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I don’t remember what the boy’s name was, so I’ll just call him Jimmy. I always liked that name--not that mine’s bad, but Jimmy is a good “kid” name. Anyway, I de-cided to lure Jimmy in after school. I knew he walked past the site on his way home. I ran there and waited for him. It was a fairly long wait, too. However, I was patient. After about half an hour Jimmy still hadn’t shown up, and my patience was growing thin. I knew he would come soon, but the longer it took, the less time I would have for my lessons.

Finally, he appeared. He was big all right. I could see him far down the street. He had a certain funny kind of walk--like every step was an effort. But, I knew he was fast when he needed to be. I waited until he got close enough to hear me, but not so close as to be able to catch me before I made it to the shed. As he approached I began calling him names.

Jimmy stood there for a few seconds taking in the situation. It must have been confusing to the poor idiot. Here he was walking home and sud-denly out of the blue the little genius runt was calling him names. His brain must have gone into overload. It took a few moments, but his small brain must have worked through the situa-tion, because before I knew what was happening he was after me in a flash. Like I said, I knew he was fast...but man could he move. I darted off into the construction site, all the while keeping an eye out over my shoulder. Jimmy was gaining fast. He was only twenty yards behind me at the most. I ran around a huge pile of debris and dis-ap-peared from Jimmy’s sight.

I could hear him yelling after me--something about killing me, or kicking my ass, or both. I was moving quickly and it surprised me. Normally I couldn’t run worth a damn, but adrenaline was on my side. I headed for the tree line and my little shed. I had left the door open for easy access. I stopped and spun around to see Jimmy approaching the shed rapidly. I could see the anger, ha-tred, and stupidity in his face and I made sure he saw me smile at him be-fore I slammed the door shut and slipped the bolt into place.

Jimmy hit the door hard and I doubted whether the old dry door casing would hold. Luckily, it did. He continued to pound on the door for another minute or so. Profanity spewed from his mouth, as did threats against my well-being. I said nothing as I stood there in the darkness of the shed. The light from outside oozed through the cracks only to be diffused even more by the yellowing newspaper over the walls. I could see Jimmy’s shadow moving around the outside of the shed. His dark figure cir-cled, stopping every now and then in an attempt to peer in through a crack.

His voice had calmed as he caught his breath, but the threats still came in the most menacing tone he could manage. Suddenly he stopped and his tone changed to one of fake apathy. He said the whole thing was becoming boring and that he was go-ing home. He did promise that he would get me sure enough. I wasn’t about to fall for his trick. I knew full well he wouldn’t leave without seeing me curled up on the ground, bleeding. The thought brought a smile to my face, but reality hit and I re-mem-bered why I was here--my time of learning was over and Jimmy’s was about to begin.

I saw Jimmy’s shadow disappear from the outside of the shed, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew he was still there, crouched low within jumping dis-tance of the door. I waited for a minute and slowly slid the bolt away from the door and jumped in the corner to the side of the door. Instantly, Jimmy’s huge body burst into the room. His speed propelled him deep into the center of the shed. His head darted back and forth as he scanned the room for me. He began to turn, and as he did I brought the rounded metal side of a shovel down on the back of his head. He dropped instantly. I took a deep breath and smiled. School was in session.

Jimmy stayed unconscious for longer than I had expected. I was glad. He was heavier than I thought and getting him onto the table was difficult. Time was growing short, however. Night was coming and I wanted to begin the lessons. I decided I could wait no longer. Once I undressed him and tied him down, I smacked him in the face a few times, until he began to stir. He let out some low moans as he regained conscious-ness. It took him a while to fully snap out of his daze. I guess I smacked him a bit too hard with the shovel. I was a quick learner, and that wouldn't happen again.

I had fastened Jimmy to the old wood table securely with some good sized rope I had also borrowed from my parents’ home. When he finally started to take in his surroundings, he tried to get up, and got immensely upset when he couldn’t. Luckily, I gagged him, because I’m sure I would have gotten quite an earful. The effect of the blow to the head suddenly overcame Jimmy and with a sickening wet thud, his head dropped back down into a small puddle of blood. At least he didn’t pass out again, but he certainly wasn’t all there.

Looking at his body made me wonder, very briefly, whether I would look like him when I reached his age. I had a great thought at that moment. What if I skinned him and tried him on for size. Then my rational mind took over and told me not to be silly. So, I got down to business.

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