“Nah, shorty, this gonna beoursfrom now on,” he said confidently, looking around my place with a nod of approval.This can’t be fucking life!
“You’re insane!” I growled. I tried to clear my mind, wondering where I put my baseball bat, but I remembered it was in my bedroom by the door. Why would I need it expecting Colt to be on the opposite side of the door?
“BITCH! I ain’t fuckin’ crazy! You the nutty one! You think I’m just gonna let my bitch slide on me? I fucking begged you. Just let me take you to dinner and I would have showed you the kind of man I am- The kind of man that deserves a fine piece of ass like you!”
“How do you even know where I live?” I pushed myself further away as he stalked me.
Ray grabbed me by both feet and dragged me back toward the front door. I screamed and bucked against his touch. That only earned me a backhanded slap to the face. The salty tang of blood pooling from the cut off my lip filled my mouth. The tender flesh stung as I touched it gently with my tongue.
It wasn’t too bad, which gave me hope that I could fight my way out of this.
Ray squatted down in front of me. He tried to turn my face to see the damage he’d done, but I snatched my chin away from him and tried once again to back up.
“Yo, don’t make me knock your ass the fuck out. STOP TRYING TO GET AWAY FROM ME!” He screamed and grabbed me by the throat. He kneeled into my chest, his hands squeezed tighter and tighter while my legs flailed, but did very little to help me. I got the bright idea to buck like a bronco at the rodeo, which sent his frail ass flying off of me.
I scrambled to my feet and dashed into the kitchen. I grabbed the closest thing I could get to which was the coffee pot. Of all the things in my kitchen! It was dumb. It was stupid. It was useless because it was empty, clean, and nowhere nearly as hot as it was on any other given day.
I swung it in front of me, wondering how loud I’d have to scream for my neighbors to call the police! That’s just the thing. It’s one of the reasons I moved into this place. Having neighbors in the inner city was one thing, but having neighbors you couldn't hear was priceless, and that’s what I paid for. The silence of not having to listen to loud neighbors was worth every penny of my overpriced mortgage.
“That’s okay, sweetness,” Ray said, breathing heavily as he climbed to his feet. “I like that rough shit. I can’t wait to get your ass in that bedroom. We gonna have fun.”
“Oh no the fuck we not!”
I didn’t care that it was small. I grabbed my 4-inch cast-iron skillet out of the sink. It was filthy, but I needed something heavier than this coffee pot.
Ray charged toward me, and I swung the coffee pot anyway. He ducked low and to the left while I swung wide and smashed the thing into pieces. I hoped to have a few jagged edges of glass to cut him with, but the only thing left of the coffee pot was its plastic handle. He had the audacity to laugh and charge at me again.
The clunk of the metal pan as it knocked him upside his head wasn’t as heavy as I wanted it to be. Especially since all it did was make him angrier with me. Ray tipped his head to the side and dove toward me. I thought I could move and let him fall onto the floor, or crash into the cabinets like those assholes did in movies, but I wasn’t as swift on my feet as I thought I was. The brunt of his body crashing into mine forced me to drop the pan. I scratched and punched as hard as I could.
Ray had a firm grip around my waist as he hoisted me over his shoulder. I kicked and beat on his back with every ounce of strength my tiny fists could muster. Even though my neighbors wouldn’t have heard me, I screamed bloody murder anyway. At least Ray would have a screeching headache by the end of this.
Chapter 18
Colt
I couldn't wait to get to Nina’s house with everything I wanted to tell her. I pulled into the parking lot, when I looked up, I saw a guy carrying flowers. Shit, I should have got Nina flowers.
It had been at least a few days since Nina and I argued. I wanted to take her out to dinner for us to talk and if she wanted to do anything else after that, I’d make the time for her. It was time for us to stop letting work be our excuses not to see this thing through. One disagreement shouldn’t be the end of everything before it even started.
When I looked again the guy with the flowers, he looked familiar.Shit. Shit.That’s Ray. I recognized him when I looked him up and learned of his criminal background. He was being buzz in while holding the bouquet to his face, this can’t be good.
I reached in my glove compartment and got my Glock 9 out just in case something happened. I ran to the intercom to call Nina, she never picked up. I tried again and it didn’t pick up again. I tried her phone 3 times; I knew something was wrong. I called the police letting them know to come do a check on Nina apartment. After the call, someone open the door and I followed them inside.
I ran to the staircase. I took them two at a time until I reached her floor and rushed toward her door. Flower petals were sprinkled in front of the door and the bottom of the bouquet held it open. A loud scream erupted from behind it, forcing me to run inside.
The condo was in disarray as I saw a small guy drag Nina from her kitchen by the waist, hoisted in the air and slammed her down onto the sofa. He hadn’t heard me come in, so I tried to stay quiet to make my attack. I did the only thing I could do. I rushed toward him, leaning down with my torso twisted in a way that my shoulder made contact like we were playing football. One of the best moves my brother ever taught me.
The asshole turned just in time to see me gut check him into the wall. Ray slammed into the bookshelf with a yelp and a groan as he slid to the floor. I took his shirt by the collar before I hit him, I didn’t even think to pull my gun. Every swing I took to his face drew more anger out of me, and the impact of every hit released the anger. I didn’t stop until I felt the firm grasp of a hand on my shoulder, pulling me away.
I turned to see two police officers standing in the chaos of Nina’s condo. She raced into my arms, where I held her as the officers stepped toward us. The other officer pulled a disoriented, bloody-faced Ray to his feet.
The female officer spoke softly as she eyed Nina’s injuries. “Evening folks, can you tell us what happened?”
“I’ll tell you what happened!” Ray shouted as he came back to reality. “That teasing ass bitch played me! Playing in my face! She purposely called me over here then attacks me and then has this goon in a suit jump on me!”
“He’s lying!” Nina shouted. “I never called him. I don’t even have his phone number! He’s been stalking me! He yelled at me a few days ago because we filed a complaint with his previous employer about his inappropriate and unprofessional conduct that got him fired! Then he finds out where I live and attacked me! He attacked me in my home.”
“She’s lying!” Ray screamed back.
