Old Friends
My fist slammed into his face. Blood spewed from his open mouth, and his whole body was thrown backward.
Immediately the crowd was upon us; sheltering him and pulling me back, preventing me from hitting him again.
“You son of a bitch!” he shouted, trying to run forward but stopped by the crowd. Finally he stopped trying, knowing his attempt was futile with the many people holding him back. He wiped his mouth, blood smearing on his hand. I simply stared at him with contempt.
Eventually the crowd relented, some going back to their drinks at the bar, others simply standing around watching. He came at me, but I was ready for him. Having much more skill at fighting than he, along with simply being stronger, I easily overpowered him, catching his fist in my hand. I threw him back against the wall, pinning him to the wood with my forearm.
“You brought this upon yourself,” I said softly but sternly. “After the way you treated her, you’re lucky I didn’t shoot you the moment I saw you.”
“You don’t have the guts to shoot me,” he spat.
“You don’t know the things I’ve done. The things I’ve had to do. War changed me.” I took out a pistol from behind my back, placing it against the side of my head. The barflies tried to intervene, but a quick pointing of my pistol at them caused them to back off. “Nothing’s holding me back from pulling the trigger right now.” He struggled, and I only threw him back harder, pinning him again.
The fire blazed in my eyes. “I could live with you taking her from me. I left when she begged me not to, that’s on me.” I shoved the pistol harder into his skull. “But I won’t accept the way you’ve treated her.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“Yeah? I know what you’ve done to her. What you’ve done to everyone. What the hell happened to you?” I was still in incredulous. We had been best friends all through middle and high school, and then I left for the war. When I came back, we had both changed; him to a place even I wouldn’t dare go. “You touch her again, and I will kill you.” I holstered my weapon, and hit him again, knocking a tooth loose.
A. Page in the Stacks 