The Price of Revenge

By Nick

Vinny and I were having a blast. I'd come over last night and we spent all night playing with action figures (we were only eight), playing the Sega, or play fighting, which was the current activity. I stood at one end of the living room, fists at an angle by my sides, one foot eight inches in front of the other, and breathing hard. Vinny was on one knee across from me, wiping the sweat from his brow. We were about fifteen feet apart, and had about five feet space from side to side, with a wall on the left and a couch on the right. There was an orange juice stain on the white carpet by my feet, but the carpet was otherwise clean. Little did I know it would soon be soaked in the blood of one of my best friends.

"Let's go again. For real this time," Vinny was standing up. "No hits to the face. No biting. Other than that, anything can fly, just like the way you will when I nail ya one in the belly," He was smiling now, ready for the real thing.

"All right, sure. But I'm warning you, you won't like the way it turns out," I was trying to get him fired up, so he'd make a mistake. He was about nine inches taller than I was and I needed every advantage I could get.

Vinny stepped forward fists below his chin, and a gleam in his eye, he knew he was bigger too. I shot one of my fists right for his shoulder, but he ducked and slammed a hard fist into my gut. As I doubled over, I adjusted my elbow, and slammed it forcefully into the back of his head.

We hit the floor simultaneously, and launched one foot each straight for each other. I caught him on the nose (which was against the rules), while his foot slammed into my ribcage. I rolled away, and we both stood. Grasping my side, I lunged for him as hard as I could. He was mad about me kicking him in the face, and went all out. After ducking my haymaker, he uppercutted me in the chin and hit my stomach again with his left. He kicked my shin with his right foot, and launched his left into my aching side mili-seconds later. With his foot in still in the air, he kicked me on the cheek, but I grabbed his foot when he tried to pull it back, and twisted hard to my right, sending him over the couch. I walked to the couch to see if he was okay, but had to jump back when it tipped at me. He stood on the overturned couch for a moment then leapt at me. He shoulder dug into my chest, and he let out a mighty roar. We fell to the ground, and swung at each other repeatedly. My tongue got caught on one of my teeth, and began to bleed. Driven by rage, I grabbed Vinny's shoulders, slid my feet underneath him, and launched him against the wall. We reached our feet at about the same time, but his elbow came in so fast I couldn't have blocked it if I tried. I stumbled back toward the couch, and spun around, bringing my right foot around at his chin. He fell, and my momentum carried me to the floor as well. We scrambled back to our respective corners, and took a minute to catch our breath

"Wannabe," Vinny taunted.

"Mama's boy," I returned. We had turned a harmless sparing match into a dull blown fight. We were both too proud to surrender.

"Toilet licker."

"Butt head." The insults continued, but I can't state them here. After a reference to his ability to keep friends, the battle resumed.

I barely dodged as his foot flew for my face, and as I sidestepped, I brought my knee hard into his gut. As he lunged forward, I slammed my elbow hard onto his head and stuck my foot in front of him. He hit the floor, and I went in for the kill. Knowing Vinny's weak spot was his left side under his ribs, I began a relentless onslaught of kicks and elbow drops. Vinny shrieked in pain. He brought his leg around quick, and I fell hard on my back. He fired a kick into my knee, then hopped to his feet. He seemed surprisingly calm, and this offset me. I slowly reached my feet, not daring to drop my gaze. I came at him with a yell and an attempted tackle, but he moved to his right at the last minute. I got up as quickly as I could, and turned around, straight into his fist, he then grabbed me and drove his knee into my gut. He pulled me up and landed a head butt, followed by three quick left jabs to my face. I stumbled backward, and he kicked me hard in the jaw. He then followed up with a rapid succession of blows, started with a gut punch, followed by an elbow, spin kick and uppercut. He took a moment to catch his breath, then kicked me in the side, the head, the stomach, and finished with a swift kick to my crotch. I fell to my knees, but made no sound. I began to fill with rage, and I began to foam at the mouth. Vinny's smile vanished. He took a few worried steps back, and said "I'm sorry man, I give. Just don't freak out."

"Don't freak out? I'm not freaking out," I said slowly, then "TAKE THIS YOU JERK!!!!!" I dashed towards him, and jumped into the air. Before he could react, I landed on him, and attacked with forty or fifty hard blows to his nose and mouth, screaming the entire time. Blood sprayed from his nose and mouth onto my shirt, but I didn't care. I heard something crack, but I didn't care. I heard his mom's car pull in, but I didn't care. I saw his left eye bruise before me, but I didn't care. Finally, Vinny let out an inhuman shriek, and pushed me as hard as he could. I fell a few feet back, and was ready to attack again, when I heard the one sound that could stop me. My best friend crying.

A minute or two later, his mother stormed into the room. She heard Vinny weeping, and came rushing to his aid. She cradled him far from me. I saw many emotions cross their eyes. Surprise. Pain. Bewilderment. Anger. Hatred. Rage. Betrayal. I mumbled an apology, and turned from the blood soaked scene. The carpet, couch, and walls all had blood on them.

As I began to leave, I stepped on Vinny's tooth, and hesitated. But not for too long. I heard his mother consoling him, and I stepped onto the balcony. I felt a light breeze cool my face, and cursed silently to myself. I kicked the balcony. I had not only bloodied my friend, but in his own house. It wasn't punishment I feared, but a destroyed friendship. After ten or so minutes of staring into the sky, I heard a voice behind me. I was startled, it was Vinny's voice. He wanted me to come inside. I dropped my eyes to the floor. How could he forgive me so easily? Answer: he couldn't. It must be a trick, I told myself. Even today I am ashamed of my naivete. After a few moments, I finally stepped back inside, weary of an attack. Vinny never did mention the event, and this is the first time I have. Our friendship remains stalwart, and we continue to pretend that fight never happened.