“Oh, please, Monty. I had to change my number to get you to leave me alone. You even used my grandmother’s death as an excuse to get back in touch with me. You literally still go hang out at my parents’ house!”
“What am I supposed to do?” he asked. “We live in the same town. I have reasons to go over there. Plus, I may as well remind you, you moved halfway across the country and refuse to talk to them. What’s weird is that you don’t understand how that might bother them.”
Before I could open my mouth again, Mike grabbed my wrist and said, “We’re going. This conversation is pointless, and you don’t owe him an explanation.” I had never seen Mike so serious before.
Sue agreed. “He’s right. Let’s get out of here.”
Nelle grabbed her backpack, which she’d dropped in a moment of panic. Mike picked up her rolling bag, and the four of us walked downthe stairs. I was surprised that Monty didn’t move at first. He just stared, and when Nelle made it to the sidewalk, he asked, “Are you for real? You’re not even going to bother to say goodbye?”
He was staring daggers into her, but I told her, “Just ignore him.”
Nelle moved quickly. She was clearly desperate to reach the car. But Monty stopped her, grabbing her arm and saying slowly and coldly, “I’m talking to you. The least you can do is look me in the face.”
Nelle turned. Her lips were pale, and her hand was squeezing the strap of her backpack so tight her knuckles had turned white. I charged forward before Sue and Mike could stop me and grabbed his wrist, pulling it away. Surprised, he asked, “What the hell are you doing?”
“Let her go,” I warned him.
“Stay out of this,” he said.
“Don’t order me around. I’ll do what I want,” I responded.
I was surprised at the firmness in my voice and my posture. Nelle stepped back while Monty scowled at me. This was the first time since I’d known him that I’d seen hesitation in his eyes.
“Let her go,” I repeated, softly but sternly.
I remembered how Jack had confronted his father. He hadn’t been violent. He had made it clear that he didn’t need to put on a show to get his way. And that inspired me to do the same with Monty.
“She’s my girlfriend, Jennifer,” he told me. “She’s none of your concern.”
“She’s my best friend, and she is my concern. Especially when I see the guy who nearly ruined my life trying to do the same to hers. It’s over, Monty. Let her go.”
To everyone’s disbelief, he did. Nelle stepped back, and Sue caught her so she wouldn’t fall. Monty turned to me and came so close I had to look up to see his eyes. But I didn’t let him intimidate me. I didn’t move, didn’t flinch, didn’t blink. I just stared back and waited.
“You think you’re brave, huh?” he asked, one eyebrow arched. “Well,let me tell you something, Jenny. You’re the same insecure chick you were back in high school. The only thing that’s changed is you’ve found a couple of morons to defend you. I’ll tell you what’s really sad, though. I can tell you’re still in love with me. Not with Jack-off Ross. With me. That’s the only real reason you’re here. It’s pathetic.”
I laughed in his face, as loud as I could. “You think I’m in love with you? Monty, please. I may be insecure, but I could never fall in love with some oaf stuck in a small town who pretends to be a basketball star when he couldn’t even hold onto his spot on a feeder team. You’re a loser, and you’ve always been a loser, and that’s why you’ve always tried to hurt other people, to make yourself feel better. I love Jack. I never loved you. And I doubt anyone else ever will, either.”
That felt good. Letting it all out was like drawing in a breath after scaling a mountain. A huge weight had been lifted off of me. But if I’d taken inspiration from Jack’s confrontation with his father, I’d forgotten one important thing: Monty and Mr. Ross were two different people. Where Mr. Ross had frozen, Monty leaped at me, ready to grab me by the neck, and I barely had time to get away.
Nelle and Sue froze, but Mike, who had been in his fair share of scrapes, jumped in and shoved Monty backward, shouting, “Don’t you dare touch her!”
None of us had expected that, least of all Monty, who grimaced, confused, and asked him, “Or what? Because I sure as hell know your little ass isn’t going to do something about it.”
That was personal, and Mike didn’t hesitate to throw a punch at Monty’s face. But he was slow, and Monty blocked him easily and answered back with a harder, faster blow. We could hear the crunching of bone, and Mike bent over and held his nose. Irrationally, I grabbed Mike to protect him, even though I knew there wasn’t much I could do. I didn’t have anything like Monty’s strength, and I wasn’t sure if I was prepared for what might happen if I hit him.
As it turned out, though, I didn’t need to, because Sue jumped in to take my place, dealing him a swift kick between the legs that buckled him over and knocked him to the ground. He rolled back and forth groaning, coughing, and trying desperately to catch his breath.
“Come on!” Sue screamed.
We ran around Monty to the other side of the street, me holding onto Nelle’s arm, Sue trying desperately to take out her keys. Mike hurried along, holding his nose and laughing despite the blood. “Sue, that was amazing!” he said. “That dumb bastard will probably never have kids!”
“It’s a bad time for your jokes,” Sue called back to him.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something moving. Monty, I thought, terrified. But then I saw it was my mother and froze. She was wielding a broom, coming up behind Monty, who had stood and was staggering toward us. My eyes were like saucers as she raised her weapon and struck him in the back of the head.
“Leave them alone,” she shrieked, raising the broom and bringing it down over and over. “You piece of trash! You dog! You nasty, nasty person! I called the cops! They’re already on their way. You’ll learn your lesson this time!”
With these words, she broke the broomstick over his back. Monty tried to grab the half Mom was still holding, and when he couldn’t, he covered his face and took off running, stopping only briefly to pick up his gym bag.
