Link to the n*de photos ( subjects over 18)
This is the Face of Pure Evil
And the House Where Evil Dwells.
When I was a kid, it was painted grey, and that attic window had bars on it.
I lived on 41st Street, the the north side of Denkmann Elementary School My boyfriend Bill lived two blocks north, by 18th Avenue -- a busy street that I was not allowed to cross.
To the east was Darry's house (we hadn't met yet), and eventually Country Style Ice Cream.
To the south was Dewey's Candy Store, Gary's house, and eventually the Nazarene Church.
To the west was Schneider's Drug Store, where you could buy comic books.
But we never took the direct route to Schneider's. We walked all the way up to 18th Avenue and around to the back, to avoid The Maniac and his house.
There were lots of Mean Boys at Denkmann who would steal your lunch money, call you names, or pound you for infractions of the rules of grade school behavior. Like Dick, who hung out by Dewey's Candy Store and pounded you for being a "girl." Or Mark, who hung out by the south door, and challenged smaller boys to fight him. But The Maniac was by far the worst.
Most bullies choose one or two victims to torment; everyone else is safe. But the Maniac was indiscriminate, targeting everyone except girls and bigger boys. He interpreted the most innocent statement or gesture, even standing too close to him, even looking at him, as an insult that must be redressed: "Now we have to fight!"
If you refused, he attacked on the spot, or if you were inside the school, ambushed you on the way home.
If you agreed to fight, you met your doom later, on the west side of the school yard, a desolate space of dead trees and yellow grass across the street from his house.
Snarling like a rabid dog, The Maniac punched and kicked you everywhere, in the face, the chest, the belly, the balls. When you collapsed, bloody and sobbing, he poured dirt on you, spat in your face, and moved on.
When you tried to tell teachers, they simply said "No one likes a tattle-tale."
When you tried to tell parents, they simply said "You have to learn to fight your own battles."
The only escape was to avoid the Maniac: don't sit near him in the cafeteria, don't stand near him at recess, run home as fast as you could after school, and at all costs stay away from the House of Evil. Don't go anywhere near 40th Street.
But one day during the summer after third grade, I was stupid. Mom asked me to return a cake-decorating kit that she borrowed from the Old Lady Schoolteachers for some PTA event. They lived on 40th Street, two houses south of the House of Evil.
I should have walked all the way around Denkmann School, but it was hot, Cartoon Showboat was coming on soon, and besides, the Maniac might not even be home. So I cut diagonally across the parking lot and the schoolyard and came to 40th Street exactly parallel to the Old Lady Schoolteachers' house.
I peered at the House of Evil -- it looked deserted -- took a deep breath, and crossed the street. I was in the yard -- almost up to the screen porch. Almost safe.
"Hey, Fairy!"
The Maniac! He must have been lurking in the shadows, waiting for a victim to appear! And now he was standing right next to me, fists clenched, a snake ready to strike....
The full story, including what happened to the Maniac, is on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends
The full story, including what happened to the Maniac, is on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends
Finn Kaifur: Icelandic college student studies ballet, takes a polar plunge, shows his stuff. With bonus Pete White and n*de model Shaun Ross Mentions bullying
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