Chapter 13
MITCHELL
“Office. Now.” Honcho wouldn’t even look me in the eyes.
I was kicking myself for letting my temper take over. I knew better. I had let the fucker get under my skin. This thing with Sam had thrown me off my game. Being on this team was the most important thing in the world. There was nothing that should have been worth me putting it all at risk.
The six of us were lined up and standing at attention with Honcho pacing in front of us.
He turned and walked to the office he’d been using earlier in the day.
It was inside one of the buildings not too far from the hangar.
I led the line of men into the office with none of us saying a word. We stood at attention once again.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” His voice echoed around the small office.
“Sir, we were trying to stop it,” one of the guys said.
I said nothing. I kept my eyes straight ahead while they squirmed. They could make up a hundred excuses. I knew Honcho well enough to know he would see right through their bullshit. But I wasn’t going to start blubbering and trying to get out my side of the story.
“Dean!”
PitA’s shoulders went back. “Yes, sir.”
“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Honcho barked. “Do you want to explain to me why two of my pilots were disrespecting me, my team, and the hosts of our show?”
“Sir, Dice attacked me,” he said.
I rolled my eyes but said nothing. I would get my turn. If I didn’t, fuck it. I wasn’t going to grovel and cry like a little bitch to avoid getting in trouble. These assholes could all have the same story. It was them against me. I almost welcomed the challenge.
“Why?” Honcho asked.
“You’d have to ask him, sir.”
I waited. Honcho walked toward me with his hands behind his back. “You attacked him?”
“I hit him,” I replied while still staring at a spot on the wall.
“Do you want to tell me why?”
“Sir, I was defending the honor of one of our colleagues,” I answered.
“Who?”
“Sir, the matter is handled,” I replied.
“At ease,” he said and stood in front of me. I relaxed and finally looked him in the eyes. “What happened? Who was in need of defending?”
“Sam,” I answered.
“Samantha, our mechanical inspector?” he asked with a frown.
“Yes, sir.”
“What exactly did you need to defend?” he asked with a low growl.
“The group here was saying some pretty horrible, disrespectful, and vulgar things about the inspector,” I said.
“I asked them to stop the first time. I happened to hear them continuing their diatribe, with each of them adding in their two cents. They were making comments about her body. Comments that were out of line and unnecessary.”
“I see,” Honcho said and turned to PitA. “You were a part of this conversation?”
“Sir, we were complimenting the young lady,” PitA said.
“That young lady is older than you and she is here as my guest,” Honcho snapped.
“I know you’ve all been through the code of conduct manuals.
You know the proper way to conduct yourselves around colleagues of the opposite sex.
This kind of behavior is unacceptable, and I will not tolerate it.
From this moment forward, there will not be another comment made about any female under my command. ”
“Sir, we?—”
“Enough!” He roared and practically shook the walls. “You are replaceable. Each and every one of you is on notice. You show up with even a button undone, a minute late, or a hair out of place, and you’re out. I have a long list of people ready and willing to take your places. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” they all said in unison.
I smirked and glanced at PitA with his swelling face. Lucky for him, we didn’t have a show tomorrow.
“Wipe that smirk from your face,” he snapped.
My smile faded. “Yes, sir.”
“This is it,” he said in a low voice. “If you step out of line again, it’s over. Done. You’ll find yourself grounded. You’ll be the gas attendant if I let you stay on the team at all.”
“Sir, he isn’t telling the whole story,” PitA piped up. “He only defended her because he’s got the hots for her.”
“I defended her like I would defend any woman on our team,” I snapped. “You all are disgusting. She would never give any of you the time of day.”
“Like you weren’t thinking what we were saying.” PitA scoffed.
“I don’t want to know what you were saying,” Honcho said. “It will stop. If I hear even a hint of this bullshit happening again, I will make sure you pay for it for the rest of your time in my squad. I won’t transfer you, but you’ll wish I would have.”
“Yes, sir,” I heard one say.
“Dismissed. Clean yourselves up and I’m strongly recommending you all decide to stay in for the night. You could all use some time to do some reflecting on your very poor choices today.”
None of us waited around for him to say anything else.
PitA hightailed it in the opposite direction with his little band of misfits in tow.
I went back to the last place I had seen Sam.
She had looked pissed and disgusted. I was embarrassed by my behavior.
She would never know why we were fighting.
I didn’t want her to know what those assholes were saying about her.
I might have been thinking it, but I would have never disrespected her like that.
I probably couldn’t say I’d never talked like that about a woman. I regretted my past behavior.
“Dice!”
I spun around to find Watch Dog jogging behind me. “Dude, what the hell? Did you seriously beat the shit out of PitA?”
