"Babe, thank God you're here. I hadn't seen Duke in years, so I invited him to dinner out of the goodness of my heart. He didn't just refuse my kindness, he punched me."
His eyes reddened, brimming with the performance of a man deeply wronged.
A complete transformation from the swaggering bully he'd been seconds ago.
The restaurant manager scrambled forward:
"That's right, that's right! This ex-con barged in here looking for trouble and hurled insults at Assistant Weiss. We were just about to teach him a lesson!"
Fay froze for a beat, then frowned. The excitement that had been in her eyes moments ago was gone, replaced by something cold:
"Did you really hit him?"
I smiled and nodded.
"Yeah. I did."
My frank admission only made Fay angrier.
"Duke Gilbert, I truly underestimated you."
"Two years in prison, and you didn't learn to rein in that violent temper of yours? If anything, you've gotten worse."
"Toby is practically the little brother you raised. How could you bring yourself to do this to him?"
Toby chimed in with a show of false concern:
"Fay, don't be upset. I think Duke is probably still holding a grudge about us sending him to prison back then..."
Fay scoffed:
"Holding a grudge?!"