Vonnie
had been going out with a Persian boy named Ben for seven months. Upon entering college, their relationship
became tough even though Vonnie commuted to school. Ben dumped Vonnie but she was unable to
handle it and after some talking it over they got back together. In late December, it officially ended,
devastating Vonnie. Somewhere in the
relationship Vonnie became terrified of Ben.
If she were hanging out with a couple of her female friends, she would
still have to lie to Ben and say she was with family to avoid incident with
him. Even though they were broken up, Vonnie
still wanted to be with him yet denied it to everyone. Although she would never admit it, Vonnie
couldn’t let go of Ben for one of the following reasons, if not, both. Either she needed the security of having a
boyfriend or since her relationship with Ben was the first time she went
against her parents’ wishes, it gave her strength to be with him. Either way, Vonnie was not as independent as
she thought she was.
On New Year’s Day 2003, Vonnie was planning to hang
out with her two friends Morgan and Larry.
She had known Morgan for quite some time since they lived in the same
town in New Jersey Cleveland George
Washington Bridge
to get to Fort Lee , NJ Fort Lee , meet Morgan’s ex-boyfriend Tom, whom Larry
heard a lot about, and meet Ben. Larry
saw everything that was wrong with Ben just in the reaction by Vonnie. When Larry first met Vonnie he had a crush on
her, but at this time, Larry was already seeing a girl so Vonnie’s break up
with Ben didn’t mean as much as it would have earlier. While at Vonnie’s house, Vonnie received a
phone call from Ben on what was going on that day. Vonnie explained the situation and Ben got
extremely upset that Larry was at her house without her parents being
home. Ben then demanded that he come
over. Since Vonnie had no say in the
matter, Ben was coming. After Vonnie got
ready, they walked downstairs and she began smoking a cigarette, Larry didn’t
smoke and since it was pouring rain and very windy, Larry did not want to wait
outside so Vonnie gave him the keys to go into the car to warm it up.
Not too long after Larry got in the car, Ben and his
friends approached Vonnie to talk. Ben
continued his verbal assault on Vonnie for having Larry in her apartment with
nobody else around. Vonnie had had enough of Ben’s words so she walked
away. Ben then screamed out, “Get back
here”
Vonnie obeyed then Ben said, “See what happens if
you walk away from me again”
“Why, what are you going to do?”
“Just see what happens”
“See this is my point, now I won’t walk away because
I’m afraid of you.”
Ben backed off a little from this and finally let Vonnie
go to her car. When she got there she
immediately started venting to Larry about what had just occurred. At first Larry wished that he had stayed
there but then he realized that Ben would just have asked for a minute alone
with Vonnie and Larry would have granted it so he would have been a
non-factor. Vonnie and Larry met up with
Morgan and the three of them played pool and hung out for a little until Ben
called back to invite them to a café.
The three of them went to the café to meet up with Ben and his four
friends. When they got there, Ben waited
outside and immediately asked for five minutes alone with Vonnie, which Morgan
and Larry granted. Inside, Larry and
Morgan met five of Ben’s friends. One
named Harrington refused to shake Larry’s hand when he offered it as a sign of
greeting. Another named Arthur made a
conscious effort to include them in the conversation so they wouldn’t feel too
out of place. A little while later, Ben
came back with Vonnie. Ben and his
friends didn’t stay much longer and when they left, Ben made out with Vonnie to
say good bye and European kissed Morgan and shook Larry’s hand in
farewell. Ben had managed to stay civil
in Larry’s presence but Larry didn’t ignore the impact he had caused on his new
friend Vonnie.
After they left, Vonnie was telling Larry and Morgan
that she was missing Ben again. Larry
wondered how Vonnie could put up with so much shit from him. His biggest question was how she can claim
she loves him when she openly admits she is terrified of him. After her second conversation with Ben, Vonnie
put up a wall on any comments about Ben and repeatedly stated that it was
nobody’s business except Ben and Vonnie’s.
What Vonnie failed to realize was that her relationship with Ben
affected all her friends since Vonnie had to lie to hang out with them and they
saw how much pain he was causing her.
