Fight Club, part 1

Jenny and I grew up together. We were introduced by a school mate when I was in second grade and Jenny was in first. That day we found out we lived on the same street just two houses down from each other. From that moment on we were inseparable (until junior year of high school, but that is a story for another time). Once when Jen was out somewhere without me she was asked where her other butt cheek was? That's how tight we were.

So, we were like sisters right? We loved each other unconditionally but we competed and argued and irritated each other, just like sisters. There were two times (that I can remember) that we actually had a physical fight, not quite like sisters...more like sissies.

We were probably around 7 or 8 years old when we had our first fight. I can't even remember what it was about. I do remember vividly that we were standing in her living room, in front of the orange and brown floral couch. Jennifer and I were face to face, nose to nose and she was pushing my buttons on purpose. So I hauled off and punched her in her stomach. It shocked both of us. Jenny's sister was ten years older than her, so her experience with sibling rivalry was the standard "get out of my room, brat!" or "We're gonna watch CHIPs and NOT Sesame Street!" I didn't even have siblings to rival with or who could teach me how to punch or protect myself. In fact, my mom didn't even believe in spanking! "People are not for hitting." So when that right hook came out from somewhere deep within my primal instinct and caught Jenny smack dab in the gut, we were stunned.

We stared wide eyed at each other, mouths hanging open in astonishment. It was a split second but it seemed like an eternity. I thought, "Oh my God Jenny is going to KICK MY ASS!" Well, she didn't. She did something much, much worse. First, she started screaming, one of those deep down from the gut screams. Then she bolted to her room. I didn't know what to think as I ran after her down the hallway. She slammed the door in my face still screaming and crying and carrying on.

I stood on the other side of the door apologizing profusely. I had not so much hurt her physically as hurt her feelings. That made me feel really really bad. But then she did the unthinkable. She screamed, "I am going to cut up your favorite Dove shorts and draw all over them with magic marker!" NOOOOOOOOOO.....not my favorite Dove shorts! I had been staying over night and my suitcase was in her room. I had brought along my favorite leopard print Dove shorts. They were the shorts I was wearing when we met! I remember this because she commented on how cool they were. They were my FAVORITE!!!

I was appalled that she would even think of defacing my shorts! I was livid! I banged on the door and screamed at her, "Don't you dare!" and "You'll be sorry!" She knew she got me. She calmly gave me a play by play, "I'm cutting them up right now...." NOOOOOOOOOOOO! "Now I'm taking my permanent marker and I'm scratching them all up...." NOOOOOOOO! She laughed an evil laugh and then all was quiet. I sank to the floor, leaning against the door and sobbing quietly.
I don't know why what she had done had hurt me so much. You would think I could just go out and buy a new pair of shorts. But my family didn't have a lot of money and buying clothes was a pretty big deal. More than that though, it was the fact that she took something I really really liked and intentionally destroyed it.

I sat there in the hallway, quiet, for a few minutes. It was quiet in Jenny's room too. Slowly the door opened and I got up and stared at Jenny. She had hurt me and she knew it. I could tell she felt bad about it. She quietly asked, "Do you want to see your shorts?" I did and I didn't. I said nothing. She pulled them from behind her back. There they were, intact! In all their leopard print splendor! I grabbed them from her. They were fine! "You liar!" I laughed, thankful! "But I thought you cut them and marked them up." "Well, I was really mad, and I really wanted to, but I knew how much you liked these shorts and I just couldn't bring myself to do that to you." I sighed. Relieved that she cared for me enough not to actually destroy something so precious. She began again, "I did cut them and mark them though." "What? Where?" She showed me a teeny-tiny snip in hem of the shorts along the side notch. It was about a millimeter in length, not noticeable at all! She turned the shorts inside out and pointed out a pin point of a marker spot.
I was so happy! I started giggling and we looked at each other and both just started laughing. "I'm sorry for scaring you like that," she said between tears of laughter. "And I'm sorry for punching you," I apologized. "What were we arguing about anyways?" We still don't remember.