Terra reached for my hand. It seemed he was making her nervous with his claim of seeing her on television.
“Well,” Tracy said, tilting his head toward the door. “They turned on the lights, so it looks like they’re tossing us out.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
“Likewise,” he responded.
We followed them through the theater, and to the front door. Every few steps, he turned and glanced over his shoulder, obviously trying to recall where he knew Terra from. As we reached the door, I held it open for them to pass. After they went through, Terra followed.
I walked through the vestibule and pushed the door open that led to the sidewalk. As soon as I stepped outside, I caught a glimpse of something out of my peripheral on my right-hand side. Naturally, I raised my right hand and turned toward the threat. As I turned, I swept Terra behind me with my left hand.
In front of me with his hands raised and ready to fight, stood telephone boy.
“You think I wasn’t going to wait for you? You fucking dumbass,” he said.
“Michael!” Terra screeched.
He was considerably bigger than I expected him to be, but the last time I saw him he was wadded up in a ball in the dark parking lot. Easily a few inches taller than me, and outweighing me by forty pounds, he would be intimidating to most men. As far as I was concerned, he was simply a larger target. I studied his fighting stance and couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
He was in no way prepared to challenge me.
“Go inside, find your phone, and go home,” I said. “Because if you don’t put your hands down, this isn’t going to end well for you.”
“You ain’t big enough to talk to me that way,” he growled.
“Actually,” I said, “I am.”
He lowered his right hand and reached for his pocket. Mentally prepared for him to pull a weapon, I reached to my left side and checked Terra’s positioning.
Don’t do it.
“No, you ain’t.” He pulled a knife from the front pocket of his jeans. “Maybe I’ll just cut your skinny ass and take your little Mexican whore home with me.”
Whore?
Without thought, and in accordance with my training, I took a step to the rear, pulled off my T-shirt, and wrapped my left arm with the shirt. Standing in front of him shirtless—and with my left arm protected—I was prepared for a one-sided knife fight.
A crowd of eight had gathered, Tracy and Sheri included. Mentally in combat mode, the sounds surrounding me became dull and muffled. My entire focus was the hand holding the knife.
He swept his right hand toward me in a poorly executed slashing maneuver. I leaned back, swung my left arm upward, and forced his hand in the same direction he was swinging it. By using his own force against him, he was thrown off-balance, and he stumbled to the rear.
As he did, my right hand swung to the left, and gripped the wrist of his knife-wielding hand. Instinctively, I pressed a pressure point on his wrist with my thumb, and he dropped the knife to the ground.
I kicked the knife behind me and twisted his arm behind his back, forcing him to his knees.
The entire event didn’t take thirty seconds. Now, there was twice the crowd there was before. While he whimpered and begged for me to release his wrist, I shifted my eyes to Terra and nodded toward the knife. “Pick up the knife for me, would you?”
I glared at him. “And you’re going to call my girlfriend a whore? You don’t talk to women that way. Any woman. Now, apologize to her.”
As I spoke, I grew angrier that he had chosen to be as disrespectful as he had. The anger soon mounted, and I pulled against his arm with more force.
He groaned in pain. “Sorry.”
I lifted his wrist, placing more pressure on his shoulder. “I’ll snap this motherfucker off and toss it in the parking lot. I asked you to apologize. Try again.”
“Sorry for calling you a whore. I’m sorry, really sorry,” he groaned.
I tugged against his wrist. “Are you ever going to talk to a woman that way again?”
“I’m sorry. I’ll never do it again.”
It wasn’t enough. Maybe I was more attached to Terra than I thought. It very well might have been the whore remark. It was also quite possible I simply didn’t believe him, and knew deep down inside that he would do the same thing if given another opportunity in the future.
“Just to make sure you remember what happens when you do,” I said. “I’m going to leave you with this.”
I pulled against his wrist until I heard his shoulder snap, undoubtedly dislocating it. With him curled in a ball on the concrete entrance crying for an ambulance, I turned toward Terra and put on my shirt.