Zingara

Damage aside, it was admitted honestly: the edge was closer than suspected. She found herself sauntering around the brick corner of the school building.  There was a rapidly increasing crowd on the basketball court. This will be quick, she thought. The anger was pent-up. Grace had been pushing her buttons for weeks, ever since “the incident.” Margrid was new, a self-professed gypsy at the ripe age of 15. And she was not afraid to fight. She had been fighting her whole life.

There was a murmuring awaiting her and it increased in volume when she came into view. Like a school of fish chased by a predator, the crowd parted in one fluid motion to let her enter into the circle they would close with their bodies after her passage. Margrid was a veteran of such squabbles, so she kneeled down and made sure her shoes were tied. Her pockets were empty. She had taken off her watch. Grace was clearly a hot head and this was evident since Margrid noticed no such preventive measures taken. Grace wore an expensive bracelet on her right wrist and her sunglasses perched on her head, holding her hair back. Chuckling from her kneeled position on the black and yellow asphalt, she stood up and turned her head to each side to crack her neck, like her older brothers taught her. This was to intimidate your opponent. Then she looked into the eyes of that unctuous bitch.

“ Last chance to back out.” Margrid said as she licked her lips. She was now cracking her knuckles, yet another tactic she had learned from having 3 older brothers. Her family had to learn to fight since they moved so often. Her brothers had drilled her, given her all their tricks.

“Especially because you’re just a girl. We can’t be fighting your battles for you. You have to do it yourself and no sister of mine is going to fight like a pussy.” Cliff had been especially adamant that she take matters into her own hands after she came home with a black eye.

The family had a reputation to establish in every place they moved to. Slinking under the radar hadn’t worked for the boys, they almost always had to kick some ass in order to prevent any future confrontation.

 Their mother had asked her daughter not to fight, to avoid violence. But she was not weak like her mother. She was strong and planned to survive this nomadic existence.

“Back out? What?” Grace said, and then giggled tellingly. Margrid’s eyes quickly searched the crowd and noticed Amanda and Celine, partially behind others, but within quick steps of the inner circle. “I’m not backing out of anything. Let’s go.”

“I’m ready. But if your bitches decide to jump in? Everyone is going to know what a pussy you are. And I will still beat your ass.” The panic this caused Grace was evident on her face.

Boy she really is an amateur, Margrid thought. Margrid smiled, “Of course weak little cunt like you probably couldn’t beat me by yourself, so I understand you coming with back-up.” Laughter rippled through the crowd, and the school of fish expanded and constricted as the joke was passed back to those who couldn’t hear. This infuriated Grace and she aggressively approached, her hands raised.

“ No more words.” Margrid ran the fight in her head like a chess match, thinking about how much she was going to enjoy predicting the path of this overheated comet. And she would enjoy recapping this later, to her brothers.

Grace swung first and Margrid ducked and threw her own punch while Grace’s center of gravity was off. Grace stumbled back with the force of the blow and her lip started to bleed. She was stunned, but didn’t hesitate and came right back at Margrid. Margrid dodged a weak punch to her chin by turning her head, making the punch into more of a boxing to the ear. And again, while Grace was forward due to her punch, she attacked. Margrid struck a second blow, this time sending Grace to the ground with the downward motion of her swing. Grace fell hard. Once there, blood trickled from her mouth to the ground.

Suddenly, the air-pressure shifted, the kids began to scatter and the circle thinned.

 Shit, Margrid thought, knowing that meant adults were approaching. Grace was definitely down, and whoever was down was the victim. She only had seconds to deal with this, prevent further challenge. She bent over and whispered in Grace’s ear.

“ It wasn’t me. I didn’t tell anyone about the blood on your chair. Don’t fuck with me again. This was just a warning.” She felt her arm grabbed forcefully and Dr. Franz was pulling her away from Grace.

“ There is no fighting at this school! No excuses. Don’t care if you are new.” Dr. Franz said in a heavy accent. As he pulled her away, Margrid shouted back to Grace:

“Later, Grace.” Then, she spit on the ground. The curse complete, she started to laugh. There are some benefits to being a gypsy.