A Man Called Tom-A-Hawk — Finding It: Chapter 31

Hostile intent swept over the gymnasium riding on the breeze through the door someone held open for Tommy the Tom-A-Hawk to enter. Several students acknowledged him with handshakes and pats on the back as he worked the crowd like a politician seeking votes. His popularity and reputation were greatly in evidence as others respectfully stepped aside for him to pass and then fell in the procession of would-be witnesses to whatever was about to transpire. Like a heat-seeking missile, his eyes zeroed in on Pam. His apparent mission was to turn me into collateral damage.

His approach was deliberate, his posture aggressively self-assured. Immediately upon arrival at the table, he challenged the affront of my presence. Staring at me as if no one else were there, his outrage accused me of being at least in the wrong school and perhaps on the wrong planet. In response, I stood.

We stared at one another for a few frozen moments lingering in silence. Determined, I stood my ground even as he adamantly stepped closer, violating my personal space, and chest butting me. With his non-verbal threats he continued to preside over the silence until he decided to growl low and menacingly, “So, you’re the one.”

“Who do you think you are?” Pam countered, and for the first time, I noticed she was standing beside me.

“Shad’up.” He drew back his arm as if preparing to brush her aside. Until I stepped in front of her, offering my hand.

“You must be Tommy.”

“You’ve heard of me.” He ignored my gesture. Then sneered. “Has she been telling you about me?”

“Although your legend precedes you at least as much as your cologne, there’s actually been little of interest or consequence about you.”

Pam and a few others started to laugh but then thought better of it. Tommy further intruded in a provocative way, tapping his finger against my right pectoral to emphasize his intent as well as his lack of concern about possible retaliation. “You know why I’m here, don’t you?”

“I doubt you came to dance with me. I don’t know. Maybe you think you can scare me off.”

“Not now, punk. You got some nerve comin’ on my turf and dancing with my woman. You had your chance to leave. Now, I’m gonna break your face.”

“I didn’t know you held her dance card. Wait, do they still even use those things?”

“This is my home, motherfucker,” he growled punctuating it with an attempted hand shove to my chest, which I half expected and deftly absorbed by quickly twisting to one side.

“I assure you incest is completely out of the question in my family.”

“You’re a fuckin’ smart-ass.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, so?”

“What was that — a twitch?”

“No, it’s a non-verbal response. I do that sometimes. It helps when whoever you’re talking to has a limited vocabulary.”

“I know what it was.”

“If you knew, then why ask?”

“I’m gonna teach you a lesson.”

“What do you think you can teach me, Tommy? Are you going to show me how to be a huge horse’s patoot just like you?”

“Tommy, not here. Not now,” Pam pleaded, as again she attempted stepping between us.

He started to brush her aside again but quickly, I caught his arm at the wrist before he could touch her. “If you ever hit her, I’ll break both your hands.” Then I released it.

“I’m not afraid of your threats. Name the time and the place, asshole,” Tommy said.

“This is my time and Pam is my date. Go play somewhere else.”

“It’s our time together. Why are you even here?” Pam interjected.

“I ain’t talking to ya, not anymore! Remember? That’s the way you wanted it.”

“Are you stupid?” I asked.

Tommy stepped back as I wedged between the two of them. “First you come here insulting me. Frankly, I don’t give a rat’s ass about that. But now you disrespect her in front of all these people… her friends?”

“We did a whole lot more than just date. Has she told you about any of that?”

“Ancient history. It’s time for you to move on, bud.”

“I ain’t yer bud.”

“No, I guess not. But it’s time for you to leave.”

“Nothin’s over until I say it’s over.” Again, he attempted to shove me. I twisted away. “I’ll be real nice,” he continued. “I’ll give you one last chance to walk away. Get in your car, go back home to your mommy and daddy and never come back here.”

“I’m here with Pam. I’m staying.”

Tommy smiled. “Have it your way.”

“Fighting’s your choice not mine.”

He laughed, but then his attention was drawn to the chaperones’ arrival. They pushed through the crowd to see what was going on, perhaps at the request of other students.

“Is there a problem here?” one asked.

