Tried to steal my headphones at Fordham Road

I was headed home after school and as I got off the bus this small black kid came up to me and said, “Give me your headphones.” I smiled at him and kept walking. He tried to get in front of me and said “I’m not playing with you man give me those headphones.” When he made to take them, I pushed that little fucker so damn hard that he crashed into a park car. “Who you trying to flex on you little bitch?”

It wasn’t even a few moments before I noticed many other black, much larger dudes running towards me via my periphery. At this point, outnumbered, and out-sized, my only option was to run my Puerto Rican ass out of their as quick as I could.

This happened in front of Doctor Jays and I ran for the bus, but they were many, bigger and much faster than I was. I didn’t get but a store or two down from Jays before they had me surrounded so I ran into another store and tried to jet up the escalators.

One of those fuckers caught me and he punched me in the face really hard. He hit me so hard, and he was so big that I got rocked, so I tried to square off and fight this son of a bitch off. He took another swing and I blocked it, as I made to hit him, I got caught by another punch from the other side. Another big motherfucker hit me, and again I got my head rocked. Every time I tried to retaliate, another fuck would pop me. I was getting my head spun in circles!

I was dizzy and I knew if these fucks kept on pounding my face like that I was gonna get knocked out. So I tried to get away again and said, “Okay, you got it guys, I’m sorry.” I made as if I were gonna give up my headphones, and when they backed off, I ran up the stairs into the store.

Now these are criminals, but they are not so stupid that they don’t know beating my ass inside the store will involve the cops, so they didn’t pursue me in there. But they waited.

Those jerks stayed down there for as long as an hour or two waiting for me to come down. Mind you, this was pre-cell phone days, so ain’t nobody calling the cops to save my ass. I asked the store clerk if they had a phone or a knife I could borrow cause I was being assaulted, and they didn’t even acknowledge me. So I waited and kept looking out the window to see if they left.

Eventually, I noticed they weren’t there. So I stayed looking towards the bus stop, I could see it coming and I tried to time it where I would run with all that I had for that damn bus and ditch those motherfuckers if they were still around. I saw the bus, I mentally prepared and I jetted with everything that I had in me down those escalators and across Fordham Road towards the bus stop.

Turns out those assholes were still around and they saw me running, but by the time they realized it was me and started running, I had enough of a head start where I could get on the bus. I told the bus driver please close the door and go. I think that they tried to pursue, but I got away from them. They are not going to leave their turf and ride on the back of the bus to get my ass and some cheap ass headphones.

In hindsight, a part of me feels like I should have just given them the headphones, but that provided no guarantees that they would not then demand more or simply continue to kick my ass for humiliating their little recruit. I don’t think they liked that I put that little punk on his ass. That sucker picked the wrong one to try and make his bones on, but he wasn’t stupid enough to do it alone. He has his friends with him, a true bitch ass motherfucker right there.

Anyway, that was one of my many exciting rides home from school while Growing up Bronx!