The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie Read Free Book Online

age.
    One bully, Micah, made me beat up myself. Yes, he made me punch myself in the face
    three times. I am the only Indian in the history of the world who ever lost a fight with himself .
    Okay, so now that you know about the rules, then I can tell you that I went from being a small target in Wellpinit to being a larger target in Reardan.
    Well, let's get something straight. All of those pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty white girls ignored me. But that was okay. Indian girls ignored me, too, so I was used to it.
    And let's face it, most of the white boys ignored me, too. Hut there were a few of those Reardan boys, the big jocks, who paid special attention to me. None of those guys punched me or got violent. After all, I was a reservation Indian, and no matter how geeky and weak I appeared to be, I was still a potential killer. So mostly they called me names. Lots of names.

    And yeah, those were bad enough names. But I could handle them, especially when some
    huge monster boy was insulting me. But I knew I'd have to put a stop to it eventually or I'd always be known as "Chief" or "Tonto" or "Squaw Boy."
    But I was scared.
    I wasn't scared of fistfighting with those boys. I'd been in plenty of fights. And I wasn't scared of losing fights with them, either. I'd lost most every fight I'd been in. I was afraid those monsters were going to kill me.
    And I don't mean "kill" as in "metaphor." I mean "kill" as in "beat me to death."
    So, weak and poor and scared, I let them call me names while I tried to figure out what to do. And it might have continued that way if Roger the Giant hadn't taken it too far.
    It was lunchtime and I was standing outside by the weird sculpture that was supposed to be an Indian. I was studying the sky like I was an astronomer, except it was daytime and I didn't have a telescope, so I was just an idiot.
    Roger the Giant and his gang of giants strutted over to me.
    "Hey, Chief," Roger said.
    It seemed like he was seven feet tall and three hundred pounds. He was a farm boy who
    carried squealing pigs around like they were already thin slices of bacon.
    I stared at Roger and tried to look tough. I read once that you can scare away a charging bear if you wave your arms and look big. But I figured I'd just look like a terrified idiot having an arm seizure.
    "Hey, Chief," Roger said. "You want to hear a joke?"
    "Sure," I said.
    "Did you know that Indians are living proof that niggers fuck buffalo?"
    I felt like Roger had kicked me in the face. That was the most racist thing I'd ever heard in my life.

    Roger and his friends were laughing like crazy. I hated them. And I knew I had to do
    something big. I couldn't let them get away with that shit. I wasn't just defending myself. I was defending Indians, black people, and buffalo.
    So I punched Roger in the face.
    He wasn't laughing when he landed on his ass. And he wasn't laughing when his nose
    bled like red fireworks.
    I struck some fake karate pose because I figured Roger's gang was going to attack me for bloodying their leader.
    But they just stared at me.
    They were shocked .
    "You punched me," Roger said. His voice was thick with blood. "I can't believe you punched me."
    He sounded insulted.
    He sounded like his poor little feelings had been hurt.
    I couldn't believe it.
    He acted like he was the one who'd been wronged.
    "You're an animal," he said.
    I felt brave all of a sudden. Yeah, maybe it was just a stupid and immature school yard fight. Or maybe it was the most important moment of my life. Maybe I was telling the world that I was no longer a human target.
    "You meet me after school right here," I said.
    "Why?" he asked.
    I couldn't believe he was so stupid.
    "Because we're going to finish this fight."
    "You're crazy," Roger said.
    He got to his feet and walked away. His gang stared at me like I was a serial killer, and then they followed their leader.
    I was absolutely confused.
    I had followed the rules of fighting. I had behaved exactly the way I was