Schoolyard karma

 Joey Millinheimer stepped out on to the playground. The bulky fourth grader had his friends Terry Goldman and Jack Morris with him.

Today had been a good day for Joey. He was one of the toughest and most feared kids in school. And he’d collected lunch money from all his targets.

Best of all no teacher or even the principal will get in my way. They know my dad will sue them if they do, the young man thought in a smug fashion.

The playground of George Carver Elementary had its usual line-up of kids. Some were playing basketball, others hopscotch. And some were playing with Pokémon cards.

“So, who’s our next target today, Joey?” Terry asked eager for the hunt.

Jack pointed to the right. A blonde-haired boy was playing Pokémon with some other kids. “Hey Joey, there's Mikey Broam, we could always go for him again?”

Joey shook his head. “Nah, kicking his butt is too easy, it’s gotten boring.”

“Hey Joey look over there,” Terry said pointing to the left.

That’s when they saw the maple brown haired young man off in a corner. He looked like he was doing…some kind of exercise?  “Hey isn’t that the new kid?" Terry asked.

Joey flashed one of his predatory smiles. “Fresh meat, let’s go say hello to the new kid. Then we show him who’s in charge!”

The three walked towards the new kid. Joey looked around and saw the teachers and playground monitors weren’t coming their way. This is why it’s good to be king of the school.

The young boy who seemed as skinny as it got continued doing those weird movements and exercises. “What this guy think he’s Jet Li?” Jack Morris joked.

The others laughed at Jack’s derisive joke. The three walked up to him. “There something I can do for you?” The chestnut-haired boy dressed in an AC/DC shirt, jeans, and Nike Sneakers asked.

Joey snapped, “You look new here kid, so you don’t know what the score is around here.”

“Oh, actually I do Joey Millinheimer. You're the son of that sleazebag lawyer Mark Millinheimer.”

At once Joey's face took on a look of shock and anger. But the young man continued as a smile crept on to his face.

“I know you to be the biggest bully in this school. I've paid attention to the school talk. And if you’re looking for lunch money to take, I haven’t got any.”

The young man finished one more move then stood upright as he turned to them. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t give it to some bullying creeps like you!”

Rage blazed on Joey’s face. He had planned to read this kid the riot act. But the kid's confidence had gotten on Joey's last nerve.

He nodded at Terry and Jack. It was time to take care of things.

Everything went south in a hurry. The boy slid out from Terry and Jack’s reach.

Terry got a hard elbow in the ribs and an upper cut to the face. The boy went down curling into a fetal position.

But the kid wasn’t done. In a blur of motion Jack got hit with a couple palm attacks to the sternum. Jack backed away gasping and coughing for breath before he fell on his rear

Joey stood stymied his best friends taken down like nothing.

"Can we talk about this please?” The boy asked in a pleasant tone.

Young Joey let loose with an upper cut. I’ll show you kid! He thought.

But the young man dodged the blow. Joey then got knocked for a loop by an elbow to the chin and then one to his right cheek. Joey's face burned with the pain of the blows.

The boy then leaped up and wrapped his arms around Joey shoulders. He kicked forward like someone on a swing. Joey yelped as he got flung over the boy's right shoulder by the momentum.

The bully rolled to the ground. His back and bruised face aching from the impact.

The new kid crouched down over him. "I'm sorry, but I had to defend myself," he explained in that infuriating nice tone.

Joey recovered then got to his knees. "You know my dad’s a lawyer! He'll sue you and your family for everything you got!" Joey snapped in rage.

“You don’t want to do that." The boy warned. "You see my dad’s a big shot himself. You ever hear of Ben 'Grimm' Foster?"

That name caused Joey’s face to pale. The boy nodded, “That’s right, former MMA fighter and martial arts teacher that’s my pop. My name’s Eddie Foster and I don’t like bullies!”

The chestnut-haired boy stood upright as the schoolyard monitors came running.

Joey Millinheimer realized in that moment to his horror he was no longer the terror of the school