“No, none at all,” Tommy said. “We’re just making some arrangements for later.”

“It didn’t appear to be nothing.”

“I was showing Tommy here how to avoid a hand shove,” I said. Then, I offered my hand to one of the chaperones. “My name is Brent. I’m here with Pam.”

“So, I see. Well, we were concerned that Tommy was having a problem with you being here.”

“Problem?” I asked. “Were we having a problem, Tommy?”

“No, there are no problems.”

“Okay then.” The chaperones looked at one another. Tommy patted me on the back for good measure. When they were gone, Tommy leaned into me so that only I could hear. “Later, it’s just you and me, dude. Nobody will save your sorry ass, then.”

“Outside in the parking lot. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt,” I said.

“That’s fine by me.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

“Done,” he leaned over trying to give Pam a peck on the cheek, but she ducked away. “What are you going to do when I beat your new boyfriend’s ass?”

“I don’t think you realize who you’re challenging.”

“Oh, I’ve heard all about the Giant Killer. This won’t be a wrestling match. There won’t be a referee to pull me offa ya while I’m pounding yer face to a bloody pulp.”

“Good, I hate interruptions.” I glared. Clearly confident, he didn’t flinch. “As much as I enjoy wrestling, I don’t do that when I fight.”

“After the dance, ten-thirty, in the parking lot.” Tommy proposed.

“I’ll be there.”

“Make sure you are, or I’ll hunt you down.” He turned his back on me and walked away.

The challenge dampened what was previously a festive mood. In the wake, Pam and I returned to our chairs. Everyone around the table was quiet.

“I’m so sorry,” she finally broke the silence.

“Don’t worry about it. When we’re ready to leave, I’ll finish it and then we’ll go get something to eat, okay?”

“You really aren’t afraid of him?” Dennis asked.

“He’s just another guy with more ego than common sense.”

“Really?”

“He tried shoving me, but he couldn’t connect.”

“I noticed that,” Dennis said.

“I’m faster than he thinks,” I said. “I can beat him in a fair fight.”

“That’s just it. He never fights fair,” Dennis responded. “He always brings his ‘witnesses’.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Pam offered me an out. “Maybe if we leave now…”

“I’ve got an appointment for after the dance. But right now, I believe you and I have some unfinished business on the dance floor. Isn’t that why we’re here?” I stood and took her hand leading her through to crowd toward the band. She followed silently until I turned and took her into my arms as we shared the now congested dance floor with a variety of other couples enjoying a slow song.

“You don’t have to do this?”

“I promised you a good time. It’s a dance. So, we should dance.”

“I mean about Tommy.”

“You had to expect something like this would happen,” I said.

“I expected something. That’s why I warned you. I thought it was mostly bluff, but I didn’t know. Everyone else has backed down.”

I shook my head. “You told me he was possessive. If you want to be free of him, it’s gotta come down to a confrontation sooner or later.”

“I hoped it wouldn’t. Tommy talks a lot about how tough he is, but I know he’s also insecure.”

“Really?”

“His father and mother split up a few years ago. That was before I met him. His father used to beat him whenever he did anything wrong. Tommy says that toughened him up. He says it was a good thing, overall. But right before his parents broke up, he stepped in between his parents when they were fighting. His father punched him so hard that Tommy fell, but he got right back up and started punching his father. His father started to laugh, but then he just walked away.”

“Regardless, Tommy’s mother was spared any further abuse,” I said.

“Exactly,” Pam said, and then stared at me.

“He’s had some bad times growing up, but that doesn’t give him the right to treat other people like crap.”

“Whenever his father came back to talk to his mother, Tommy was there. He has made it a point to always be there to protect her.”

“He has to know that the dynamics of his relationship with his father shifted.”

She glared at me again. “Tommy believes force solves everything.”

“In the short term, it can appear to be that way.”

“At least you know that.”

“Look, now that I know more of his story, I kind of feel sorry for him. He isn’t here for sympathy, though. Maybe the ass-whipping he gets tonight will make him think about getting some counseling. What I cannot fix is the reason you ever started dating him. I don’t know how things will turn out between you and me. But what I do know is there are a lot of guys like Tommy or worse. You need to make sure you never again hook up with anyone who’s going to hurt you, Pam.”

