by Amy Brent
I punched him again, hitting the side of his head. And then again. And then again. I was angrier than I had ever been in my life, and all I could think of was all the pain and terror he had put McKenna through.
“Rafael!” I heard her call to me, voice terrified. Was she scared because of him? Or of me?
I slowed, looking up to see her standing by us, tears down her cheeks.
“Rafael, you can stop. He’s done.”
I stood slowly, my mind and body trying to come to terms with the sudden cut off of stimulus. My heart was racing, and I could hear my blood rushing past my ears, but I forced myself to focus on her and only her.
“Are you alright?” I asked, reaching out to caress her cheek with bloody fingers.
But despite that, she leaned into my palm. “I am. Thanks to you. But we really need to call the cops. I… I think I’m ready to try dealing with this legally.”
“Are you sure? Because you don’t have to do anything you’re not ready fo-” Suddenly her eyes went wide and before I could ask her what was going on, something slammed into the back of my head. I stumbled forward, and once more reality went fuzzy.
I could hear sounds, but they were faint and echoed, like someone had shoved my head underwater. I sat there a moment, trying to gather myself as the world righted itself. I stood shakily and turned to see that McKenna’s ex had gotten up and picked up a branch that was laying on the sidewalk. That must have been what he had hit me with. The only reason he wasn’t beating me into oblivion with it was because McKenna had jumped on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck in a triangle choke. How the hell did she know how to triangle choke someone?!
I didn’t know, but I certainly wasn’t going to stop her and ask where. Instead I ran forward, intent on helping her, but her ex had already crumpled to his knees, his face a deep shade of purple.
“Get out of my life, you bastard!”
This time it was my turn to try to gently pry her from the man. “McKenna, you need to let go.” Funny, I had been so intent on killing him myself, but I didn’t want McKenna to have to deal with the fallout of taking a man’s life. Even if he hardly qualified as human.
She ignored me at first, but I managed to get some fingers under her arm and pried her away, Suddenly, her eyes went wide, and she let go with a gasp.
Her ex fell to the ground, breathing with rapid and rasping gasps. McKenna’s eyes filled with tears and she threw herself into my arms. “I’m sorry!” She blurted, and I could feel her heart pounding through her chest. “It’s just he was hurting you and I-I thought you were gonna go down, and I couldn’t let that happen.”
I quickly wrapped my arms around her and just held her, letting her breathing slow. I could hear silence in the distance and finally, neighbors were starting to exit their houses. How many of them had stood by their windows and just watched what had happened? Disgusting.
“I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here,” McKenna breathed. “He was so angry.”
“It’s alright, babe, it’s alright.” I rubbed her back soothingly, keeping an eye on her prostrate ex the entire time.
Thankfully, she seemed to mostly come down from the worst of her emotions by the time the cops did arrive. It certainly didn’t look good for us, and I made sure to keep my movements slow and direct.
“So, what happened here?” The officer said, walking up to us and looking over the whole scene. He was a middle-aged man, and portly. His skin was somewhere between stale milk and pink paint, while his cheeks were a vibrant red. He was about as standard as tired, street cops came and I wondered if he was going to make this much worse than it had to be.
“He’s my ex,” McKenna murmured, lifting her chin and speaking with a sort of steely determination that I had to admire. “He attacked me, and I had to defend myself.”
“And you apparently defended yourself pretty well.” The officer looked over both of us, his blue eyes narrowing. “You have some wounds there yourself. Did you also have to defend yourself?”
“I came to her aid after I saw the altercation begin.”
“And you are?”
“He’s my significant other,” McKenna said, answering for me. “My partner. If he wasn’t here, this situation would be a whole lot different.”
“Uh-huh. And have you had any issues with your ex before? Or did you do something to agitate or provoke him?”
“Excuse me?” I asked, my temper flaring again.
“No, this isn’t a first-time thing.” McKenna answered quickly. “I filed several restraining orders and we had one domestic disturbance report filed.”
“I see. I’ll look that up.” He put away the little notepad he was writing on and nodded to us. “Have the EMTs look you over. Given his past history, I’m sure your ex will be willing to drop this.”
“Drop this?” McKenna asked. “I don’t want to drop this! I want to press charges.”
“Press charges?” The officer repeated. “Ma’am, you’re the one standing and he’s the one laying on the ground wheezing.”
“This is his second time trying to force me to go with him! He’s stalked me across half the continent! I want him to face the consequences of his actions.”
“Alright then, I need to take your statement.”
“Well, he-”
“Alone.” The officer interrupted. “And my partner will take the statement of your friend here.” He gestured to the uniformed woman who was still bent over my ex, murmuring to him and taking vital signs.
“A-alright,” McKenna murmured, disentangling herself from me. I could tell that she didn’t want to part, but she had to if she wanted to finally give the abusive bastard his just desserts. “I’ll be back in a bit,” she said, following the officer to the other side of his car.
