500: An Anthology of Short Stories
The Better Man

“I regret nothing. Wade deserved the thrashing I gave him,” I tell Carmen. I’m bristling with righteous fury.

“Oh, so losing your job was worth the fight?” Carmen asks, staring me down. She knows me too well, but I won’t allow her to gloat.

“Hey, I was tired of being a Warehouse Manager anyway,” I lie smoothly. “It’s time I started my own business,” I tell her, strolling off towards my car as nonchalantly as possible.

“Talk to me again at the end of the month when you have no salary, Dean. Then we’ll see how you have ‘no regrets’,” she hollers after me. I can practically visualize her making air quotation marks.

Mentally, I’m thrashing myself for having been baited by Wade’s taunts. I know I should have been stronger and simply ignored the obnoxious Junior Supervisor, but I allowed my anger to overwhelm my intellect. I can hear my mom’s advice echo loudly in my heart.

“Any man controlled by anger and rash emotions is bound to live a life of regret, Dean. The sooner you learn that intellect is what places us above beasts, that it distinguishes us from instinctive animals, the better your life will turn out.”

Having forgotten mom’s sage advice leaves me yearning for another chance. Futilely.

I’m surprised to see Wade standing by my car, waiting for me. His right eye is swollen shut; his left cheek still bears the bruise my uppercut left. My body instantly goes into fight mode: back up, blood turned to boiling lava, nostrils flaring like a maddened bull.

“Wait! I’m not here to fight, man. Will you just listen, please?” Wade says immediately as I approach him with balled fists. He holds his hands up, palms out to placate me. It’s only with immense self-control that I don’t charge the moron and flatten him … again.

“Say your piece and get lost. I thought I gave you enough of a beating to make you stay away from me,” I state, still fuming at his audacity.

“Look, Dean. I never thought you’d get fired over the fight. Yeah, sure, we shouldn’t have fought inside our workplace, but you’re a fantastic manager so I didn’t think the bosses would let you go just like that,” he tells me. I want to smash in his perfect teeth, but I stand statue-still.

“I wanted to apologise. I had no right to call you such insulting names and to taunt you as I did,” he admits with downcast eyes.

“Is that right?” I spit the words out bitterly. “Then why did you?”

“I was jealous of you. Jealous of your work ethic, the way you get along with everyone, your looks. You seem to have it all and well, I envied you.”

“And now I have nothing. You’re probably elated.”

“Actually, I spoke to the boss and took the blame. You’ve got your job back. They fired me.”

I can only stare at Wade in mute astonishment as he quietly walks away.