In the 1st section, 3rd sentence: "In fact, I would have swung for the gut, stole his air so he had to collapse into me." --Grammatically, this should be "stolen," but the author may have chosen the more colloquial "stole." Query?
Also in the 1st section, 4th paragraph, I fixed the em dash to make it consistent.
In the last section, first paragraph, I'm having second thoughts about this line: "with a first name and last initial like a partial staking. An object, a tool, more stamp than identity."
Staking or stalking? I think "staking," as in a claim, but want to make sure.