My son asked me today, “Pops, didn’t you say you threw rocks at pigeons at one point?” I told him, “No, the story I shared was about this kid I knew growing up who dropped a huge rock on an injured pigeon and killed it.” These are two very different scenarios.
However, this brief discussion about that event reminded me of that kid. We’ll call him “Jo” to protect his identity. Jo was an awkward kid; I went to school with him and brought him around the block a few times. He started to become friends with my inner circle and would often show up at any of our homes uninvited. He was a nice enough guy, so most everyone tolerated him, though we all agreed he was definitely a bit unusual.
His gums used to bleed, he had a distinctive smell, he mentioned that his mom practiced some unconventional beliefs, and he also said that he lived like a “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” in the sewers for some time. This might explain the smell he carried all the time.
In any case, although I didn’t approve and I walked away from him that day, I wasn’t surprised he wanted to end the suffering of the injured pigeon we found on the sidewalk those many years ago. I saw him pick up the rock, and he had a strange smile on his face, saying, “I’m gonna crush it.” We all looked at each other and said, “Dude, what’s wrong with you? It’s an injured animal.” He thought it was funny and insisted on putting the animal out of its misery. At that point, my friends and I decided to walk away from him.
He went over to the pigeon and did slam the rock on its head a few times. My friends and I walked away, feeling uncomfortable with the situation. We went to one of our houses and told our parents to say we weren’t there if he showed up. None of us wanted to hang out with him much to begin with, for some of the reasons mentioned, but this pigeon incident was just too much. We decided to distance ourselves from him.
I have no idea what ever became of him; he could have become a millionaire in some odd field, homeless, or gone to prison for all I know. No clue. But I never forgot the troubling behavior he showed towards that injured pigeon when we were kids.
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