Tonya’s gaze shifted to Kirk. He’d taken a few steps back, but he didn’t seem intimidated. He stood just inside the door, feet planted apart, arms at his sides, ready to move. “Let her go, Rick,” he said.
Rick sneered. “I might, but I’m gonna hurt her a little first.” He tightened his arm across the girl’s breasts, and a snake tattooed on his bulging biceps seemed to slither toward his elbow. Janene let out a gasp as he yanked her closer.
Across the room, another pregnant girl began to sob. “I can’t stand it. I want out of here. I wanna go home.” She stumbled forward.
Rick’s head snapped around. “Stay put, bitch,” he ordered, and the girl scuttled back to the corn.
Ladonna pulled the frightened teenager into her arms. “Stay still, honey. You’ll be all right,” she cajoled, stroking the girl’s hair.
While Rick’s attention focused on Ladonna, Kirk edged closer.
Rick’s head swiveled back. He fixed his gaze on Kirk. A string of obscenities poured from his mouth.
Unfazed, Kirk took another step toward him, then another.
The tip of the knife pricked the skin of Janene’s neck. She shrieked.
“Shut up,” Rick snarled.
Janene tightened her lips and whimpered softly. A thin ribbon of blood dripped onto her shirt.
As Kirk advanced toward them, Rick gave her another vicious jerk. “Okay, bitch, we’re outa here.”
“Please,” the girl begged, but he dragged her toward the door. Halfway there, her knees buckled and she slid toward the floor. As Rick struggled with her limp body, Kirk lunged forward and grabbed the young thug’s arm.
Metal flashed. Janene scrambled up and out of the way as Kirk and Rick grappled for the knife. The point grazed Kirk’s arm.
“No,” Tonya moaned. “No.” She wanted to close her eyes, shut out the horrible scene the way she did in scary movies, but she couldn’t She kept watching.
Ladonna pulled Janene into the corn and hovered over her, trying to calm her.
Kirk caught Rick’s wrist and forced it back, but only for a moment. The two fought for the knife. Grunting. Panting. Shoving. Neither able to budge the other.
The veins on Kirk’s neck stood out, his lips curled in a grimace. He was strong, but Rick had the advantage of youth...and rage. Slowly, gradually, his hand inched forward, pushing Kirk’s back.
Suddenly Kirk’s arm went slack. Rick lost his balance and toppled forward. When Kirk grabbed him, the knife sailed across the room and landed with a harmless thunk.
“Thank God,” Tonya muttered, but the words had barely left her lips when Rick’s fist shot out and connected with Kirk’s jaw. Kirk staggered backward, and the youth turned and bolted from the room. Kirk straightened and followed. “Call the cops,” he yelled.
Tonya stood frozen against the wall as Rick, then Kirk raced past, close enough for her to feel their body heat They disappeared down the hall, the sound of heavy footsteps echoing through the building. In a moment, the outside door slammed twice, and the hallway was silent.
Cautiously, Tonya started down the hall, peering into classrooms and offices as she went. What if Rick hadn’t gone out at all? What if he was hiding in one of the rooms, waiting for someone to pass by? Nonsense. She’d heard the door slam twice. He had to be outside.
She slipped into her office and made the call, surprised her voice was steady, then returned to the classroom. A babble of voices met her ears. Sobs, whimpers, questions. When she reached the door, she saw that Ladonna and Corelle were doing their best to calm the still-frightened youngsters. Tonya went to help.
Kirk had returned. Tonya paused where he knelt on the floor beside Janene. “Is Rick...?”
“Couldn’t catch him,” Kirk said. “Did you call?”
She nodded and looked down at Janene. The girl huddled on the floor. Her thin arms curved around her stomach, shielding the baby she carried. Her eyes were glazed, her mouth slack. Damp, blond hair half curtained the ashen skin of her face.
Kirk bent over Janene, stroked her hair. “You’re okay,” he soothed. “You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”
Janene sniffled. “H-he hurt me.”
