Free Rocket! An Ell Donsaii story #4) by Laurence Dahners

stumbling into an azalea bush and losing his footing. Vic resumed stumping after Ell and Joe.
    Ell turned Joe and sat him down on the bench. He grinned up at her. “Heeyy Belle,” he drawled, seemingly completely unaware of the high tension situation surrounding him.
    Vic lumbered up and reached for Ell’s arm, “Let’s get outta here Belle.”
    Ell moved her arm so he missed it, “No! Vic, I’m sorry, but you’re acting like a jerk. I don’t want to go anywhere with you.”
    He narrowed his eyes and reached again, “Come on! You’ll like it!”
    Ell moved her arm out of his grasp again, Gordon was coming up on Vic’s other side. She wondered what she could do to get this situation back in control? How had it escalated so quickly? Are all college parties like this? Or was it something about her, somehow bringing out the worst in people?
    Gordon said, “Vic! Leave her alone!” and reached for Vic’s arm.
    Ell had come most of the way back up out of the zone, she pushed herself back down into it. Crap! She saw Vic tensing as Gordon touched his arm. He’s going to hit Gordon! Vic’s hand formed a fist and he began to turn toward Gordon, muscles bunching as he built a full roundhouse punch. My God! If that punch hits, Gordon’s going down . Hard! Ell moved with Vic, reaching up again to slap the bottom of his forearm and deflect the punch up above Gordon’s startled face. Gordon’s face showed that he realized how badly he’d underestimated Vic’s current state. Vic’s knuckle grazed Gordon’s forehead, knocking his head back a little, but then Vic himself, unbalanced by the miss, lurched forward and stumbled into Gordon. They went down in a tangle of limbs, Vic bellowing with rage.
    Ell stepped closer, studying the debacle in front of her. Vic was coming down, his waist across Gordon’s ribs, Vic’s upper body to Gordon’s right. Gordon’s arms were flailing out, trying to keep his head from hitting the ground. Ell reached out for Gordon’s right hand with hers, reaching with her left hand into her purse. When she had a good grip on Gordon’s hand she leaned back, pulling hard, trying to help keep his head from hitting the bricks, as well as pulling him out from under Vic. As the two men crashed to the ground, Ell’s pull slid Gordon somewhat out from under Vic, but not completely. She leaned to her right, trying to roll Gordon out from under him. As she’d feared, the thrown punch having failed, Vic began to surge back, now ready to wrestle.
    Ell leaned forward, stretched out her left arm and gently squeezed a small dose of pepper spray into Vic’s face. Then she surged back to resume pulling on Gordon’s arm. Vic’s arm that had been snaking around Gordon’s torso, stopped and began pulling back to grasp his face in agony. Gordon rolled the rest of the way out from under Vic, got his hands under him and heaved himself to his feet, prepared for fight or flight. His eyebrows creased as he looked at Vic. “What happened to him?” Vic was scrubbing at his eyes and coughing violently.
    “Pepper spray,” Ell said quietly, looking around at the crowd that had begun staring at them. Barrett and Randy from her security team were just turning to fade back into the shadows as it began to look like they weren’t needed. She leaned down to Vic, “Sorry Vic. Let me help you get into the bathroom to wash your face.”
    Gordon said, “Whoa! Remind me not to piss you off!”
    Vic coughed again, he must have been inhaling when Ell shot him with the spray. “Wha’ ta’ Hell happen’!?” He coughed again but pushed himself to his feet and let Ell start leading him toward the house.
    Ell turned to Gordon, “Gordon. Where’s the bathroom?”
    Gordon shook his head, “I wouldn’t go in there with him if I were you Belle. He’s an animal when he’s drunk. I wouldn’t have invited him but he promised to stay sober.”
    Ell rolled her eyes at Gordon, “He’s hurt, we gotta help him get in and get