Downfall(21)

“Couldn’t resist, could you, Carl? You just had to go and put your hands on the new girl.” I slammed him into the wall again and curled my lip in disgust. The motion pulled at the cut bisecting my lower lip and added fuel to the fire of rage flickering under my skin.

The older man sneered at me and wrapped his hand around my wrist, trying to pry my hand free. I narrowed my eyes at him and shifted my weight, pushing him more fully against the wall as I closed my free hand around his throat. I felt him swallow and watched as beads of sweat popped up across his forehead as I started to slowly squeeze.

“She invited me in. We were alone. She should know the score if she’s going to live here.” The words were barely audible as he struggled to breathe.

“She should, but she doesn’t, and you can see it from a mile away. You wanted to take advantage of her.” I applied even more pressure and leaned so close that I knew the other man had to feel like he was being squashed like the bug he was. “I don’t like that. I like the idea of you touching her, scaring her, even less.” I released his shirt and buried my fist into his soft middle. I felt his grunt against my palm and grinned as I punched him again. He made a gagging sound behind my hand and his eyes started to water as I squeezed his throat even harder. The skin around my hold was starting redden and Carl was frantically clawing my fingers as he struggled for any scrap of air.

“I’m sick and tired of men like you giving the rest of us a bad name.”

I let go of Carl’s throat and took a step back as he bent over, gasping and choking to find his breath. While he was folded in half, I put a hand on the back of his head, pushing downward as my knee came up in a swift motion. It was a dirty move, but one I had no qualms about using on a bastard like Carl. There was a sickening crunch as the cartilage in his nose collapsed under the force of the blow. Blood immediately started to flow, decorating the floor between us a shiny crimson.

“Hands off, Carl. That applies to everyone who lives here and any woman unlucky enough to cross your path. I wasn’t kidding about breaking every bone in your body, but more than that, if you don’t get your head out of your ass, I’ll move, and we both know that’s about the worst thing I could do to you. It will be open season on this place as soon as I’m gone, and you’ll lose all the reliable rent money you’ve gotten so used to collecting month to month.” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared the man down as he straightened up, wiping his bloody face with the sleeve of his shirt.

“You’re going to regret this, Solomon.” The threat was weak and Carl’s voice was shaky so I rolled my eyes. “You’ve gotten too comfortable. You forget that no one stays safe in this place for very long.”

I didn’t know if he was talking about the apartment complex or the city. It didn’t matter. There was very little that scared me anymore, and Carl wasn’t even a blip on my radar. “Doubtful. Do your job. That’s it.” I looked toward my apartment, wanting to check on Orley. Dealing with a crying woman was not in my wheelhouse, but for some reason, I was anxious to make sure she was okay. I was fully expecting her to pack her bags and run after her encounter with Carl. It was too close to her run-in with Skinner. I was sure she was feeling like the city was just as dangerous as she kept trying to convince me it was. I kept trying to prove to her that the people here weren’t all bad, that only the streets could be dangerous, but now that evil had crossed her threshold, I’d be hard-pressed to get her to believe in what I was saying. Every time I made some headway, an idiot like my landlord pushed my proof back twenty steps.

I did know something that might entice her to stick around a little bit longer. I pointed a finger at Carl’s shattered nose. “I think you need to knock off rent this month for Orley. It’s the least you can do.” I knew she was struggling financially. Having a month free would give her some room to breathe.

Carl wiggled his way along the wall until there was some distance between us. He had a hand cupped over his nose and his eyes were shooting flames of hatred in my direction. “Can’t do that. The snotty bitch paid for the full year in advance. Figured she had a rich baby daddy fronting her the cash so he had a place to stash her from the wife. Why else would a classy piece of ass like that be slumming it here?”

That was a damn good question. She didn’t have enough money to fix her car. She was waiting tables at a diner to pay her bills. She clearly wanted to be anywhere but in the city, so why was she here, and where had the money come from to pay for the apartment for an entire year? Not that the rent for a year was a windfall of money, but it was more than most of us had lying around. She was full of confusing contradictions, and it really got under my skin that I was curious about her. She was the last person I would expect to catch my attention, but here I was, wondering who Orley really was.

Carl made his escape while I was distracted by my thoughts. Once he was out of sight, I headed back to my apartment. Orley shut the door behind her when she ran for safety, so I found myself knocking on my own damn door so I didn’t spook her before entering. Once I was inside, the smell of coffee assaulted my nose, so I followed the scent toward the tiny kitchen. I found Orley sitting on the old linoleum floor, knees pulled to her chest, back against the refrigerator. Next to her on the floor was one of the few knives I owned. It was dull as dirt, and rusted at the tip, but her hand hovered over it like it was a precious treasure that could save her from all the world’s evils if she just believed hard enough.