“We’re gonna fix you up.” Without turning, he said, “First aid kit’s in the cabinet”
Tonya got it, put it on the floor beside him. He was still talking to Janene in that same calm voice. “Let’s have a look.” Tonya peered over his shoulder as he checked the girl’s neck. “Just a scratch. I’m gonna put some antiseptic on it, and after the police talk to you, I’ll take you home, okay?”
Janene whimpered as he cleansed the wound. “I don’t wanna talk to no cops,” she mumbled. Kirk continued to reassure her.
Tonya slipped past them. Kirk didn’t need her help, but others did.
A small girl barely into her teens but well along in pregnancy sat rocking back and forth on the floor in a corner of the room. An older girl had gotten sick all over her bright blue jacket. Several were crying, others gazed fearfully out the windows.
Ladonna and Corelle tended as many as they could. Tonya joined in. Helping the girls calmed her own fears, lessened her horror at what she’d seen.
She saw Kirk shut the first aid kit and sit back on his heels. “Can you tell me what happened?” he said to Janene.
She took a hiccuping breath. “Before Rick went to detention, I was his woman.”
Woman? Tonya thought, looking at the bony girl. Janene was barely past childhood. On the other hand, she was physically mature enough for sex. And its consequences.
“He thinks I cheated on him.”
“Thinks the baby isn’t his?” Kirk asked.
“Yes, but it is, Mr. Butler. I told him and told him...” Her words dissolved in a torrent of tears. Patiently, Kirk sat beside her, soothing her.
Suddenly, the noise in the room subsided. Every head turned toward the door. Tonya looked over her shoulder and saw two uniformed police officers in the doorway. Kirk rose and walked over to them. They spoke in low tones for a few minutes, then Kirk led them to Janene.
The female officer, a tall sandy-haired woman, knelt beside the girl. “We want to ask you a few questions, okay?”
Janene nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
“What happened a while ago?”
She repeated her story.
“Any idea where Rick might’ve gone?”
“No, ma’am. He stays different places. He doesn’t tell where.”
“How about some of his friends? Can you tell me where they live?”
Janene’s face paled. “Oh, no, ma’am, I couldn’t do that. I...I don’t really know.”
Tonya could see she was lying, but she couldn’t say she blamed the girl. If Rick’s friends were anything like him, she doubted Janene would want to get on their bad side. Giving their addresses to the police would be a sure way to make them mad.
The policewoman sighed and glanced up at her partner. A look that spoke volumes passed between them. She rose and spoke to Kirk. “We’ll do our best to locate him. You going to file-charges?”
“You bet we are.”
She nodded. “We’ll be in touch.”
When the two officers left, Kirk turned to Ladonna. “Give me your keys.” She reached in her pocket and handed them to him, and he helped Janene up. “I’m taking Janene home,” he said. “The rest of you stay here. Don’t anyone leave until I get back.”
“Why?”
“Why can’t we go home?”
“I’ll tell you why,” a tall African American girl answered. “‘Cause Rick gonna be out front with the Sabers.”
Someone began to wail. “No-o.”
“Shut your mouth, girl,” another teenager ordered. “What you know about the Sabers anyhow? You jus’ a dumb bitch.”
“Who you callin’ a dumb bitch?”
Within seconds the two were on the floor, pinching, punching, pulling hair. Bedlam erupted as girls took sides, spurring the two fighters on. Others began to cry. The gi
rl Tonya had succeeded in calming now cowered in the corner again, covering her ears.
“Stop it!” Ladonna’s voice rang out with the authority of a drill sergeant The girls, even the pair on the floor, froze. “All right, last thing we need in here is more violence. Get up, you two, and don’t let me see either one of you lift your little finger, hear?”
The sullen combatants stalked to opposite sides of the room. The others gathered in groups, chattering about Rick and Janene while they waited for Kirk. At least no one was dying.
Tonya walked over to Ladonna, who leaned against the wall. “The Sabers are a gang, aren’t they?”
Ladonna sighed. “The worst. Rick is one of the big guns and that ain’t no pun. The Sabers are armed to the teeth. We were lucky he didn’t have his gun with him today.”
