<p>I am a returning college student and need someone to critique my essay. This is elementary English so its not a very long or detailed paper. It has been over ten years since I sat in a classroom and English was my worst subject will someone help? </p>
<p>Who is Rowdy?
Rowdy is a character in the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Rowdy is the best friend of another character named Junior. Junior describes Rowdy as a very tough kid, a kid who is always getting beat by his drunken parents. Junior says that Rowdy is always protecting him, always ready to fight, or help him get revenge after he gets jumped. I have a friend like Rowdy so this is what I have chosen to write about. I’m telling this story to emphasize Rowdy and Mike’s protective nature.</p>
<p>I’m going to start from the beginning when I first met Mike my friend similar to Rowdy. I met Mike at the age of seven in the third grade. We were in the same class, we both were chunky, and we both kept to ourselves. I got teased a lot by the other kids in class. They would call me “fatty,” “white boy,” or “red head.” One day I was on the playground playing basketball, when three boys came up and took the ball away from me. They were tossing the ball back and forth between each other calling me names. Mike was standing nearby and saw what was happening. Mike came onto the basketball court and said “Give me the ball!” They gave Mike the basketball. Mike then told them to get out of there and handed me the ball. “Why do you let people do that to you?” Mike asked me. I didn’t know what to say so I just stayed quiet. We walked back to class and from then on we became friends and hung out everyday.</p>
<p>Mike was like the character Rowdy in the book in many ways. He always came to school with bruises on his face and black eyes. Mike said the bruises made him look tougher. He said chicks love it when guys have black eyes, and guys fear it. I don’t know if this is true or not but I know when I saw the bruises I felt sorry for him. I can remember one incident in particular when I actually saw how Mike came to get so beat up.</p>
<p>Mike and I was at his house hanging out when Mike said something to one of his moms’ boyfriends who was drunk. The drunken man stood there looking at him. Next thing I knew Mike was getting beat with a curtain rod! I felt so bad for him! With each stinging blow Mike screamed in pain. When it was over Mike’s back was covered with at least six, deep, bloody lacerations. We were twelve years old.
Mike started boxing at a very young age. He was good, very good. In fact he was so good that the other boxers were afraid to spare with him. He hit so hard that most matches he was in he won with a knock out. At 16 years old Mike stood six feet tall and was built like a bodybuilder. He won the golden gloves as an amateur in the state of New Mexico. The golden gloves is a title given to boxers who win the tournament and are usually labeled undefeated.</p>
<p>One night I was out with friends at the local pool hall. Everybody was having a good time listening to music on the jukebox and shooting pool. I got distracted when four gang members entered the pool hall and began harassing people looking for a fight. I looked at them and thought to myself “Why don’t they just leave?” One of them noticed me looking at him and charged straight for me. He got in my face spitting as he screamed, “Where are you from?” “Grants!” I told him. The other three surrounded me and pushed me outside. The four worthless punks got in a circle with me in the middle. They were brandishing pool cues. One of them hit me in the back with the pool stick, CRACK and I fell to my knees. The other three laid into me with their cues, WHACK, SMACK, BOOM. Blood flowed from my nose like a river. I couldn’t breathe! I curled into a ball and put my hands over my head. I was getting beat my eyes were already swelling up! Bloody and not knowing if I was going to survive this ordeal I laid there praying for them to stop. Almost magically Mike appeared from around the corner, threw a right hook at one of them and knocked him to the ground. Left, right, uppercut, and down goes another. BAM, POW, CRACK, Mike threw punches. He beat all four guys to the ground. “Remember my name punks” Mike told them. I stood there bloody, and bruised looking at them on the ground. It felt so good seeing the four *******s that had just jumped me get beat by one very tough boxer. Mike helped me out of several similar situations.</p>
<p>We remained good friends up until we were about nineteen years old. I had my son Matthew jr when I was seventeen years old. I had to grow up very quick. I dropped out of high school and got my G.E.D. I got a job and started supporting my son. The day I turned eighteen I got a job at a Federal prison as a Correctional Officer. Mike didn’t have any kids so he was always out doing his own thing. Mike got drunk one night and threatened a cashier at a convenience store. I think he robbed the store or that’s what they charged him with because he went to prison. We lost touch after that. How ironic I became a Correctional Officer and Mike became an Inmate.</p>
<p>I told this story because I had a friend just like Rowdy from the book. I could always count on Mike like Junior relied on Rowdy. I wasn’t ever afraid when I was with him. Everyone respected him therefore people who would have never talked to me became my friends. It felt good knowing that I didn’t have to worry about fighting or getting jumped when Mike was around. This might sound weird but it was kind of like having a personal bodyguard. Now at the time of this essay, Rowdy and Junior had got into a fight and were no longer talking. That is why I chose to end my story with me and Mike parting ways.</p>