The Break: Bruce

Fired again…

AAAAHHH!!!! went the voice in Bruce’s head. It had been a shitty month, and here he was walking down an alley in the rain. His girlfriend went the way of the dodo three weeks ago; she claimed that he was out of his mind and dangerous. Looking back on it, sure, he may have overstepped the bounds a bit. But she was going to the gym, ALONE, three times a week! There is no way that her visits there were platonic! Bruce knew that she had to be seeing somebody else, and that ripped the heart out of his chest. He had given Diane everything! All he wanted to do was to please her…

Then there were his parents… Good ol’ Don and Kim, holier than thou Don and Kim, you need help Don and Kim!

“To hell with them!” he yelled under his breath, kicking an empty beer can down the blacktop.

The rage within him over them burned his soul like the sun. How could they turn their backs on him! An intervention?! Seriously?! He wasn’t a damn alcoholic! But Don and Kim thought that totaling his car last week was “the last straw”. They couldn’t even be bothered with the truth. The breathalyzer said he was clean… well, just barely. But it was still under the limit! But NOOOO… they said that his drinking was out of control. How could they possibly understand his pain? He was saving up to get Diane a ring, and her walking away was a huge distraction. So, he missed the car pulling out in front of him. It wasn’t the goddamn alcohol!

Nope… no deal. Don and Kim decided that he needed to go away or get out. And it was a Friday night, no less, when they through him out. It was an incredible betrayal. He paid rent for the apartment above the garage, he kept it clean, and he sat with them many a night drinking and working on the bikes. How is it that he had the problem here?

Bruce had spent the weekend sleeping at Maroney’s, the automotive shop that was his employer. And no, his boss hadn’t known. He loved his work. From his days of votech in high school, cars were his life, they were his one, true love. It had hurt him deeply when he had to get rid of his Roadrunner a few months back to pay off a betting debt, but he used that event to set the goal of getting a ’68 Chevelle. His alarm failed to wake him up that morning, though, and through the hangover haze, the words of boss came through loud and clear, “I will not have a drunk bum working in my garage!”

Hence, the alley that he now found himself walking down, in the rain. Bruce had been walking around town all day, all of the emotions raging within him coming to the surface unabated. The looks he got from passersby in Memorial Park made him feel like a schizophrenic hobo in Central Park. The emotions burst through the floodgates, though, and he couldn’t control them. As he sat on a park bench watching the sun go down, finally pulling back on his emotions, he decided that his last twenty bucks would be best spent on a few beers, despite the rumble in his belly for food.

Max’s Bar had the cheapest drinks in town, but that was on the other side of town. So, he got up and began the long walk. The rain moved in quickly after he left the park, and that had brought back his rage, and the feelings of emptiness and betrayal that were now rolling through him in the alley. And that’s when he heard Guns-n-Roses coming from the other end of the alley.

We’ve been dancin’ with… Mr Brownstone… He’s been knockin’, he won’t leave me alooooone… No-o-woa-wo, he won’t leave me alone…

It was the Black Onyx, the 80s dance club that had opened up back in April. It was always hopping, as the people in the area were big fans of the “Decade of Decadence”. It’s most popular night, surprisingly, was Monday. Perhaps it was the desire to not let go of the weekend, who knows? Regardless, he had spent many a night just hanging out in his car listening to the music and drinking. But as he rounded the corner of the alley’s end, he decided to see if he knew anybody standing in the line waiting to get in.

Lifting his gaze, he studied the line of people, many of them squeezed up against the brick walls of the buildings to try and stay out of the rain. And that’s when he saw it… Diane was standing in the rain facing some guy. Bruce could immediately tell that there was a problem, as she appeared to be screaming and others standing in line with them had their faces to the ground to avoid intervening.

Bruce broke in that moment, and his speed increased at the same rate as his rage. NOBODY would dare to treat Diane like that! Diane was so distracted by the argument that she never saw Bruce coming, and neither did her date. The man raised his right hand into the air, ready to strike. But Bruce struck first…

Without hesitation, he grabbed the man’s wrist with his right hand, put the palm of his left hand on the man’s forehead, swept his feet out from underneath him, and pushed him to the ground, the hand on the man’s forehead ensuring that his upper back hit first. Bruce could hear the breath pushed out of the man’s lungs, but he didn’t stop. Keeping the wrist tight in his grip, Bruce pushed his knee into the man’s elbow, a silent scream of pain visible from the man.

A growl escaped from Bruce’s throat as the man took a deep breath. The man looked into Bruce’s eyes, and his face crinkled in anger. The man threw his left fist towards Bruce’s face, but he stopped the fist well short of connecting. Bruce then proceeded to beat the man’s face with his own fist until it was a bloody pulp.

Through the violent rage came the sound of sirens. Without thinking, Bruce jerked his right hand towards himself, busting the unconscious man’s elbow. In a flash, Bruce was up and running down the next alley. As the rain soaked him to the bone, the only thought in his mind was Max’s Bar.

Read Part 2 of "The Break" using the link below:

The Break: Nash