[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Sherm, I don t
He sprang up, lightning quick, and his hand darted out, snatching an empty
beer bottle and smashing it on the edge of the table. My reluctance to fight
instantly vanished. The grin on his face was contagious, and I matched it. A
surge of adrenaline and nicotine and alcohol-fueled bravery rushed through my
body, and it was the greatest feeling in the world.
There is no such thing as a fair fight. If you grow up like I did, that s the
first thing you learn, long before you know your ABCs or multiplication
tables. You don t learn it from watching some purple dinosaur or a bunch of
puppets. You learn it from your surroundings. If you re going to fight, fight
to win. And if you re going to win, win by any means possible. Kick. Claw.
Gouge. Bite. Punch. Repeat as necessary. Win. And that was exactly what I
intended to do. Win.
Unfortunately, Angie stopped us before it went any further.
Take it outside, guys. Now! Murphy s gonna call the cops!
They started it, Sherm said, not taking his eyes off his target.
Bullshit, you sons of bitches are the one s that started it, knocking our
beers over and shit. Bunch of pussies!
Murphy swung around from behind the bar, three-hundred-plus pounds of wiry
black hair and hard fat, an aluminum baseball bat clutched in both meaty
hands.
I don t give a fuck who started it. You continue it in here, or in my parking
lot, and I ll have the police down here so fast your goddamn heads will spin.
That includes all of you. Tommy, John Sherm you guys go first. Get in your
car and leave. I see you out there waiting for these guys, and I m calling the
cops. Am I making myself perfectly fucking clear?
But Murph, Sherm protested, we re regulars.
I don t give a shit if you re regulars or not. I won t have this in my place.
Out!
This sucks, yo.
Murphy nodded at the others. The same goes for you guys. You try to follow
them outside and start some shit, and you ll spend the night in jail. I can
goddamned guarantee you that.
Now that I d pretty much decided what I was going to do with my last days and
how I was going to make sure my family was taken care of, the last thing I
wanted was police involvement. I wanted to stay below the radar. I caught
Sherm s eye, nodded toward the door, and smiled at Angie. She squeezed my
shoulder, saying nothing.
Thanks, Angie. I handed her my last ten-dollar bill, wondering what the hell
I d do for gas money. Thanks for everything.
She softened. It s cool, Tommy. Don t sweat it. Now get going before the cops
get here. Murphy s plenty pissed off right now, but he won t rat you guys out.
Just in case though, I wouldn t come back for a while.
I nodded. Trust me, Angie. You won t be seeing me again.
Page 36
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Stop that. It s just for a few weeks, Tommy. It s not like you ll never be
back.
Instead of replying, I just gave her a sad smile.
The other guys stepped away, and Murphy recruited several patrons to act as
bouncers. Without giving anybody an excuse to start swinging, we walked to the
door. The last thing I heard as we left the bar was the jukebox playing Blue
Oyster Cult s Don t Fear The Reaper.
But I did fear him. I was scared of the son of a bitch, and I knew that I d be
meeting him soon.
* * *
My nose started leaking blood again in the parking lot, and I daubed at it as
we walked to John s car.
That was fun, I snickered. Good way to spend a Friday night.
Thanks for taking my back, guys, John mumbled apologetically. I wasn t sure
what I d do if all seven of them jumped me.
Should have thought of that before you started bawling like a baby.
Fuck you, Sherm.
Fuck you, Carpet Dick.
All three of us started laughing then, great bellyaching laughs that left us
breathless after they d passed. We climbed in the car, John behind the wheel,
Sherm stretched out in the back, and me riding shotgun.
Yo, let s hit the diner, John suggested. I m hungry. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl exclamation.htw.pl
Sherm, I don t
He sprang up, lightning quick, and his hand darted out, snatching an empty
beer bottle and smashing it on the edge of the table. My reluctance to fight
instantly vanished. The grin on his face was contagious, and I matched it. A
surge of adrenaline and nicotine and alcohol-fueled bravery rushed through my
body, and it was the greatest feeling in the world.
There is no such thing as a fair fight. If you grow up like I did, that s the
first thing you learn, long before you know your ABCs or multiplication
tables. You don t learn it from watching some purple dinosaur or a bunch of
puppets. You learn it from your surroundings. If you re going to fight, fight
to win. And if you re going to win, win by any means possible. Kick. Claw.
Gouge. Bite. Punch. Repeat as necessary. Win. And that was exactly what I
intended to do. Win.
Unfortunately, Angie stopped us before it went any further.
Take it outside, guys. Now! Murphy s gonna call the cops!
They started it, Sherm said, not taking his eyes off his target.
Bullshit, you sons of bitches are the one s that started it, knocking our
beers over and shit. Bunch of pussies!
Murphy swung around from behind the bar, three-hundred-plus pounds of wiry
black hair and hard fat, an aluminum baseball bat clutched in both meaty
hands.
I don t give a fuck who started it. You continue it in here, or in my parking
lot, and I ll have the police down here so fast your goddamn heads will spin.
That includes all of you. Tommy, John Sherm you guys go first. Get in your
car and leave. I see you out there waiting for these guys, and I m calling the
cops. Am I making myself perfectly fucking clear?
But Murph, Sherm protested, we re regulars.
I don t give a shit if you re regulars or not. I won t have this in my place.
Out!
This sucks, yo.
Murphy nodded at the others. The same goes for you guys. You try to follow
them outside and start some shit, and you ll spend the night in jail. I can
goddamned guarantee you that.
Now that I d pretty much decided what I was going to do with my last days and
how I was going to make sure my family was taken care of, the last thing I
wanted was police involvement. I wanted to stay below the radar. I caught
Sherm s eye, nodded toward the door, and smiled at Angie. She squeezed my
shoulder, saying nothing.
Thanks, Angie. I handed her my last ten-dollar bill, wondering what the hell
I d do for gas money. Thanks for everything.
She softened. It s cool, Tommy. Don t sweat it. Now get going before the cops
get here. Murphy s plenty pissed off right now, but he won t rat you guys out.
Just in case though, I wouldn t come back for a while.
I nodded. Trust me, Angie. You won t be seeing me again.
Page 36
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Stop that. It s just for a few weeks, Tommy. It s not like you ll never be
back.
Instead of replying, I just gave her a sad smile.
The other guys stepped away, and Murphy recruited several patrons to act as
bouncers. Without giving anybody an excuse to start swinging, we walked to the
door. The last thing I heard as we left the bar was the jukebox playing Blue
Oyster Cult s Don t Fear The Reaper.
But I did fear him. I was scared of the son of a bitch, and I knew that I d be
meeting him soon.
* * *
My nose started leaking blood again in the parking lot, and I daubed at it as
we walked to John s car.
That was fun, I snickered. Good way to spend a Friday night.
Thanks for taking my back, guys, John mumbled apologetically. I wasn t sure
what I d do if all seven of them jumped me.
Should have thought of that before you started bawling like a baby.
Fuck you, Sherm.
Fuck you, Carpet Dick.
All three of us started laughing then, great bellyaching laughs that left us
breathless after they d passed. We climbed in the car, John behind the wheel,
Sherm stretched out in the back, and me riding shotgun.
Yo, let s hit the diner, John suggested. I m hungry. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]