I sat down beside her, putting my arm around her. She stiffened noticeably. I couldn’t help but think at that moment that I’d get more warmth from a statue. I could feel her slipping away from me. I hated that feeling.
I leaned over to kiss her on the side of the face. I wanted to tell her we guys weren’t all that bad. I’d take care of her if she’d just let me. As my lips touched her soft skin, I could see the tracks of the tears silently rolling down her face. She didn’t sob, didn’t cry out. She wasn’t shaking. She just rocked back and forth, holding her knees tight, and allowed the salty sadness to create it’s own path to freedom, a freedom she lacked.
Fucking John. I don’t know if he had done this to her or if his treatment was just another brick in the wall. All I knew was that he was the source of the current pain, and if there was something I could do, anything, then I was going to have find a way.
I made my plans. For that afternoon. No defense like a good offense. No time like the present.
* * * *
Debbie and I pulled up to John’s townhouse. His vehicle wasn’t there, which was a lucky break, and meant we wouldn’t have to do any hiding and waiting in our car. I knocked on the door, and waited a good long time, just to make sure nobody was home. Debbie still had her keys, and she opened the door. We went in, carrying along a few items I’d brought in preparation.
Debbie was scared spitless and I almost expected her to bolt at any time. I had explained my plan to confront the lion in its den. She argued against the idea at first, but finally agreed. I felt bad pushing her that hard to get her to help me, but I didn’t see any other way. I knew that John was the cowardly type, and would stew over how I’d treated him, until he demanded his revenge. I understood that for him, that would probably mean an ambush of me by he and several of his friends. My feeling on the subject was ‘do unto others, before they can do unto you.’
I hoped to catch him that evening, and convince him that the continued risk of retaliation from me was much worse then letting this thing go. I wanted him to think of me and cringe. I also hoped to get some incriminating evidence to hold over his head, even if I had to manufacture it. I wanted Debbie to be there, to see her vicious predator de-clawed, and perhaps to get her to participate in some way in the retaliation. I figured she’d earned it and hoped it might be a bit cathartic.
I had Debbie perch on a chair, behind the curtains, watching the walkway. Her job was to watch for John’s arrival. I was counting on him being alone, hoping he wouldn’t be in a mood to be hanging with his buddies, and figured it was still too early for his own planned payback.
It wasn’t a long wait.
“Here he is. Here he is. Oh, shit. Dale’s with him.” Debbie hissed in a strung out stage whisper.
“Take it easy. Anyone else with him?” I asked her, setting up behind the door.
“Just Dale, from the dealership.”
Lousy break. Two was still doable, just a little more risky. I’m just glad that it was only two, any more might have called for plan B, which had the possibility of extreme legal ramifications.
I waited for John to open the door, and he walked in, head turned to the side, talking to his buddy.
“I’m waiting for Ronnie and Bill to call, then we’ll show that guy who he’s fucking with…”
He turned at the door, right into my baseball bat meeting him in the gut. I kicked hard at the door, slamming it into Dale’s face. I turned, and chopped down on the back of John’s shoulders with the bat, as he tried to get up, flattening him. Ok, so it wasn’t fight fair. This wasn’t meant to be a fight. This was a lesson.
Dale opened the door. “What the fuck was… OOOF” He was clearly confused, and the bat in the midsection didn’t help. I kicked his legs out from under him, and hit him again, hard, in the lower back, wrenching a cry from him. He put an arm out to brace himself, and I kicked it out from under him and stomped down on his hand, hard.
“Shut the door Debbie.” She was already moving; I was proud of her, she might have frozen, but she remembered what I’d told her.
John wasn’t moving, so I decided to take care of the bigger Dale first. I dropped to one knee, right across the back of his neck. I quickly pulled his arms behind him, and grabbing one of the oversized plastic zip-ties from out of my pocket, I encircled his wrists and yanked as tightly as I could, pinching the skin cruelly. I wasn’t worried about pain, or cutting off circulation, just taking him out quick.
“Fuck, dude, just take the shit.” Dale was whining.
“Not that easy, ‘dude’.” I answered, zip-tying his ankles, and kicking him just out of spite. Adrenaline does that to me.
I was worried I might have hit John too hard. He still wasn’t moving. But to play it safe, I zip-tied his ankles and wrists, before checking for breathing. He was breathing. He was probably going to be fine. Too bad.
Some moaning and movement from John finally indicated that he was about to rejoin the land of the conscious.
Dale had spotted Debbie now, and was telling her how bad she’d fucked up, and how she was going to pay for getting me involved. He was struggling to get to his knees. A well-placed foot in the back placed him back on his belly. Without his hands, his chin hit the ground first. He was just lucky the floor was carpeted.
“Asshole,” I advised him, “you are talking to the wrong person here. Speak to her again, and I’ll kick your kidneys out through your belly-button.” I emphasized my intent with a kick just under his ribs, yanking another cry from him. “You’re only mistake so far was picking the wrong friend. Play your cards right and you’ll probably get out of here alive, and with all your organs and appendages intact.”