The walk home was filled with adrenaline for Jase; he was hoping Dick would try something today. He walked along the crooked sidewalks, eyes glued to his feet. He had only left Hal's side a few minutes ago, and yet he already felt so isolated and alone.
Each familiar building he passed as he approached that same alleyway where Dick always drew the same knife on him. Entrenched in his thoughts, Jase continued walking, only to be brought back to reality by the familiar, snobby voice of Dick.
"You got any money on you Jase?" called Dick, his bulky silhouette looming in the alleyway.
"No….." said Jase in as confident a tone as he could muster.
The two started to circle one another slowly, and Jase crept deeper into the dank alleyway.
"C'mon man, I know you at least got lunch money on you, or something valuable. How about your phone? It's been a while since I stole a phone from you."
"No…." replied Jase, again forcing himself to exude confidence in this situation.
click
The quiet yet blatant sound of a knife opening was all Jase could think of now.
"Hey Jase, buddy, we've got a system going. C'mon man I don't wanna hurt you."
"No Dick, I'm sick and tired of you stealing from me. I'm over it, every single day. Even when I don't have anything you still take me into this nasty alleyway and beat me up."
"Who the….. WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TALKING TO?!"
Dick held his knife in a ready position at his side; he looked like a wild animal somehow cornered. Jase's words seemingly struck a nerve somewhere deep inside his psyche. To this brute, even just a few harsh words were enough to threaten his sense of control.
"That's it," snapped Dick as he started lumbering towards Jase. As Dick approached Jase, the size of his attacker seemed to grow. Never before had Dick ever been this aggressive or mad, always so casual in his violence.
Jase's rage going into this fight had quickly faded and turned to fear for his life. He saw the glimmer of metal in Dick's hand. The sides of the alleyway seemed to creep in towards Jase; he had nowhere to run.
Jase called back the same line, "That's it." His mind was blank, with only anger, fear, and survival mattering now. He quickly raised his arm, revealing the winch device, and he braced with his other arms just like on the basketball court, squinted, and fired.
PWSHHHH!
Off like a shot the line went, the metal clasp heading straight for Dick's face. It was glorious; it was revenge. The feeling of safety had already washed over Jase as soon as he felt the release. He'd already won; it was too late for Dick now.
TWANG!
He missed.
The metal wire had struck a nearby pipe that stuck out from the building encasing the brawl. The attacker paused for only a moment when he felt the blood trickling from where his ear should have been.
It had been shaved clean off.
Blood washed over the bully's fat, unkempt face. As Dick charged Jase, the wire retracted, and Jase readied for another shot, not even considering using the one he already had loaded in his pocket. Another wave of fear washed over Jase, flooding his mind.
"I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU," Dick belted out.
Another shot blasted out from the winch and whirred towards the target. Dick flinched as it went toward him. This was certainly over now. Jase hadn't missed a single bottle, albeit the bottles were relatively close to him and they didn't move, but still Jase was certain he should be able to hit Dick. That confidence is why he so recklessly fired it off twice in succession while barely taking time to think about what he was doing.
The shot zoomed just over the head of Richard, and he began to hear the same metallic spinning noise he heard at the court. He had started to tangle his winch on the pipe behind Dick. Jase's eyes went wide again; no longer could he find the confidence he had earlier possessed. He desperately tried to recover his winch with the same motion he used to yank down the old hoop. He instead felt his foot slip on the same muddy surface he was pummeled into just yesterday. The moment he lost his balance, the power of the winch began to pull him towards Dick.
This was it; he had tried to fight back, and now he was going to get what was coming for trying to stick it to his bully. Dick had also panicked; this was all happening so fast. This boy, who had been nothing but a cash source until now, had stuck up to him and taken his ear. He was fueled entirely by adrenaline now, acting in desperation.
"Something is wrong..." thought Dick. "Jase looks like he's heading towards me."
Suddenly, the force of the winch became too much, and Jase was dragged into the air while hurtling towards Dick. The two yelled in terror, and Dick covered his head with his hands, leaving the knife exposed above him.
Jase passed overhead of Dick and felt a sharp pain run along the side of his leg. The knife had lodged itself deep into his calf, leaving a long gash from the side of his thigh to the middle of his calf. The realization that he was done was accompanied by a sudden impact: metal to the head. He collided head-first with the metal pipe that had been the accidental target of his first shot.
Today, the pipe had its revenge. Jase laid on the ground, fading in and out of consciousness. All he could do was stare up at the sky, a searing pain raging further throughout his leg as a steady rainfall began to appear.
Dick became somewhat grounded again when the first droplet hit him—a tear in his eye caused by the pain from where his ear had once been. He was dazed and confused by what had happened. In his confusion, all he could muster was a "What the hell just happened?" as he clutched his ear and slunk back to wherever he came from.
Luckily, someone had heard the commotion from within their home and had contacted the police. Jase, hearing the approaching police sirens in the distance, mustered every ounce of strength he had left to throw the winches into a nearby trash can. After that, he let himself rest, all that false bravado and time spent hyping himself up, just to end up with a concussion and a screwed up leg.
Maybe he wasn't so cut out for the hero thing.