The day before a big martial arts youth competition, Danny stayed at the center all afternoon, and well into the evening, going over key strategies with his students.

Christina and I were hanging out on the couch watching TV, stuffing ourselves with chips and getting crumbs all over the floor—our favorite type of Friday night. Suddenly, we heard an ear-splitting clattering sound, followed by a loud thump.

Christina shrieked and latched on to my arm in panic. “What was that?”

“I don’t know. I’ll go look.”

Leika ran into the living room, equally panicked, and hid under the table, whimpering. I had to peel Christina off me so that I could go investigate.

I padded into the hallway and looked around. Everything seemed normal, but something had definitely broken somewhere in the apartment. Christina followed me out to search as well, and soon we found it: a fist-sized rock sitting in her room, surrounded by shards of broken glass from the shattered window.

Groaning, Christina cautiously made her way to the stone and read the note wrapped around it. Without a word, she handed me the piece of paper and walked out of the room.

On the crumpled paper, large capital letters spelled out:

GET OUT OR WE’LL REALLY GET NASTY!

“Now what?” I gave her a look of despair as she returned with a dustpan. “This has to stop!” They’d hung up another one of their charming banners just the week before. Our landlady had already called once to ask whether we couldn’t handle our disagreements in a more civilized way.

“That does it!” Christina put her hands on her hips and set her jaw. “They’ve gone too far this time. I’m going to call Ricky and Simon. And Patrick—he’s another friend of Danny’s and mine. And Giuseppe. I’ll have them all meet up here next Friday and bring someone else with them if they can. Those jackasses have been coming on Fridays a lot.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Turn the tables on them. We’ll ambush them when they arrive, and then they’ll really be in for it.”

Something didn’t feel right. “Shouldn’t we ask Danny first?”

“Whatever, he’ll think it’s a great idea! He offered to watch the cars himself before. That would have meant ambushing them, too.” Christina was like that. Once she got an idea into her pretty little head, she considered it a done deal, and everyone had to play along.

“Do we really need that many people?” I gave her a doubtful look. After all, Danny had been able to handle the whole group by himself last time.

“We need that many people,” she said. “Two more would be better. We need to be able to hold them all—we can’t let any of them get away.”

“And then?”

“Then they’ll get the shock of their lives. When our boys are finished with them, they won’t come back.” A gleeful Christina immediately set to making calls, while I set to work taping over the broken window.

Half an hour later, she returned, beaming. “It’s a go!” she crowed. “They’re all coming—Ricky, Simon, Giuseppe, and Patrick. And they’ll bring a friend, too. So, with Danny, that’ll be six to six, if the others bring their whole group… And we’ll be there, too!” she added proudly.

“Danny will certainly be delighted,” I said sarcastically.

“Let’s wait until tomorrow to tell him, after the competition,” she said, closing the blinds on her window. I hoped Danny wouldn’t notice when he came home. “Deal?”

“Deal,” I said, shaking her hand.

 

***

 

The guys were posted around the building: Danny and Simon in front, Ricky and Giuseppe in the back, and Patrick and some guy named Sven in the bushes near the cars. They’d forbidden me and Christina from leaving the apartment. We’d been waiting for more than two hours now, but we were still fairly confident they’d show up.

Danny had immediately noticed that the blinds in Christina’s room were closed, of course, but he hadn’t given it much thought. Or, at least, he hadn’t suspected it had anything to do with thrown rocks until we’d told him about it. Surprisingly, we didn’t have to work to convince him that Christina’s plan was a good one—he liked the idea immediately. Knowing that Christina could have been hurt if she’d been in her room enraged him so much that we’d been afraid he might go looking for the guys immediately. Instead, he’d contented himself with having the broken windowpane replaced.

Now they were all sitting in their hiding spots, dressed in black, exercising patience. Danny was most likely bored to death. Sitting still wasn’t exactly one of his strong suits. Christina and I were equally impatient, even though we were posted in the most comfortable place.

It was long after midnight when we heard a soft whistle from near the cars—the signal we’d agreed upon. We pressed ourselves to the window, but it was too dark to see anything. Despite what we’d agreed, Christina and I went outside.

They were running like scared rabbits, the cowards. Five of them. I saw them scurrying off in every direction, with our guys in hot pursuit. I scanned the area, looking for Danny. He and Simon were chasing a pair of the thugs. Danny, the faster of the two, left Simon in the dust and caught up to the two offenders effortlessly.

He took the first one down with a running jump kick square in the back—a move that would have immediately gotten him disqualified from any competition fight. The guy went sprawling to the ground, and Danny ran right over him to stop the other one the same way.

Pulling the second one up from where he’d fallen on the ground, Danny twisted an arm behind the guy’s back and pushed him toward the apartment building. He’d left the first guy—Pete, I now saw—for Simon, who struggled to drag him back as well.