Tonya shivered. Instead of going home, she should drive to her grandfather’s and hand in her resignation. Even he couldn’t fault her if she refused to come back here. She should return to her original plan of setting up mystery weekends for the Whodunit bookstore. Imaginary murders, not the real thing. Weekend fun, not gang warfare.
Kirk walked into the room.
His knowing eyes met hers. He thinks I’m going to bail out.
And she should.
In the face of the challenge in his eyes, all the shoulds disappeared. Damned if she’d quit. If the rest of them could take it, so could she. She’d be back tomorrow and the day after that. She’d stick it out for the whole six months.
LATER THAT NIGHT Tonya sat in her living room, the kitten curled in her lap, a cup of hot chocolate on the table beside here. On the stereo, a Chopin prelude played softly. She’d turned the lamp low.
A quiet scene. The earlier events of the day were far away in another world, but they refused to disappear. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate on the music, the steaming chocolate and the comforting sound of the cat’s purr, she couldn’t stop thinking about the last few hours. The basketball practice, her conversation with Germain Parker, Janene’s piercing screams and the ugly scene with Rick. Everything that had happened raced through her mind like a video on fast forward.
Then it rewound, pausing in a freeze-frame, zooming in on Kirk’s kiss. The power of it, the excitement. Those few minutes in his arms were etched indelibly in her mind. Even thinking about that kiss, she felt her pulse begin to pound.
Who was he? She’d seen so many sides of him today: the tough, streetwise guy who’d wrested a knife from a violent kid; the compassionate man who’d comforted Janene; the lover whose potent kiss had overwhelmed her.
What next? That he wanted her was clear from the way he’d held and kissed her, but he wasn’t the first man who had. She’d said no more times than she’d said yes.
He was different from most of the men she’d known. Her grandfather would say he was rough around the edges. Not so different from Clint himself, Tonya mused.
She wished she and Kirk had had a chance to talk, but when he walked her to her truck, she was only one of a crowd. He’d grasped her arm impersonally as if she were a stranger. When she’d climbed into the truck, he’d said nothing but “Lock the doors.” She would have appreciated a word of comfort, the kind of reassurance she’d heard him give Corelle and Ladonna and their teenage charges when he helped them herd the girls into their cars to drive them home.
Tonya leaned back and shut her eyes. God, Kirk Butler was perplexing. She was too tired to try to figure him out now. Maybe tomorrow.
NOT BOTHERING to shut the door, Kirk strode into his office the next morning. He ignored his chair and remained standing, staring out the window. Wearily, he massaged his neck. He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, and his body made a point of reminding him. Especially his knee.
He’d have to talk to Rick’s parole officer. That kid posed a real threat to the neighborhood. Under his leadership the Sabers had thrived. They’d become the toughest, most feared gang in the area, and now that Rick was on the streets again, they could only get worse.
Toby Carson was Rick’s cousin. That meant he was almost a lost cause. “No, damn it,” Kirk muttered. He wouldn’t let that happen. He’d continue to use basketball as a vehicle to win Toby’s trust. He’d—
Behind him, he heard light footsteps. Who’d be here this early? He swung around and came face-to-face with Tonya. For a moment, he only stared, wondering if he’d fallen asleep and dreamed her.
Before he could speak, she stepped closer. “Your jaw,” she murmured. “It’s bruised where Rick hit you.” Gingerly, she touched him, her fingertips barely grazing his skin.
He jerked back as if she’d burned him. “I’m fine.” Half-dazed, he stared at her. She was so beautiful, so... “What are you doing here?” he snapped. “I thought you’d be at home in your cozy little apartment, as far away as you could get.”
She flinched as if she’d been slapped. “I’m back,” she said, and he thought he saw tears glitter in her eyes. “And I’ll keep coming back. Regardless of what you think.”
He didn’t know what he thought...or what he felt. Desire, resentment at her position here, grudging respect that she’d shown up in spite of what happened. And, mostly, confusion. He didn’t like being confused and he was angry at her for making him feel that way. “You’re a fool for coming back,” he growled.
