(Continued.)
Frankie and Malo went toward each other and started brawling. Frankie took two good hits from his opponent, one high on the shoulder, one square in the chest. He reeled back by a couple of feet after each one.
What was happening before Jen's eyes finally sunk into her head. These guys were really fighting out there, and nobody was doing anything to stop them! Anxiously, the little blonde leaned forward on the trunk of the car, as if she was about to jump between them herself.
"Don't make a scene here." Melinda warned.
Jen glanced at her, but Melinda's attention was riveted on the action. Beside her, Junior sounded as if he was giving a blow-by-blow account over the phone. His large red bruise had matured into a morbid purple welt, she noticed.
Jen looked back at the skirmish, her view blocked briefly by a guy recording the fight with a digital camera. Once her vision was unobstructed, she took in the pair of gladiators anew. Frankie seemed to have learned something after having been pummeled earlier, as he was circling around and postured like a boxer. Then he seemed to be trying to jump into Malo's reach. There followed a rapid flurry of arms and fists, where neither one seemed to be getting an advantage.
This is when Jen realized why they were fighting. It was so surreal; Frankie was like a noble medieval knight, since he was out there defending his sister's honor. The neglected blonde could feel her heart swelling with pride as she considered that a guy like that could want anything to do with her.
Malo lunged forward, while Frankie delivered a quick left-right-left to his side.
Frankie's kisses were intense and passionate, Jen thought from the sidelines, as she had experienced them firsthand. They were not at all like the wasted trinkets that other guys hurriedly bestowed on her, because those guys were always in such a rush to yank off her panties. Before her fascinated eyes, the two fighters exchanged another flurry of fisticuffs. Not for the first time, Jen wondered what Frankie would be like when he made love to her.
Frankie stepped in too close again, and Malo rewarded his ineptitude by raining down hammer blows on his side and back. Then, Frankie seemed to buckle under the onslaught. Malo raised his arms high as if he was going to drive his opponent into the ground.
Jen nearly turned away, unwilling to witness the forthcoming carnage, when she saw Frankie suddenly straighten up. With his left arm, he held back Malo's strikes. With his right, he expertly aimed and delivered that crucial uppercut that Junior had advised him of. The blow jolted Malo, leaving him stunned for about a second. This was just enough time for Frankie to land two more shots. Both of these struck Malo under each eye. One blow was fierce enough to draw blood, and a guarded Frankie took a step back to allow the other man's face to swell up.
They became like two timid dancers, Jen compared, coming together only to lash out briefly before they went back to their incessant circling. She soon understood why. Big Malo's swollen eyes were now impeding his vision, enough that he couldn't get a good bead on Frankie. To give the brute credit, he was still trying to land that one hard punch that would end the fight for good. Frankie, on the other hand, knew he had his rival on the ropes. He didn't want to taunt him or humiliate him, and so he only stepped in and struck back when Malo made the first move. It was all so gallant, Jen thought. It wasn't so much about having a winner and a loser, but about quickly ending a grudge. It was about restoring balance to the neighborhood.
A couple of minutes later, when it was obvious that Malo was no longer a threat, Bear and Malo's brother both stepped in to break it up.
"So this shit is over, yeah?" Bear asked. "No more bullshit at Frankie's house?"
The defeated Malo lowered his head and nodded.
"Frankie, Junior, what about you guys?"
The two brothers both went up to Malo and Malo's brother. After a few words were exchanged, they all shook hands on it and started cracking jokes about the various shiners now on public display.
"Excuse me," Melinda impatiently stepped up. "But we've still got some broken windows to talk about."
"I got that." Frankie said. "I've got a credit card I want to max out. Fixing those windows is a good place to start." He turned toward Malo. "I'm only doing this because my dad will go on the warpath when he finds out what you did to the house. You're going to owe me one, fool."
Malo nodded. He turned toward Junior. "Sorry about the shovel, man."
"That didn't even hurt." Junior quipped, as he showed off the extra large bruise on his arm. "See?"
While everybody gathered around and laughed or repeated key moments in the fight, Frankie strolled back to claim his shirt. Jen had been holding it for him. She slid off the trunk of the car to hand it back to him.
"I guess I can take you back home now." Frankie said.
Jen bit her bottom lip. "I've got a better idea. Why don't you take me somewhere with a bed?"
"I might know a place like that." Frankie grinned.
He took a few moments; to retrieve his phone, and to ask Melinda to find somebody to replace the windows at the house, before he and Jen got into his car and drove away.
The pair ended up at his parents' house, where Frankie pulled into the driveway and parked. He led Jen inside. They first assessed the damage in Amanda's room, and next walked over to the room Vicky had been using until she'd recently moved out.
"I hope we can get these taken care of before my dad gets home." Frankie worried, as he used his foot to move the larger shards of glass over toward the window. He found the object Malo had thrown, which wasn't a rock, but a decorative brick his dad had used to outline a flower patch. "I'd better put this back too, before my dad sees it in here."
"You can put it back later." Jen said, as she took a seat on the bed.
Frankie took the sight of her in, sitting there and still wearing her gangster-girl outfit. "So, what do you think of all this?"