Ripples

By Devon Richards

In the bygone days of the early '80's, our narrator tells us a tale of the heady days of early High School, and how their social circle, and lives, are ripped apart by the ripple effect of a singular horrific act committed by "the coolest guy in the school".

• Language: English
• Publisher: Devon Richards
• Release date: Dec 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215841280

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RIPPLES

Brian Skilonki was always the coolest guy. There was just a way about him, a confidence, that told you he had it together. Despite being 13 years old, he carried off his air of devil may care with a dash of self-deprecation. Even his weird last name he'd figured out a way to make it cool.  He'd pose, his fingers one hand cocked like a gun and say something like, Skill Honky – the Whitey in the know!. This would get a ton of laughs. Black was still black back then, and honky was still a common insult, though it was fading fast. But it endeared him not only to us, but all the black kids who went to school with us, kids who figured Skilonki was so cool, he was above any race bullshit that might be instilled in the other kids. That was a pretty cool place to be.

And as his closest friends, myself, Toby Selner and Shane Holder got equal share of his spotlight. Sure, he was our leader, but only because he had the confidence to say what we should do first, out of a kind of an advanced maturity, not because he was pushy. He just knew when to step up to the plate. I couldn't say where he got it from – We'd all been together since the early grades. His experience was similar to ours in every way. Still there was this air of coolness about him that let you know this was the guy to follow. There's a comfort, a surety in that.

We didn't worry about bullies, despite the attention on us. Like any school, ours had plenty, but we quickly nipped any potential tormenters in the bud. Though Brian was our height, he was already man-shaped – full chested, with big tear-drop shaped shoulders and a thick upper back. And that was a distinct advantage when the bullies, with their hyena-like gaggle of followers, would come to call. Shane would help too. Shane was the only one of our quartet that could take Brian in a fight, as our many wrestling sessions proved, him being fueled by the fearless rage that comes from growing up poor. Brian and Shane would give these bully crews a few love-taps to the face, the last of which was always hard enough to knock them to the ground. That would send them scurrying away like yelping dogs. Often, in the days that followed, we'd have to spurn the proffered friendship of the beaten bully’s supporters. We knew they wouldn't fit in with us. Hell, if we had said yes to them, by the time we reached high school we'd have had a gang the size of two football teams. Though impressive, that's not really cool. There was the four of us, and that's how we liked it.

Our situation turned out to be even cooler when we got to be old enough to get interested in girls, and vice versa. Brian was already a celebrity among our class and beyond, so when the hormones flicked on the be interested in boys switch in all our female classmate’s heads, we were in a prime position – right next to the guy they admired the most.

Every school dance was a Sadie Hawkins when it came to Brian – girls would race to ask him as soon as the event was announced. Strangely, he took all this in stride, deftly letting down the ones he didn't want at his side, the un-cool of our school, telling them Sorry, he already had a date. Maybe next time. And with such believability even we found him credible, though we knew it was solid bullshit. He was just that good at it. Toby once said with skills like that Brian could be president one day. This brought roars our laughter from us. Toby always knew how to mix his humor with current events in the adult world. Nixon had happened just as the TV was becoming baby-sitter to most of us.

So, Brian had the pick of the litter, and the skills to not make enemies of those