It was nearing the end of finals at college and my stress point was reaching an all time high level I never thought I would see again. One day, the 日 before my very last final, I snapped big time. Finally all that pent up stress caught up with me at last.
It was in the evening and Kate and I were walking across campus headed toward the cafeteria for dinner, Katie and our kids were in the room waiting for us to bring 食物 to them. We were talking casually and sharing ideas as to what we might do over the long 28 日 winter break we had to look 前锋, 期待 to ahead, when all of the sudden a group of 3 guys came walking toward us. The group was chattering, pointing, and apparently were laughing at Kate and I. Instantly, I knew what was coming.
"Kate, go hide behind that 面包车, 范 over there..." I told her hastily pointing to a parked 面包车, 范 with the Northwest College logo stamped on the doors.
"Why what's going on?" Kate asked concerned, looking around.
"Questions will be answered later, just do it now, and do not come out unless I tell you!" I half yelled to her.
Kate took one final glance at me, and then to the group of guys before scuttling over behind the 面包车, 范 where only her legs and tip of her tail were visible. Knowing that she was out of harm's way for the time being, I faced the group of guys striding toward me. All of them were wrestlers I could tell judging 由 their sweater logos and squat, jaunty gaits. The leader of the group marched right up to me in a sudden movement, apparently trying to make me jump back in fright I guess, but I did not budge so much as a hair and stood my ground in the middle of the cafeteria parking lot.

The kid looked me up and down, sizing me up I knew it.
"So, your the guy that dates a 狼 am I correct?"
"Yeah I am, and if 你 don't get out of my face I am gonna knock your teeth in..." I 说 coldly.
The kid seemed to be taken back, his two thugs were sniggering behind him and glaring at me.
"Getting a little cocky aren't we?" The kid asked, "you really think 你 could take on me and my homies here single handed do you?"
"Oh hell no!" I answered in a quiet, but dangerous voice, "unless of course 你 are stupid enough to make me do so..."

Meanwhile from behind the van, Kate peered around its front bumper and watched what was going on. Jon was surrounded 由 three rather large looking guys, she felt scared for him but he had firmly told her to stay behind this 面包车, 范 no matter what. So all she could do was watch and hope for the best. Kate listened hard as the kid who was right up in Jon's face spoke up again.
"Are 你 serious bro? Me and my boys are some of the 最佳, 返回页首 wrestlers of this college!"
"Oh really? Why I am so flattered to know that I might have to kick three 最佳, 返回页首 wrestlers asses right here in this parking lot!" Came Jon's deep, and outraged voice, Kate had never heard this tone in his voice ever. It sent a chill up her spine and made her quiver a little. One of the guys moved and Kate caught a glimpse of Jon's face, his eyes had turned to a steely cold gray, and they were bouncing rapidly up and down in their sockets like pinballs. To this day, Kate had never seen a 更多 frightening stare in her life, she could feel the desire to hurt, the desire to cause extraordinary pain in the depths of Jon's cold, steel gray eyes. Normally they were a bright, and intelligent happy blue.
It was then one of the head bully's thugs tapped him on the shoulder and then whispered into his ear. Kate craned her head in their direction and listened as hard as she could with her right ear. To her delight, her 狼 hearing abilities picked it up clearly!
"Lucas, dude back off! He is getting really fucking pissed dude! Look at his eyes!"
The kid named Lucas screwed up his face in an expression that looked as if he had just swallowed a really unpleasant morsel of food, he then shoved the kid who whispered in his ear and turned his attention briefly on him.
"Look, if 你 wanna be a little pussy and back out, go ahead! We can take on this 狼 fucker like cakewalk and 你 know it!"
Lucas was then in the process of turning away from the kid that whispered into his ear, and rounding back around to Jon when Kate saw a sudden flash of movement and Jon was suddenly turning rapidly on one of the heels of his shoes, and Kate saw the blur of what appeared to be his right fist flying through the air and there was a loud popping sound as it came into contact with the side of Lucas's face and sending him flying into the arms of one of his thugs like a rag doll, knocked out like a light. To Kate this all appeared to be happening in slow motion, the boy that had whispered in Lucas's ear had caught him and his mouth was hanging open stupidly. The other was staring at Jon in a aggressive, but fearful way.
