Chapter 12: Don't Bully A Woman

Kate went back to the supermarket for work. All her co-workers knew what had happened to her family and showed great concern for her. John even treated her to a feast after she had missed Sarah's birthday party. Kate was so moved. She didn't expect to have gained new friendships in this city. Kate had thought of leaving the city to avoid trouble, but she was afraid that no place in this world was absolutely safe. Besides, it was not easy for a person like her to find a job. As the saying goes, a rolling stone gathers no moss. Another reason Kate wouldn't leave was that last fall, she signed up for courses at the Open University. She had quit during her last year of high school because of her family's financial status, but she had still had dreams of going to college. When Kate found out she could sign up for courses without a high school diploma, she couldn't give up a chance to realize her dreams. After New Year's Day, John seemed to have matured and actually came to work on time every day. He even dragged his girlfriend Sarah, who usually lived on Chinese time, to work. But John found that Kate was quite different ever since her trip home. She worked hard as usual, but she always seemed flighty or distracted and regularly made mistakes. John reckoned that Kate was worried about her father's health and did what he could to take her mind off of this. Sometimes he invited Kate to hang out with him and Sarah. They went to karaoke together a couple of times, but it was always him and Sarah singing while Kate listened. Despite this, it seemed to cheer her up a little bit. They dragged Kate to discos and bars too. Kate didn't like these places, but John persuaded her that it was healthy to release emotional pressure before you either turn crazy or die. A balloon will explode if you don't stop pumping air into it. Kate was really not interested in bouncing and twisting madly to the roaring music, but she was attracted to the fancy show of bartenders making cocktails. Tossing the shaker, lighting glass on fire, and pouring drinks behind his back, all these techniques amazed her and gave her short moments of peace. The bartender handed her a brightly colored drink after he finished his show. "Ma'am, this one is on the house." Kate took it with appreciation, but she didn't dare to drink it. "Don't worry. I will carry you home if you are drunk." John said. The young bartender explained casually, "It is almost non-alcoholic. It is easier to get drunk with your boyfriend than with this." Sarah, sitting nearby, threw a small pill into her own glass and asked whether John would like to have one while shaking the glass tipsily. John shook his head. Then Sarah drank it up, took off her jacket, and walked to join the dancing crowd. John sat with Kate by the bar and chatted with the bartender. After a while, there was a commotion in the crowd. The music was still roaring. The crowd dispersed and formed a circle. Two women were wrestling with each other and rolling on the floor. John cast a glance casually at first but quickly stood up and rushed over. One of the women was Sarah. How they got into a fight was unknown. But they were fighting tooth and nail at the moment. A girl with neat bangs was sitting on Sarah, but Sarah was pulling those bangs with all her strength. Of course, she was pulling Sarah's hair too. The entire crowd stopped dancing and stood there to appreciate the free show. John and Kate finally managed to rescue Sarah from the fight. The girl with formerly neat bangs was visibly annoyed. She covered her face with one hand and pointed at John and Kate with the other hand and said, "Bitch! You got helpers. Just wait." Then she took out her mobile phone and made a call. "Honey! Somebody bullied me in the bar!" Someone in the crowd said, "You're in trouble now. You pissed off the gang." The girl with now tousled bangs yelled, "Wait until my husband comes…if you have the guts." John was reluctant to admit defeat and bluffed that they would wait, but he was thinking of retreating. He signaled Kate to get their things and pulled Sarah, who was unaware of the danger and was still having a verbal battle, away from the girl and her bangs. John and Kate held each of Sarah's arms and dragged her out of the bar to hail a cab. But as soon as they got out of the bar, a bunch of people blocked their way. Kate raised her head and was shocked. Even under the dim street light, she could recognize the leading guy, who wore ragged jeans and held a cigarette between his lips. He was Curly haired! There were four to five men beside him. Some were skinheads, and some had scars on their faces. None of them looked kind. Kate lowered her head and leaned toward John hastily. Someone rushed over and threw herself into Curly-hair's arms. Then she turned around and pointed at John. "Honey, they bullied me." The girl said in anger. The man who she was calling "honey" was Curly-hair, AKA Ed. Ed lowered his head and saw three obvious bloodstains on his girlfriend's fair face. It was quite shocking. He spat and said, "Hey. It is based on you to bully a woman." John argued, "It was just women fighting, scratching and pulling hair. My girlfriend also got scratches on her face." As he was saying this, he drew Sarah close to show off her scratches, but shit, there was nothing on her face! "What a bitch," he cursed internally. One of the guys jeered, "Maybe she has internal injuries? How about stripping off her clothes and letting me examine her?" John got irritated. "Cut the crap. What do you guys want?" Ed threw away the cigarette butt and spoke in a strange voice, "Nothing. So your girl scratched mine? Which finger did she use? Just cut that finger." Kate shuddered with fear because she knew these people would really do it. John pushed Sarah behind him. "Don't bully a woman. Come to me!" "Brave of you." The man was waiting for these words. He waved at his guys and said, "Go ahead." It was not until then that they realized that these guys had weapons with them. Some had long iron sticks, and some pulled out their metal belt buckles from their jeans. They waved their weapon and approached.