Namesake

I had a friend, or so I thought, in middle school and halfway through high school that shared my first name - the two Tony's. We were always cutting up and laughing in middle school, teachers would separate us to stop the disruptions. The one and only time I was disciplined was because of him - both of us standing facing the wall with hands on it like we were being searched by police. Mr. Williams proceeded to get a fellow teacher to witness as he delivered a blow with his paddle that he nicknamed The Enforcer. It was punishment for throwing water in science class that finished with a note to my Mom stating "Tony was throwing H2O in class" and my convincing her that was water and not acid or some other harmful substance. He was a Jehovah's Witness that was only a problem when we attended sporting events and his refusal to stand for the national anthem was an issue for those around us. His family called me a Worldly, but they never recruited me which seemed odd. We often played basketball together and he would demean me as teams were chosen. He would never choose me and as we entered high school the unkind treatment increased. He gravitated to more popular classmates and often ignored me until the others were not present. I detached from him during our sophomore year as his attitude worsened. Also, he basically gave up doing schoolwork since his religion discouraged higher education. It is odd to reflect on our so-called friendship and realize the pervasiveness of the bullying. One positive for myself is I faced him (his team) in a local basketball tournament a few years after high school and my team winning and my outperforming him. He tried to reconnect after that game, but I moved on to better people and friends.