Our Man

His laughing fit is over, and the guy hasn’t flinched. So he stares back, with an unattached but unrelenting glare to let this asshole know he’s not affected, much less scared. Like two animals in the wild, they scowl, letting the other know they’re not willing to give any ground. Then they bare their teeth and bark.
“Fuck you!”
“No, fuck you, keep walking.”
After a long moment, they go their ways, as long as each holds their own. They didn’t want to fight, but they didn’t want to be weak. And his natural reaction, laughter and forgiveness, the only sane reaction, was taken away and replaced with pride, machismo, even hatred. How sick, but he lets it happen, he’s the one who can stop it and doesn’t.