The night ended and Vonnie took Larry over the bridge so he could catch
the subway back to his dorm.
A couple days afterward, Larry received a phone call
from a New Jersey
“Which girl?”
“Vonnie”
“Oh, this is Ben then, her and I are just friends
man calm down”
“I don’t believe that shit for a second, come to
Fort Lee and we’ll discuss this mono e mono”
“Are you saying you want to fight me?”
“Of course, you’re messing with my girl”
“If you wanna fight me that’s cool but I know how
you Arabs like to be pussies and fight in packs, so why don’t you be man enough
to fight me one on one?”
“You just get your ass to the shopping center where
you played pool with Morgan and Vonnie.”
“Deal”
Larry took the subway and the bus back to Fort Lee and then another bus to the shopping
center. He figured that Ben would bring
friends to contribute in his ass kicking, but Larry didn’t mind, he wanted to
prove a point. Ben came and said,
“Alright, we can do this two ways, either you promise to stay away from Vonnie
and do so, or we fight for her.”
“We won’t fight for anyone, she’s my friend, I got a
girl that I’m seeing and it ain’t Vonnie, even if it was, you dumped her, she
can do whatever she wants. You’re just
too much of a fucking idiot to realize that girls and guys can just be
friends.”
“How many times have you fucked her since she’s been
on the rebound”
“Dude, I don’t even think I’ve seen her legs let
alone her naked, you know about that shit, I’ve gotten as far with her, as you
have with Morgan”
“You saying I cheated on her with Morgan”
“No, I’m saying that aside from that greeting cheek
to cheek kiss, I’ve done nothing with Vonnie that I wouldn’t have done with any
of my other friends, guy or girl.”
“Stop fucking lying to get out of it, you obviously
want to fight so let’s go”
Larry found it humorous that he was going to fight
over something he didn’t do but he never liked turning down a fight. Ben pushed Larry, Larry came back with a
punch to his face. Ben ran at him and
tackled Larry to the ground. Ben then
punched down at Larry’s face until Larry moved his head and Ben struck the
pavement bloodying his knuckles. Larry
then shoved Ben off him and rose to his feet.
Ben again came at him and drove his knee into Larry’s solar plexus. He then placed Larry’s head in between his
legs, lifted him up so that Larry’s leg were on his shoulders and then thrusted
him off his shoulders so that Larry’s neck and back of the head nailed the
sidewalk. Ben repeatedly stomped away at
Larry’s midsection until Larry rolled out of harms way. Larry warily rose to his feet only to be
hoisted into the air by Ben and driven back into the brick wall. Ben punched at Larry’s face and watched it
bounce off the wall. Ben then hooked his
arm underneath and jabbed Larry in the stomach so that he bent over. He then grabbed Larry’s hair and pulled it
back so the back of Larry’s head collided with the wall. Ben threw another punch at Larry’s face but Larry
dodged it and heard as Ben nailed nothing but brick. Larry grabbed Ben by the shirt and turned him
around so that Ben was now against the wall.
Now Larry punched at Ben’s face repeatedly. Ben grabbed Larry’s shirt but Larry reacted
quickly and gripped Ben’s arms and pulled him towards him while turning his
head to the side and crashed the side of his head into Ben’s face. He then threw Ben to the ground and walked
off some of the pain he had endured.
Both participants had broken noses and the back of Larry’s
head was cut open as well. Ben made his
way to his feet and saw that Larry was in some pain but so was he. Larry turned around and saw that Ben had
gotten up. They walked toward each other
and interlocked arms; this was a careless move by Larry for he knew that Ben
was the stronger of the two. Ben turned
his body so that he was facing the wall and then threw Larry back into the wall
and ran at him looking to drill his shoulder into Larry but Larry sidestepped
him and the side of Ben’s head and shoulder smashed against the brick. Larry kicked Ben’s legs to kneel him
down. He then took a couple steps back
ran forward and kneed Ben in the side of the face. Ben rose to all fours and Larry took two
quick steps forward and jumped knees first on Ben’s back flattening him. Larry got up and jumped to land knees first
on Ben’s back again but Ben rolled out of pain rather than self-aware of his
imminent danger. Larry missed his target
and his knees nailed the asphalt. As Larry
bent his upper half down, Ben kicked him in the face. Ben rose to his feet first and Larry was
still in a kneeled position. Ben
sprinted and dove forward connecting with Ben’s chest and crashing Larry’s
upper body back to the ground. Ben got
up and taunted Larry to get up, Larry crawled around so that he faced Ben and
was near him. He then took one step up
so he was down on one knee and fell forward wrapping his arms around Ben’s legs
and then standing up so that Ben was over his shoulder and thrusted his upper
body forward so that Ben’s upper half snapped back to the sidewalk. Now the back of Ben’s head had blood on
it. Larry then stomped his foot into Ben’s
solar plexus knocking the wind out of him.
