Ada
Jimmy came out of nowhere and he had me by my hair and my arm before I could even run.
As he pulls me out the back of the bar all I can think is he’s going to kill me. I assume he’s decided to kill me instead of Charlie because I broke up with him and humiliated him by not coming back to him when he begged me to. Surely, someone saw him drag me out the back.
He’s got both my arms and he’s holding them tightly and pulling them down. He turns to me with eyes full of rage. There’s no feeling in them, just anger. Anything we’d shared in the past is gone, there’s nothing but hate for me in his stare and I know without a doubt in my mind he’s going to really hurt me.
I let out a throat-wrenching scream which earns me a punch in the face. I feel my skin split above my eye and see the blood on his hands.
“Now, Addybug, why did you make me do that?”
Addybug is what my dad calls me and my nickname on his lips makes my skin crawl. He’s never called me that before. Fear grips my heart and I try to breathe to calm myself down. If I lose my head I’m going to end up in the woods somewhere covered in leaves and trees.
“Jimmy, come on. It’s me. You don’t want to hurt me.”
“I saw you with him, Addy. I already told you it’s me or it’s no one.”
He’s become calm, which is actually even more terrifying, as he pulls me towards a car I don’t recognize parked behind the bar. Searching around us I realize there’s no one around.
Everyone is parked out front and there aren’t any open shops in the shopping center behind it. Dread surfaces. No one is going to help me. I start to lose hope and with a last-ditch effort, I try to fight him. I dig my heels into the ground so he has to drag me if he wants me to go any further.
“Stop making it hard for yourself Addy.” He twists his hands around my arms burning the skin. I continue to resist. It’s all I have left to do.
“Ada.” I hear Charlie yell my name as he comes out the back of the bar. “What the hell?”
I hear footsteps coming towards us and look to see what Jimmy’s reaction is. He isn’t pulling a weapon and he looks shocked someone is coming to my rescue. Charlie and Thomas are running at us but he doesn’t let go of my arms.
Charlie leaps and attacks Jimmy. He finally lets my arms go as Charlie tackles him to the ground. When Jimmy gets up he punches Charlie in the face. I hear the crunch as his fist hits his nose and then Charlie gets a punch in. Thomas joins in and pulls Jimmy up off the ground holding his arms behind his head and keeping him from moving.
“We’ve called the police baby,” Charlie says. “Someone saw him grab you. I’m so sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”
“You did what you could Charlie,” I say.
I can’t stop shaking as Charlie holds me. I hear Jimmy swearing as he tries to get away from Thomas. Looking at him, you wouldn’t know it, but Thomas is a strong man. He’s holding Jimmy down on his own while Charlie sways me slightly. I want to tell him to stop, but it is calming me.
“Miss Springfield,” I hear someone say. “I’m Detective Sharpe. Can you tell me what happened tonight?”
I explain what had happened with Jimmy from our relationship to him threatening Charlie. I hesitate to bring my dad into it even though he’s part of the problem. Once I tell him how I went to the bathroom and Jimmy attacked he takes pictures of the bruises on my arms and goes to talk to Charlie. A lady comes up to me and takes a look at my eye. I realize she’s a paramedic only when she asks if I want to go to the hospital.
She has me follow a light and tells me she doesn’t think I have a concussion, just a nasty cut. After a few butterfly stitches, she gives me a prescription for high milligram Tylenol and goes through some of the symptoms of shock with me. If I start feeling bad later I need to go to the hospital. I tell her, thank you, but everything is in a fog at the moment.
I watch as the police car drives away with Jimmy in the back. It almost feels like I’m in some kind of crazy nightmare. Nothing feels tangible to me like I’m a ghost standing near the scene of a crime while people walk through me trying to piece together what happened.
The people around me are bystanders mostly, they’re staring at me. Probably because Jimmy was the spectacle and he’s gone now. It makes me feel like a spectacle myself, one who can’t control her relationships.
“Ada, are you okay?” Charlie has his arm around me and Thomas is talking to the police.
“I’m so sorry Charlie, he’s my ex. He’s really insane.”
“Do you want me to take you home?”
“No, I just want to be around people. Can I come home with you please?”
He looks taken aback and then almost hungry. I know what he’s thinking about and I am thinking it too. The night has been so full of insanity and high emotion. I want him and if he wants me then there’s no reason to wait.
In the cab, he says, “I know that guy. I thought when I saw him it was because he was mad at me, not because he’s your ex.”
“You know him?”