Little Hitler
I was not a bully but when it came to M, I couldn't help it. She was a fat kid with a fatter younger sister, fair skinned with 2 coconut trees on her head, had rich parents and whined a lot.
One of my negative qualities that beats all others is not having enough patience. With certain people. This quality has been with me since childhood. So M wanted to hang around with us in school. I didn't care even if she did but I didn't like her yellow nails. They were untidy and stained yellow. Her right hand particularly. I remember asking her if food in her house had a lot of turmeric and if she ate with her hand for hours thus staining her ugly nails. I wonder how she passed the weekly inspections in school.
Oh, I remember she also had yellow teeth with layers of dirt. Like you didn't ever use a brush on them. It grossed the hell out of me. But I didn?t say anything to her about that.
Another of my quality is that I always attract people I do not like. The same people I have no patience for. M followed me around a lot. As a roly poly kid, she couldn't run about much, and when she sometimes tried to climb the walls and slide down the banisters after me, she hurt herself.
And then I remember the most wicked thing I loved doing. I would ask her to place her foot on a small step we had near the door of our classroom. She would do as told and I would stamp my tiny little foot on hers with a thud. She would yell in pain while I laughed and ran away. I could be a cruel child straight out of Lord of the Flies. She never complained and I got away with it all the time. Well, all the time because, she was stupid enough to let me do it everyday.
Sometimes I think back and wonder how I could have been so evil. While my mother proudly narrates stories of a rare kindness and sensitivity I possessed as a child, I keep wondering what brought about this freaky mean streak with M. I really owe M an apology. Sometime back I met her and recounted it all with due regret and guilt. She seemed to have no idea what I was talking about. She only remembers good times with me and how I have been a great friend to her.
I am thinking how some people can put even a dog to shame when it comes to loyalty.
One of my negative qualities that beats all others is not having enough patience. With certain people. This quality has been with me since childhood. So M wanted to hang around with us in school. I didn't care even if she did but I didn't like her yellow nails. They were untidy and stained yellow. Her right hand particularly. I remember asking her if food in her house had a lot of turmeric and if she ate with her hand for hours thus staining her ugly nails. I wonder how she passed the weekly inspections in school.
Oh, I remember she also had yellow teeth with layers of dirt. Like you didn't ever use a brush on them. It grossed the hell out of me. But I didn?t say anything to her about that.
Another of my quality is that I always attract people I do not like. The same people I have no patience for. M followed me around a lot. As a roly poly kid, she couldn't run about much, and when she sometimes tried to climb the walls and slide down the banisters after me, she hurt herself.
And then I remember the most wicked thing I loved doing. I would ask her to place her foot on a small step we had near the door of our classroom. She would do as told and I would stamp my tiny little foot on hers with a thud. She would yell in pain while I laughed and ran away. I could be a cruel child straight out of Lord of the Flies. She never complained and I got away with it all the time. Well, all the time because, she was stupid enough to let me do it everyday.
Sometimes I think back and wonder how I could have been so evil. While my mother proudly narrates stories of a rare kindness and sensitivity I possessed as a child, I keep wondering what brought about this freaky mean streak with M. I really owe M an apology. Sometime back I met her and recounted it all with due regret and guilt. She seemed to have no idea what I was talking about. She only remembers good times with me and how I have been a great friend to her.
I am thinking how some people can put even a dog to shame when it comes to loyalty.
posted by anumita at 3:21 pm
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