Jack moaned as he took another kick to the stomach.
Joseph Gallant was the biggest guy in Jack's town. He was a bully to Jack for as long as he could remember.
Normally, Jack would walk home from school with his 9 year old sister. When Joseph and his friends ran up to them with his daily harassment, things got out of hand.
When Jack didn't pay attention to Joseph, he got angry. Joseph decided to move onto Jack's sister, Mary.
"Hey, freckles," He said catching up to her.
"You must be disappointed, having such a wimpy brother like him." Joseph said pointing his large head towards Jack, who was focused on walking.
Mary lifted up her chin and continued to walk straight confidently. But Jack could see in her eyes that she was scared.
"That's not very lady-like." He said pulling her back by her arm.
She shrieked and Jack pounced at Joseph. He ran into him with all his might. With a thud they both fell to the ground.
"Don't you touch her!" He yelled rolling on the ground.
It didn't take time for Joseph to roll over on Jack pressing all his weight on him.
Joseph balled his hand into a fist. He punched Jack square in the nose, stunning him for a second. Blood rushed out of Jack's nose as Joseph's friends laughed. Joseph picked Jack up by his vest.
With one hand still on Jack's vest. Joseph punched Jack in the eye. Jack fell back words with a grunt onto the ground.
After a couple more kicks to the stomach Joseph stopped.
Jack landed on his back, holding his nose.
"Watch it, Jack. Or next time will be worse." Joseph spat
.
He and his snickering friends walked away.
Jack held back the fresh tears as his sister ran towards him.
She got down onto her knees, helping Jack into a sitting position.
"Jack! Are you alright?" She yelled.
"Yes." He lied.
Everything hurt. A lot. He found it extremely painful to breathe as he held in his breath.
They walked home together. Mary helped Jack home the best she could. When they arrived to their tiny, log house, Jack stopped her.
"Wait,"
He held his nose with a handkerchief. He moved it and asked his sister.
"How bad is it?" Jack asked her.
Mary knew if their parents found out about Jack's fight, they would have trouble.
Jack looked horrible.
His short, shaggy brown hair was perfectly placed across his forehead. Everything down was bad.
His eye was black and puffy. His nose was covered in blood as it ran down his lip area onto his chin. His robe had been slugged around him and his white shirt was covered in foot prints as he was bent over holding his ribs.
"You look fine." Mary lied holding a thumps up.
Jack's mother, a beautiful lady with dark brown hair. Was baking in the kitchen when she heard her kids arrive home. Her husband was sitting at the table smoking his pipe. For some reason he loved watching her cook.
The door opened and her kids came inside. She looked up from the stove. She could tell something was wrong when Jack immediately went to his room.
"Jackson." She said sternly. He had his back to her. His father stood up walking beside his wife.
"Son?" He asked.
Jack lowered his head. He turned around and revealed the truth.
His mother gasped running up to him. She lifted Jack's chin with her hands.
"Who did this to you?" She yelled.
Jack avoided eye contact as he said,
"No one. I- I slipped."
Jack's father came up to him. Jack was tall, almost as tall as his Father. His father took him firmly by the shoulders.
Jack winced as the pain filled his ribs.
Panic set in when his father looked down at Jack's stomach to see his son holding it. He helped Jack into a chair and grabbed his hat.
"Where are you going?" Mary asked from the corner.
" To get the doc." he answered patting her hair.
Mary was scared. Jack had broken his ribs before, he fell out of a tree when he was twelve. It was scary because she had never seen Jack cry until then. It took a very long time before they healed.
Her mother helped Jack to his bed. He winced again as he stretched out onto his bed.
His mother brushed his hair over his ear.
"Honey, Please tell me what happened." Jack looked up to his mom with sad eyes.
After a minute he sighed.
"It was Joesph." He said quietly.
His mother wasn't surprised. She was defiantly going to have a talk with his mother.
"Hang in there sweetheart. Your father will be back soon." His mother kissed his forehead. Jack's face crippled with pain.
"Mother." He gasped looking up to her.
"I can't breath." He said almost crying
Jack's father and the doctor arrived half an hour later.
Jack painfully took his shirt off revealing bruising across his lower chest.
"Did they break again?" His father asked from Jack's side.
The doctor was done examining Jack. He opened up a small bag he had with him.
"No, I think this time he was lucky enough. They are only cracked. I will wrap him up though, and he will not be able to attend school for a week or two."
Jack held his head back. He was so tired he just wanted to sleep but the pain was unbearable.
His parents, and the doctor could tell the boy was in pain as they shared looks.
"And for you, mister," The doctor said sitting on the edge of the bed.
"No more climbing trees, pranks, fights, horse riding, or running for a very long time."
Jack sighed and rolled his eyes.
"How long is a long time?"
The doctor smiled.
"Long."