handle that, but now, well school was over, there was no need for him to hold back, or to take another beating.

This time around, he could let go, and as he gritted his teeth, he moved in, his hands no longer at his side, but raised as he knew they should be. No holding back, as he saw Tim's eyes widen a bit, then glare even more. He hated being challenged, and usually a sucker punch or two ended it between them, but not this time.

No more being Tim's personal punching bag. Connie circled a bit, then moved in quickly, as he knew how. His right fist jabbed out, surprising Tim, but before he could recover, Connie let go with a left roundhouse. Tim staggered, and Connie could see he had cut the jerk's lip. It made him smile, because this time, he wasn't going to let it end, as it usually did. So what if the big lummox was heading off to Alabama on a football scholarship, so what if he was going to be a big shot there, not like he was going to Alabama.

He swung again, a quick set of jabs, that rocked Tim, made him stagger backwards. The jeering from the group stopped, and Connie could hear them sucking in their breath, amazed at how he had dared to come back. Oh they all knew he could fight, after all he had won a few boxing tournaments for the school, but no golden gloves. Still, they never expected him to fight back, not like this.

Tim was circling him, moving away, trying to gain some time, trying to think of what was happening. He was out of his element, no one ever challenged him like this, no one dared fight back, as he was doing. Connie could hear the shrill cries from Tim's little clique, hear them urge Tim on, to pulverize the faggot, to make him eat dirt. Well, he'd have a tough time doing that, he thought, as he saw another opening, and sent a straight hard blow in between Tim's upraised fists.

He felt his knuckles hit the cheek, not a glancing blow either. It hurt, as he felt the jaw bone being hit by his fist, felt the shudder begin in Tim's body. Moving in closer, his hands upraised, he feigned one way, saw Tim fall for it, then he righted himself, and jabbed, and jabbed again. Each blow hitting him, staggering him, and then he let his hands move down, and he gave Tim several hard body blows, before Tim pushed him away.

Connie could see him sucking wind, as he moved back in, aware of the silence around him. His body continued to weave a bit, not giving Tim a clear target, but Tim didn't weave. He didn't know Jack about how to box, but he was about to get one hard lesson. His feet steadied, planted firmly onto the dirt, as he let his arm swing forward, all of his weight behind the blow.

It wasn't a clean blow, more of a glancing one, but he could hear the cry, feel the mush against his knuckles, as his hand moved off the side of Tim's nose. At last, he thought, as he hear began to move in, almost chasing Tim. If he hadn't broken his nose, he sure as fuck had made it ache.

The crowd noise seemed quiet, apprehensive even, as he continued to jab, landing more than being blocked. Tim had struck out a few times, but his arms were heavy, and Connie knew how to block wild throws. He kept his defence posture, circling and moving, holding the center ground, forcing Tim to move more, to expend more energy.

It was a good ploy, especially considering Tim was a big fat old defensive player, not used to a lot of leg work. Then too, his upper body was strength was superior to Connie's, but he never let him get close enough to use it. Now Tim was too tired, to be much of a threat even close in. Connie began to move in more, land more solid punches to the mid section, to the arms, and a few glancing blows to the face.

The yell of his name, the shrill cry of 'watch out' made him stutter for a second, as he was moving in to land a good hard punch. Rarely did he let crown noise ruin his concentration, but this wasn't a normal voice, and he knew he was in a hostile surroundings. He pulled back, moving off to the side, as he felt the stinging pain glance off his shoulder.

He staggered, the blow taking him by complete surprise. As he twirled around, he saw Tim rearing back, about to send a haymaker at his head. He let his head shift, while he tried to keep his footing, and saw that one of Tim's buddies had decided their hero couldn't be allowed to be beaten by some faggot. The pain in his shoulder was like knives digging into his flesh, and it burned too. A searing wave of pain kept going all through his body, from his shoulder, as he backed away, seeing Parker and his evil grin.

He'd fix him, but he had to survive this one with Tim first. The blow glanced off his arm, but hit his shoulder, adding to the pain. Then a hard fist made its way into his side, doubling him up.

As his head bowed down, and he instinctively grabbed at his side, he saw another scuffle to his left. It was the new kid, Jesse, mixing it up with Ned. With tears running down the corners of his eyes, he knew that it had been him that warned him. Least it was enough, to make Parker's attack less effective. Now he was paying the price for sticking his nose into it, but there wasn't much he could do, at the moment.

Moving around, he realized he had lost the center ground. Tim had claimed it now, and was lunging, just twisting his feet instead of having to take steps. He, on the other hand, was feeling winded from the surprise attack from behind, and the few blows that Tim had managed to sneak in. Yet as he moved, his anger grew too. Not just at his parents, but at how a jock like Tim could get away with his crap, without anyone standing up to him.

Connie had to admit, the new kid had guts, and from what little he'd seen, he was holding his own against Ned. Time for him to stop dragging his own ass, and with that, he stood back up, bringing his own training and experience back into focus. His motion upwards surprised Tim, once more. His eyes widened, as Connie began to approach him, his fists jabbing, countering, but constantly flaying outwards, forcing Tim to back up, to move away from the center ground.

