"Fuck people that say when someone hits you in the face just turn the other cheek, and karma will get that person, but what if I am karma? What if the buck stops with me? What if I’m supposed to put this person down? After all, I’m a fucking human being; I have hate, mistrust, and inadequacy. Sometimes you just want to take someone by the throat until their breath leaves their body."
Normally, Frank doesn't get that angry. Oh, sure, he has a quick temper -- "Short fuse," his dad said, once, after a few beers -- and he flares up easily but usually it dies out after a brief fistfight and he's able to shake hands afterwards, say a genuine "No hard feelings." He's never been one to hold grudges, never been one for the slow burning anger. He's always seen it as dangerous, the kind of feeling that would eat away at your insides if left unchecked. Frank has an outlet for emotion like that; he screams into a microphone when he feels the anger building up, thrashes around on a guitar until it's dissipated.
But then he finds out that some stalker of Jamia's has been talking shit about her. Jamia's one of the only girls he hangs around with on a regular basis -- she's a pretty hardcore chick and more than capable of taking care of herself, but this guy used to be her friend and she doesn't want to hurt him. Jamia's tough as shit, but she can be way too loyal when it comes to friends -- or, in this case,
ex
-friends. This guy -- Jack? Jake? It's fucking Jake or something, Frank can't remember, doesn't really care -- is obsessed with her, no kidding, and he hates her now, bitter and jealous that she rejected him. Frank doesn't understand,
can't
understand, but then he hears vicious rumours started by him that Jamia's sucked off all of Pencey Prep in the back of their van.
(In reality, Frank and Jamia tried making out one time but they both ended up laughing. Jamia likes to joke that they turned each other gay, but it wasn't entirely her fault. Jamia is awesome, and that's just it -- she's the most awesome chick that Frank knows, but she's a
chick
. He hadn't known that she wasn't what he wanted until then.)
So when Frank sees that this guy has dared to show his face at a Pencey show --
his
fucking Pencey show! -- he sees red. He can see him through the sweating mass of people, clothed in darkness from the atmosphere, almost one of the shadows. Frank's shaking, literally
shaking
, with adrenaline and anger, hot and liquid through his veins. It escalates when he catches sight of Jake staring at Jamia from across the room, and the last song has barely even ended before he's throwing his guitar at Tim -- who catches it, luckily -- and wading through the sweating crowd, ready to do something about this, make sure fucking Jake gets the fucking
message
. Neil shouts something at him, but it's made unrecognisable by the heavy music already pouring out of the speakers, so Frank keeps going.
When he gets there, Jake is saying something to her, leaning in close (
ready to distribute his poison
, Frank thinks, and clenches his fists).
He only catches, "..so go get fucked by all the punk rock kids you want, sweetheart-" before he punches Jake squarely in the face.
