to-face with a shirtless opponent, covered in menacing scars who looked like he belonged in a bare-knuckle, cage- fighting match on an alien war planet. But this man wasn’t thinking straight. No doubt he was accustomed to winning fights. Well, that was about to change.
Ignoring the gun at his feet, the bouncer lowered his head and charged.
Nathan saw it coming.
He sidestepped and shoved the man into the wall. The guy’s head struck the drywall and left a cereal-bowl impression in its surface. Nathan kicked him in the ass, making the impression deeper. The man grunted, cursed, and yanked himself free.
Nathan stepped back. “It’s a little cramped in here,” he said. “Shall we finish this in the living room?”
“No problem.”
Nathan gestured toward the door and moved aside, allowing the bouncer to exit the bedroom first. He pointed at Cindy. “Stay here.” Following at a safe distance, he sensed his opponent disappear around the living room corner more than he saw it. Then he heard a metallic sound and knew what it was.
The fireplace iron.
Nathan took loud, deliberate steps down the hall and stopped four feet short of the corner. The poker’s black form
“That’s gotta hurt,” Nathan said. “Had enough?”
He stepped into the living room and the bouncer charged again, surprisingly fast, but not fast enough.
Nathan ducked low before thrusting upward with all his strength.
The man literally flew over Nathan’s back and landed with a grunt. He rolled onto his belly, tried to get up, and seemed surprised when one of his arms didn’t work.
“Broken,” Nathan said.
“You’re a dead man.”
Nathan spread his arms and looked down at himself.
The bouncer struggled to his feet and lunged forward with a left jab zeroed at Nathan’s jaw. Anticipating the punch, Nathan jerked his head to the right and snapped up with his left elbow, smashing the man’s nose. That was a bingo. For 99.9 percent of Earth’s population, that level of blunt-force trauma did the trick. Party over. Lights out. Send the babysitter home. But this man simply wiped his nose and squinted at the fresh blood on his fingers.
“It was cocked about thirteen degrees to the right,” Nathan said. “It’s straight now. No charge.”
The bouncer grabbed a toppled chair with his good hand and hurled it. Nathan ducked. Behind him, the glass door shattered.
Roaring like a maniac, the bouncer charged a third time.
He never made it.
His foot caught on the corner of the coffee table. Had the fall not landed him squarely on an overturned chair, it would’ve been comical, but his left eye socket made solid contact with the bottom of the chair’s leg. Three hundred pounds of momentum… With a little luck the eye could be saved, provided it wasn’t dangling out of the socket.
The man rolled into the fetal position and cupped his eye with his good hand.
Nathan felt it, a tangible presence evaporating from the room.
This fight was over.
An absurd memory flashed through his mind, something his mother used to say:
“Come on,” Nathan said. “Let’s have a look. It’s over, okay?”
The big guy staggered to his knees, still holding his left hand over his eye.
“I’m gonna look at that eye. If you try anything, we’ll start over.”
No response.
Nathan flipped a wall switch and squinted at the sudden brightness. Clutching his eye, the bouncer looked broken and bloody, like a bully who’d finally met his match.
“Let me see your eye. Easy now. What’s your name?”
He slowly removed his hand. “Toby.”
Blood was streaming out of Toby’s nose and running down his lips and chin. Nathan examined the eye from a safe distance. Fortunately, the impact hadn’t been directly on the orbit itself. It had missed by half an inch, but the skin was laid open on the upper brow.
“Well, Toby, I’ve got good news. You aren’t going to lose your eye, but you’ll have one hell of a shiner. You had a close call here.” He paused to make sure he had Toby’s full attention. “You can blow this experience off, or you can use it to turn your life around, to walk a different path.” Nathan watched him ponder the comment for a few seconds. Toby was a big man-huge, really-and people often associated his kind of size with stupidity. Nathan was also big, not like this guy, but he often felt people treated him as though he was all muscle and no brains.
“I lose my temper,” Toby said.
“I noticed. Did you notice things I said were designed to make you lose your temper?”
“I can’t help it.”
“Yes, you can.”
Toby said nothing.
Nathan crouched down. “Here’s what I do. When I feel anger coming on, and I really want to hurt someone, I stop it by using a mental image. I call it a safety catch. You can call it anything you want. For me, it’s a safety catch. With me so far?”
Toby nodded.
“Okay. Picture autumn-colored leaves falling from trees and gently settling on the ground all around you. Give it a try. Start by closing your eyes and imagining it.”
To Nathan’s surprise, Toby closed his eyes.
“You’re standing under the trees with your head tilted up, your arms out the sides, palms up. The leaves are falling all around you, brushing against your skin. Breathe in deep. Let it out slowly. See the leaves as they flutter past you. They’re moving in perfect harmony. Each leaf picks up a small piece of anger and carries it away. Take another deep breath and let it out slowly.”
Toby looked pretty calm for a moment, then winced. “Oh man, my arm hurts.”
“You’re just now noticing that?”
Toby nodded again.
“How high are you?”
“A couple lines.”
“Do yourself a favor and lay off the blow. You’ll save a ton of money, and you’ll enjoy life a whole lot more. Life is rich with detail. You need to see the world around you, be aware of its details. You may need some help to quit, but as soon as you realize you don’t need drugs to have fun, you’ll have the problem licked.”
“I’ll try. You fight well.”
“Like I said, it’s all about details. I knew you were on some sort of amphetamine high because your pupils were too small for the ambient light in the room. I knew you were right-handed because you used it to wipe your nose. You’re right-footed because you took your first step toward the door with your right foot. I wanted that info in case you were a kickboxer. I knew when you were going to charge because your eyes gave you away. Stuff like that. It can save your life. It’s all about the details.”
“Those scars all over your body?”
“What do they tell you?”
“Somebody did that to you on purpose.”
“Why did they cut my stomach and back?”
Toby thought about it a few seconds. “No major arteries.”
“That’s right.”
“You were a soldier and got captured, they tortured you.”