Larry walked away; he was getting tired of the fight. Ben was far from over; he made his way to his
feet and then ran at Larry. Larry turned
so that he was perpendicular to Ben and bent to the side. Ben tripped over Larry and Larry gripped Ben’s
head in one hand and his other hand went between Ben’s legs and gripped the leg
on top and rose. Ben was now spread
across Larry’s shoulders. Larry saw a
large window two feet ahead. He took a
step forward so that he was beside it, twisted his body away from the window
and then snapped it back the other way, letting go of Ben causing him to twirl
toward the glass. Ben’s shoes hit first
cracking the glass and then when the rest of his body hit he collapsed through
the glass. Larry fell afterward since he
put every last bit of strength into the throw.
He knew he had knocked Ben unconscious so he rolled to his back and
breathed heavily smiling in his victory.
It didn’t take long for Larry to get up and start walking through the
parking lot.
Harrington saw Larry throw Ben
through the window from his car and waited for Larry to get up. Once Larry rose and stepped on the pavement he
turned on the headlights and hit the gas heading straight for Larry. He said, “This ought to scare the bitch”
Larry turned and saw headlights
and a car but he was in mood to run, he was still tired from the fight. As Harrington approached, Arthur said from
the back, “Hey he’s not moving”
Harrington responded, “He’ll
move”
“Shit man, seriously stop now”
As the car came Larry jumped so
that the impact would be more separated.
The car hit Larry’s legs swinging the rest of his body to the windshield
and then rolled off it. Harrington
showed no remorse but Arthur and the other kid were shocked. They all got out of the car and rose above Larry. Harrington said, “You want to mess with our
boy, look at you now, on the ground”
Larry threw his fist up and
struck Harrington in the nose. He tried
getting up but the other kid stomped at his chest repeatedly. They stood him up, Arthur stayed out but he
wasn’t doing anything to stop his two friends.
The kid held Larry’s arms behind his back opening Larry up to
Harrington. Harrington came forward but Larry
kicked him in the stomach and leaned back so he could swing both his knees up
and snap Harrington’s face back. The kid
let go of Larry causing Larry to fall on the ground. He rolled away and to his feet. The kid ran at Larry and Larry ducked down
and as the kid approached wrapped his arms around his legs and lifted up
simultaneously catapulting him over his head and onto the ground. He then ran and tackled Harrington and repeatedly
punched him in the face. The other kid
quickly got up and ran and brought his knee into the side of Larry’s head
knocking him off Harrington and to the ground.
Harrington got up with blood on his face. Both of them stood on either side and stomped
at Larry’s midsection repeatedly. Larry
curled up into a ball and withstood the kicks from all sides. Finally Arthur yelled at them to stop. Harrington and the kid both calmed and walked
away, Harrington said, “Now get up prick”
Larry stirred and using every
bit of adrenaline he had left rose and hunched over but still managed to make
eye contact with Harrington. Arthur
said, “Chill Harrington let’s check on Ben, Larry’s gotten his ass kicked
enough.”
The three boys walked away from Larry
and to check on Ben while Larry collapsed back to the ground since he didn’t
have the strength to remain standing.
