1:  The Argument

“Honestly, Gordon, I don’t know why I put up with your nonsense.” 
“Why don’t you get off my back?”, Gordon countered.  
“You’re always on my back since you married HIM!”  
“Gordon, keep your voice down,” she hissed.  “I don’t want him to hear you.  Morgan has been really good to us, and yet, you constantly disrespect him. Why do you antagonize him?  You know what happens when he gets angry.”  She turned the bruised side of her face away from him. “Maybe you should go and live with your father.  I’m sure he’d be happy about that,” his mother said trying desperately to hold back her temper and her tears. 
 “Maybe I will,” Gordon hollered back as he ran down the staircase.
 “Young man, don’t you walk out on me.  We’re not finished!”  Gordon intentionally slammed the screen door hard, as he stormed out the front door. He leapt off the porch and rounded the side of the house.  Morgan Triebrecher leaned against the side of the house, his huge arms crossed, a giant obstacle blocking his way to freedom.
 “What were you and your mother fighting about, Gordon?”, he asked in a menacing tone.  Gordon could see his bike leaning against the garden wall. “I will ask you again, boy,” he said in his thick southern drawl.  “What were you and your mother fighting about?”
 “Nothing,” said Gordon, yearning for the freedom of his bike.  He felt a huge hand wrap around the back of his neck.  For such a large man, Morgan could move like lightning.  Gordon had seen Morgan go after his mother with unbelievable speed, as fast as a pit viper attacking its prey.  He knew better than to provoke; his small wiry stature was no match against this monstrous tree trunk of a man.
 “You will treat your mother with more respect, you lousy little punk. Do you understand me?  I could break your scrawny neck with a twist.”  He paused for effect. “Do you understand me, boy?” He squeezed the back of Gordon’s neck until he gained the desired results.        

Sample Chapter from The Return of Nicolas Heldring