21

memoir of what I experienced 10 years ago

Sometimes his temper would get out of control. A perfect example is this~ we were all out on the boat, in the middle of the lake, going along slowly. He was getting ready to get on the knee board and asked me to hold his hat, a baseball cap. As I sat there holding it, I spun it around and around on my finger, and noticed the ring of dirt on the inside of it. I said, "man this cap is dirty..."

That's what did it. When I said this, he stopped what he was doing and looked at me with those eyes. Then he said, "hey I don't want to go right now, you want a turn?" I did. So I stood on the edge of the boat and reached for the line, when he pushed me into the lake. No lifejacket, no line to hold onto, right in the middle of the lake, and the boat kept moving on. I heard him laughing as the water from the wake of the boat splashed up into my face. The boat went off, then circled around a few times. He was laughing and I could see the friend taking the wheel to steer it back towards me. I tread water for a minute or two, then they came back & got me. I fell right beside the boat motor, just a hair away from the blade. When they pulled me back up into the boat, my guy said, "That's what you get for insulting me in front of my friends."


So, by commenting on the dirt ring on the cap, I was committing a terrible crime. I said nothing as I calmed my nerves by grabbing a beer for myself, and one for him too. We sat side by side and popped open our beers. He was still laughing and all smug, thinking he really got me. I was silent, maybe laughing a little with him. I already knew exactly how to handle this.

I let him carry on just a bit more, and waited till he took another sip of his beer. When he finally did, just out of the blue, in a split second, I slammed my fist against the bottom of the can, ramming it into his lip, slicing it open, drawing blood.

I heard more laughter, this time, coming from his friends and not him. I took another sip of my beer and looked at him, and gave him my sweetest smile.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

I like the story in the chapter. People like to test each other. Sometime anger can get the best of us. I like your response to the display of anger. Thank you for sharing the excellent chapter.
Coyote