bite

Why didn't I bite him? I sure felt like biting him. »We can't approve your loan,« he said. He was all over stripes (regimental, pin-, you know.) »The two of you don't make enough to live in [this town].«

My partner argued. I twisted my feet around in my shoes and scratched a scab on my arm and looked out the window. Thinking back now, I wish I had just bitten him and gotten out of there.