Excerpt: Black Mirror Broken

Jock sighed and turned around, just in time to see Paul walking out of the pub. "Oy! I want a word with you, you twunt!" he shouted and walked over to him.
"What crawled up your backside and died?" Suddenly, Jock's hand was around Paul's throat, Jock pushing him against the wall. "Steady now, mate. Ain't nothing going on any longer."
Jock tightened his grip and actually managed to find the leverage to lift Paul up a little so that his heels barely touched the walk. "Why do you have to keep wrecking Max's life like that?"
"Like what?" Paul sputtered, barley able to breathe.
"Don't give me that, darling. Now you either straighten up, fly right, and leave him alone, or I'm going to forget everything my mother and father taught me about being a gentleman, and what the golden rule means to me. Got it?"
"Yeah." Paul tried to nod, but his range of movement was blocked by Jock's hand. "Yeah. I give."
"Good." Jock released his grip, impressed with the shade of red he managed to make Paul's face turn.
Paul managed to catch his breath again. "Bloody nutter. Why you want to go and do something stupid like that?"
"Because Max needs somebody sticking up for him right now and I'm sick of how you're treating him lately."
"Oh, so now you're the knight in shining armor, on a steel horse you ride."
"Oh, please. You know that song makes me sick."
"Why do you have to fight his battles for him? Ain't he man enough to stand up for himself?"
"Yeah. He's tried and it doesn't seem to get him anywhere with you. Emotionally, he's a wreck and physically, the little squib wouldn't last five seconds if he threw the first blow and he knows it. He's my best mate in the world right now, has been since we met in sixth year, and he needs my help. So back off or I'll reach down your throat and castrate you the hard way."
"Like to see you try, Nancy."
With an angry scowl, Jock swung his helmet up and hit the wall with it, just barely missing Paul's head. "You don't want to make me go and wreck a brand new motorcycle helmet now, would you? I ain't above employing a bit of the old ultra violence now and again, especially busting up a pretty ginger face such as yours."
"You... you wanna pull back a bit, mate?" Paul said with a nervous chuckle, the sweat rolling down his forehead and under his arms. "You're starting to scare me a bit."
"Good. Maybe scare the crap," Jock emphasized the word by hitting the wall with his helmet again, "out of you."
"Easy, mate. Easy. I... I think we can come to some sort of an arrangement."
Jock quickly smiled, the look on his face and in his eyes scaring Paul down to his very soul. "That's good." Jock pat Paul's cheek with his free hand, keeping it on Paul's face for a bit. "Now, what say you leave Max alone for the next, oh, say, forever. Yeah? Sound good?" He squeezed Paul's cheeks together, forcing him to nod. "Thought so." He released Paul's face and pat his cheek again, a bit harder this time. "Now. Let's keep this our little secret, yeah? Otherwise, you cross Max again and you're liable to unleash two hundred pounds of salivating canine fury. Got it?"
Paul nodded and tried to smile. "Yeah. Sure. Anything you say."
Jock smiled at him. "Good boy. Now get out of here before I change my mind and make you pay for a new helmet."