Page 61 of The Corruption of Hollis Brown

James jogged down the porch stairs and stopped in front of Hollis, breathing hard.

“How did you do that?” he demanded.

Walt growled in irritation just for Hollis to hear, but externally he opened his eyes to slits and gazed back at James.

“I was well motivated,” he said.

James seized Hollis’s arms and pushed him back against the house. To Hollis’s mounting horror, Walt breathed in, preparing to blow smoke directly into James’s face.

GIVE ME MY MOUTH.

Hollis turned his head at the last minute and blew the smoke into the corner.

“Dude, stop.”

James let go of him and backed away, eyes wide.

“Why didn’t you do that to me?” James asked. “Why . . . didn’t you do that to me . . . ?”

Hollis shook his head, while Walt folded their arms and tapped the ash off his cigarette.

“James, we don’t have any problems with each other. It’s fine. Just, I don’t know, make sure Jorge keeps his promise.”

“If we could do that, we woulda done it,” Timothy said. “Jorge was our friend, but he’s been acting out of hand. Has been for a while. We think he’s on steroids or something.”

Yikes.

Walt shrugged their shoulders.

“So. What now?” Hollis said.

James looked conflicted. He glanced over his shoulder at the party, then turned back.

“You’re good,” he said.

At Walt’s blank expression he continued.

“Your form, I mean. Do you train anywhere? You move like someone who practices boxing or something like it. When you’re being serious, I guess.”

See! This is what I was talking about!

Walt took another drag and blew the smoke up at the moon.

“I don’t like fighting,” Walt said. “If it happens, it happens, but I don’t like to do it on purpose—”

“And Jorge pushed you up against a wall,” Timothy finished. “I get it. Makes sense.”

It was quiet after that.

Neither Timothy nor James seemed to know what to say, but they weren’t walking away either.

“Sorry for breaking your nose,” Timothy mumbled eventually.

Walt shrugged.

“Water under the bridge,” Hollis said. “Wasn’t even mad the day after you did it.”

“You.” James paused. He looked angry. “You shouldn’t let people toss you around. Stop provoking people for a beating. That . . . that sounds like self-harm . . . to me.”