Pierced by a Sword Read Online Free PDF

body. No insults. No kicks. Still writhing in pain on his back, George comically tried to kick Nathan, who easily grabbed his ankle and twisted it just so, knowing George could feel pressure at the knee. George screamed again, more out of fear than actual pain. A screamechoed off the brick wall of the school.
    "Don't hurt me, Fat Boy!" George begged in a whiny voice.
    What a moron! The dumb bastard is still calling me Fat Boy!
    For months Nathan had imagined he would be elated at this moment, and now, almost like a surgeon observing a new procedure, he felt nothing but cold surprise. And then boredom. He dropped George's leg, which made a small thud on the dirtpath.
    Nathan leaned over and put his mouth next to George's ear. George had his eyes squeezed tightly closed, and was whimpering.
    "Stop," Nathan repeated, softly, coldly. He turned and retrieved his books, which he had stored next to the brick wall.
    Let him figure it out for himself, Nathan thought. Then he walked away. It had been the last time he struck anyone in violence.
    Neither George norNathan ever mentioned the incident to anyone at Fenwick. Keeping it a secret gave Nathan a certain satisfaction. George had his own obvious reason for keeping silent. He had been humiliated by a nerd and the fewer people who knew about it the better.
    Happily, the Animal seemed to have figured out Nathan's cryptic command and immediately ceased teasing and bullying other students. Nathan avoidedthe Animal but gave him a look across the lunchroom the next day.
    Stop being a bully or I'll really hurt your knee next time. No knee. No scholarship. No football career. I can destroy you, George Moore. It's our little secret. Down boy!
    To the surprise of both Nathan and George, a kinder and gentler Animal made a few friends as other students realized that George had somehow changed. Nathan'soutlook on life also changed. Feeling good about himself and his bequest to Fenwick, he became slightly more outgoing in the Math Club, and struck up friendships with some of the other shy students. It was the beginning of his new social personality, which he quickly built upon at the University of Illinois the following fall.
    In his Mustang over a decade later, Nathan was pleasantly surprisedto find that he held George's memory with nostalgia, not rancor. Before the fight, nobody knew either one of us, really. Maybe we had that in common. I wonder if George's dad was a first class jerk like mine was? We changed each other.
    After Fenwick, George Moore got a full ride to the University of Iowa, but ironically, hurt his knee during a practice in his junior year and never amounted tomuch of a player. Nathan lost track of him after that. Wonder what the Animal's up to nowadays? He'd probably laugh if he knew they call me Feel the Pain Payne on the trading floor.
    The Notre Dame exit approached.
    Notre Dame it is. Why did I decide to drive Joanie home anyway? She came on the train. I could have put her on the South Shore Railway.
    He looked at Joanie for a long time and almostmissed the exit.
    5
    Three Months Earlier
Woodland Section
Cleveland, Ohio
    Lee Washington was slightly buzzed on three Colt 45s. His most distinguishing characteristic was his brown skin. Lee was neither tall nor short, thin nor heavy, handsome nor ugly–but he was surprisingly strong. He had a loaded pistol tucked under his thigh as he drove his aging Oldsmobile Cutlass down a dark side street inone of what the white folks in the suburbs would call "a bad neighborhood."
    Where is that boy? Yeah, there he is. He better have his money, Lee thought coldly.
    He pulled the Cutlass up to the curb. A black man in a tan and white t-shirt ambled up to the car after a furtive glance to check for the police. Lee powered the window down and quickly exchanged the vial with the white crystals for theright amount of rolled up cash.
    Easy does it.
    Slowly, Lee pulled the car away. He was only twenty-five years old, and a small-time pusher.