Little Gangster (Part 15)

They called him "Cuatro." He thought he was bad. He was in the eighth grade. He was around 4' 8" and weighed around 85 pounds. He combed his hair in a pompadour, which rose about two inches above his scalp, and he applied generous amounts of "Three Flowers" pomade to it. He was actually a handsome boy, but he had a sneer on his face and a great deal of pride, fear and anger. He claimed to be a gang member. He was in special education classes in school because he had several learning disabilities. Cuatro thought he was cool. One day a cute girl transferred to 3 of his classes. He was stricken by her. To say he liked her would be an under-statement. He was overwhelmed by her. Her name was Alma. Alma was nice to him but she did not like him very much. She liked another boy in the special ed class. His name was Mateo. Mateo did not fancy himself to be cool or anything like that. He liked to have fun and entertain others. He liked to laugh. He was an outgoing and genuine 13 year old young man. Alma and Mateo talked. They hit it off. They were comfortable together. Cuatro was shy and jealous. One day after school. Cuatro challenged Mateo and told him to quit talking to Alma. "Stay away from Alma, punk or I'll kick your ass!" Mateo was not impressed, he told Cuatro to stay away from him. Cuatro kept bugging him. Mateo was not a real bright young man but he was a happy kid. Nevertheless he did a wise thing. He went home and told his dad. Mateo's dad was very protective of him. The dad immediately called the school and went there shortly thereafter. He was visibly upset. Cuatro was still hanging around the campus. The assistant principal called in the three persons (Cuatro, Mateo, and Mateo's dad) Mateo's dad started yelling. The AP noticed that Cuatro was a little bit scared. "I don't give a damn about that little shrimp in there, my son will knock him out. Mateo takes karate lessons!" Cuatro started to get very nervous. He pressed his face against the glass of the door, fogging it up. He kept repeating the following words over and over: "sobran batos, sobran batos, sobran batos." By this he meant that there were plenty of guys around who would be willing to beat Mateo up. Cuatro proceeded to try to be a tough guy to impress the kids who had gathered around the office. He got suspended. He did not want to go back to school. He was embarassed. His mother had him transferred to another school.