“I know about your shit, man. I know how your dad died, and the shit you went through after that. I know more about you than you know about yourself ‘cause it’s like looking in a mirror. I had to deal with some of the same shit, you understand me? ‘Cept with me it was my dad who was the motherfucker, not the stepfolk.”
I looked at him, wondering what our similarities were, what he had gone through.
“That’s right. Old man was big as fuck and I was just a little shit. He’d come home, all high and shit, and take it out on me and my mom. Shit,” he said, turning his back to me and lifting the back of his shirt, revealing a bunch of deep slashes. “Think you the only one that had to deal? Fuck. My pops would hit my shit so hard he’d pass out. Then he’d wake up later and come back to finish.”
“But then I got big and one night, I said ‘enough’ and broke his punk-ass head,” he said. “I did time for that shit. What’s the worst is that my moms testified against me, that it was my fault and whatever. Fucking bitch. I was fourteen, dog, and in jail with the big boys. I got lucky on some appeal that they did ‘cause I was a minor and shit and they let me out and here I am, a mother-fucking superhero. Yeah, that’s right. So don’t think you’re the only that’s fucked up some shit bad and had to come back from rock bottom. You’re the only one that thinks that the rest of us owe you some shit, though.”
He laughed. “I think sometimes you’re like that Rainman dude. All smart with books and shit, but stupid as fuck–”
“I warned you–”
“Oh, shut the fuck up with that. If that’s all you got, then that’s all you’ll ever be. Big fucking stupid bully. You know what you need? You need someone to come along and put your ass down. Hard, you know? Bad so you know what it’s like to be afraid again. Like when you was a little kid and your uncle was chasing your ass down, beating you ‘til you cried and shit. Maybe then you’ll stop being such a pain in the ass motherfucker.”
“So that’s what we’re here for? I get the royal beat down from Moe, strong guy of Superdynamic’s Battle? Let me tell you something, big guy. You’re fucking with the devil.”
He paused, suddenly serious.
“If that’s what it takes, man. I’m right here. I ain’t never backed down from a fight, and I’m not going to now. Especially from some bully fucker like you. And if they gotta scrape my ass off the walls, I don’t give a fuck, but I had hoped that you weren’t all Rainman, you know? That you weren’t all stupid. That you might listen to some shit if I gave it to you straight. Man to man and shit.”
“You’re smarter than you look,” I said, still in ‘dark Blackjack’ mode.
“That girl,” he said, gesturing toward her again. “She’s lead a sheltered life, man. From a tiny little place in the middle of nowhere. She don’t even know about motherfuckers like you. She’s never had to be careful of a guy that only wants one thing.”
“I was just playing with her,” I said, defensively.
He pursed his lips, and bowed his head closer, pulling back his glasses, as if he was trying to get a better look at me.
“You think that bullshit’s gonna work on me? I’m from Brooklyn, Gee. You know what I’m saying?”
“I wasn’t going to do anything.”
“Suck-a-dick,” he scoffed. “You telling me you were going to throw her out of your room if she came in there, all curious and shit? She don’t even know how to behave around you, man, and you’re whipping your dick in the poor girl’s face.”
“What,” I challenged, “and she’s all yours or something? You got dibs?”
Moe laughed, “Papers of ownership. Get a load of you. I don’t want nothing with that girl, you understand? All I want is that she stay away from pieces of shit like you, and maybe one day she meets a decent guy, who’ll treat her nice. Not like a ‘ho.”
I swallowed hard. “I wasn’t going to....”
“Yeah?” he said, snickering.
I didn’t know what to make of this guy, I mean, did he want to fight or not? He was cutting through my bravado, killing my edge,