Prizefighters
David saw the fist coming but couldn't move out of the way quickly enough. The punch hit him on the jaw and David's head flew back to bounce off the locker behind him. As his head hit the locker, David felt his teeth cut into his lip.
David wiped blood from his chin and smiled up at the boy who had hit him.
"Come on now, is that it? You really must be used to using your hands for other things if that's the hardest you can punch." David sneered.
The other boys face scrunched up in a snarl and he kicked David in the gut. David bent over and clutched at his stomach. Still refusing to back down, David glared up at the other boy.
"You must really want me to suck your cock; you even got my face down to the right height."
David watched as the other boy prepared to kick him in the face. He knew he shouldn't be taunting the other boy, but sometimes his mouth got the better of him. David closed his eyes as he prepared for the blow.
When David heard the other boy shout out in surprise, he looked up just in time to see the other boy fly into the lockers on the other side of the hall. David straightened up as much as he could and looked wide-eyed at an angry Wasso towering over the other boy.
Wasso grabbed the other boy by the front of his shirt and swung his arm back to strike at him. Knowing what was coming, David quickly murmured to Brute who was standing behind Wasso. "He can't, he'll get suspended."
Brute gave a small nod in response to David's words and grabbed Wasso's arm before he could throw the punch. Wasso looked back at Brute for a long moment then shrugged and threw the boy to the ground.
David's attacker jumped up from the ground and yelled at Wasso "You fucking asshole. What do you care if I beat the shit out of that queer? You probably just want his ass."
Before storming off, the boy looked at David and said "Next time, this fucker won't be around to protect you."
Brute kept a strong hold on Wasso's arm as he made a move to follow the kid. Wasso turned to glare at Brute who just shook his head at Wasso. After a long moment, Wasso gave a brief nod and turned towards David who was leaning against the lockers watching the two of them.
Wasso wanted to go over, hug David and carry him off to patch up his injuries but knew in his frame of mind, he'd just get angrier. David saw the rage, and the fear behind the rage, as he looked in Wasso's eyes. He smartly decided not to make a move towards Wasso in case Wasso broke his very thin hold on his temper and took off after the boy who had been beating up David. David looked at Brute who jerked his head a couple times to tell David that he was taking Wasso outside and that David should go the other way. David nodded slightly and turned back to Wasso.
Wasso lifted his eyes away from David's and sighed. He closed his eyes and allowed Brute to pull him off down the hallway and out a side door.
After Wasso was no longer in sight, David grunted and slid down to sit on the floor. His head ached from slamming against the lockers, his lip was swelling, his stomach muscles had tightened from the kick to the gut and it felt like one of his ribs might be broken. He was glad that Wasso wasn't around because he couldn't keep up the nonchalance any longer.
Linder approached David from where he had been watching the encounter. He leaned down and offered his hand to David. David took Linder's hand and carefully got to his feet. Linder wrapped an arm around David's waist and wrapped David's arm around his shoulder. David leaned into Linder and let Linder help him down the hall in the opposite direction of Wasso.
"Why'd you do that?" asked Linder
"He was going to hit you." David replied, "He was an asshole so I told him so. At least he didn't attack you."
"I dont understand, why protect me? It didn't have anything to do with you."
"Look Linder, I'm sore, I'm bleeding and it hurts to breathe. I'd rather it happen to me than to you. Wasso understands the need to fight once in a while. He'll be angry and concerned but Mark would freak if you went home beaten to a pulp. Plus, that guy was being a jerk, you're my friend and I couldn't let him get away with what he was saying." Mark sighed.
"Well, thanks. Let's get you cleaned up a bit and get you home." Linder said leading David to a washroom.
"I'd rather go to Mark's; I don't want to explain this to my mom." David declared.
"Okay."
***
Mark opened the door and gave Linder and David a once over. Linder was still holding David up as David leaned wearily on the wall beside Mark's door.
"Do I want to know?" asked Mark, "Or is this something I should stay out of?"
"Some guy beat up David at school but Wasso stepped in before it got really bad." Linder explained.
Mark sighed and led the two through the house to his bedroom. Linder only let go of David once he was sitting on Mark's bed. Mark disappeared for a second and returned with a damp cloth. He pressed the damp cloth to David's swollen lip causing David to hiss in pain. David took the cloth out of Mark's hand and held it more gently to his lip.
"What did you say this time? And, where's Wasso?" asked Mark.
Removing the cloth from his lip David replied, "Brute has Wasso, he was pretty pissed. And the guy was being an asshole so I told him off."
Mark sighed once again and told David, "You really have to learn to watch that mouth of yours. One day you're going to say something to the wrong person and we'll have to pick you off the floor with a shovel."
David just shrugged and put the damp cloth against his lip again. He ignored Linder who was trying to catch his eye. David was not going to tell Mark that he'd stepped in to stop Linder from getting beat up. Mark would just freak.
"Off with shirt." Mark instructed David, "You're not doing too good of a job hiding the fact your stomach hurts."
David took of his shirt as carefully as possible and avoided looking at his stomach. He could see from the looks on Mark and Linder's faces that there was already a bruise forming and that it looked bad. Mark started to poke at David's chest but David moved away.
"You've got to let me do this. We have to see if any of your ribs are broken." Mark told David curtly.
"The left side might have one or two broken ribs. The right side is fine." David said as he let Mark start to prod at his chest and stomach again.
"Hmm, I can't feel any breaks, probably just cracked or, if you're lucky, bruised up real well. Your choice: hospital or a field bandage by me." Mark said.
"I'll take the bandage. Last thing I need is for Wasso to come looking for me and find me in a hospital." David claimed.
"Ok, bandage it is." Mark said turning to Linder, "Hey Lin, there's a first aid kit in the bathroom downstairs. Can you grab it for me?"
Linder nodded and trotted out of the room. Mark cocked his head and listened for Linder's footsteps on the stairs. Once he knew Linder was out of earshot for a bit, Mark turned to David.
"What really happened? You normally know to back off after the first hit. It's been a long time since anyone dared hit you, especially after Wasso threatened the last kid who tried."
David tried to avoid Mark's gaze but Mark reached out and gently grabbed David's face so he had to look at Mark. David sighed and told Mark the truth.
"The guy was picking on Lin. He was saying that Linder was a pussy and that Linder needed to wrap his scarf around his neck until he passed out. I don't know what started it but I stepped in and ended it...sort of"
Seeing Mark's face, David hurried on, "Look, it's not that bad. I've had worse. You know Lin gets picked on sometimes. Not as much since he?s been hanging out with you and Wasso but still. I wasn't going to tell you because you're just going to freak about it. Don't tell Linder I told you, he doesn't like letting you know about the bullying. I stop it as often as I can since we share a lot of classes, but I'm not always there. Wasso says he looks out for Lin as much as he can too."
"David. You're babbling," interrupted Mark "I know it happens and I know there's nothing I can do to stop it. I just hate it."
"Hate what?" asked Linder as he entered the room.
"Seeing David like this. I know Wasso's going to be here soon and he's going to freak out about it." Mark smoothly told Linder.
***