I shrugged and kept walking. The place had cleared out. Some of the maintenance crew was with the Hornets but everyone else was gone. I wanted to be gone as well.
“Hey,” he said and grabbed my shoulder. “What the fuck, man?”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal?” he repeated. “You just broke one of the major rules.”
“He had it coming,” I said.
“Let’s go back to the hotel,” he said. “We need to get you somewhere safe before you do something really stupid again. I can’t believe you did that. What the hell?”
“If you’re going to lecture me, don’t,” I said. “I don’t need to hear it again.”
“I’ll tell you what you need,” he said with disgust. “You need a fucking ice pack.”
“I need a cold beer—and maybe an ice pack.”
We caught a ride back to the hotel. My face was starting to throb, and my hand was stiff. It had been stupid to give in to the anger. I could have broken my hand and grounded myself. I needed to learn to hit with my left hand.
“I’ll be up in a minute,” he said.
“Whatever.”
I went to my room and got my first look in the mirror. “Fuck me.”
I looked like shit. I hated that I hadn’t been able to dodge that last punch.
It landed hard. I ran cold water over my knuckles.
I quickly changed into a pair of sweats and a T-shirt.
Normally, I would leave the shirt off, but with Watch Dog coming, I put it on.
I knew my scars made people uncomfortable. It was easier just to keep them hidden.
Watch Dog showed up with a twelve pack of cold beer and a bucket of ice. “Put your hand in this,” he said and thrust the bucket at me. He put the beer on the table and pulled one out of the box. “You look like you need this.”
“Thanks.” I sat down with a beer in one hand and my other in a bucket of ice.
I took a long drink and let the cold liquid run down my throat.
The day had gone very wrong. It had been such a good show.
I had really been looking forward to celebrating tonight.
And then it all went wrong. So, so wrong.
“So, you want to tell me what the hell happened?” he asked.
“What are people saying?”
He shook his head. “It isn’t good. They’re saying you were fighting over a woman.”
“No. They were saying some pretty raunchy shit about Sam.”
“Ah,” he said. “And you felt like you had to jump in and defend her honor.”
“It was fucking wrong,” I said. “She’s a colleague. She’s someone that deserves respect.”
“And you like her,” he said.
“I don’t dislike her,” I said.
“What made you lose your cool?” he asked. “PitA has been giving you shit since he came on board. You’ve never given in to it. Why now?”
“Because it’s been a long time since I hit anyone,” I said nonchalantly.
He laughed and took a drink. “That sounds like a pretty solid reason.”
“He had it coming, and you know it,” I said.
“He did. Did you really fight all five of them?”
“That was not my intent,” I said. “I only wanted to pop PitA once or twice. The other guys thought they were going to hold me while he pummeled my ass. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” he said. “I would have made it a fair fight at least.”
“No. You can’t put your career in jeopardy. This was on me.”
“So, what now?” he asked. “Are you guys grounded?”
“No, actually,” I said. “I think once I explained the situation, Honcho got it. He likes Sam. He was not pleased to hear they were insulting her.”
“Is he putting it on your record?” he asked.
“He said he wasn’t, but I have a feeling if I sneeze wrong, I’m done.”
“I think you’re probably right about that.” He laughed. “You’ve got to watch yourself. I don’t want to lose you on the team.”
“I know,” I sighed. “It was a moment of weakness.”
He grinned. “From what I heard, you were definitely not weak. You’ve got people talking. The way it sounds, you could give the Hulk a run for his money.”
“Great, that’s just what I need,” I said. “If people keep talking about it, Honcho isn’t going to like it. You’ve got to do what you can to squash this.”
“Hey, I’m not the one going around knocking the shit out of people. Did it feel good?”
“Did what feel good?” I asked.
“Don’t act like you don’t know.” He laughed. “You got to do something we’ve all been wanting to do since that guy first came into the group.”
“Why did we let him in?” I asked. “I’ve been asking myself that a lot lately. We could have pushed him out. We could have said he wasn’t a good fit.”
“Because we thought we could make it work,” he replied.
“I guess I can’t. I guess I’m too old and stubborn myself. If I ever talk about a woman the way those guys did, slap me. Beat the fuck out of me. Do not let me get away with that shit. That’s embarrassing and wrong.”
“Was she there?” he asked.
“I don’t think she was at the beginning, but I did see her after Honcho broke us up,” I told him. “She didn’t look pleased.”
“Does she know what the fight was about?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “If the rumors are spreading like you say they are, she will.”
“That’s going to be awkward.”
“No shit. She’s going to think I did it for her.”
“You did do it for her,” he said.
“Yes, but not like that.”
He laughed and said nothing.