Stopping a Fight

 

          “How dare you!” hollered Jack as he clenched his fist and punched Tom on his cheek, causing him to stagger backwards from the impact. I watched in horror when I saw the look of surprise on Tom’s face morph into a furious glare. He was undaunted by Jack’s actions. Retaliating with a punch of his own, he hit Jack squarely on his eye. Immediately, Jack covered his eye and bent over in pain. Dissatisfied with the result, Tom raised his right foot and kicked Jack’s stomach with all his might.

          Reflexively, I stepped between both of them and tried to push Tom away. However, he was too strong for me. Shoving me aside, he advanced towards Jack and raised his fist in front of his face, threatening to hit him again. Without hesitation, I helped Jack to his feet and tried to drag him away but Jack was not to be defeated by someone who was smaller-sized than he was. Ignoring me, he lunged at Tom, engaging him. Both of them were my friends. I had to stop the fight. Standing in front of Jack, I pleaded with him to stop fighting.

          “Get out of the way!” he shouted, his cheeks flushed with anger.

          “No!” I retorted. “Stop it! Why are you fighting? We are all friends!”

          “Tom is not my friend!” he said in a cold chilling voice. “Do you know what he did? You would not forgive him either if you were me.” He said in a voice filled with so much conviction that I was curious about what could have happened.

          I was about to ask a question when Tom yanked Jack’s collar from behind, causing both Jack and me to lose our balance. Luckily, I caught hold of Jack in time to stop him from falling. Incensed by what Tom had done, I pushed Jack aside and pulled Tom towards me.

          “Listen, both of you!” I hissed. “Whatever the problem is, I’m sure there are better ways to solve it! Stop this fighting before you hurt yourself!” Then on impulse, I gave each of them a slap across the face.

          My actions seemed to jolt them out of their anger. Although still looking a little disgruntled, they agreed to sit down and talk about what had happened. I was glad that I had managed to stop the fight.

 

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