“I’ll be right here,” I answered before someone cleared their throat behind me. I turned to see the female officer gesturing for me to follow her.
I did so, hearing more sirens in the background as I walked with her. By the time I was repeating my side of things, the EMTs had arrived and were taking care of McKenna’s ex.
He was conscious again and seemed able to speak -albeit in a whisper. His eyes avoided both McKenna and I, making me wonder if he had finally had enough.
He better. If he tried her a third time, he would not survive.
The female officer was politer than her partner, then again, a cranky rat with a biting habit would have been politer than him. I supposed it was the same as any profession, there were amazing cops, and not so amazing cops, but I certainly didn’t like the idea of my tax dollars going to one that accused McKenna of bringing the situation on herself. She took my statement with only interrupting to ask clarifying questions when she needed.
“Thank you, Sir. I would appreciate it if you sat down with the EMTs for a moment and let them check you out.”
“I’d rather-”
“Let me rephrase, sir, that wasn’t a question. If you want to help your SO with her case against this man, you’ll want all the documented evidence at the damage he can do.”
I hadn’t thought of it that way. “Oh, thank you.”
“Don’t worry about it, Sir. We’re just here to help.”
She gave me a nod then walked over to her partner, who was still standing with McKenna. I studied the red-head’s face and I was happy to see that -while she still was shaken- her expression was one of resolve, not fear.
What an insane journey had brought us here. We’d both come such a long way from who we had been, and I didn’t think we would ever be the same.
Suddenly the flowers and candy didn’t seem like enough. I knew I needed this woman in my life more than anything. Dom needed her.
Even the EMTs buzzing all around me couldn’t distract me from that thought. It hung, omni-present in my mind, a pure goal, burning brightly in my vision.
It took about fifteen minutes before the medics finally let me go. They wanted me to come with them to the h
ospital, but I wasn’t interested. I didn’t have anything that a band aid couldn’t fix, and leaving McKenna alone seemed absolutely heinous.
They left and the entire time, McKenna’s ex never said a word to me, despite laying on a gurney in the back of the open ambulance. Of course, I couldn’t be certain, and we had a long run in the courts ahead of us most likely, but I felt like that chapter in McKenna’s life was finally, truly closing.
Chapter Thirty
~Rafael~
In the end, it took about another twenty minutes before they finished with McKenna and let her walk back to me. I saw they gave her a business card before they went, and she took it with a frazzled expression.
“Hey, are you alright?” I asked, taking her head in my hands. Once more she pressed her face into my palm, looking up at me with her loving, trusting eyes.
How could I have ever thought that what I had with Dom’s mother was love? The kindness and respect with which McKenna showed me when we were just dating was far greater than my own ex had ever shown me. No wonder I had been so soured to love and dating. I had thought I had the real deal, when in reality all I had was a rotting lemon.
“Yeah. I’m emotionally exhausted, I’m hungry, and I think some of my snacks were crushed.” She sighed. “Gimme a minute to pick them up.”
“I can help-”
“Oh no you don’t, Mr!” She said, waving her finger in my face. “I am going to baby the crap out of you, take you inside, and tend to all of those wounds you’ve got.”
“Wounds?” I scoffed, still trying to help her. “These ol’ things? I’ve had worse falling down the stairs.”
“And do you fall down the stairs often?” She finished picking up all of her things, torn bag included, and gave me a wry look as she stood.
“Well, no. But I’ve certainly had my slips in life.”
“Uh-huh, I’m sure.”
She pulled her keys out and walked up to her door. But before she went in, she paused, staring at the dirty glass of the entrance.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, looking over her shoulder.
“Uh, nothing,” she murmured. I knew a lie when I heard one, so I stayed quiet until she was ready to answer truthfully. “It’s just, uh, a lot has happened between when I first walked up these steps today and actually getting to the door.”
“You’re not kidding on that.”
“It’s funny how life works out sometimes, isn’t it?” She chuckled and slid her key into the lock only to stop again.
“What happened now?” I asked, smirking slightly. But what I wasn’t expecting was for her to turn back to me with a suspicious look.
“Why are you here, anyways?”
Oh. Right. She had no idea that I had been planning a surprise and I had left her gifts behind.
“That’s a good question,” I said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Why don’t you run in and I’ll be right back.”
“Wait, really?”
“Yes, really,” I answered. “I promise I’ll be right there. Just buzz me in.”
She gave me another suspicious look but complied, sliding in the front doors of her complex. I watched her go, not moving until she was out of sight.
Once I was sure she couldn’t spot my gifts, I quickly strode back to the taxi that I had abandoned.
I had almost expected it to be gone, my gifts deposited on the side of the road, but instead I saw the gentleman was still sitting in the same spot.
