the first fist caught me in the side of the face, my head snapped to the side and i spat blood onto the ground

the next three, well i’m a little fuzzy on those

but as i launched my forehead into the bridge of the first one’s nose with a satisfying crunch and drove my knee into his scrotum

things began to smooth out a bit

the key isn’t to worry about the hits

but the damage

so i hunched low and waited

it was when they decided to start kicking i took offense and grabbed the offending leg and threw an elbow into the owner’s stomach

since he liked footwork i kicked him in the side of the face and watched his body go limp

by my reckoning there were two left but the blood in my eyes made that iffy at best

so i did what anyone would do

i screamed loud and long and listened to the frantic steps of two people saying the hell with this

i smiled as i slumped to the ground of the dirty alley and tried to wipe enough blood away to see

which alerted me to the flashing red and blue lights in the distance

i’d like to say i ran away immediately

but i stopped and kicked the two on the ground once or twice first

and then i stumbled off into the night

lucky to be around to get beaten again another day