School Yard Fights

It has been asked of me what I meant by the reference I made about the high school kids "pretending" to jump Rex. So I will extrapolate, although, as stated before, my secondhand story pales in comparison to his tales.

1 guy grabbed Rex's arms behind his back and put him in a full nelson, 1 guy pretended he was going to punch him while 2 more stood there to watch. (These kids are older than normal 7th/8th graders.) Rex says the Holy Ghost kept telling him not to fight back because his instincts screamed for him to do otherwise. When he didn't react, the boys let him go and bumped knuckles with him [known as giving "dap" or "fo' knucks"], acting like they were just playing around. Personally, I think they were testing him and would have actually beaten him if he'd reacted. At the time, I wondered if that made Rex a wimp in the kids' eyes or gave him more respect. Anyway, Rex went along with it, but he made sure to report the incident in case anything ever happened again. The 7th/8th grade teachers along with the administration had a good long talk with the boys. Mr. Brotherton (the 8th grade teacher) was amazed that he had the self-restraint not to fight back.

Apparently, this incident served as a rite performed to accept the new teacher. Indeed, each time Rex passes one certain kid, they give each other fo' knucks. [That is such a weird phrase!] In fact, Rex can even call on the kid to help him regain order in his classroom. It is quite a different culture there!

After that, there was the incident between a MS13 Gang Member and a Cholo Gang Member. Rex was not present, but the story spread like wildfire. One tried to stab the other, but a teacher intercepted. Like so often happens on that campus, cops arrived shortly after, and the kid with the knife was expelled. (He later plead his case to be readmitted after several other charter schools refused to have him and his parole officer required he be in school until he turned 18 in a few more months. I haven't heard the results of the teacher vote.)

Rex has broken up several other fights, mostly involving members of those two gangs. Sometimes, the incidents are petty arguments between girls that result in cat fights. He has unintentionally gotten hit in the face a couple times in his attempt to break them up.

But for the most part, Rex usually just deals with verbal assaults. When he talks to me about his day, it sounds like he no longer gets hurt or upset when kids cuss him out. He must be growing quite the suit of armor to be able to withstand the hostility so eminent on that campus.