The summer ended and we were now in the eight grade. Tod was a new boy in our class. Good looking, and he knew it. I thought it only fair to warn him about the ball busting tradition among the "gentler sex” of the school, but when I tried he blew me off with a haughty “Later, Dude.”
That afternoon I saw him out on the school lawn talking with three girls, all of whom were death to unguarded nuts. But they were coming on to him in a way that made Tod think he was hot shit. I wanted to see what would happen so I sat on a bench nearby pretending to read my Gender Studies text book.
Somehow one of the girls was bragging that she was stronger than Tod and could prove it. She had him stand face to face with her, and hold her by each wrist, arms raised high. The idea was to see whether he could pull her arms down.
“Wait a minute,” she said. “This will only be fair if we’re the same height, so you have to spread your feet apart.” I could see what was coming. You will notice that when your legs are spread your balls are much more vulnerable to a kick, knee, or punch because the girl can really get under them. And that’s just what happened.
While Tod was looking up at the girl’s hands, she let him have it with a ball-crushing knee. The superior expression on his face changed to horror, and he fell to his knees. The three girs thought this was hilarious, of course, and mocked poor Tod without mercy– “See, you guys aren’t so tough, are you?” and various comments about his groveling on the grass (“Dont get any dog crap on yourself!”) and his vulnerable testicles (He’s got glass balls!).
Soon they walked away, still giggling. Tod remained on his knees, and while I have seen many busts I have never seen the victim break into tears, but that’s what Tod did. Pain, humiliation, or both?
