Getting Back In The Game: Bar Fight

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Eric tipped his bottle and poured a delicious Lagunitas IPA down his throat. He smiled as he tasted the sweet liquid and bobbed his head to the beat of the band. It was Saturday night, he was out with his girl, and all was right.

He had first heard about this live music bar a few months ago but had been unable to convince his friends to go.

“Why would we want to take a 30 minute Uber to watch some thirty-year-olds in punk clothing relive their youth?” Jack had asked, and for once, the rest of the group agreed with them. He had tried to convince them to leave their comfort zone and listen to music that wasn’t rap or hip-hop for one weekend, that point was rudely cut off when Andrew jokingly called him a racist. Even his point that there would be girls to dance with was countered by Kyle.

“Dude, there’s always girls to dance with. And I’d rather dance with a girl backing it for some lame DJ playing a Nelly remix than a girl jump-dancing to a bad cover of Death Cab For Cutie.” Eric had to admit he made a good point. Still, the idea of going to this punk bar had been on the back of his mind, and when Alyssa asked him what his plans were this weekend, he knew it was time.

“I’ve actually been wanting to go to this live-music punk bar in the East Bay for a while now, would you be down?” He had asked, and she had responded with enthusiasm. And now here they were, watching a crowd of people jump-dancing to an admittedly bad cover of Gives You Hell. It didn’t matter that the lead singer couldn’t hit any of hit notes, though. Not after a few drinks anyway.

He looked to his left and saw Alyssa dancing enthusiastically to the band. Either the singer had managed to pull it together for the final chorus, or he was drunker than he thought, but as he watched her put her hands up and scream out the words, it was the best song he had ever heard. He could feel the bass pounding in his soul via his feet and he couldn’t take his eyes off his date. He watched her bob her head, her short brown hair bouncing around her shoulders and sticking to her face as she danced to the rhythm, with no care about anyone around.

They had been in the “talking” phase of the relationship for a few months, and recently, it seemed as though they were playing relationship chicken. He knew she had feelings for him. He was sure it was obvious he was falling for her. And yet, his fear of getting rejected again was stopping him from making it official.

“You’re such a pussy,” he thought as the opening riff of Check Yes Juliet started up to cheers from the crowd. “Who cares if you could get hurt again, that’s what living is all about.” His drunk thoughts made a good point. Tonight, he was going to ask her to be exclusive, no matter how scared it made him. He was sure she was on the same page he was, but hell, he had been sure before, and look how that turned out. He stopped himself before his thoughts backslid. No, he was going to have fun tonight, get his dance on, and later, talk about his feelings.

“Watch where the fuck you’re going!” He heard a gruff voice yell over the music, pulling him out of his trance. He turned away from the band to see a guy about his age holding Alyssa by the arm. Instinct took over.

He grabbed the guy’s wrist, and using his thumb, leveraged his grip off Alyssa’s arm. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” He said, loudly, as he pushed the guy away from his date. The guy looked at him with fire in his eyes, and said something Eric couldn’t pick up. Not that it mattered anyway, it was clear what was about to happen.

“Fuck,” he thought. “This guy is about to swing. Alyssa is shielded behind my right shoulder, so I can’t cock that hand back. My left hand is holding a beer, and I’m not trying to kill this guy. I’m going to have to eat this punch.”

It was remarkable the amount of information his brain could relay with adrenaline rushing through him. Despite all the alcohol it had to fight off, his entire thought process only took a fraction of a second. Another fraction of a second later, it was proven correct.

Eric tucked his chin and took a weak punch to the side of his forehead. It would still hurt later, but right now, it was meaningless. Stepped released the beer bottle in his left hand as he stepped forward and gave the guy a short shot to the stomach. It wasn’t enough to knock the wind out of him, but it did give Eric some space. With Alyssa now a foot behind him, he wound up and threw a right hook into the side of his opponent’s jaw.

The guy stumbled backward, falling into people, and immediately, the place erupted. It seemed that everyone in this bar had a secret vendetta against everyone else, and a few thrown punches was all it took to get everyone involved. Eric watched, shocked as seemingly random people squared off against each other, and then seeing the enormous bouncers plowing through the crowd, elected to leave. He turned, grabbed Alyssa and hustled out the door and into the parking lot.

They both jogged in silence down the block, adrenaline keeping them going, until they reached the corner. Eric looked at Alyssa, expecting her to be mad at him. He remembered the one time he had gotten in a fight in college, Rachel hadn’t spoken to him for a week. When she did, she had made it clear that “there was never any reason to get in a fight. Human’s aren’t primitive apes, and it’s embarrassing to have your boyfriend fight like some kind of ‘roid rage douchebag.”

He tried to steady his voice as he spoke. “Hey, I’m sorry I hit that guy. I just didn’t like that he had his hands on you. I know that’s not a- mphmhm!” The rest of Eric’s sentence was muffled as Alyssa kissed him passionately. As they parted after a few enthusiastic seconds, she grabbed his face and stared into his eyes. “Thank you for dealing with that asshole. I can’t believe he grabbed me just because I bumped into him dancing.”

Eric looked at her, stunned. He tried to catch his breath. “Of course. I’m not going to let some piece of shit put hands on my girlfriend.” He realized what he had said as he said it, but he didn’t care. The look on Alyssa’s face told him she enjoyed hearing.

“Oh so I’m your girlfriend now?” She smiled flirtatiously and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “You better call an Uber and take your girlfriend back to your place, right now.”

Eric fumbled for his phone in his pocket with desperate hands. .

87

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Nick Arcadia

The opposite of a life coach. Email or DM me if you want some bad advice: nickarcadiapgp@gmail.com

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