He continued his press, and directed him, by which hand he kept flying at him, keeping Tim off balance. Parker was cut off, thanks to the way Connie was directing Tim, constantly jabbing, constantly striking him at different levels. From his arm, to his gut, he kept up a steady barrage, as he watched Tim's massive hulk shuffle and stagger backwards, moving closer to where the new kid was holding off Ned.

The confusion of the other fight, of the murmuring voices, threw Tim off balance. His head surrendered to the curiosity of the noises, which was the opening Connie had been waiting for. As Tim turned to take a quick glance, Connie's fist lashed out, catching him squarely on the jaw, just below the corner of his mouth.

The pop echoed around, and the small circle of onlookers seemed to suddenly press inwards more, which only added to the confusion. Tim's eyes blinked, as his head snapped to the side, allowing the entire force of the blow to go all the way through. He staggered, his balance precarious, as Connie reared back with his other hand, and sent it hard into the open midriff. He could hear Tim's air being expelled from the lungs, as his fist was buried deep into the mid section.

Tim's already battled head fell forward, as his arms dropped, to cover up the pain Connie had just delivered to his stomach. It left his face wide open, and Connie didn't hesitate to reload his arm, and with every ounce of energy, every ounce of his entire body weight, he sent it flying towards the exposed cheek of Tim's face.

The connection of fist to flesh and bone sent a tremendous wave of pain up his arm, into his body. The throbbing ache in his shoulder became more painful, as he saw the eyes glaze over. The head was falling away from Connie, but so too was the body. His legs were buckling, and his massive body was collapsing on top of them. Connie knew the signs, knew he had scored a perfect combo of hits, and that Tim was going to be out for the count, and more.

As he saw the collapsing body, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the new kid strike out hard, his fist catching Ned square between the eyes, as he had been distracted by Connie's perfect combination on Tim. Seeing his hero, his master, collapsing had given the new kid the opening he needed, and he didn't miss.

Even as Tim's inert body was bouncing off the hard dirt, Connie turned around, searching for Parker. The small group had somehow widened, moved away from him, and he noticed they had also moved away from Jesse. It was like they had witnessed an impossible feat, and that it scared them more, than the bullying of Tim and his buddies.

Just off in the distance, he saw the running figure, knowing it was Parker. Well, he'd catch up to him sooner or later, as he let his arms fall down to his side, panting. Sweat was dripping from his forehead, as was blood from his nose. He could feel the pain still in his shoulder, as he stared over at the new kid, Jesse.

Blood was dripping from the side of his mouth, and there was no doubt he was going to have a black eye, and he saw how the nostrils still flared, as he too gasped for air. He was bent over a bit, his hands resting on his knees, as he turned to stare at Connie.

'Took you long enough to finish him off.'

'Yeah, he's tougher than I thought.'

'I'll say, uh look, love to stay and chat, but don't you think we should kind of get our asses out of here, before that great big lummox you decked, wakes up?'

'Him? He'll be out for a bit longer, but yeah, guess we should. That weasel that blindsided me, he's most likely gone to get the rest of this hunk of shit's buddies.'

'Then uh, can we fuck off out of here?'

'Yeah, come on, follow me, I know a place, where even those bozo's won't dare follow.'

'Oh, that makes me so much more relieved, they won't go there, but we will?'

'Yep, safe for us, just not them.'

'Well, serves me right for butting in, okay tough guy, lead on, and uh, let's not waste anymore time.'

Connie didn't know why, but he laughed, as he lifted himself upright. He could see Tim starting to move a bit, and with a quick nod of his head, he began to run off, away from the still shocked group. Right behind him, came Jesse. He could hear his panting breath, but he didn't complain about the pace he was setting, as the small little clearing was left behind them both.

Once out of sight, he quickly veered off in another direction, and a quick glance backwards, told him Jesse was right on his heel. For a skinny runt, he sure had some stamina, and Connie continued to push forward, not dropping the pace, despite the ache in his chest. He kept it up for several more minutes, and a few more hard twists and turns, just in case anyone was following behind.

Finally, he slowed down his gait, but didn't stop. He knew Parker, knew that he would have gone for the other's, and that once they got to where Tim was, they'd head off after him.

The light became dim, as they had entered a grove of trees. Old ancient trees, that were huge as well as old. Their limbs extended high and the foliage was broad and dense enough, to nearly block out most of the sunlight. Only then, cloaked in the eerie twilight type light, did Connie stop briefly, to let them both catch their breath.

He glanced over at the bent over figure, admiring how his chest heaved, from the long run. How his legs seemed to be quivering, as they were no longer pounding after him. To be honest, he was feeling rather impressed by the guy.

'Names Connie.'

'Connie? Shit, that's a... sorry, Jesse is mine, uh, guess that was what the fight was about?'

'That's the excuse they use.'

'But?'

'Truth is, I am gay, something that scares them more, than my girly name.'

'Don't see why, unless you are into butt ugly, I mean shit dude, that guy you were fighting, he makes a cow look cute.'

Connie couldn't help but laugh. The idea of a cow being better looking than Tim was true too. A cow had a much nicer face, and wasn't quite as fat looking as Tim. Suddenly, everything just seemed to be better, and then too, Jesse hadn't gone white when he said he was gay. Not something you saw in guys, around these parts.

To be continued...