I had the weekend to myself and an empty house to go home to, so I had spent the first part of my Friday night having a couple drinks with a few work friends. One by one, they dispersed, headed home to start their weekends. I was last out the door, in no great hurry to get home and wanting to let the drinks wear off before driving.
As I left the restaurant and strolled into the parking lot, I couldn't help but hear a heated argument nearby. I turned to see a young man and woman between cars about twenty yards away. The man held her by the wrist and she was attempting to pull away, yelling, "Let go of me!"
"Come on, girl," the man retorted, her arm firmly in his grasp. "Don't be such a bitch!"
"You need to let me go. You're hurting me."
I wasn't one to get involved in a lovers quarrel but this was obviously crossing the line. I altered my course and increased my pace toward the couple. "Are you okay?" I asked, looking at the woman as I approached.
"Mind your business, bro," the man grunted.
"I think you need to listen to the lady."
She pulled again against his grip but he held firm. "Let go!" she repeated.
I stepped closer but remained a good ten feet away, trying not to escalate matters and give him a chance to do the right thing. Instead, he yanked her closer and turned toward me. "Why don't you fuck off."
"How 'bout I call the cops instead?" I replied, holding my phone.
"How 'bout I fuck you up?" He let go of the girl and stepped toward me. He was a shade taller than me and, as typical, started to stand taller and thrust out his chest.
"Well then... I'd say you have two choices. One, you kick my ass and then go brag to all your dumbass friends how you beat up some guy twice your age. Or two, you keep this up and I kick your ass and then you get to deal with the embarrassment of getting your ass kicked by some old guy."
I was partially bluffing, knowing full well that I hadn't been in any kind of fight in decades. But I also knew this type of drunken blowhard and if need be, I had enough training in the service to hold my own if it came to it.
The guy stood motionless, weighing the options. The young woman looked frightened but also stood still, awaiting his next move.
"I'm putting my money on number two," I added, placing my phone in my back pocket. "What's it gonna be, tough guy?"
Maintaining his puffed out chest but in a mental retreat, the guy tossed the girl's wrist aside. "You ain't worth the time old man." He glared menacingly at me as he backed away, before turning. He walked over to the next car and opened the door. After firing the ignition he revved the engine before dropping it into gear, accelerating out of the parking space flying me the bird.
I watched as he screeched out of the parking lot, shaking my head. "A real class act," I said, waving in his direction.
"Thank you so much," the young woman cried with relief. She leaned against the car, her arms crossed over her chest. She was shaking. "I... I don't even know how I got to this point. He seemed like a nice enough guy at first."
I looked closer at her for the first time and gained some recognition. "Wait... Katie? Is that Katie Sommers?"
She looked up, eyes narrowed to a squint despite the near darkness. I could see by her confused expression that she didn't recognize me. But then her face softened and I could tell she knew who I was, if not by name. "Mr. Gorst!"
Okay, she knew part of my name. And then she stepped forward and embraced me in a hug. I held her and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Fine... just a bit rattled I guess." She let go and I stepped back to get a good look at her. "Thanks again though for that. Amazing what a few drinks can do to some people. Glad you came along when you did."
"I'm sure you would have given him a full volley to the junk if it came down to it," I replied with a chuckle.
Katie Sommers. I hadn't seen her since her high school days when she was the star forward on the soccer team and my daughter's teammate. Katie had made All-State and went on to play division 1 college soccer at Texas. Here she was, back home six years later.
She had filled out some and her hair was longer. In short, she was a beautiful, young, fit woman. She filled me in briefly about what she'd been up to and asked about my daughter who now lived abroad in Spain. It was growing cold, however, and I could see she was getting a chill.
"You probably need to get going," I said. "It's getting cold."
"No, I'm not cold," she replied. "I was just thinking... he knows where I live and I'm not sure I want to go back there right now."
"What about your folks. You should stay with them tonight and let them know about this."
"Oh, they're long gone. Retired to Florida."
"Friends?"
"I don't really have any close friends here anymore. We're all scattered."
I thought for a minute and then figured, why not. "I've got a big empty house. You're more than welcome to take refuge for the night."