Bruce Fish was ignored most days back in school. Kids knew it was best that way or French would have "a word" with you.
The problem was that Bruce Fish drew attention to himself by his odd little habits. One such habit was to claim that his father knew many famous athletes. Something would come up in class and Bruce Fish would holler out that his dad knew Mohamed Ali, Johnny Bench, the Refrigerator Perry...etc. He'd never back down, and the other kids would pile on and tease him constantly. They'd pass him in the hallway and ask him if Magic Johnson, or Bruce Lee had been over for dinner? Mainly they'd call him a liar.
Bruce Fish would get really hot when he was called a liar. He'd yell back: "I ain't no liar." One kid yelled back: "well you spread lies your dad told you."
He once brought in a photo of Mohamed Ali sitting on the bumper of a car. He told everyone that it was his dad's car. The kids just laughed and laughed. They truly thought he was pathetic. They kept telling him to give up his lies. Eventually they just went back to ignoring Bruce Fish.
One day about a year later he knocked on French's shed door. He was grinning like mad. Bruce Fish held out a picture of his dad shaking hands with Stu Hart. Looming in the background was Andre the Giant.
4 comments:
This reminds me (in all the best ways) of the movie Big Fish. Have you and your son seen it? If not, you should rent asap and watch together.
We always believe the things our parents tell us - little lies and whoppers alike.
Lovely how you captured this.
Two recommendations for you, British semi-impromptu sitcom "Outnumbered" (currently on PBS at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday nights)
and "Mr. Dee" (you may be watching this already).
i love fish.
~robert
I remember reading a Big story on Andre the Giant in the pages of Sports Illustrated when I was subscribing as a kid. Watching Maple Leaf Wrestling on Canadian TV, I had only heard legends about Andre the Giant.
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