"Nothing I can't handle. Just do what I said." The doorbell rang again, more insistently this time, followed by heavy knocking that echoed through the house. David opened the door, but left the security chain engaged, creating a 4-in gap through which he could see his unexpected visitors. "Evening, gentlemen.
Little late for a social call, isn't it?" "We need to talk," Richard Harrison said, his voice tight with controlled fury. "About what happened today and what your boys did to ours." "Your boys attacked mine from behind after losing fair fights. What's to discuss?"
"Open the door, Thompson," Bill Mills demanded, stepping closer to the entrance. "We're not having this conversation through a crack." "Actually, we're not having this conversation at all. It's nearly 11:00. You're on my property uninvited, and you're clearly agitated.
Time to leave." David started to close the door, but Richard Harrison shoved his shoulder against it, preventing it from shutting completely. "Do you have any idea how much money we've invested in our boys' training?" Richard snarled through the gap. "7 years of lessons, tournament fees, equipment, camps, thousands of dollars, and your boys destroyed it all in one afternoon.
"Your money bought you nothing but entitled bullies. That's not my problem." "Jake was being recruited by college programs. Bill Mills interjected, his voice rising with desperation. Full scholarships were being discussed."
Now he's banned from competition until he's 18. "Maybe he should have thought about that before jumping my son from behind." "Your boys are the ones who should be banned," Richard shouted. They're frauds, sandbaggers. Yellow belts don't fight like that.
"My boys earned their victories fair and square. Your boys earned their bans by being poor sports and worse fighters." The men on the porch exchanged glances, their frustration building as David refused to be intimidated or drawn into their preferred confrontation. "We want compensation," Bill Mills said suddenly. "Financial compensation for what your boys cost our families."
David's laugh was harsh and humorless. "Compensation for what? Teaching your kids that bullying has consequences?" "For destroying years of investment? For ruining their futures?"
"Their futures were ruined the moment they decided to target my boys. I just helped speed up the process." "Open this door," Richard demanded, his patience finally exhausted. "We're going to settle this properly." "We are settling it properly.
Properly means you leave my property before I call the police." Call them. Bill Mills shouted. "We'll tell them about your boys' illegal training, about how you turned them into weapons." "Go ahead.
I'll tell them about months of racial harassment your boys inflicted on mine. See which story they find more compelling." David unhooked the security chain and stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind him. The two fathers immediately spread out, flanking him in what they clearly thought was an intimidating formation. "You think you're tough because you were in the army?"
Richard sneered. "Think that makes you better than us?" "I don't think anything. I know I raised better sons than you did." "Our sons are champions," Bill Mills protested.