Cowards

The car stopped, not quite on the dirt and not quite on the road. Two big freaks and one wiry guy got out. In the car a girl sat with a smirk, her hair was cut short, she stayed in the car with the smirk.
“What the hell is your problem?” The wiry guy demanded.
“I don’t have a problem.”
“You must have a problem. My girl there tells me that you couldn’t keep from looken at her every time we drove by. So don’t tell me you don’t have a problem when I can see you do.”
He looked at his friends and half smiled, they looked like two hungry dogs waiting to feed.
“So tell me, what’s your problem?”
“Look I’m sorry I don’t have a problem, I wasn’t looking.”
“The hell you weren’t.”
“Look, I’m sorry but I wasn’t looking.” Mike said. “You must have seen it wrong.” He looked over at Seth, he was squirming.The wiry guy moved in closer. “Look dirt-head, don’t tell me what I
saw or didn’t see.”
He turned and smiled at his friends again.
He moved closer, his breath smelled like blue cheese and corn-nuts.
“Why don’t you say you hate God?”
Mike stepped forward. “What does that have to do with this? That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Just say it and we’ll leave.” He turned his head and laughed again.
Seth was quiet; he took a step back hiding in the dark just off the side of the road.
“Say you hate God!” He screamed it this time spit flinging from his mouth as he laughed.
“I don’t know if it’s true.” Mike was reaching for anything.
The wiry guy laughed.
“Well you should probably find out real soon, or were going to beat the hell out of you and you can see for yourself. So what’s it going to be? Who do you hate?”
Mike felt his hands loosen, his face tightened.
“I can’t say that.”
The air felt heavy. Mike started to breathe deep; a drop of sweat slipped down his spine. He was trying to buy time to find courage. His mind was racing and playing out scenarios.
“Say you hate God!” He screamed into Mike’s face again. His teeth rotten and his mouth wide.
Mike’s hands moved up fast grapping the wiry guy behind the head, bringing it down as he brought his knee up at the same time. He knew he had only a few seconds before those giant dogs were on him.
There was small crunch and his pants were immediately wet with blood.
The wiry guy pulled up quickly his nose broken, blood streaming from it. Mike jumped out quickly hitting him in the side of the head, the wiry guy dropped sloppily to the ground.
Mike crashed down on top of him his elbows raising high into the night sky his fists pounding down.
The wiry guy was screaming. “Get him off! Get him off!”
He saw shuffling feet only for a brief second out of the corner of his eye. The dogs were attacking. The biggest one jumped on top of him flattening him against the wiry one.
Mike reached back grabbing at his neck, trying to throw him over. He was too heavy.
Mike saw the other guy take a few steps back then quickly take a few steps forward, his boot caught him in the eye and it immediately went black and swelled over.
He turned his head again and saw the him take a few steps back again, ready to kick; he freed his arm and caught the foot then pulled him down. The guy on his back started beating the back of his head.
Mike pushed up crawled over onto the other guy dragging the heavy one on his back with him.
He pushed up as high as he could his arms trembling under the pressure and then he released and brought his forehead down directly into the corner of his face and he felt the cheekbone crush.
The heavy one on his back jumped up and Mike brought his elbows high into the sky again his fists crashing down. The heavy one grabbed him by the back of the shirt and tried to pull him up, he grabbed with both hands ripping Mike’s shirt off.
Mike stood up and turned around his chest heaving in and out desperately fighting to get air, his eye swollen shut a small stream of blood flowing from a cut in his forehead. The heavy one laughed a little. “Your friend is a coward he just stood there in the corn.”
“I didn’t need him.” Mike responded calmly, he was catching his breath now. He watched as the other two got up off the ground.
“You’re a freak,” The heavy one said. “And your friend is a coward. What a jerk.”
“I told you I didn’t need him.” He looked over at Seth. “It wasn’t his fight.”
The three guys all moved slowly backward to their car, the two big guys helping the wiry one.
Mike watched as they climbed in and started the car, the girl with the smirk turned around and half smiled.
“Are you ok?” Seth asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Your eye looks bad.”
“I bet.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t worry. It was my fight.”
“Sorry.”