BASIA

By Saturday, every parent knew about our fight. My mom was angry and tried to talk me out of that ‘nonsense’ as she called it. My father couldn’t care less; Ewa’s mom and our next-door neighbor told me it was immature to do that and she thought that I was more responsible. Grounding me was an option but for some reason my mom was enjoying this whole hoopla. She said to me that no matter who would beat whom, I would still be punished at home. The same was to happen to Krzysiek. So, needless to say, our moms decided that we would be punished for our behavior regardless of what would happen. I didn’t expect double whipping. I started to argue about it but my mom was unmoved. I had no idea who had leaked the information about our brawl but I was suspecting it was Krzysiek. I thought he was cocky enough to show off. Of course, on Sunday morning all of the neighbors stayed at home to watch this. Mr. Niewiarowski was hanging half-naked out the window of his first floor apartment since 9:00am. He was smirking the whole time. Grandma Malinowski told Ewa to stay away from the fight so that she didn’t get some blow that was not directed to her. Wiesiek was by me all the time but he also thought it was a stupid idea for us to do that. I must admit I thought about forgetting the whole thing but it was too late. I just wanted this to be over. Krzysiek’s brother Andrzej stood as the moral support for his brother. All of the other kids were hanging out the windows. By 10:00am, we were ready. At one point or another, most everybody has seen the movie ‘High Noon.’ The final scene with Gary Cooper and John Wayne was nerve wracking and very long. That is what was happening with Krzysiek and me. Neither of us wanted to do anything hoping that by some miracle this would all go away. Ewa ran to me and whispered in my ear, “If you want to win this and knock him down you need to kick him right in the balls as hard as you can.” “Where are his balls?” “Right there by his pants pockets” said Ewa and pointed to Krzysiek’s crotch. “What are these balls?” I couldn’t figure out why Krzysiek would keep some balls in his pockets knowing they may be in the way when fighting and why punching them would make me a winner. But Ewa was two years older than I was and I assumed she knew more. I kept thinking about the balls and how I was going to hit them and Krzysiek seemed to wait for my first shot. Finally, I charged toward him and started to punch the sides of his pockets around the hips but I could not feel any balls there. He looked staggered. Surprised, I looked at Ewa and just then, Krzysiek punched my shoulder. Ouch! That hurt! Then, another punch went right into my ribs and the next one in the stomach. “Lower Basia,” Ewa yelled. “Punch him right in the crotch” I tried to but couldn’t reach it. Another blow went into my shoulder. I started to feel all of these punches and tears floated my eyes. The more I hurt though, the more furious I was getting. The problem was that my punches weren’t landing. My mother was yelling to stop from the above window of our apartment. “That is quite enough Krzysiek. I think you proved your point.” Krzysiek looked up toward our second-story window and that’s when I punch him near the crotch. He looked at me surprised and confused. I came closer and grabbed his hair, pulling as hard as I could. He squeaked and limping, left the courtyard. He was six and I was seven. That fight bonded us for a long time. We became the very best friends and shared the courtyard equally. Just a couple months later Krzysiek would become my hero and a year after, my victim. Obviously, my mom didn’t keep her promise. Instead, she hugged me and asked me to apologize to Krzysiek for what I had done. I told her I would do so the next day. That night, I couldn’t sleep. Sore but definitely happy, I kept thinking about the magic balls that helped me to win the fight.