Bringing Sulfuric Acid to a Water Fight

The laughing, shrieking crowd around us went dead silent in an instant. Then the entire street erupted.

Tourists who'd been gleefully soaking each other seconds ago were now shoving and clawing their way in the opposite direction.

The kid's father stood frozen, staring at the chaos. Then he jabbed a finger at my face and snarled.

"What the hell are you talking about?

"Who's spraying acid? It's plain tap water! Here, look!"

He snatched the water gun from his daughter's hands and aimed it at the ground, ready to spray.

I didn't give him the chance to prove anything. I just raised my voice and shouted even louder.

"Run! He's about to spray acid everywhere!"

The crowd surged into a full panic. The young girl burst into terrified wails, and the man shot me a venomous glare as he scrambled to comfort her.

"Shut your mouth! One more word and I'll rip your tongue out, you hear me?"

A few guys who wanted to help pushed through the crowd. But before they could get close, the man swung the pressure gun around like a lunatic, sweeping it wildly at anyone who approached.

"Stay back! I'll spray anyone who comes near me!"

"Oh my God, he's really going to do it!"

"I think I smell something sharp, like acid! Everybody get back!"

"Pin him down! Don't let him hurt anyone! Somebody call 911!"

The harder he fought, the guiltier he looked to everyone watching. One of the young men who'd come to break things up lunged in, twisted his arm behind him, and locked an elbow around his neck in one clean motion.

"Let go of me! I live here! You, out-of-town tourists, think you can put your hands on a local?"

He thrashed against the hold.

That was when it happened, and nobody saw it coming. The girl, who'd been sobbing off to the side, suddenly pulled a switchblade from her pocket and drove it into the back of the young man's hand.

"That's what you get for bullying my daddy! Die!"

Blood ran down his hand and dripped onto the pavement. The man wrenched himself free in the confusion, clutched his daughter tight against his chest, and cast a wary glare around the circle of onlookers.

"Listen up, all of you. My wife is Sandra Kessler, the businesswoman!

"If you want to live, you'd better start apologizing right now. Once this gets sorted out, my wife will bury every last one of you!"

I covered my eye and took two steps forward. My voice stayed perfectly calm.

"You say it's tap water in that gun. Then spray your daughter with it. Go on, two squirts."

The man went rigid. His finger, still wrapped tight around the trigger, began to tremble. He looked down at the girl in his arms, then at the pressure gun in his hand.

"Spray her! If it's tap water, what are you so scared of?"

Someone in the crowd jeered, and though everyone kept their distance, the wave of accusations grew louder and louder.

"Weren't you just saying this young man made it all up to scam you? Then prove it! We're waiting!"

I kept my eyes locked on him. My left eye, flushed red from the blast of water, still throbbed with a dull ache. Tears and cold water ran together down my cheek.

I didn't wipe any of it away. I just sneered to myself, because even a pressure gun fired straight into the eye only caused a moment of pain.