Her eyes narrowed, and he saw again the determination he’d only glimpsed when they’d first met “No, you are,” she said, her voice stronger than he expected. “If you thought that little disturbance last night would keep me away, think again.”
Rage at her naïveté and her stubbornness made him lash out again. “That ‘little disturbance’ should have sent you a message loud and clear. I told you before, you don’t belong here.”
She raised her chin, then turned her back on him and walked out of the office. “We’ll see,” she said over her shoulder, and slammed the door in his face.
5
KIRK DROPPED into his chair, put his elbows on the desk and rested his head on his hands. Damn, he’d made a mess of things. He’d just called the woman who held the purse strings for the OK Center a fool. Nonprofit or not, the center was a business, and this was no way to run a business.
Who was he kidding? What had happened between him and Tonya just now had had nothing to do with business. It was personal. Extremely personal.
When her fingers had whispered across his jaw, the shock of that featherlight contact had leapt through him with the force of a speeding Harley. The sharp rush of desire had been so strong it was painful. Thank God, Tonya’s eyes had been on his face. If she’d looked down, she’d have seen the evidence—the hard evidence—of that desire.
He’d wanted to hold her again, explore her mouth, strip off her clothes and make love to her—right here on his desk. Just thinking about it aroused him all over again.
Why the hell had she come back? She didn’t belong in a neighborhood like this, where young punks held knives to the throats of girls they were supposed to be in love with. She belonged in some rich enclave where knives were used to carve chateaubriand, not people. Above all, she belonged somewhere safe.
Despite her determination to stay, sooner or later she’d figure it out. Then she’d walk away from here without a backward glance. That was why he’d struck out at her. Self-protection, pure and simple.
In the meantime, he’d do what he’d intended from the first: avoid her.
BY AFTERNOON TONYA WAS Still fuming. Kirk had not only infuriated her, he’d hurt her, and she wouldn’t forgive him easily.
Oh, heck. Yes, she probably would. She rarely held a grudge longer than a day.
Okay, she’d forgive what he’d said, but she wouldn’t forget. And she’d prove to him she was made of stronger stuff than he thought.
Now, though, she had a meeting scheduled. Ladonna was next on her list.
Tonya was careful to take notes during their session. If not, she was sure she’d forget everything Ladonna said because her run-in with Kirk
had distracted her.
After she and Ladonna had finished their discussion, she was tempted to quiz the woman about Kirk. Maybe if she knew more about him, she’d understand his quicksilver mood changes.
But Ladonna rose and reached for her jacket. “I’m gonna take a walk over to Janene’s house and see how she’s getting along.”
“I’ll go with you,” Tonya said. She hurried back to her office to get her coat and joined Ladonna at the door.
As they strolled down the street, they passed students on the way home from school. Three giggling girls in bright red jackets sashayed by, their gait designed to attract the attention of every teenage boy around. One girl’s jacket barely covered her jutting belly.
“So many of these kids are pregnant,” Tonya said. “You must’ve had at least a dozen at the Center yesterday, and...there’s another.” She nodded toward a girl in a blue jacket who looked ready to deliver...and who couldn’t have been more than thirteen years old.
“You better believe it, girlfriend,” Ladonna said. “These little sisters give birth like rabbits.” She laughed when Tonya shook her head in disbelief. “You never saw anything like it, did you?”
“No. Life must be tough for them, becoming mothers while they’re still babies themselves.”
“Dam right,” Ladonna agreed. “I know.”
Tonya turned to her in surprise. “You mean—”
“Yeah, I mean I was pregnant with Danisha, my first little girl, when I was thirteen. She was born ’bout a month after my fourteenth birthday. Simon was born the next year.”
“How could you take care of them and still go to school?”
“I couldn’t. I dropped out” She chuckled at Tonya’s shocked expression. “Girl, droppin’ out of school was no big deal. ’Bout everyone I knew was doin’ the same thing.”
Tonya digested this as they waited at the corn for a school bus to pass. Noisy laughter drifted through the windows, and a grinning teenage boy leaned out and whistled at them. “Didn’t you tell me you knew Kirk after college?” she asked.
Trouble With Tonya Page 6