A small boy was walking down the sidewalk on his way home from school. On the way, a bully stopped him and told him he needed to give him some money or he would beat him up. Frightened, the little boy gave him a dollar. The bully said, "As long as you have a dollar. You will be able to walk to school in one piece."
From that day forward, the little boy paid a dollar every time he walked to school.
About 4 months passed and by chance the little boy took a different way to school. The bully didn't see him. The little boy got to keep his dollar. The next day, the little boy used the new route he took to school. By the time the bully figured out how the little boy was going to school, he confronted him and said, "Hey! You owe me $23, pay up or I'm going to give you the worst beating of your life."
The little boy said he didn't have any money on him. The bully responded, "Tomorrow you better have $25 to pay me, or else!
The next day the little boy varied his route, again, and eluded the bully. This time the little boy changed his route to school, every day. Saving one dollar for each day, in his backpack, in case the bully came buy to collect his "I won't beat you up - money." As bad luck would have it, the bully spotted the little boy sneaking into the school just before the closing bell and caught up to him before he could make it inside.
"Pay me now or prepare to be destroyed." - The little boy calmly took off his coat, rolled up his sleaves, took off his hat and classes and prepared to defend himself; but before the bully could begin his assault, a teacher opened the door and said, "There you are! You almost didn't make it! What are you doing without your warm cloths on? Get in here before you get sick!" the little boy looked at the bully who was walking away.
The bully said, "See you tomorrow."
The next day the bully had his friends helping him spot the little boy. They knew where he lived, so they spread out. Sure enough, the little boy was taking his fourth route to school when they spotted him.
The bully said, "Got my money?" The little boy started to take off his jacket again.
"You can't possibly believe you're going to beat me! I am twice as big as you are!" said the bully, laughing. "This is going to be fun!" The bully didn't even take off his jacket. His friends surrounded the little boy. The little boy looked determined, but still fearful.
The bully was just about to take his first swing, when a much stronger hand attached to a very large teen-ager grabbed his arm like an iron clamp. The bully turned around to see that this teen-ager didn't need any friends to back him up.
"Hey, you can't do that any more.", said the teen ager. "I wont let you hurt my boss."
The bully's friends all ran. "Your boss?"
"Yeah, my boss. You see. He had saved up enough money to offer me a job. I asked him what the job was. He said, 'protection' and explained to me what you were doing to him and his little class-mates. I told him that I will take the money and do what he asked, but I don't work for anyone I cant respect." The bully gave up struggling and just stood there.
"So I said, 'If you stand up to your bully and fight him, then I'll protect you for free.' But if you can't, I'll take your payment and you won't have to be afraid any more, either way. So, if you don't leave my boss alone, and all his little class mates, then you're in for some serious consequences.", finished the teen-ager.
The bully ran away with his arm cradled in front of him, crying.
The little boy offered the teen-ager the $52 he had saved. The teen-ager looked at the little boy. "You keep it, kid. Go buy yourself something nice. It's your money, no one else's." A smile and a proper fist-bump was offered, and the little boy smiled to himself all the way to school.
The bully never came back. The little boys and girls of that grade school never understood why they didn't have to pay the bully to freely pass, any more, but they were grateful they got to keep what they earned.
The end...
(C) 2021 DLPS World Wide