Badge of Honor

One dreary Monday evening while walking along the sidewalks of C.M. Recto Avenue a man bullying a frail-looking teen-age boy of about 13 caught my attention.

I caught the boy’s eyes looking at me as if trying to ask me for help. I looked around but noticed that nobody was paying much attention on what is going on right in front of their very eyes.

I am very familiar with most Filipinos behavior; they do not care at all as long as they are not the ones in trouble. They will pretend like they are all just too busy with their business but in reality, they are just indifferent. Some were actually too damn afraid and be dragged into somebody’s business.

I stepped into the alley and slowly made my way towards them. The man, aware that I was heading their way let the frightened boy loose and face me with his right hand in his pocket and contempt written all over his dirty and ugly pockmarked face.

I studied his features--

The man was a mess with blood-shot eyes, broken teeth and a perpetual sneer on his lips that you could tell that he‘s the real thing and not just a lowlife trying to bully his way. His breathe reeked of alcohol as I came face to face with him and I noticed the Sigue Sigue Sputnik tattoo on his right arm.

He accosted me and now brandishing a fan knife that he got from his pocket and warned me to mind "my business."

Suddenly, he lunged at me with the bladed weapon but I was able to fend it off with my right hand and socked him with a right straight smacked into the kisser knocking him down to the ground in the process.

He got up gingerly and lunged at me again but I was faster than him and planted a roundhouse kick that caught him square in the jaw that sent him sprawling down into the pavement writhing in agony.

I figured out that he’s got enough and wishing not to attract any more attention, I turned my back to leave…

Then suddenly I heard a high-pitched shrieked behind me and in the corner of my eye I saw the man leaping back to his feet like a wounded hyena, with the fan-knife in hand and murder in his eyes.

I was able to sidestep his thrust causing him to miss. But on the second try, the knife was able to slice a part of my forearm.

Seeing the blood gushing from my forearm, he tried to stab me one more time but got careless and I was able to grab and locked his hand.

In one clean sweep, I broke his arm, planted a solid frontal kick right into his solar plexus followed by a left karate chop into his left temple.

His face turned ashen as he collapsed in the dirt with a stunned look on his face. I then got hold of his head and twisted his neck for the coup de grâce.

I looked around and saw several people looking at me in horror but did nothing.

They stepped aside in silence as I made my way back into the busy street and disappeared among the crowds.

Looking back now and seeing the scars on my left forearm, I couldn’t help but smile and beam with pride on what I consider as my "badge of honor."