The Seven Cities Saga (Book 0): Survival in the Seven Cities by Jay Brenham Page B

instinctively pulling his hands up to guard his face. Just like Gloria, he hadn't expected Roger to attack.
    Eddie took a step away from Gloria and faced Roger.
    "Oh you fucked up now, L.L.Bean."
    Gloria backed up, away from the two men. "Please stop. This doesn't have to happen."
    Roger held his hands up a little higher than chest height. He looked like one of those UFC fighters she had seen on television. "No Eddie, it doesn't. Why don’t you walk away?"
    In answer, Eddie stepped toward Roger and threw a hard right cross but Roger was ready for it and sidestepped. The move bought him enough time to step into Eddie and throw an underhook beneath Eddie's right arm. Roger put both hands above Eddie's shoulder joint and clasped them together, pushing down on Eddie’s shoulder with all his weight. As Eddie crashed to the floor, Roger shifted his weight and brought a knee to rest on the back of Eddie's neck, immobilizing him.
    Gloria looked at Roger with surprise. He’d been so calm, so unassuming. She hadn’t expected him to react the way he had. It must have taken Eddie by surprise as well.
    "Get the fuck off my neck, L.L.Bean," Eddie said.
    "I will when you say we're done here," Roger said, with a calm voice.
    "Christ, we’re done. Just get off my neck," Eddie spat through clenched teeth.
    The entire pub was standing, watching silently as Roger let go of Eddie and stood up, reflexively taking a few steps back.
    Eddie pushed himself to his feet and charged, but Roger wasn't fooled. He sidestepped again and caught Eddie with another underhook, then his right arm shot out, palm against Eddie’s neck so he could control Eddie's direction of travel. Eddie crashed to the floor. Again Roger let him up after a moment.
    Eddie kept attacking. Each time Roger would block him and take him to the ground, always releasing him and prepping for the next assault.
    Gloria could tell Eddie was getting tired, and she knew his pride was hurt. In a last ditch effort, Eddie lunged for a beer bottle but Roger caught him before he could grab it.
    That's when the cops showed up. They handcuffed Eddie and interviewed everyone in the pub. A bald cop named Taylor talked to Gloria. He had tattoos on his forearms; he looked like he should be riding a motorcycle with a three piece patch on his back, not a badge.
    All the witnesses agreed Eddie was the aggressor, but Roger didn’t want to press charges. In his mind, the confrontation had been settled.
    They walked along the street after that, hand in hand, with her head on his shoulder. Neither spoke until finally, beneath a blooming cherry tree, Gloria turned to Roger.
    "Roger…about the stuff Eddie said…I should tell you what he was-"
    Roger shook his head, looking stern. She had seen that expression before. This is what a man looked like before he broke up with her.
    "Eddie was your boyfriend?"
    "Yes but-"
    "I don't care, Gloria. It was the past. Let’s leave it there. It's you that matters. I don't care what you did or who you dated."
    Then, for the first time, she kissed him.
     

 
     
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    Gloria strolled down the ocean front, her head resting on Roger's shoulder just like the night he’d fought Eddie. Bobby and his sisters raced ahead.
    Up ahead a stage had been set up on the boardwalk and a crowd was starting to form. Bobby came sprinting back to her.
    "Mom! Roger! It's a concert! Can we stay and watch? It's free."
    Bobby was enthusiastic about almost everything. Roger and Gloria smiled at each other.
    Gloria shrugged. "Sounds like fun. Let's go up to the front so we can see the band."
    They waited while the host, Shelly, played music for the growing crowd as part of a local radio promotion. After twenty minutes the audience had grown to a few hundred people. The band ran out to a roar.
    Bobby, Izzy, and Abby all cheered.
    The band was loud and lively; the crowd and the kids clapped, enjoying the show. Roger squeezed her hand and Gloria smiled up at him. Today was