Ride Steady(185)

It was immature and a little crazy, but I absolutely did.

I grinned to myself, turned to dash back to my car, and stopped dead.

“Right on,” Tabby muttered, staring at the mark.

“What now?” Tyra asked, looking at me.

“Girl, broad daylight, you crazy?” Elvira asked, also looking at me.

“Love the booties,” Lanie noted, looking at my boots.

“Wh-what are you guys doing here?” I asked, staring at them standing three feet from me in Joker’s dad’s driveway.

“Followed your ass,” Elvira said, “Girls’ night out when you’re all cozied up with your biker, playin’ house, haven’t pulled that tube top out for weeks?” She shook her head. “We ain’t stupid. That tube top is insurance just in case you get hauled in, Joker has to bail you out, he sees you in that top, he doesn’t spank your ass for bein’ stupid except in a way you like it.”

I hadn’t really thought it out that fully.

Though I wished I had. Joker hadn’t taken naughty to that level, but I found the thought intriguing.

“So… what now?” Tyra asked.

“Did you bring a bag of poo?” Lanie asked.

“Of… what?” I asked.

“Poo,” Lanie said, “To light it on fire and knock on his door.”

“Poo?” Tabby queried derisively then looked to me. “I got a lighter and we can light something on fire, but we’ll call the fire department before we do it.”

“And, say, do that shit when it’s not evening, it’s night, so we don’t still have sunlight and every eye in the ’hood isn’t on us,” Elvira put in.

“I’m not lighting Joker’s father’s house on fire,” I whispered, aghast.

“We’ll call the fire department before so there won’t be much damage,” Tabby reiterated.

“You are so your father’s daughter,” Tyra mumbled, but she sounded almost proud.

“That’s arson, that would be a felony,” I told them.

“This is vandalism,” Elvira shared, tossing a hand out to the truck.

“I know, but I’m pretty sure that’s not a felony,” I replied.

“There is felony vandalism,” Elvira returned.

Oh no.

Was there?

Was keying a car felony vandalism?

Maybe it was. It was a nice truck. Newish. Clean. He obviously took care of it, which meant he cared about it.

To get that fixed, it would probably cost a lot of money.

“Uh-oh,” Elvira muttered as I considered the alarming possibility that I hadn’t committed a misdemeanor, I’d actually committed a felony.

“Let’s go,” Lanie whispered.

“What the f*ck!” a man yelled.

I jumped, whirled around and tipped my head back to stare at Joker’s very angry-looking father.

Uh-oh.

“We’re gone, let’s go,” Tyra said urgently.

That sounded like a good idea.

I started to do that when Joker’s dad asked, “You key my truck?” I kept trying to go but didn’t get very far when he grabbed my upper arm tight and thundered, “Bitch! You key my truck?”

His hand hurt.

And he was touching me.

Therefore, without thought, I wrenched my arm free, reared back with my other one, keys still in position, and I swung at him with all I was worth, putting my full body into it.

“Ow!” I yelped as the impact cracked through my hand and sliced through my palm, where I held the keys.

“Jesus, f*ck!” he yelled, not having anticipated my actions, so the likely puny blow I landed took him by surprise, which took him back two paces, his upper body jerking to the side, his hands coming up to his face.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” Tabby yelled, grabbing my hand and pulling me.

I watched in horror, keys dangling from where I was pressing them at the junction between thumb and forefinger as I shook the sting out of my hand, while he righted himself.

I saw the mark.

I’d torn through the flesh of his cheek with my key and he was bleeding.

Profusely.

And he looked mad.

Seriously.

I turned on my stiletto heeled booties and ran.

“Follow the leader!” Tyra yelled.

“Got it!” Tabby yelled back. “I’m with Curly.”