“Hey, I didn’t expect to see you here.” I said, approaching the open window.
“How could I leave? If I did not have broken foot, I would have been out there. But I called the police for you, sir!”
I looked down into the cab and sure enough, there was a thick cast on his non-pedal foot. “Really? You called them? I appreciate that man.”
“Of course, of course. We must help our fellow man, no?”
“You’re right there.” He handed me the little handheld device the cab had to slide my card through it. I went through the prompts, and I didn’t need to debate before giving him a three hundred percent tips.
“Thank you, sir!” He exclaimed once he saw what I had left.
“No problem. It’s the least I could do, really. Now I just need to grab my stuff out of the back, if you don’t mind.”
“Oh yes! Of course! Let me unlock it.”
I waited until I heard the door click then reached inside. I grabbed the fifty lilies that I had brought – I remembered McKenna once said she didn’t get the hype around roses- and the bottle of wine as well as the giant heart of assorted chocolates.
Only it was quite the special one that I had ordered from online. She once mentioned she hated any sort of fruit and chocolate combination that wasn’t orange, so I had found one that was only loaded with caramels, nutty flavors and peanut butter. I don’t know if she ever realized that I was always fishing for information so I would always have an ace up my sleeve when it came to gift giving, but if she did, she never let on.
It was a bit surreal as I walked up to her door. The day had started on such a different note, and now I didn’t know if I we could reclaim the mood I had originally been hoping for.
I was going to try nonetheless. McKenna deserved the absolute best, and I wasn’t going to let some asshole take anything else away from her.
I took a deep breath and hit the buzzer for the intercom. It took a few seconds before it reverberated to life, and her voice came over the other end.
“Who is it?” I could tell that she was trying to sound funny and light hearted, but the stress was still there. She had been through so much today, maybe it would be a better idea to try this another time? I had been told before that I could be far too stubborn once I was attached to the plan, and I didn’t want to put my needs before McKenna’s. Especially since she had just had one hell of a day.
No, I was pretty sure this would help her. Remind her that sh4e was loved and that she was protected. So, before the pause grew awkward, I answered her.
“Oh, just your loving boyfriend.”
“How do I know it’s you?”
Well, at least she hadn’t lost her snarky nature
“Um, unless aliens have come down and personally stolen my body, I’m pretty sure you can tell it’s me.”
“Fair enough. But if you’re a body-snatcher, you’re not allowed to steal my body until after I finish my laundry.”
“Sure. Always good to finish your chores before hijacking the vessel of a possible host.”
She laughed at that and the door beeped, indicating she had unlocked it. With all of the movies and activities that her, Dom and I had been sharing together, I had picked up on even more of the strange stuff my son loved. In a way, she almost worked as a translator, explaining things that I didn’t understand to me and reminding Dom to re-explain certain things when I didn’t remember who was the ninth lord from a parallel dimension during a Christmas special of one of the shows he liked. Just further proof that she was practically made for us. Or perhaps we were made for her. Either way, I opened the door and let myself in.
It was a quick journey up the stairs and down her hall, where I finally reached her door. I had only been to her place once before -she much preferred to come to mine, and I couldn’t blame her.
The carpet was worn, faded and looked like it had mold staining random spots of it. The walls didn’t fare much better, with paint chipping everywhere. The lighting was dingy and yellow, with most of the bulbs out and several more flickering.
Of course, I never told her that her place was a shit-hole… but it was pretty much a shit-hole. She deserved so much better, and now that her ex had found out where she lived, I was more than a little worried about her safety.
I reached her door and knocked, holding the flowers so they couldn’t be spotted out of the peephole. I heard her approach, slide one of the locks out of it place then finally the doorknob turned and I was seeing her beautiful, stressed face again.
“Oh
my god,” she cried, hands going to her cheeks. “This is for me?”
“I don’t know anybody else here who deserves them more.”
Her face was bright red as she took them, and I could see tears at the corners of her eyes. “These…these are beautiful, oh my god, I had no idea. Is this why you were here?”
“Yeah,” I answered, stepping in and shutting the door behind me. “Happy six-month kinda-versary.”
“Six months?” she murmured absently. Has it really been that long?”
“Time flies, doesn’t it?”
“It certainly does.” She turned to face me, her roses now safely nestled in an aged looking vase and gave me a gentle kiss. My hands went to her waist, kneading the soft flesh there, but she pulled away before things could get any heavier.
“The bathroom has the best light, so let’s go in there.”
“For what?” I asked curiously, wanting to hold her and kiss her again.
She grabbed a roll of paper towels and shook them menacingly. “I told you, I’m patching you up. No hero of mine is going to walk around with a messy, bruised face.”
Oh, right. I had taken a few hits. With all my thoughts about her presents and the ramifications of everything that had happened, I had forgotten the pain still lingering at the edges of my mind.