Free Discipline by Stella Rhys

tips of his toes as Daniel held him by
the front of his shirt, veins bulging from his neck and forearms,
every muscle flexing under the cotton of his blue button-up. Ben’s
lip curled, indignant as he heard his own grunts and snorts of
resistance. Feet skidding and squeaking on the floor, he still
attempted a haughty sneer.
    “I swear to fucking God , you little
shit, you do not want to fuck with me. I will fucking make you pay , you – ”
    “Do it,” Daniel challenged through gritted
teeth, his eyes ablaze. “Let’s see you do something besides put
your hands on her. Show me, asshole.” His voice was merciless,
unrecognizable as he continued to hold Ben in a way that rendered
him completely useless, his sleeves twisted too hard for his arms
to move let alone swing.
    “What, you fucking her?” Ben’s nostrils
flared as he was reduced to accusations – they were all he had left
with Daniel so easily subduing him, unflinching despite his
threats. “You fucking her, huh? How about this… you touch my fiancé
and I’ll fucking kill you, you piece of shit.”
    “Okay, enough ! Just stop it!” My
frantic pleading for them to stop went ignored – either that or it
didn’t come out of my throat at all. In my breathless panic, I
could hardly tell. At one point I had been shoving Ben but now I
was tugging on Daniel’s arm. Everything felt like a blur.
    Including Mr. Davies coming through the
door. It wasn’t until he spoke that I snapped out of my fog.
    “ What in God’s name is going on in
here ?” he bellowed, using very much his teacher voice as his
old eyes nearly bugged out of his head. Shit . Daniel
promptly released Ben, who stumbled backward before regaining his
composure, his first instinct to straighten the wrinkles on his
linen Brioni shirt. It was silent as the three of us stared at Mr.
Davies. He looked close to a heart attack, which was probably why
even Ben remained frozen.
    “Does anyone care to explain what just
happened in here?” Mr. Davies finally asked, relieving me. I’d been
convinced for a second that he was going to collapse. No one could
answer the question though, because a tipsy trill soon came from
behind him.
    “What do we have here?” Mom poked her head
in through the door, a big smile on her face before a she gave a
sharp gasp. “Oh my goodness … all my favorite people in one
room!”
    She waltzed in, breezy and clueless with an
hors d’oeuvre in one hand and champagne in the other. Now, it was
the four of us staring as a gaggle of her equally oblivious friends
streamed in. I saw Daniel exchange a look with his fellow wrestling
coach and immediately, my shoulders eased with relief.
    Mr. Davies cleared his throat. “Nothin’
going on in here, Marilyn, besides the party you just brought in!”
he said good-naturedly, recovering remarkably well from his
outrage.
    “Well, well. I see.” Mom sashayed towards
Ben. “Everyone getting to know each other, hm? Ben, sweetie, did
you get a chance to meet these lovely gentlemen?” She gestured to
Mr. Davies. “This is John Davies, he’s been coaching Jake since
sixth grade, can you believe it?”
    “Ah.” Wearing his big, phony smile, Ben held
out his hand to Mr. Davies, whose mouth twitched as he shook
it.
    “And this is the famous Daniel Cole.”
Mom winked at Daniel before continuing. “He coached Jake for all
four years in high school and he had Nina for English senior
year!”
    Fuck .
    I watched Ben’s eyebrows rise with genuine
interest. And delight. “Really.” He turned to face Daniel. “So
you’re a teacher… and you had my girlfriend,” he repeated Mom’s
words, though they sounded a whole other way coming from his mouth.
A vicious guilt tore at my stomach as I realized that I’d just put
Daniel on the ridiculous, vindictive radar that Ben often bragged
about. Before I met him, he’d apparently gotten a bouncer fired for
refusing his attempt to buy entry to a club, and in front of work
associates. But