of you, you bloody cripple!”
“I think you are,” says Julian, “and I know you should be.”
“He can’t talk to us like that!” the man yells to Finch.
“Yeah,” Finch says to Julian. “You can’t talk to them like that. This is none of your business. Maria, come here, dove, don’t stand near him.”
Mia doesn’t move.
“Her safety is your business,” Julian says to Finch. “You’re supposed to be on her side. How dare you ask her to turn out her pockets? You know she didn’t take their fucking rings.”
“I know that!” Finch exclaims. “I know that better than you. I wanted her to prove it to them. Put this matter behind us. Not make it worse, like you just did.”
“That’s right!” the uncle yells, swinging at Julian, who jerks his head, pivots and punches the man with a straight left into the center of his face.
“I told you to shut your fucking mouth,” Julian says. The man’s nose and lip gush blood. The nose is broken. The woman shrieks, the boy shrieks. Throwing up his hands, Finch rushes off to get some rags. Oh, now he’s rushing.
Taking Mia by the arm, Julian leads her away from the ruckus.
“You shouldn’t have let them talk to you like that,” he says. “You let it go on too long. You’re too nice.”
“Tempers flare,” she says. “And what could I have done? I couldn’t have done what you just did.” She glances over Julian’s shoulder. “Uh-oh,” she says. “You’re about to hear it from Finch.”
“Can’t wait,” says Julian.
Before he can turn around, Mia grabs the front of Julian’s coat. “Promise me you won’t hurt him,” she says.
“Julian!” he hears Finch call. “Look at me! I want to talk to you.”
Mia holds on to Julian’s coat, keeping him from facing Finch. “No, Julian, before you turn around, promise me you won’t hurt him.”
He peels her away from his lapel, squeezing her hand. “OK, fine. I promise.” Then he turns around.
“Yes, Finch?” Julian says. “What would you like to discuss?”
“I don’t know why trouble follows you wherever you go,” Finch says, barreling forward.
Julian puts out his palm. “Don’t come near me,” he says. “If you really came to talk, talk, but don’t come within four feet of me.”
“Or what?” Finch stops.
“Or I’m going to check your distance,” says Julian, clenching his fist.
“If you touch me,” Finch says, “I’ll have you arrested.” But he doesn’t come any closer.
“And what are you going to tell the police when they come? That three people were about to attack your girlfriend while you took their side against her and did fucking nothing?” Julian wishes he hadn’t promised Mia to keep his hands to himself.
Duncan and Wild run up.
“That’s not what I did!” Finch yells.
“That’s exactly what you did.”
“Maria! Tell him that’s not what I did! I defended you!”
“You didn’t defend me, Finch,” Mia says from behind Julian, yanking on his coat to remind him not to lunge forward.
“Asking you to prove to them you didn’t steal their things is defending you, dove!” Finch says.
“No, it isn’t,” Mia says.
“Yeah, Finch, it really isn’t,” Duncan says. “It’s shite, if you ask me.”
“Stay out of it, Duncan! This is between me and him.”
“What’s going on here?” an unfazed Wild says amiably. “I had one cigarette and suddenly it’s a war zone.” He turns to Julian. “War zone, Swedish, see what I did there? I made a joke, a pun. A play on words.”
“I see, Wild. Step back.”
But Wild doesn’t step back. Just the opposite. Wild steps forward. He puts his one arm around Julian. “Swedish, I keep telling and telling you. You can’t take a single thing Finch says or does personally or seriously. Why won’t you listen to me? I thought we were friends. The man is mad as a bag of ferrets. I’ve been drumming it into your skull from day one. He is not your problem. He is Folgate’s problem. Let’s you and me go have ourselves a cigarette and a stiff drink and leave the girls to sort out their own shit.”
“No,” Finch says. “Move away, Wild. He and I are going to solve this once and for all like men.”
Wild laughs.
“When words stop working, things need to be resolved without them,” Finch continues. “The way men resolve things.” Dusty and panting, he throws off his coat. “I’ve been accused by him of sticking up for the wrong side, and I won’t have it.”
“Wait, Finch,” Wild says, still between the two men, “but Folgate also accused you of sticking up for