"Why 你 motherfucker!" Before he lunged at Jon with his arms outstreatched. Jon coiled back with his right arm pulled behind his back, before a swiftly throwing his body 前锋, 期待 to his oncoming attacker, and his fist landing right on 最佳, 返回页首 of the bridge of the kid's nose. A horrible crack, and loud howl from the kid told Kate that Jon had just broken his nose, Jon stepped back just in time as the kid fell to the ground at his feet. Jon glanced down at the kid writhing on the ground, his hands holding his bloodied face, before craning his great head back up to the kid supporting Lucas who still seemed dazed in a now semi-unconscious state to this slow motion fight taking place before Kate.
"You are the wise one, takes a real man to step down from a fight 你 know that? Especially a fight with me!" Jon 说 in a softer, but still a very intimidating tone.
"I am so sorry we caused 你 this much trouble!" The kid exclaimed, his voice shaking.
"You fucking better be!" Jon 说 angrily before striding right up to him and pointing a long finger down at Lucas.
"Now, I want 你 to get this white trash piece of shit excuse for a wrestler out of my sight before I am tempted to turn his brain into pulp! 你 better make sure that he knows not to ever 交叉, 十字架 paths with me ever again, understood?"

The kid did not answer Jon, his face was as white as snow. Jon then smiled in a satisfied way, before turning his back and striding away back in the direction of the dorm. Apparantly he no longer had an appetite for dinner, Kate hesitated before leaving from behind the 面包车, 范 and trotting up to his side, ignoring the stare from the kid who cradled his knocked out pack leader. Jon did not even look at her, 或者 say a word to her all the way back to the dorm building.
Inside the building Kate was surprised to see that Jon was not headed toward the room they lived in. Instead he lead her downstairs into the basement, and into the small computer room; nobody was in here and he shut the door before turning around and looking Kate full in the eye for the first time. A look of regret and sorrow took the place of his once outraged facial expression she had seen mere 分钟 before.
"Kate I am sorry, 你 never should have seen that side of me..." Jon told her breaking off.
"It's okay baby, I am not upset with you," Kate tried assuring him.
"You should be Kate...Look, there is a certain side to my life that I have never wanted 你 to know about, now I am going to have to tell 你 everything."
"Okay, I am listening," she said.
Jon pulled a chair away from a computer and sat down heavily, the old wooden chair creaked under his weight. Kate sat down on the ground opposite him, looking at him with intrest. Even in the dim lit computer room, Kate could make out some of the lines and scars etched in his face. Finally Jon spoke, in a somewhat somber tone.

"Kate there was a time, not long 以前 when I was a very different person than the one 你 know currently. Basically it all started when I was about 7 或者 8 years old when my dad and stepmom got married. My stepmom also had 2 sons, both older than me that became my stepbrothers and they were just finishing middle school and moving into high school. Of course, me being a scrawny boy of the 3rd grade, they took it upon themselves to pick on me. They never really meant to harm me any, but roughed me up all the time and started teaching me to fight them for kicks. The worst things would happen to me whenever mom and dad were out of the house at the bars most likely, and my stepbrothers would invite some 老友记 或者 one of their girlfriends over for the night. Then they would just turn plain evil to me, humiliate me and try to get me super angry at them so I would attempt to hurt them. Of course being so scrawny and weak, I would maybe give them a temporary dead arm 或者 a good sucker 冲床 to the stomach, but nothing more. It was mainly my temper that entertained them the most and they would laugh hysterically at me..."
Jon hesitated to catch his breath before continuing with his story.
"So all throughout their high school career, my step brothers turned me into a rowdy fighter. I toughened up and was no longer a little softy toward getting picked on, nearly broke Josh's nose one time! He was a senior 由 then, and 说 something to really set me off and I sorta caught him off guard, but that is beside the point here. After they both graduated and moved out when I was 12, I no longer had anyone picking on me much and for about 3 years it stayed that way until I was about 15. It was the summer of my freshman year, and as 你 already know I was thrown head on into the troubles I had facing me at home. Dad's broken back and alcohol problems. It was this summer that I was involved in the most horrific fight I had ever been in.
