Fight(41)

Like hell.

It wasn’t going to be me.

It was all Endo’s fault. He and Stoney had something all worked out together. That much I could sense. That much I kind of knew. Endo kept close with certain members of the Red Aces, always telling me it was business. It was family. That I needed to keep my mouth shut.

No more.

I was gone.

With me gone, then everyone could go screw themselves. Maybe I’d eventually get caught and killed, but whatever. They’d find out that I knew nothing of Autumn. And if Tripp didn’t believe me, then what was the point of staying?

I had been thinking about leaving before. Then Rocky was killed. I thought I would have a chance to slip between the cracks and go. But then Stoney told me I was getting protection. That scared me enough to keep me here. The protection ended up being Tripp. And, yes, I started to fall in love with the man protecting me.

I wiped a tear from my cheek.

I could handle it.

I could handle the pain.

That part didn’t bother me. I had been through loss and letting go before.

I threw my bag over my shoulder and left the bedroom. My eyes saw the hole in the wall where Tripp had punched. I thought about the first night with him, getting drunk at the table. The next morning, him sleeping on the couch.

They were all memories now. They didn’t matter.

I got to the front door and opened.

Two men stood there, larger than life, meaner than a pissed off rattlesnake. They showed their teeth, then their guns.

I needed Tripp.



~



The first guy grabbed my bag and welcomed himself into my house. He unzipped it and dumped it on the floor. The second guy pulled the front door shut, his eyes locked to mine.

“Goddamn, she is pretty,” he said to me and licked his lips. “I heard her tits were great. Lift her shirt up right now. I want see them.”

“Easy now,” the other guy said. “We haven’t been properly introduced yet.”

“Get out,” I managed to say. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Shut her up,” the first guy said.

The other guy lunged at me, trying to swing his gun at me. All I could think about was Tripp though. Him telling me that we were meant to fight. That we fought our entire lives, even though we weren’t together. So I jumped back and dodged the guy swinging his gun. I brought my foot forward and kicked him in the shin. I meant to kick him in the balls but royally screwed that up.

I made fists and put them up.

“Are you serious?” the guy ask. “You want to fight me? Bitch, you don’t even know…”

“Yo, Kyle, just don’t kill her yet. We have to wait for that other one.”

“I know, Dana.”

“You’re name is Dana?” I asked. “Isn’t that a girl’s name?”

“Fuck you,” Dana said. He kicked at my clothes. “Going on a trip?”

“Thinking about it,” I said.

He crouched down and hooked his finger around a lacy pair of panties. He stood back up. “Look at these. Who you wearing these for?”

“Nobody.”

“She can wear ‘em for me,” Kyle said. “After I fight her. Then I’m going to f*ck her. In every hole.”

“Easy,” Dana said. He lifted the panties up and stuck them against his nose. “Oh, so fresh.”

Kyle turned his head and laughed. “Give me a pair.”

I threw a right fist and hit Kyle in the side of the face. The punch sounded like a smack and it hurt so bad, my eyes squirted tears. I hurried back and jumped up on the couch, watching as the two of them were coming after me now.

I don’t know why I thought I could get away. I got back to the dining room table and they were around the couch. They stopped and leaned against the couch, showing their weapons.

“One more step,” Dana said. “We’ll f*cking kill you.”

“And then I’ll still…”

“Shut up,” Dana growled.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Friend of a friend, I guess. Tying up loose ends around here.”

“Stoney send you? You know this is Red Aces territory.”

“Red Aces should be called the Red Pussies,” Kyle said.

Dana snickered. “Nice, man.”

“What do you want with me? I have nothing to do with them. You know Rocky is dead.”

“Yeah, we’re really sorry about that,” Dana said. “But this is a little business and a little fun. The business is finding out who you’ve been f*cking around with. Heard there was some hotshot in town.”

“The fun is between your legs,” Kyle said.

He licked his lips again.

My stomach turned.

I wanted to throw up.

“But I’d like to see that fight,” Dana said. “You and Kyle. Tell you what, Winter. You fight Kyle. If you win, we’ll tell you where your daughter is.”

My heart stopped for a second. “What?”

“Sweet little Autumn,” Dana said. “Damn, she does look like you. Darker skin though. That’s because you got knocked up by that greaseball, right? But, oh, give her ten years or so… damn…”

“Shut up,” I growled. “You f*cking piece of shit.”