Excited to officially be a vigilante, Jia Crawford’s also nervous and a bit jumpy from her encounter with Detective Florence. Needing a drink stronger than the wine waiting back home, she thinks about bars on the way. She decides on one of her favorites, Larry’s Lounge. It’s kind of a dive but that’s the main reason Jia likes it. Larry’s an old friend of the family and Jia used to be close with his daughter, though she hasn’t seen either of them in at least a couple years. Even when she goes to the bar, Larry’s rarely there anymore. He mostly retired a few years ago and now lets his managers handle running the place.

Larry’s is a little more than half way to her house which suits Jia fine. She can get most of the riding done before having a few cold ones to cool off. It’s mid afternoon and nearly a hundred degrees.

Pedaling uphill the entire way isn’t easy but Jia keeps reminding herself this is easier than training. She almost believes it. It isn’t long after she leaves the police station when the sky starts to get cloudy. With only about a mile left until she reaches the bar, she starts to feel rain drops. Jia swears under her breath; it was supposed to be nice today. That’s the whole reason she went.

At first she thinks she got lucky and it’s only a few drops. Just as that thought passes through her head the rain picks up. Every thirty seconds it seems to get harder and by the time she’s a quarter mile from the bar it’s turned into a downpour. Jia can’t believe her luck and pedals harder and harder for the bar. She splashes through puddles which soak any parts of her the rain hasn’t drenched. There’s nothing above her to shield her from the storms. Finally arriving, she locks her bike to a tree in the parking lot. Rushing inside, she pauses only to shake off as best she can on the front porch so she tracks less water in with her.

There’s only a few other people in the bar. It’s still relatively early and most people aren’t off work yet. There’s a small TV in the corner showing some sort of game but one of her favorite things about Larry’s is it isn’t full of plasma screens everywhere you look. Just one small screen in the corner. A few older guys are playing pool and a couple guys are sitting at the bar. In the back corner of the room are a couple of tables, one with what looks to be a pair of couples and another with a single couple, a man and a woman. They seem to be enjoying drinks and a meal.

Jia cringes seeing the food. She’s a fan of Larry’s place but certainly not for the food. If you want a drink this is a good place to go. If you’re looking to enjoy a meal it’s best to steer clear. They somehow manage to serve bad potato chips. They’re not even homemade.

Taking a seat at the bar, she tries to stay clear of the two men on the other end. The one closest to her, a middle aged man with thinning hair and a tie draped over his shoulders, nods in her direction but then goes back to his drink.

With how slow the place is it only takes a moment to get a Jack and Coke. She gives the bartender a tip and starts nursing her drink. Pulling her phone out to check when this storm will be gone, her drink seems to magically disappear. After ordering another, she asks the bartender, “Has Larry been in lately? I haven’t seen him in awhile.”

The young woman behind the bar shakes her head. “No, he hasn’t been in for a few weeks now. He’s apparently having some health issues. His daughter’s been the main one running the place lately.”

Jia thanks the bartender and introduces herself. The bartender introduces herself as Susan and asks if Jia needs anything else. She’s new since the last time Jia was in. After telling Susan that she’s good, the woman excuses herself to go check on other customers.

As Jia’s drink gets close to empty, she considers getting another. Around the same time she hears yelling in the back corner of the bar. Turning, she sees the couple on their own are now screaming at each other. Something about her wanting to stay longer because of the rain and him wanting to get home. Her chair’s been knocked to the ground. They’ve stood up and the woman’s getting in the man’s face and waving her arms in the air as she screams.

One of those arms smacks him in the face but to Jia it looks less like an attack and more like she was flailing her arms around drunkenly and she happened to hit him. He doesn’t take it that way. He lets out a loud yell and shoves her hard. The woman crashes to the floor, hitting her head on her chair in the process. She lets out a shout and tries to get back to her feet. The man isn’t having it and grabs his chair. For a minute it seems like he’s going to throw it right at the woman but he seems to calm down enough to throw it into a wall instead. The chair splinters into a million pieces. He seems to just be getting started.

