“Yeah, it’s a trip. Now tell your mom to put you down so you can go pack.”
Little man squirms in his mother’s arms, demanding to be put down. The moment Precious does, he takes off across the small living room, down the narrow hall, and through an open door to what I can tell is his room by the toys on the floor. I watch him for a few seconds as he gets a bag and starts packing every toy he owns.
A hand on my arm distracts me from watching the boy. I look over at Precious, who looks contrite.
“I’m sorry for that. It’s just … Sometimes …” A small sob catches in her chest. Taking a big breath, she blows it out to try to calm herself down. “Sometimes Anthony threatens him, too. Today, he beat me in front of Bryce, and my baby boy didn’t take that well at all. He tried to pull Anthony off of me, and Anthony threw him across the room before storming out of here. It scared the shit out of me, Coal. It’s why I need to get us out of here. I can’t take the risk that he’ll try to hurt Bryce like that again.”
I nod. “Go pack a bag, Precious. I’ll get both of you somewhere safe.”
In less than ten minutes, Precious has bags packed for her and her son.
We are walking out of the building, me toward my bike and her toward her little run down car, when a man shouting from the left side of the building catches our attention.
“Where the fuck you think you’re going, bitch?”
Looking over, I see a heavy set Hispanic man stomping toward us with a murderous look in his eyes. I step in front of Precious, who has grabbed her son and is holding him tightly to protect him.
The man tracks my movement and steps right up to my face. “Where you taking my girl, asshole? Unless you’re paying her to spread wide, she doesn’t need to go anywhere with you.”
The shitbag looks around my shoulder at Precious as a red haze starts to fall over my vision at the way this piece of shit is speaking to her.
“Don’t know where you think you’re going slut. You’re gonna take your scrawny, little ass back up to your apartment, and you’re gonna get your ass to work—”
The scumbucket doesn’t get another word out, because I have him by the throat, squeezing with my left hand.
“Shut the fuck up,” I growl at him.
The man, who I’m now sure is Anthony, starts throwing punches, hitting me in the arms and kicking me in the legs, but none of it fazes me. I squeeze harder on his throat and watch his eyes bug out as I do.
Leaning forward, I tell him in a soft, dangerous voice, “You might be good at hitting women, but you’re a fucking pussy when it comes to hitting a man. Let me show you how it’s done, bitch.”
With that, I lean back, pull my right fist back, and let it fly at his face, clocking him right in the temple as I release his throat with my left hand. The punch doesn’t knock him down, but it does knock him stupid as he stands there, swaying in front of me.
Pulling my right hand back and fisting it again, this time I give him an uppercut to the jaw, which sends him sailing backward until he hits the ground.
Anthony lies on the ground, not moving, and my knuckles are stinging like they have been lit on fire, but none of it matters as I hear little Bryce say behind me, “You been knocked out, bitch!”
I laugh. Probably not the most appropriate thing to encourage, but after what that little guy has seen, it’s a fitting statement.
~Paisley~
I really shouldn’t be doing this. However, when I saw them all at the restaurant, I was just about to go inside to talk to him when he stood up. Then he left, so I stupidly followed. He was focused and in a rush as he pulled away, only making me want to help anyway I can. His body language showed determination in each step as he entered the apartment building.
I gasp when I see him exit with a woman and a little boy, and then my mind wonders: is this Coal’s woman and son? Maybe that’s why he turned me down. I respect a man who is taken.
At the same time, I still have to right the wrong. The energies won’t calm inside of me until this is right between us. Or, at least until I can feel the edge he carries within him soften a bit. Maybe then my body, mind, and spirit won’t feel like I need to help this man.
Since the moment my car rolled into his bike, I have been on edge like never before. The anxiety in my body exhausts me both mentally and physically.