Jan

Mary Alice got an irritated look on her face, and said 'Well, if nothing you do is my concern, then nothing I do should be of yours!'

'Except that you keep sticking your face in our lives, and asking questions that no decent person would.', Robyn quietly told her.

'You say that I'm indecent? What gives you the right to judge me?!'

At this point, Kelly spoke up, telling her 'We don't judge you – your own actions do that. We're only responding to the way you show us you deserve.', calmly.

'You're saying that I deserve to be treated like a whore?', Mary Alice asked, angrily.

'Only if you act like one.', Candice answered her.

At that point, her boyfriend decided it was time to make a stand, and said 'Hey, you can't talk to her like that!'

Jan looked at him, and said 'Sure we can – we just did!'

'Well, you'd better just watch yourselves, or I'll… I'll…'

My turn.

'You'll what, boy? Kick their asses? Raise a hand – a finger – toward any one of them, and I'll be on you like white on rice.'

'Oh, sure, old man – like I couldn't kick your ass, too! These bitches give me any shit, and I'll do what I want to them!'

I couldn't help it – I growled. Mary Alice paled a bit; the others turned to look at me in surprise and concern as I stood up. Before I could say anything, Kathy's boyfriend moved up and whispered something in Junior's ear. He got an uncertain look on his face before I quietly told him 'Boy, you ask anybody that knows me, and they'll tell you that I only speak God's honest truth. You fuck with me, you fuck with any of these ladies, you fuck with anybody that I know or care about, and I promise you, you'll spend a very long, very painful time in the hospital wishing you hadn't.'

About that time, I saw one of the off-duty cops getting close – and recognized him from the Phil incident. I nodded in recognition, and he smiled in return. When he came up, he saw the expression on my face, and asked 'Everything okay here, Mr. Marshall?'

'I think so, Officer. This young lad and I were debating the finer points of survival in a hostile world.'

'Yeah, we've met before, haven't we Johnny?', the cop asked the kid, obviously recognizing him. He went on to say 'Johnny boy, do you have your insurance card in your pocket?'

'Uh, no…'

'Then I would suggest that you have it with you before you go pissing him off. I took the report when he took care of your buddy Phil and his dipshit pals. They were stoned, or dusted, or on some damn thing or other, and he flat took them out, in less than a minute. I don't think he even broke a sweat. You might also remember that all three of them left in the meat wagon, and Phil was in the hospital for a while. You mess with Mr. Marshall, here, and he will flat fuck you up – and he'd do it whether he was going to go to jail, or not. And I don't know of anybody that would dare get in his way. Got it?'

At that point, the kid looked in my eyes, and saw something he didn't like: that if I took a real dislike to him, I'd do just what the cop had said I would – and that there wasn't a thing on God's green earth that could stop it.

The cop – Patrolman Johnston, by his nametag – smiled at me and wished all of us at the table a good evening before walking off.

The kid got an expression like he'd been teasing the lion, and just discovered the cage wasn't locked.

Mary Alice also seemed to realize the trouble she was getting herself into.

I looked at her, and said 'Mary Alice, this is the second time you've managed to upset me and my friends. I won't let it happen a third time.

Got it?'

She paled again, and nodded, before grabbing her boyfriend by the arm and leading him off – quickly followed by Kathy and her guy.

Fortunately, the band started to play a slow tune, and I took Kelly's hand in mine and led her out onto the dance floor. When she was in my arms, she whispered to me 'You were serious about that, weren't you?

About hurting him, or anyone that messed with us?'

'Yup.'

'And you'd do it, too, wouldn't you?'

'Yup.'

'Even if you went to jail?'

'Yup.'

I felt her shudder slightly in my arms before she said 'Thank god that's over! When I heard you make that noise, I wasn't sure if you were serious, or just trying to scare them – but now I know!'

'Relax. It's over. They're gone. Let's just enjoy the party now, okay?'

She shuddered again, but as we continued to dance, I felt her finally start to come down from the tension. By the time the song ended, she was again able to smile and laugh as I told her a joke. The band promptly went into another slow tune, and neither of us was surprised when Jan came out for her turn. Jan whispered in Kelly's ear for a moment, and Kelly nodded her head slightly before heading back to the table while Jan moved into my arms.

'You kind of scared them, you know.', she said.

I sighed, and answered 'Yeah, I suppose I did. I'll apologize when I sit down.'

She giggled, and said 'You don't have to. I explained to them how you are, sometimes, and they understood. Shucks, they're even flattered that you would come to their defense like that!'

'Thanks, I guess.', I told her, a bit sheepish.

'It's okay. Kelly's going to talk to them, too, a little. That was really something, the way John left. He's not real smart, and he doesn't go looking for trouble, but he won't run away from it, either. I think you scared him pretty bad if he left like that.'

'All that matters is that he leaves you and the others alone. Beyond that, I don't much care what happens with him. Or Mary Alice, for that matter.'

Satisfied that everything was close to normal again, Jan rested herself against me, and we finished the dance in each other's arms. The next tune was some new thing, and I wasn't about to make a fool of myself trying to dance to it, so we quickly headed back to the table. As we got close, I could see the others looking at me, watching me – and saw Kelly give Jan and I a small nod of her head, indicating that things were fine, again. I smiled at them, and held Jan's seat for her.

After a while some of their other friends began stopping by our table with their dates. Each time, introductions would be made, and I'd stand to take the girls hand in mine, and kiss it – and every time, they'd stutter for a second, and blush slightly, their eyes wide, before introducing me to their dates – whose hands I'd shake politely, and firmly, as I greeted them. In between visits like that, they carefully pointed out who was what – this one the captain of cheerleading, that one the Prom Queen, and so on.

When the next slow song played, I asked Susan to dance, and she happily agreed. Once we were on the dance floor, I took her in my arms, and whispered to her 'Feisty little thing, aren't you? Telling Mary Alice off like that!'. I could see her shoulder darken as she blushed, before she said 'Being around you, I've gotten stronger, inside; like I'm not afraid of stuff like I used to be. Besides, I was just so sick of her bullshit!', she exclaimed, before blushing again at her use of profanity.

I hugged her gently, and said 'It's okay, Susan. You know what the best revenge is?'

'What's that?'

'Be seen to be happy, and doing well.'

She thought about that for a few moments, then looked up at me, grinning, before saying 'Yeah, I suppose it would be, wouldn't it?

Especially for someone like Mary Alice.'

'*Especially* for someone like Mary Alice.', I agreed.

We finished out the song, and were on our way back to the table when the band decided that another slow tune was called for. I walked Susan back to her seat, and was surprised a bit when Robyn got up.

Back out on the dance floor, I held her close as I told her 'I'm sorry if I upset you, Robyn.'

She pulled back a bit to look at me in confusion for a second before putting her head on my shoulder again,