Chapter 3 - DEREK HAD TO ANSWER TOO
Three days after the incident, Derek called.
“Can you come by?”
I went.
He was sitting on his porch.
His right shoulder was strapped.
“You okay?”
“Pulled something.”
“From Travis?”
“From being old.”
He smiled weakly.
Then:
“Detective Wallace interviewed me again.”
I sat down.
“I figured.”
“They’re reviewing whether I used excessive force.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did you do?”
Derek looked at me.
“Exactly what I told them.”
“Tell me.”
He exhaled.
“I entered.”
“By kicking down the door.”
“Yes.”
“You saw Travis?”
“He had the bat.”
“What happened?”
“He swung.”
“I heard.”
“I moved.”
Derek rubbed his shoulder.
“Then I took him down.”
“How?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“Trip. Arm control.”
“And his shoulder?”
“Dislocated when he fought the hold.”
I stared.
“And the line about snapping the other one?”
Derek looked embarrassed.
“Yeah.”
“You shouldn’t have said that.”
“I know.”
“Did you hurt him after he was down?”
“No.”
Immediate.
“I wanted to.”
That mattered too.
“But I didn’t.”
Police eventually concluded Derek’s force occurred while Travis still posed a threat and while Noah remained within reach.
No charges.
Still, Derek did not celebrate.
He told me:
“I came close.”
“To what?”
“Making it about punishment.”
That surprised me.
He continued:
“When I saw Noah’s arm…”
His jaw tightened.
“I wanted Travis scared.”
I said nothing.
“That part wasn’t protection.”
“No.”
“I know.”
There was a difference between intervening to stop harm and continuing to hurt someone because rage felt justified.
Derek understood that.
Maybe his fighting background helped.
Maybe age.
Maybe being Noah’s uncle.
He went back to physical therapy for the shoulder.
Never told the story at bars.
Never posted about it.
Never called himself a hero.
That mattered to me.
May you like
Because Noah did not need another man teaching him that violence becomes noble when you believe you are the good guy.
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