Back in high school, Ryo had always done his best to avoid getting into fights. That hadn’t always gone down well with the other kids, and he’d suffered a moderate amount of bullying, although it had mostly been of the name-calling variety. He’d been considered a teacher’s pet for paying attention in class, doing his homework most of the time, and not being disruptive. He hadn’t seen the point; he was in school to learn, because as his parents had always told him, education was important.

On a handful of occasions, one bully in particular, Billy Gregory, had tried to start fights with him, snatching his book bag and emptying it, stealing his lunch, deliberately tripping him, pushing him over, even going so far as to punch him a handful of times, but Ryo had never responded. He’d just picked himself or his books up, dusted everything off, and walked away while the bully yelled taunts at him, calling him yellow, pathetic, a coward, a cry-baby, a wimp…

Words could hurt, but only if they struck a chord with the person they were hurled at. Ryo knew he wasn’t a coward, or a wimp, or any of the other things Billy called him, and the only yellow thing about him was his hair, sort of, so he ignored the taunts. They weren’t worth getting into trouble over. Besides, it made Billy angrier to be ignored. He wanted to fight, wanted a chance to beat up someone smaller than him. He got into a lot of fights, and the teachers never stopped him, holding to the idea that boys needed to sort out their own disagreements.

After his parents were killed, Ryo had paid even less attention to bullies than before, and then he’d gone to live with his aunt, which had meant switching schools for his last semester. He hadn’t expected to ever see Billy Gregory again.

Well, looking back, running into his old nemesis was probably inevitable. After all, with an attitude like Billy’s, he was always headed for a life of crime, while Ryo had taken the opposite path, joining the NYPD and quickly advancing to detective.

Six feet tall, covered in tattoos, and already developing a beer belly, Billy was still clinging to his tough guy image, and still getting into trouble. Mainly for petty theft and starting bar fights, a few times for being drunk and disorderly, a couple of DUIs, one arrest for possession with intent to sell. Only grass, but the police considered it likely he’d handled stronger drugs, even if it couldn’t be proved.

Today, he was the prime suspect in a violent assault. Witnesses claimed he’d had an altercation with the victim in a bar and had been thrown out because of it. But when the man he’d been arguing with left the bar later that night, he’d been attacked on his way home, brutally beaten, and left unconscious in an alley less than a block from his apartment building.

William Gregory wasn’t exactly an uncommon name, and there’d been no reason for Ryo to suspect he was the same Billy Gregory who’d bullied him more than ten years ago. Not that it would have made any difference. The assault case had landed on his and Dee’s desks, so they’d talked to witnesses at the bar, and to friends and family of the victim, who was currently in a medically induced coma. Now they had the name and work address of someone who might well be behind the assault. It was their job to bring him in for questioning.

“Well, if it isn’t Old Yeller!” Gregory grinned when he saw Ryo entering the junkyard where he worked.

Ryo didn’t rise to the bait, just gestured to Dee to stay back as he flashed his police ID. “Detective Maclean.”

Gregory snickered. “You’re a cop now? The kid who was too yeller to fight? Don’t that beat all!”

Ryo ignored the comment. “William Gregory, you’re wanted in regard to the assault on Mikel Thornton last night. You were seen getting into an argument with him at Dooley’s Bar.”

“So what if I was?”

“You were thrown out and less than two hours later, Mr Thornton was brutally attacked two blocks from the bar.”

“Smug bastard. He probably deserved it.”

“We still need to take you in for questioning.”

“Oh yeah? You and whose army?” Gregory pulled a switchblade from his pocket, the blade emerging with a sharp click, and from the corner of his eye, Ryo saw Dee reach for his gun. Again, he gestured to his partner to stand down.

“I don’t need an army, Billy,” he said calmly. “I never did. The only reason I never fought you back in high school was because I didn’t need to. You didn’t scare me; you were nothing more than a minor nuisance. It wasn’t worth my time or effort to retaliate, and I probably would’ve gotten a detention if I had. I didn’t want that on my school record. Now, are you going to come quietly or not?”

Gregory snorted. “You talk big, but that’s all it is. I know you for what you are, a yellow-bellied coward. You don’t have the guts to stand up to me.” He lunged forward, knife slashing, and the next thing he knew, he was flat on his face with a mouthful of dirt, his knife several yards away, and his arms being wrenched painfully behind his back as his wrists were cuffed together.

“Maybe I should’ve mentioned, I hold black belts in karate and judo. Earned them when I was sixteen, so maybe you ought to be grateful I never took you up on any of your invitations to fight. You would’ve lost. Badly. I doubt that would’ve done your reputation any good. In a way, I was just sparing you the humiliation.”

A few feet away, Dee was doubled up with laughter. “That sure showed him, he never even saw what hit him!”

Paying no attention to his partner, Ryo took out his warrant card and read Gregory his rights. “You know,” he said conversationally as he tucked the card away again, one knee still digging firmly into Gregory’s back. “You could even be innocent of the attack on Mr Thornton, our investigation has barely begun, but now I have to charge you with assaulting a police office, possession of an illegal weapon, and resisting arrest. This is not your day, Billy.” Standing, he hauled his prisoner to his feet as Dee took charge of the switchblade. “A word of advice; you really shouldn’t underestimate people.”


The End