WHAT HE DID

Tommy was startled by his buddy, Mitch, grabbing his arm. \"Dude, let\'s go somewhere else,\" he said.
\"What? Why?\" Tommy had just turned 21 and was looking forward to legally buying alcohol. \"We just got here.\" Tommy followed his friend\'s nervous look into the bar. He spotted who Mitch was glaring at.
\"Come on, Tommy,\" said Mitch quietly, almost too quiet to hear amidst the crowd and music. \"We\'ll go to--\"
Tommy snapped his arm away from Mitch and stared into the bar. He was there. Son of a bitch. Tommy thought he\'d moved. Hadn\'t seen him since.
Without a word, Tommy started pushing his way through the crowd. Mitch said something to him, but he wasn\'t listening. His heart was racing. All he could think about was his older sister. Before this asshole destroyed her. When she was about to go to college. Fun and smart with a whole future ahead of her.
He rushed up to the table where Asshole was sitting. A couple of his friends noticed and tried to warn him, but by the time his fat, empty head turned, it was too late.
Tommy had never really punched anyone before. As his fist slammed into that stupid bastard\'s head, he was surprised by how much it stung. He was also a little dismayed to find that the bitch didn\'t fly over his table or even go down. His head snapped back, then he looked at Tommy, rubbing his cheek.
\"Let\'s just go!\" he heard Mitch saying, but Tommy\'s blood was pumping too fast.
Asshole was about to say something, but Tommy just lunged at him. No grace. No cool, stylish moves like in the movies. It was sloppy. And it was brutal.
They both crashed painfully to the floor, overturning the table and spilling beer everywhere. There was a crowd gathering around them now. Asshole was saying something. Were those tears in his eyes? Tommy couldn\'t hear him, though. His mind was racing, loud images and memories clouding everything.
She was such a good big sister. They didn\'t fight like his friends and their siblings. She looked out for him. She was the smart one. The popular one. The one with a bright future. But she never made him feel like the lesser or dead weight. She made him feel like he was special, too. She gave him confidence and love and support. Everything anyone would want in a big sister. She was so full of life.
He felt Mitch grabbing at him, but he and Asshole were now flailing about the floor. Asshole started clawing at him, shoving his face away, grabbing at anything. Tommy tried to get away from his hand as it pawed at his face, fingers going in his mouth and eyes. This wasn\'t a fight. This had immediately devolved into a struggle-- pure instinct. He felt disgusting as Mitch pulled him off.
But she. She wasn\'t the same anymore. When she came back to the house with their parents, from the doctors. Her left eye was still swollen a little, and she was limping. He knew what\'d happened. They didn\'t tell him, but he knew. It was the right choice. The only choice. But she was so empty at that moment. The life was gone from her. Been taken from her.
He wiped something from his eyes. The bartender was yelling for them to \"...get the fuck out\" before he called \"...the goddamn cops.\" Wet, red stuff was stinging his eyes. Was it Tommy\'s or Asshole\'s? He looked down at Asshole. His friends were helping him up, too, but he shoved them off. Embarrassed. He was a lot bigger than Tommy, but all the stupid, meathead, jock muscle from his school days had devolved into lard. He was a dumb, fat fuck.
\"Jesus,\" said Mitch, looking him over. \"Are you alright?\"
Tommy wanted to calm down. He looked at Asshole, who was shoving a napkin in his nose. Suddenly, Tommy felt a lump in his throat. What the fuck? He started crying. Asshole stared at him. What was that look in his beady eyes? Was it anger? Regret? His friends pulled him away. Tommy started wiping his eyes again, watered-down blood getting on his clothes and in his mouth. He felt Mitch pulling him out of the bar. Everyone was staring at them.
\"You feel better now?\" Mitch said, monotone.
She was so full of life! She was one of the few people he knew who were actually fucking alive! Now it was gone. Had been sucked out of her. She\'s never been the same. Now she just goes through the motions.
\"No,\" Tommy finally answered.