Chapter 10: Street Fight

Street fights weren't uncommon to me, Isaiah, and Bruce, and I immediately assessed each of them.

The boy in the front was the biggest out of all of them with a big belly and a tall height. Two of the four remaining boys looked to be athletes because of their similar physiques to Isaiah, and the other two were skinny.

"You talking to me?" I said to them, my expression indifferent but my eyes cold. They seemed a bit intimidated by me, but they were probably reassured by the number difference and the fat kid started walking towards me with the kids behind him close behind.

"Who else would I be talking to dumbasses? Give me that basketball or I'm going to beat the shit out of you." The fat kid responded.

I put on an intimidated and hesitant expression, and held the ball in my palm when he got close to me.

"Alright, here." I said to the boy, as if giving in. He looked a bit surprised that I actually gave in, but he reached out to grab the ball.

"That's right you bitc-," the fat kid started to say, but when he put his hand on the ball I pushed it down to hit his crotch. The ball hit accurately and he instinctively closed his legs and lowered his arms to clutch his balls in pain.

'What a fucking idiot.' I thought to myself, before I gave him an overhead cross straight to his nose. I felt his nose break and he immediately cried out, but before he could react I uppercutted him to the jaw.

He slumped to the floor unconscious, and the four boys behind him looked shocked.

"You fucker!" One of the athletic boys said, before he rushed towards me. The other athletic boy also followed him to help, and the two skinny kids were left to Bruce and Isaiah.

I had no doubt that Isaiah and Bruce would be able to beat those two twigs. After all, we three had been in fights since elementary school and we had never lost once. All I had to do was stall for time until they won their fights, and we would eventually win the fight.

But where was the fun in that? I wanted to test myself to see if I could beat these two kids, and I quickly picked up the basketball.

I threw the basketball as hard as I could at the legs of Athlete A running at me and he fell to the floor. His leg tripped over Athlete B and he fell forward, which I took advantage of by uppercutting him.

The boy instinctively spun his body to dodge the uppercut, but it still hit his shoulder.

I ran forward and he quickly got up, but he couldn't get his guard up in time and he decided to throw a left jab at me. I dodged to the left while simultaneously throwing an overhead cross that smashed into his face.

He fell to the ground and I heard Athlete A running towards me, and I tried to turn around but I didn't make it in time. He punched me in the back, but I ignored the pain and turned and kicked his stomach, but he blocked it and threw a cross at me.

'Fuck, a martial artist.' I thought to myself. I could tell he was experienced with kicks, and his punch was much more refined than the jab of Athlete B. I had only fought a few martial artists in street fights because most of them are taught to not fight in those, but the martial artists I fought were always much better at fights than regular people. Once I had even almost lost to a martial artist, and that was what motivated me to start self teaching myself martial arts.

I instinctively leaned back to dodge the punch, but immediately regretted it and I already knew what he would do next. As I expected, he kicked my front leg and I almost lost balance and fell, but I recovered and blocked a jab he threw at me.

Now neither of us had the momentum, and we started circling each other. A few seconds passed before he realized that I was waiting for my friends to finish fighting the skinny kids, and he feinted a jab that I didn't fall for and then kicked towards my front leg again.

In response I stepped forward and grabbed his leg, and I pushed him back until he fell forward. But I also lost my balance and fell to the floor, and we started to wrestle on the ground for control.

My bigger body eventually won and I got him in a choke hold, and when he was about to faint he tapped out.

I released him and he slowly got up while cursing. The two skinny boys who were currently getting their shit rocked also gave up and the three of them started walking away while carrying the two unconscious kids.

Soon the adrenaline went away and my entire body started aching, especially the arms that I used to block and my back. I panted heavily, and Bruce let me drink from his water bottle.

"Hot damn Dillon, that was fucking awesome!" Bruce told me as I drank from his hydro flask.

"Right, he took the three of them out all by himself! Did you see that fat fuck slump over like that! He fell like a rag doll!" Isaiah said.

The three of us laughed, but soon the mood changed. Isaiah and Bruce both had guilty and complicated faces, and I could basically guess what they were thinking about.

"Dillon...sorry man. I wasn't hanging out with you because the other dudes don't like you, but I was being selfish. You always helped us out and you were like an older brother to me, and this fight reminded me of that...I'll stop hanging out with those other dudes if we can still be bros, alright?" Isaiah said in a guilty tone with a face that begged for forgiveness.

Bruce also looked like he wanted to talk, and eventually he did. "I knew some of those guys in the group since elementary, and that's why I was a little scared to leave the friend group. But I forgot that you were our best friend, and the quality is better than the quantity."

I felt shocked that they asked for forgiveness, and even more shocked at the emotion behind their words. Most guys never show their real emotions because it makes us feel weak and vulnerable, and even I, their best friend, had only seen them show their emotions when Isaiah's mother died and when Bruce was cheated on by his first girlfriend who he cherished to the best of his ability.

I felt that I would also have to show my emotion, and though I was a bit hesitant I couldn't betray their expectations.

"We've been best friends since second grade, and I have always seen you guys as my blood brothers. We did everything together, from hitting on girls to getting in fights. But when you guys stopped hanging out with me in favor of the group, I felt that I was the only one who thought we were brothers, and I felt that my trust in you guys was betrayed."

They had sullen expressions, and I could see they were even starting to tear up. Or was that my tears? Probably both.

"But I'm glad I didn't give up on you guys, and that you guys accepted my invitation to the court. Of course I'll forgive you guys, you're my best friends, my brothers!" I said to them.

They looked shocked that I had forgiven them so easily, even a bit more guilty that I still trusted them so much, and they both broke down in tears.

I was about to tease them for crying, but found my throat choking and my mouth hiccuping and I realized that I was also crying my eyes out.

The three of us cried for a while, and in the end we had a group hug. But the group hug didn't last long, and all three of us jumped back as we rubbed our eyes and felt that we could talk now.

"Bro, that was fucking sus!"

"Nah you started it you gay boy!"

"Oi, I know your both homosexual, there's no need to get into a fight."

"You fat fuck!"

We all laughed and talked a bit more, before we noticed that it was getting a bit late and we parted ways. They gave me a last reminder that they would stop talking to the friend group from now on, and I suggested that we start going to the basketball court on the weekends which they agreed to.

I walked through the field and back to my home with a smile on my face, and the stress on my mind cleared up, and I recognized a pair of familiar faces next to the tree. One of them made me glare in hatred, but the other girl softened my expression a bit. I ignored them and walked home, and soon Bruce and Isaiah went home as well.