Giuseppe hurried over to help, and together, they at least managed to keep Pete from running off. Danny had one of the two who had been holding him the last time, while Sven and Patrick had the unshaven one. Ricky had gotten hold of Angelo. The only one they hadn’t caught was Mr. Leather Jacket—apparently he hadn’t come this time.

Even together, Simon and Giuseppe had a hard time with Pete. He fought like a rabid dog, swinging his fists with abandon. They flew in every direction. Although we’d planned on just holding them once we caught them, Simon and Giuseppe started punching Pete. They didn’t have a choice—Pete obviously wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

All at once, Danny elbowed the one beside him in the stomach so hard that the guy spent the next several minutes struggling to breathe. Then he kicked Pete in the hollow of the knee at an angle, sending him tumbling to the ground. Another kick in the side, and Pete was down for the count—now Simon and Giuseppe just had to drag him behind the building as planned. At least Pete hadn’t lost any more teeth this time around.

Danny almost seemed to be having fun. I wasn’t sure whether I found that good or worrying. He was always so impulsive. Once he’d lost his temper, it was difficult for him to rein it in again.

Sven and Patrick had no trouble keeping their guy under control. His nose was bleeding, and he was cursing like crazy, but he’d stop trying to fight back. Ricky and Angelo, however, were fighting tooth and nail. Angelo was the last to get behind the building, but it didn’t look like Ricky would manage to drag him off alone. Patrick ran to help him, and Tina and I followed.

“Tonight was the last time,” Ricky bellowed at him, smashing his fist into Angelo’s face yet again.

After that, everything happened much too fast.

“Ricky! Watch out!” I heard someone shout—I think it was Simon.

The warning came too late.

Angelo had pulled a hunting knife from his pocket and stabbed Ricky in the side. Immediately, he drew the knife back to attack again, but before he could, Danny landed on his arm, saving Ricky from a second hit.

Danny grabbed Angelo’s wrist, twisted his arm around behind his back, held it in place with both hands, and kicked it. Angelo’s forearm snapped like a twig.

“Call an ambulance!” Danny roared at us. I hadn’t brought my phone outside with me, so Simon pulled out his own and called the paramedics.

Ricky sank to his knees, pressing his side with both hands to staunch the bleeding. Christina and I sat down beside him, and she pulled off her sweatshirt and held it tightly against his wound. Simon laid a comforting hand on Ricky’s shoulder, and I looked back at Danny.

I’d thought he couldn’t get any angrier than he had been the last time these guys jumped us.

It turned out I was wrong.

He snatched the knife from the hand of Angelo’s useless arm—his forearm was pointing away from his body at an absurd angle. Holding the knife in his right fist, Danny punched Angelo again and again with his left. There was nothing coordinated about his blows anymore—he was just letting off steam.

As Danny shoved Angelo up against a tree, Christina came to her senses.

“Danny! Stop!” she screeched. “You’re going to kill him!”

Ignoring her, Danny closed his free hand around Angelo’s throat and slammed the man’s head against the tree. Angelo was no longer in any condition to stop the assault.

“I told you people!” Danny snarled. “Do it again, and you die!”

Angelo raised his good hand defensively. “I didn’t touch your girlfriend, you psycho!”

“No, you just rammed a knife into my friend’s stomach.” He slammed Angelo’s head against the tree again. “I decided to add that offense to my promise.”

“You’re a complete nutjob!” Angelo whimpered, his voice cracking.

“Knife attack,” I heard Simon say on the phone.

“Stop it, Danny!” Christina screamed beside me, she but didn’t dare let go of Ricky’s side. “You really are going to kill him!”

Suddenly, sharing Christina’s concerns, I stood up to go over to him. But I was so dizzy my knees were threatening to give out.

Wait a second, my inner voice advised.

“I’m not as crazy as you think,” Danny replied in a dangerously quiet tone. “I just like to keep my promises.” With that, he released Angelo, but the other man was far too dazed to run away.

Danny took Angelo’s uninjured arm, stretching it out and pushing the sleeve back. In a flash, he switched the knife to his left hand and took Angelo’s wrist in his right. When he held the point of the knife to Angelo’s arm, Angelo’s eyes widened, and he gaped at Danny for a moment before violently jerking away.

Danny slapped him upside the head in response. “Hold still!” he snapped. “You’re only going to make it worse.”

Angelo obeyed.

Danny brought the knife back into position and cut a four- or five-inch incision into Angelo’s forearm. Then he used his teeth to pull up his own sleeve and cut his own arm with the knife, which was already smeared with both Ricky’s and Angelo’s blood.

What on earth was he doing? I watched in rapt horror.

He’d sliced his own arm far more deeply than the Italian’s. Blood began streaming down his arm. Everyone else stood there like wax figures, watching the scene.

No.

I closed my eyes. I knew what he was planning to do. When a person carried death within themselves like Danny did—every day, everywhere he went—and had the power to pass it on to others, did they ever find themselves tempted to do it?

