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“Yeah,” I said. “Her. The woman at the bar just trying to have a few drinks with her friends.”
“This is about a woman?” Bobby asked. He stood up. “Tell me one thing, Joe. Is that woman at your place right now?”
“No,” I said. “I have no idea who she is.”
“Stephanie DeAndrews,” Ellen said.
I looked at Ellen. “Oh?”
“You don’t think I know everything already, Joe? I’ve talked to the bartender, the manager, the owner. I’ve talked to all three women who were being pestered by the man. His name, by the way, is Todd. He had to get seventeen stitches on the right side of his face. Mild concussion too. The booze saved his fall or something. All I care about? Lawsuits.”
“Which I will handle personally,” I said.
“No, you won’t. There are no lawsuits. And there will be none either. I had a PR team scour through the videos and handle all communications after I made my rounds.”
“So this will be ahush-hushordeal?” Bobby asked.
“At what cost?” I asked.
Ellen pursed her lips. Then she said, “That’s why we’re talking now, Joe.”
“Fuck.”
“Don’t give me attitude. I’m making sure you don’t end up in jail. And I’m making sure this team isn’t dragged through the mud. We have enough going on as it is. We’re building a winning culture around here. Last thing I need is this team to turn into some kind of pro wrestling spectacle, throwing people through windows and all that.”
“Defending a woman,” Bobby said. “You of all people should respect that.”
“And what the hell does that mean?” Ellen asked Bobby. “I’m not capable of telling some drunk asshole to piss off?”
“I did what I felt I had to do,” I said.
“You went too far,” Ellen said. She pointed at me. “You used that situation as a catalyst. Your excuse to go above and beyond. And you know it. Video doesn’t lie, Joe. Not once did you tell the guy to calm down. Not once did you pull him away. Not once did you get the bartender or manager. Or security. Not once did you approach the group of women and offer to help or something.”
I didn’t break my stare from Ellen.
She had me.
“What did you actually do, Joe?” Bobby asked.
“Go ahead, Joe,” Ellen said. “No use in hiding anything now. We’re already talking. I already know what’s going to happen next. Nothing is going to change it.”
I flexed my jaw.
I exhaled a slow breath.
“The guy was being obnoxious,” I said. “Making comments. Being too loud. I could tell everyone was getting annoyed with him. He kept touching the one woman. She kept wiggling away. I snapped. I grabbed him by the back of the neck and threw him into a table. Everyone looked. He turned and took a swing at me. He missed by a mile. I grabbed the front of his shirt and picked up him. I threw him.”
Silence.
Ellen lifted both eyebrows. “And?”
“And he covered his face at the last second. Just before he went through the front window. The glass shattered and he rolled onto the sidewalk.”
“So this guy didn’t even say a word to you?” Bobby asked. “Christ, Joe. I thought this was a… I don’t know. I thought this was a back and forth thing that got heated. You just grabbed this guy and tossed him?”
“That’s exactly what he did,” Ellen said. “Which brings us to this moment.”
“Fuck around, find out,” Bobby said.