I was out at the dirt track races at the fair grounds, and since I would be racing my motorcycle at half time, I had a pit pass, along with an ex-human girlfriend of mine who lived in a nearby town. I don't wanna brag about her Kate, but she was a drop dead, absolutely gorgeous knockout and I was not the only guy attracted to her. To make a very long story short, this short kid of maybe 17 came up and started to flirt with her. I was filling out 由 then, and was bigger than him and he might have mistaked me for her brother since we both had blonde hair and blue eyes. I told him as gently as I could to back off and leave my girl alone, but he did not listen and instead took it too far. He was going to leave and slapped her on the 屁股 before taking off at a dead sprint somewhere in the pits among a jumble of race cars and pit members, instantly gone and out of sight so I didnt bother to chase him down. So I told my then gf Ella, to not worry about it, and led her to the small grandstand located along one of the straight stetches that went 由 the pit area where drivers sat watching other cars from different classes they did not race in, roar around the track, drifting the corners, and flinging dirt and mud like bullets from beneath their tires.
Well we were just sitting there minding our own business when I felt someone tap me really hard on the shoulder from the right of me. I looked down and there was a great big farm boy I guessed he was, of about 6' 4" and a build like a NBA 篮球 star. I looked down at him, and he stared back at me with a menacing look and 说 this, "I hear 你 were giving my little brother Joe here a hard time!" I looked behind him and there was that cocky little short dude that had slapped Ella on the ass. "He was hitting on my girlfriend and I kindly told him to leave, I did no harm to him whatsoever."
Apparently that was not enough to convince this big fucker, and he grabbed me 由 the arm, and yanked me down from the grandstands where a group was already forming a ring around us for the pending fight. I looked around at him fearfully, yeah I was scared, the dude was over twice my size and had hands the size of saucers and fingers like sausage links! Easily capable of crushing my esophagus if he got a hold of me with those callused hands from pounding fence posts and hawking 干草 bales onto truck trailers.
"I am gonna kick your 屁股 你 know that?" He asked me, I did not answer, but fear was growing inside of me and my body shook, deep inside, my anger was starting to boil. Not only did he have me cornered, but he was also trying to humuliate me like my stepbrothers had all those years 以前 when they first moved in.
Like 狗 in a pit fighting arena, we circled one another not taking our eyes off each other. His massive fists were clenched up, and muscles bulged from his forearm and upper arm like tight ropes. After what seemed like ages, he took a lunge at me and tried to grab me, thankfully I had agility on my side, and dodged out of his way easily and turned on him. Before he could get another run on me again, I got my shot and ran full force at him with my fist drawn back and hit him so hard between the eyes that I am not shitting 你 Kate, his feet left the ground and he flew backward in a arch and landed right on his back, stunned. I was not going to let him get up again and I was gonna make sure he stayed down...So I jumped on 最佳, 返回页首 of him, grabbed the back of his head with my left hand and began to pummel his head over and over again with my right fist.
I was was being driven 由 anger beyond my wildest dreams, 或者 maybe it was fear, I can't remember. I just kept wailing on this kid, his face was bloody and he was howling in pain and there were people gasping in the crowd around us. Thankfully for Ella and a few of my other 老友记 that came from nowhere it seemed, managed to talk me out of beating him to death 由 saying things like, "Jon, I think he's had enough man!" 或者 "Jon I think you've made an impact, better just let it go". Never try to break me up from a fight Kate, I would never intentionally hurt 你 but I change whenever I get into a fight, several people have had to learn that the hard way.
The moral of the story is this. After I finally quit hitting him and stood up and realized what I had done, I was scared shitless! 由 then obviously he was knocked unconscious, there was blood coming from his nose, mouth, and ears. My right fist was a bloody mess and I actually fractured my pinky finger I think, never went to a doctor but I just remember it hurt like hell for several weeks. Deep down, I knew the cops would be coming soon and I would be in the real trouble. Nearly everyone that was there was telling me to get out before they did arrive, so I didn't hesitate. Me and Ella packed up into her truck since I couldn't haul my motorcycle around in my Jeep that I was driving then, and we left. Going down the highway from the fairgrounds sure enough, 3 cop cars and an 救护车 went speeding by. They never found out who did it, although I think the head sherriff knew. But since nearly everyone that witnessed it happen, claimed that it was purely out of self defense which it was. The kid had me cornered and was threatening me bodily harm. He got the worst of it though, was hospitalized for two days, turns out I had broken his nose in three places, knocked several of his teeth out, he had bitten his tongue badly, had a fairly severe concussion, and a dislocated jaw. To this 日 I have never seen him again, he lives in a different town though I guess."

