“Jay, stop eating the candy already! You’re supposed to wait till you get home.”
This was the fourth time my older sister said this to me. She obviously couldn’t understand that I was going to eat some of this candy no matter what she said. I mean, it’s Halloween for Pete’s sake! There would be plenty left to eat when we got home.
“If you keep eating it, I’m gonna tell Momma.”
“She ain’t gon’ say nothin’,” I said, savoring a delicious piece of milk chocolate in my mouth. “It’s Halloween… slurp, slurp… I’m supposed to eat it… slurp.” Chocolate spit splattered as I spoke.
She looked at me with disgust and rolled her eyes so hard that all I could see was the white part for a few seconds.
“Whatever, I’ll see you at home.”
On the other side of the street were two members of her girly crew, as I liked to call them. Before I could say “okay” or “bye,” she was already running to meet them, her Rapunzel braids trailing behind like tassels.
How she gonna tell me not to eat my own candy? I’ll eat my candy whenever I—
The impact hit my upper back so suddenly I couldn’t even finish my internal rant. A second later, I was on the ground, stunned, dazed. My head snapped back violently and smacked the concrete with full force. My forehead stung immediately, warm blood trickled down my face, its coppery flavor overwhelming the fading taste of chocolate ecstasy. The warmth might’ve been welcome on that crisp evening, if I wasn’t stunned on the concrete like an injured puppy.
I remember thinking, whatever was about to happen to me, I was NOT letting go of that candy. Even now, flat on the ground, I could still taste the chocolate, already dreaming about the next bite. I managed to roll onto my back. Towering above me, oversized in the evening’s dusk, were Serita and Johanna. Their wide bodies seemed to eclipse what was left of the waning sun.
These two were the terror of the neighborhood for us lowly elementary school kids. Only in sixth grade, they carried themselves like high school freshmen: loud, aggressive, obnoxious, and relentless.
There was nothing I could do. My TMNT Donatello costume and its plastic turtle shell were useless now. An hour ago, I felt invincible and was ready to karate chop my way through a mountain of candy. I craned my head around and looked up the street. Cierra and her friends had already disappeared around the corner. Where was the stupid girly crew now, when I needed them? I sighed deeply and readied myself for the rest of the onslaught. My right hand had already begun to ache but still tightened the hold on my candy bag to a death grip. In an instant, Johanna pounced, grabbing the bottom of the bag with both hands and yanking it back and forth. The handles on the bag were beginning to cut my skin, its plastic hot and stretching. That’s when I knew there was nothing I could do to prevent the plastic handles from betraying me.
Serita, merely watching up to this point, put her hands underneath my costume to check my pockets. Why she thought an eight-year-old would have money is beyond me as I never possessed more than a dollar or two at one time. After coming up empty, she slapped me hard with her heavy man-hands. My face instantly caught fire, pain and embarrassment flooding my features.
Even Master Splinter couldn’t save me now.
My grip finally proved futile. The plastic snapped and Johanna yanked the bag away. The sudden kinetic force caused her to stagger backward. Candy shot from the bag, scattering across the pavement like lost confetti.
All this took less than a minute, but it moved in slow motion to my young mind.
The dozen or so pieces of candy strewn around me were nothing compared to the horde they got away with. The kings ransom of candy was so immense that the girls didn’t even bother picking up what was lost. They left me there on the ground, watching them with blurred vision and teary eyes.
They didn’t even run.
They just walked away with my bag and started eating my candy.
Jay Owens 