Others nearby are trying to get clear and Jia can see the bartender on her phone, likely calling the cops. The man keeps screaming at the woman, standing over her waving yet another chair. He’s not making much sense, talking about how she never wants to go home.

This woman may not have time to wait for the cops. When the man throws another chair against a wall Jia decides to act. She takes one last sip of her drink and stands up, smooths her clothing, and walks toward the couple. “Hey guy,” she says in his direction, “leave the lady alone. The hit looked like an accident. Chill out and let’s just sit down and have another drink.”

The man isn’t having it. He’s probably seven feet tall and at least three hundred pounds. Probably not someone used to being challenged. He turns his attention to Jia, his eyes wild and unfocused. “Stay out of this girl, this has nothing to do with you. I can handle my woman.”

Jia takes a deep breath. “This actually does have something to do with me. You see, I’m sitting here trying to enjoy a nice drink and you’re disturbing me and everyone else in this bar. I’m a licensed vigilante and I can do whatever I need to in order to keep people safe. She doesn’t look very safe right now. So step off or I’m going to have to stop asking nicely.”

The man’s nearly twice Jia’s size and doesn’t seem worried about her. He sizes her up before walking over to the pool table and grabbing a pool stick. “You’re going to have to stop asking me nicely? Little girl, if you don’t mind your own business I’m going to have to stop asking you so nicely to do so. Get out of my face.”

Everyone in the place is silent, waiting for anyone to make a move. After what feels like an eternity, Jia says, “No.”

The man swings the pool stick back and aims right for Jia’s head. She ducks under it and it goes whirling by, leaving the large man off balance. Grabbing for the stick, she uses the man’s momentum against him and manages to wrench it out of his hands. She tosses it aside. She hoped pulling the stick away would put him off balance but no such luck. He’s too large.

“Nice move girl.” He grabs another stick though and swings again, this time aiming lower. Jia jumps over it but doesn’t get close enough to the stick to grab it. Instead she rushes closer and gets a couple of hits in, trying to aim a few kicks at his knees.

He stumbles backward but doesn’t go down. The body shots she gives him don’t seem to faze him. Jia dances back as he turns and grabs for her. When he misses, the man again swings the pool stick but this time he’s not even close. He seems to be losing his composure which Jia knows plays to her advantage. She just has to keep him moving.

When she lands a kick right to the man’s hands, he yelps and drops the stick. Without his weapon to worry about, Jia moves in. Punching, kicking, ducking and dodging, she strikes again and again. He’s trying desperately to land even a single blow but at this point he’s just flailing. It feels like her training with her mother only she’s in the role of her mother. Jia stops and puts a hand up. “Is that enough for you or do we need to keep going? I don’t want to hurt you. Just walk away before the cops get here.”

Trying to end things apparently isn’t what he’s looking for. He rushes Jia fast and hard. Caught with her guard down and realizing that she doesn’t have room to dodge, Jia slides right between the man’s legs.

Not expecting her slide, he can’t spin fast enough. Before he can turn around Jia’s on her feet again and delivering a kick to the back of his knees. The man crumples to his knees and now his head’s low enough to hit. Jia delivers a roundhouse to his face. He makes a sick thud as he hits the ground and lies flat.

Exhausted, Jia walks up to the woman who was with him. “Are you okay?”

Instead of receiving gratitude she finds herself shoved aside as the woman rushes to the man’s side. “Are you okay Johnny?” she says in a drunken slur. She looks at Jia, fear in her eyes. “Get away from him.”

Annoyed by the woman’s decision to stand by this guy, she walks away and heads back to the bar. Susan at least has a look of gratitude on her face. “Thanks for taking care of that before he completely wrecked the place.”

Jia nods. As she does so she hears sirens coming closer. The cops have seemingly arrived to take this idiot away. As they walk in Jia asks, “Can I get another drink?”