“So, you don’t think it will work out between us?”

“I figured you chose me to do this one thing and then afterward you and I might have a few laughs and some good times. Then you dump me for someone more local.”

“What?”

“Look, I’m a reasonably intelligent guy. You chose me because you figured I might stand up to this prick. Well, I’ve done exactly that. But if that was all there was in your thoughts, then the future of our relationship is pretty bleak.”

She remained silent.

“Tell me I’m wrong.”

“Maybe I had those thoughts early on, but after I’ve gotten to know you… I mean, you are really… well, I don’t know.”

Stepping back, I stared at her. “Can I trust you?”

“If I say something, I mean it.”

“Good, that means we both have integrity. Look, I could not care less about Tommy right now. I’m here with you and we’re going to have fun. I’m going to show you what it’s like to be with a guy who respects you.”

“Okay.” She smiled.

We danced. And we continued until we were tired again, and then we sat and talked with Dennis and Sandra. Later, we danced until the conclusion of the event. Since we were close to the stage, I said my goodbyes to the members of the band.

“Can you stay and help us tear down?” Carl the drummer asked.

“Actually, I have a fight I need to be at out in the parking lot.”

He laughed, but as he saw I was not smiling he cleared his throat. “What kind of fight?”

“The usual, my date’s ex-boyfriend doesn’t know when it’s time for him to bow out.”

“So, he’s going to beat your ass.”

“He’s going to try.”

“You need our help?”

“No, I think I got it.”

“Well, maybe you need help but don’t know it like we needed your help earlier.”

“I’m listening.”

“We could sort of take a break before we start the teardown. We do that anyway, a short smoke break for those of us who have the habit. So, I was thinking we could just happen to be in the vicinity — just in case things aren’t like you expect them to be.”

“If nothing else, I suppose you could keep score.”

“I don’t know. That involves math.” Carl chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah, and drummers can’t count past four.”

“Hey, you helped us a lot,” he offered his hand again and we exchanged a musician’s grip.

Pam grabbed me by the edges of my overalls’ bib and pulled me in close for a supple kiss.

“What’s that for?”

“For being here for me and not running away.”

“Isn’t being here what I’m supposed to do?”

“You didn’t have to stay. And you didn’t have to stand up for me.”

“Tommy’s an asshole. He’s the type of self-righteous bully that ends up making a lot of people’s lives living hell. He needs to be humbled.”

“And you’re confident you can do that.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” I glanced at my watch. “One minute.”

“What?”

“It’s one minute until I need to be outside.”

“You’re going through with it?”

“Of course, I am.”

She wrapped her arm around my elbow, “Let’s go then,” she said.

“You don’t need to be involved. In fact, I’d prefer you weren’t around.”

“I think I need to be there, Okay?” She glared back at me.

I may have not known her well, but I understood I wasn’t going to win the argument. “Okay, but once the punches start flying, take cover.”

We exited from the gymnasium and continued without further words to the lobby. When we stood on the concrete apron outside of the entrance we looked around. There was no evidence of Tommy in the parking lot. In fact, there were only a few people heading for their cars.

Continuing to escort Pam toward my car, I hoped Tommy decided not to pursue his threats, but mostly, I suspected our watches were not quite in synchronization.

Just as we reached my car, Tommy approached us along with two of his friends that I assumed were his slack. “You trying to sneak off?”

“Not at all, Tommy. Just, I didn’t see you,” I said. “So, should I be flattered you feel you need three-to-one odds.”

“What?”

“Your two friends, for when I prove to be more formidable than you expected.”

“They’re here to witness the pummeling.”

“And drag you away afterward. That’s thoughtful. Saves me the trouble. Thanks, guys,” I glanced toward them.

“I have to hand it to you, you may have a smart mouth, but you got some serious balls.”

“It doesn’t need to get to this,” Pam stepped between us. “I don’t want either of you to get hurt.”

“See, you still care,” Tommy said.