A look of horror came over Angelo’s face as he realized what Danny was doing. “Hey, wait, man, no! Don’t do this!”

“Then you’ll see how it is.” Danny’s voice was calm and composed, almost friendly. “Maybe you’ll be as lucky as I’ve been, and you’ll meet nice people like you guys. It’s twice as much fun with friends like you.” He raised his bleeding arm into the air.

Finally shaking myself into action, I stepped behind Danny and carefully touched his injured arm. “Danny, don’t do this,” I whispered.

“Do something already, you stupid fucking cow!” Angelo barked at me.

Suddenly, I hated him so much that I let go of Danny. The man had beaten my boyfriend, left hate messages, and threatened me with far worse things.

But that wasn’t the reason I stepped away. I knew Danny. He’d never do something like this. He just wanted to scare Angelo.

“I can’t do anything!” I put on a helpless expression. “He’s insane. You know that!”

Danny reached for Angelo’s arm again, straightening it out, and then drew his own arm dangerously close.

“Please, man!” Angelo begged. “Don’t do this, you could seriously kill me! I’m sorry! We’ll leave you guys alone. Please!”

Seeing the glowing rage in Danny’s eyes, I wasn’t quite as sure that he wouldn’t do it.

I reached for his arm again, but a hand came down on Danny’s shoulder from behind. “Danny, no!” It was Ricky. “No,” he repeated softly, pulling Danny away. “He’s not worth it.”

Danny took a deep breath before turning away and dropping into the grass. Ricky and I sat on either side of him. Panting with relief, Angelo sank back against the tree.

The ambulance arrived two minutes later, and three police cars pulled up a minute after that.

As the paramedics loaded Ricky up and called in a second ambulance for Angelo, the police surrounded the rest of us. Realizing how many of us there were, they called for backup as well.

One by one, they took us to their cars to search us. Hands on their own weapons, two of them approached Danny, who was still sitting on the ground and bleeding heavily. Realizing he was still holding the knife, Danny tossed it away demonstratively and landed in the grass. Danny raised both hands. “It’s okay. I’ll come with you.”

“Keep those hands up,” one of the men snapped at him. “Get over to the vehicle and put your hands on the hood, feet apart.”

Danny pointed to his still bleeding arm. “Can I clean this up real quick?”

“No,” was the man’s gruff reply. “That can wait.”

Danny smiled pleasantly. “It would be the sensible thing to do. HIV-positive, you know?”

The policemen exchanged a look of uncertainty. “Okay, then,” another one said. “Do you have something to bandage it with?”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Yeah, of course, I never leave the house without a first-aid kid.”

“Don’t get lippy.” A cop hit him in the back and shoved him toward the police cars, but then handed him a gauze bandage from the first-aid kit in his trunk.

Danny carefully bandaged his arm before obediently putting his hands on the hood of the car. The policeman roughly pushed Danny’s legs apart with his foot and patted him down. I could see Danny gritting his teeth. They didn’t search me or Christina, most likely because they didn’t have a female officer present.

A few minutes later, the reinforcements they’d called in arrived in the form of a van. They divided us all up among the available vehicles, putting Christina, me, Danny, Simon, and two of the thugs into the van and the others into the cars. Suddenly exhausted, I let my head sink down onto Danny’s shoulder.

“Watch out,” he whispered. “I’m covered in blood.” I didn’t care. I reached for his hand, wishing more than anything that we were at home in bed.

The guy across from us bent toward us. I recognized him as the one with the pale-blue eyes. “I’m Kevin,” he said.

“Nobody cares,” Danny grunted.

“I just wanted to say that I didn’t know anything about the knife, and I think that was wrong of him. I’ll say that down at the station.”

Christina gave him a friendly smile. “Thank you. That’s nice of you.”

Kevin clapped Danny on the knee. “You guys put up a good fight.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Just shut up already.”

The cops pushed us into the station and kept us there the rest of the night, taking our statements one by one. In the end, two of the other guys spoke up for us, saying that Angelo had pulled the knife without warning and stabbed Ricky, and that Danny had reacted in self-defense.

In the end, nothing at all happened. Nobody was charged, and the incident was dismissed as a “bar fight” that had unexpectedly escalated into a knife fight.

Ricky was amazingly lucky—Angelo hadn’t struck any organs. The wound would heal without a problem, leaving him with nothing but a small scar.

Angelo, however, was in the hospital for more than two weeks. His broken arm was a complex splintered fracture that required several surgeries, and he had a severe concussion as well as whiplash. His nose was broken, and his spleen was ruptured, but the injury was encapsulated, so he hadn’t had any internal bleeding and they’d managed to save the organ.

On top of that, one of the ribs Danny had broken the last time was cracked all over again.

Astonishingly, he and the others all expressly refused to press charges, even though the hospital staff repeatedly advised him to do so. He preferred to drop the whole thing.

After that night, there were no further incidents.