Innocent Until Proven Otherwise — Chapter 10 — The Cake
The siren, the flying cake and the knee that belonged to nobody.
Freddy has a black eye and a lot of anger at two guys. Jack swears they never laid a finger on him.
I came back from the kitchen fighting with one hand and holding the plate with the other.
Jab. Dodge. Balance the cake. Knee. Balance the cake. A guy tried to tackle me around the waist, and I spun with the plate held high, like a waiter at a fancy restaurant. Not one strawberry fell.
From outside came the first sound of a siren.
Kim saw me.
He saw the plate. He saw the cake. And something changed in his face that I'd only ever seen before in a serious fight.
He left the table. For the first time all night, he left the table.
And he started coming toward me, clearing a path. One guy to the left, another to the right. Me heading toward him, swinging on my side, plate held high. Two brothers meeting in the middle of a war, over a slice of cake.
Ten feet. Six.
Somebody kicked my hand.
The cake flew.
I saw it in slow motion. The plate spinning one way, the slice of cake the other, the strawberry coming loose in the air.
Kim stopped. He just watched the cake rise. Didn't blink.
And Freddy, who'd been behind Kim all night, saw Kim frozen with his fist half closed and his eyes locked. He figured his moment had finally come. He wound up the punch of his life, arm way back, and went all in.
Kim crouched down to catch the cake.
He spun 180 degrees on the floor, palm open, and the cake landed right in his hand. Not even the frosting got squished.
Freddy's punch went through the air where Kim's head had been half a second earlier. His body followed the punch, and Freddy tripped over Kim, who was still crouched.