Enemy of Mine

Before I could answer, one of the drunk groomsmen rammed into the back of my chair, knocking me forward. I whirled around to see him standing with his hands in the air.

“’Scuze me. Sorry.”

His four other buddies and the two women with them were all laughing like they were watching a stand-up routine, drinking out of plastic cups that had been decorated for the wedding reception. I felt Jennifer grab my wrist, getting my attention.

“Let it go. They’re just having fun.”

I told the guy it was no problem, and sat back down.

“What did Kurt say?”

“Apparently the Syrian government is keen to get this dig going again. Prove to the world that they’re returning to normal. The Ministry of Culture pushed through the visas. The university isn’t prepared to deploy yet, but they want us to go over and do a site survey. If we say it’s good, they’ll follow.”

Site survey. Right. Chickenshits are afraid. Kurt must be laughing his ass off at the Syrian government helping the Taskforce penetrate their state.

“What about Knuckles and the crew? They’re supposed to go with us.”

Before she could answer, another drunk groomsman was standing by our table, swaying slightly.

“Hey, I want to apologize for my friend there. Let me buy you guys a beer.”

I smiled at him, “That’s okay. We’re fine. Thanks.”

“I want to. I really want to.” He listed forward, spilling some of the beer from his ridiculous pink cup onto our table.

I stood up. “I said it’s all right. Please leave us alone.”

My tone was nice, but my glare wasn’t. Jennifer saw the challenge going out and stepped between us, looking at me.

“Let’s go somewhere else.”

Why the hell should we leave? I thought about it. About the trouble we’d get in. About our trip coming up and the unwanted attention I’d draw if I mopped up the deck with all five of these assholes. And about the fact that Jennifer had asked-which meant more than the other considerations combined.

“All right. You get to pick this time, but walking distance from here.”

She took my hand and led us through the throng of the drunken wedding party. We were on the far side of the group when one of the men reached out and pinched her ass, then ducked back into the protection of the pack, giggling.

I couldn’t believe the audacity. Jennifer and I still didn’t know where we stood with each other, whether we were business partners, friends, or something more. One thing was for sure, though, our relationship had gone way beyond me letting anyone treat her like that.

I plowed into the group and snatched the culprit by the front of his shirt, ready to rip him apart. Before I could do anything, Jennifer was on us.

“Pike! Don’t! It’s not that big of a deal. Let it go. He’s drunk.”

I stared into his eyes. “You’re fucking lucky. If you apologize I won’t ruin the fun you’re having tonight.”

His friends closed in around us. Jennifer, having seen in the past where situations like this would end up, pulled me, saying, “I don’t need an apology. Come on. Let’s go.”

I hesitated, then pushed the man back, putting a cap on the anger and shame I felt at walking away. I knew they thought I was afraid of their numbers. That they’d won. I turned without a word and walked away. Jennifer took my hand again and grinned. “Thanks. You’re getting better at asshole control.”

Her smile took some of the sting out of my humiliation. I started to reply when one of the drunks groped Jennifer’s ass again. The ending was not exactly what he expected. Before he could withdraw his arm and get away, Jennifer had locked it up, causing instant compliance. She swept his legs out from underneath him and he hit the ground hard, cracking his head. She fell with him, rotating around and stretching out his arm with her legs over his body. He began to scream like a child at the pain she was giving him.

Now who needs some control?

I could hear the wedding girls shrieking at what Jennifer had done. Probably wondering how they could learn to do it too. One of them began dialing a phone.

The problem with Jennifer’s choice of submission was she couldn’t do anything to defend herself without letting go of the man on the ground. But she knew she didn’t need to.

She shouted, “Pike!” as one of the men reached for her hair. He got a handful before I landed a perfect uppercut. He was bent slightly at the waist, his chin forward. I felt his jaw slam shut as his head snapped straight back. He collapsed onto the deck, unconscious.

I spun around and faced the group, Jennifer’s tussle to my back.

“Anyone else want a piece of us?”

The women just stared slack-jawed, but I could tell the men realized they had tangled with more than they had bargained for. Even in their drunken state. They were all looking for something interesting on the ground or in the trees. Anywhere but at me.

I caught flashing lights in my peripheral vision. The bridesmaid must have called the police. Out of time.

I slapped Jennifer’s hands, shouting, “Time to go!”

She released his arm and I jerked her to her feet, saying, “Can’t go out the front door.”

Jennifer looked at the ten-foot brick wall at the back of the patio and started sprinting.

Great…acting like a monkey to evade the law. No damn dignity whatsoever.

I sprinted after her and we hit the wall at the same time, me coming off a table and her running straight up it in a toe-kip. We landed in the parking lot behind it and kept going, Jennifer laughing like we had just thrown water balloons at a car.

Driving back over the Ravenel Bridge to Mt. Pleasant, I said, “You talk about me losing control, what the hell was that back there?”

She looked a little embarrassed, then indignant. “Enough was enough. I didn’t try to hurt him. I was just subduing him. If it had been you he’d be in the hospital.”

She tried to show how serious she was, but a grin leaked out.

“Well, what were you going to do after you subdued him?” I said. “With all those other guys around?”

She didn’t respond, because we both knew the answer. I was going to step in.

“Look, I’m good with it. Those assholes deserved it, but if there’s a learning point here it’s that you can’t go around doing that sort of stuff.”

“What? That’s what I’m always telling you.”

“No, no, I don’t mean because I think it’s wrong. I mean because you’re a woman. I can run around kicking ass all day and it won’t raise an eyebrow.”

She started to wind up and I rushed out, “It may be chauvinistic, but that’s just the truth. Word’s going to get out about that little scuffle, and people are going to wonder how a pencil-neck anthropologist managed to kick someone’s ass that was twice her size. You have the skills now, and you need to protect them. Protect what we really do. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is.”

I expected her to blow up, but instead I saw her reflecting on what I had said. I decided to drop it.

“Hey, in the end I’m just glad you’ll only take so much shit before you blow your top. I was beginning to wonder if you had to have a gun at your head before you’d defend yourself.”

She grinned again, and I knew we were beyond it, lesson learned.

“You never finished about Knuckles. Is he coming with us, or not?”

“Not. Apparently he has his hands full doing something else.”

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