When they got there, Ben was still unconscious with cuts on his body
from the glass. They made sure to help
him up without grabbing at any glass thus pushing it further into his
body. Ben had most of them on one side
and his back. Since his body went
through at the same time and was parallel to the ground, he got minimal glass
in him. The three people helped Ben to
the car and sat him in the car making sure he didn’t lean forward since there
was glass in his back. Ben regained a
little consciousness and said, “Get Larry too, that son of a bitch put up a
great fight.”
Arthur and the other boy went
out of the car to help Larry, as Harrington made sure that Ben didn’t lean
back. When Larry got into the car, Ben
turned to him and said weakly, “Now I know that you can fight and will defend Vonnie,
if you want her, you can have her.”
Larry responded just as
fatigued, “I told you already, we’re just friends”
“Don’t’ bullshit with me, it’s
okay now”
“Unlike Vonnie, I’m not afraid
of you, I’m telling you, we’re friends nothing more.”
“You have no reason to lie, you
fought me and beat me fair in square.”
“That’s why I’m telling the
truth, I have never hooked up with Vonnie nor do I want to now”
“Can I ask why?”
“Well, to be honest, I lost
respect for her when she didn’t end it with you but openly admitted she was
afraid of you.”
“You have both said that, is it
really that true?”
“If she was hanging out with
girls, she was still afraid to tell you to see how you’d react”
“I’ll take that as a yes, so
that’s why you’re friends?”
“That and I already like a girl”
“That and I already like a girl”
“Who, do I know her?”
“You’ve met her, her name is
Katie, she’s redheaded”
“I remember her, she’s cute,
good luck with that man”
“Thanks, so now do you know I’m
not trying to hook up with Vonnie?”
“Yea, you have no reason to lie,
you already beat me”
“Alright then”
Harrington dropped Ben off at
the hospital; luckily the cuts weren’t in serious places and missed every major
artery. Ben gave instructions for Larry
to be taken to Vonnie’s house since he didn’t need professional treatment. Harrington did so grudgingly; when they
called Vonnie to tell her she was horrified but met them downstairs. Arthur told her the entire story, including
what they did after Larry had won the fight.
Vonnie nursed Larry’s wounds and let him sleep at her apartment. The next day she told him, “I didn’t want you
to fight him”
“That’s because you didn’t think
I could beat him and you still think you love him”
“Larry, I know I do”
“Alright Vonnie, I’m not going
to argue, thanks for giving me a place to stay”
“Don’t mention it, I’ll tell you
one thing though, after hearing what happened, you’re a tough son of a bitch.”
Larry smiled, “Thanks, that’s
how I usually win fights, I look small so they take me lightly, but I can take
a lot of punishment and I just keep coming”
“You were hit by a car and then
you started punching people”
“I know”
“Why didn’t you use your
knives?”
Larry carried around
pocketknives that were clipped to his pants whenever he left his dorm. Vonnie had noticed them when she was tending
to him. Larry responded, “They didn’t
have weapons, so I shouldn’t use them”
“There were three of them
attacking you at once”
“Actually only two, Arthur just
watched.”
“2-1 after a brutal fight is
still a disadvantage”
“But neither had a weapon”
“You’re crazy”
“I know, but I only use them to
counteract another weapon”
“Alright then”
Vonnie smiled, they talked as
friends and then Vonnie drove him over the bridge so he could catch the
subway. Ben was released from the
hospital the same day. He immediately
called Vonnie and discussed with her what happened and how there would be no
future problems. Vonnie asked, “Why did
you do it? Why couldn’t you just trust
me that nothing was going on?”
“I don’t know I’m sorry”
“And if you had all this respect for Larry after the
fight, why did you let Harrington hit him with the car?”
This was the first time Ben had heard about the
events following the fight. He responded
“What?”
Vonnie explained what had happened while Ben was
unconscious and he swore that he didn’t tell them to do that. Vonnie believed him and Ben left. He then talked to Harrington about it, and
Harrington was emotionless for his actions.
Harrington maintained that Larry was stupid for not moving. Larry and Ben had no future problems since
they gained a respect for each other after the fight. Vonnie never did go back out with Ben, and
eventually her fear diminished and they stayed strictly friends and he no
longer became overprotective with other guys hitting on her.
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