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“McCullers,” I said. “What the hell are you doing here man?”
“Just making the rounds,” he shrugged. “Visiting some friends up in New Haven. Thought we’d take a little road trip. I didn’t know you lived around here!”
“Yeah man,” I said. “Bradberry is home.”
“Where?” McCullers asked. His eyes looked glazed over and I knew he was already drunk. I couldn’t blame him; I wasn’t exactly sober myself.
“Here,” I explained. “This town. Bradberry.”
“Right,” McCullers nodded. “Well, let me buy you a drink! Man, it has been way too long.”
“Just a few months,” I said softly. The last time I saw McCullers was at Young’s funeral. The memory made the alcohol in my stomach churn.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “Look man, it would be great to catch up with you, but I’m actually here with someone. She’s in the bathroom right now, but she’ll be out in a minute.”
“Oh!” McCullers yelled with a grin. “A lady? Well, I should meet her! Tell her what she’s getting herself into with the likes of you.”
McCullers bumped me good-naturedly. I tried to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. He didn’t notice.
“That would be great,” I said. “But maybe another night, okay? It’s kind of a date, you know? Just us.”
“I see,” McCullers said, his face changing in an instant. “Don’t have time for an old buddy.”
“It’s not that, man…”
“No, forget it,” he snapped. “I don’t know what I expected. You haven’t kept in touch with any of us since we all left the SEALs. Too good for us now?”
“It’s not that,” I said again. “Things have just been hard.”
“Hard?” McCullers laughed. “Yeah, I bet they have. Carrying around all that guilt can’t be easy.”
“Guilt?” I felt my face flush.
“We all know what really happened that night,” McCullers spat.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I turned away, my head spinning with anger and intoxication. I couldn’t believe McCullers would dare talk about that op.
“Yes, you do,” McCullers said. He grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face him. He got in my face, spit flying in my eyes as he spoke. “We all know why Young died, Alexander. You should have been there. You were the closest and you let him die. You just let him…”
Fuck him.
When my fist hit his face, I barely knew what happened. I connected with his jaw and his head jerked to the side. I didn’t wait for him to fight back. I tackled him to the ground, knocking a chair over as we went. We landed hard. McCullers rolled us over and pinned me down. He punched me twice before I kicked him off me and threw him to the ground. My foot connected with his stomach and I felt him curl inward. The satisfaction I felt was so great that I kicked him again. And again. Until someone I didn’t know pulled me away from him.
I struggled against the arms that held me, kicking wildly.
“Get out of here!” the bartender yelled. “Both of you!”
I was carried out into the parking lot and thrown onto the ground. It wasn’t long before McCullers was thrown next to me. I scrambled to my feet and immediately put some distance between us. The fight was over. We didn’t need to throw anymore punches.
McCullers glared at me while his buddies patted him on the back and led him away. I watched as they disappeared across the parking lot. I glanced down at my hand and saw that it was bleeding. I cursed and wrapped it tightly in my shirt. When I looked back up, Piper was standing in front of me with a look of fury on her face.
“Piper,” I began. I had almost forgotten about her completely. “I can explain.”
“Save it,” she spat. She stormed past me. I turned and ran after her.
“Stop!” I said. “Please, just listen. You don’t understand.”
