the bigger one, lifted him off his feet, and threw him against the wall. The man

hit the brick hard and slumped down.

 

When the other launched himself low at Rogers’s belly, he brought a knee up and

caught him right on the chin. The man fell to the pavement screaming with a

mouthful of broken teeth.

 

Rogers stepped back and adjusted his hat. “Come back when you’re old enough,” he

said to the men who were still standing.

 

The other guys helped their injured friends up.

 

The black guy said, “Oh, we’ll be back all right. Count on it, you son of a

bitch!” The group stalked off, with several of them supporting their injured

buddies. The man with the broken wrist looked back at Rogers and screamed

obscenities.

 

The other people in line looked stunned by what they had just witnessed. Even

the ones who were obviously in the military. Some left. Most stayed.

 

Within fifteen minutes Rogers had passed all those twenty-one and older into the

bar. All the rest were sent on their way. After seeing what Rogers could do, no

one else gave him any trouble. “Dude’s a damn freak,” one man muttered to his

friend as they were turned away.