Jon had to take another breather, Kate was in total shock, her mouth hung open as she watched him. Kate had a million things she wanted to ask him, but her tongue could not slur the words together. Looking at his hands Kate remembered all those times he had lovingly caressed her with them, weather it was cuddling, 爱情 making, 或者 massaging her ears, Kate never would have guessed they did such awful things in the past. Sure, she knew Jon was very protective of her, and that she had heard his 老友记 sometimes call him Iron Knuckles, she thought it was all just for fun, but it was real. 识骨寻踪 had been broken underneath those knuckles, it just did not seem possible, but Jon was not pulling her leg, he was dead serious about it all.
"So Kate, let me tell 你 the rest here, there is not much left." Jon continued, "after all that happened and things settled down again I sort of realized I needed to slow down before I ended up in prison 或者 something. It took me about 5 months later when the house nearly burnt to the ground to really see that whole analogy clearly, 你 know the story of the house 火, 消防 but there is something I never told 你 about it either.
你 see Kate, back then I was not nearly as good with the Good Lord as I am now. I was actually mad at Him I think, with my parents divorcing, my dad becoming an alcoholic and breaking his back, then becoming an even heavier alcoholic to reduce the pain. I just could not believe God would let that happen to me and I blamed Him for it, I took His name in vain worse than I used the F-bomb, course I never realized what harm I was doing until the fire.
When dad finally got me to wake up, and I opened the door and crawled down the hallway and around the corner and saw the 火, 消防 in the living room through the hazy smoke. I think it was either Satan himself, 或者 Death was lurking in those flames. I heard a horrible growling and breathing type of noise from the depths of the burning living room and that was when my life flashed before my eyes. All the people I cared about were all standing there before me, smiling at me. People like my biological mom, dad, grandpa Jack and grandma Judy, all my 狗 from the past, present. All my good and dear 老友记 were there as well, then just like that, they were wiped from my mind and it all went black. It was the most horrible feeling ever, I felt like they had just abandoned me and I was left to live in the afterlife alone and probably being a victim of Satan's wrath. It did not end until I was safely out of the burning house, then my mind came back. I was scared shitless Kate, only thing that truly scared me beyond my wildest dreams. All the horror 电影院 ever made combined could not scare me like what happened to me that night. It really opened my eyes a whole lot and I realized that I really needed to change 或者 I would be in for some rougher times ahead. And so, I changed, 你 know that story. Looking at me now, 你 would have never known my past life. I am glad 你 never knew me then Kate, I was horrible in many ways. Just did not know when to quit and had nothing to stop me. Out of all the fights I have been in, I have maybe 迷失 3 at the most. Please Kate, don't take me to be a bad person because I am not, I would never intentionally hurt anyone now. What 你 saw me do today was out of self defense, and I was protecting you. Heaven forbid if I 迷失 that fight and they came after you, but I didn't. Now they wont ever mess with me again, that's the thing about fights I win. Nobody ever comes back for round 2, they give me my 太空 and leave me alone. In return, I give them the same. Now, I don't know if 你 found that fight amusing 或者 entertaining, but please Kate, just because I can fight really well does not mean 你 go looking for trouble around here. 由 this I mean, don't start anything with anyone. Don't got strutting around the campus telling everyone I can kick their ass, because I am certain some people on here can actually kick mine. Lastly, just lie low and be yourself and nobody should really bother you. If they do, just bite your tongue and ignore it. Reason I am telling 你 this is because avoiding a fight at all cost is the best solution. It took me a long time to realize that but it is true. 你 only need to fight out of self defense and that only..."

Jon finally broke off and had to take a breath. Kate just sat there looking at him sitting low in that old chair with his head in his hands and breathing heavily. He was scared for her safety, she knew it. Instead of talking again, he sat in silence. In such a tiny room, that silence grew louder and louder. Finally without hesitating, Kate stood up and shoved her head between his legs and looked up into his face. He smiled down at her and hugged her tightly.
"Don't worry Jon, I won't ever do anything to disappoint 你 或者 make 你 become worried for me," Kate assured him. Jon just gripped her tighter.
"I 爱情 你 Kate," he said, "don't ever forget that either."