by Amy Brent
No. I couldn’t be pregnant. It was impossible. But… even if I was, I couldn’t really do anything until I was out of work. I had already walked out once, it would not be right to do so again. I knew Rafael would cover for me, but that was exactly the sort of special treatment I was trying to avoid.
Taking calming breaths, I composed myself and headed out. Both Alisha and Davie were waiting for me in the breakroom, their meals finished while mine was already packed up and ready to put back in the fridge.
“Thank you guys,” I said, noticing it instantly.
“Is nothing,” Davie said, handing me a bottle of water. At least I would never have to worry about be dehydrated around them. “We just want to make sure that you’re alright.”
“Don’t worry about me,” I said, taking it gratefully. “I’m sure it’s just a stomach bug.” Or rather, I hoped that it was just a stomach bug. Slapping a big ol’ smile on my face, I looked to the two. “Let’s get to cleaning, shall we?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
~McKenna~
“You have a good night now, try to get plenty of rest!”
“I will!” I called back, speed walking out of the doors of work so urgently I might as well have been running.
The second half of my shift seemed to have dragged on forever, and every minute just made the anxiety within me burn that much higher. I was constantly waffling between being adamantly sure that I wasn’t pregnant, to wondering if I could be. At some points my thoughts shuttled back and forth so much that I wondered if it was possible to get mental whiplash.
My commute wasn’t that easy either, but I toughed though it, getting off a stop earlier so I could hit the corner store only a small way from my apartment building. I stood there awkwardly in the feminine needs section, finding myself facing a situation that I had never had to worry about before.
Wow, all those scenes in movies and on TV really didn’t do it justice. My cheeks were burning, my hearts were pounding, and if felt like everyone and their mom was staring at me.
I grabbed it and shoved it into my pocket, not caring if they thought I was shoplifting, before heading to the snack aisle. No matter how this panned out, I was definitely going to need some comfort food when everything was set and done.
In the end I wound up with some candy bars, a pint of ice cream, several cream sodas, some chips and dip. It would completely ruin my diet for the next month, but at this point I didn’t care.
“Did you find everything you need, Miss?” The cashier asked, trying to look friendly but mostly just appearing absolutely miserable. I couldn’t blame him. Working retail sucked. I tried to shoot him my own pleasant smile, but I don’t think I fared that well either.
“Yeah, I’m good.” I put everything on the counter, saving the test for last. Quickly, I shoved it all towards him, looking around like I was dealing drugs rather than buying a simple feminine product.
To his credit, the cashier rang it up without comment and bagged it. “Can I help you with anything else today?”
“No, that should be good, thank you.”
“No problem, and good luck by the way.”
I hesitated at the last moment, understanding what he was wishing me luck on. I didn’t know why the kind phrase from a stranger touched me so much, but it definitely did, so all I could do was nod thankfully and slink out the door.
The fortunate part was my bladder was already reminding me that I needed to go the entire walk home. Part of me wanted to blame it on anxiety, but the other part was more than happy to remind me that frequent urination was a sign of pregnancy.
And also diabetes, but thankfully that was not on the consideration block today.
I pulled out my keys as I rounded the corner to my place. Of course, they got stuck in the lining of my pocket though, so I had to fiddle with them one-handed while my other arm made sure my groceries bag didn’t take an unintended tumble.
I felt that someone else was on the stairs as I walked up to the landing. At first, I figured that it was someone like me, keys being stubborn and all. The front door was also notoriously difficult to open, requiring pushing the door forward, jimmying the lock and sacrificing a cow in a volcano.
But as soon as my foot hit the first step, something cold raced through me. I froze in my spot and looked up to see none other than my ex standing at the front door.
I stared at him, eyes wide and mind reeling. No, no! He was supposed to be gone! What was he doing here!?
A quick scan of his face revealed the faintest shade yellow where his bruises had once been. How badly had Rafael beaten him, for there to still be evidence of it so many weeks later?
I didn’t know, and I didn’t care. All I knew was that I needed to be anywhere from here.
“McKenna!”
He reached for me and I stumbled backwards, nearly breaking my neck by falling down the stairs. I managed to catch myself on the rail but doing so made the groceries I had protected to dutifully fall to the ground, scattering everywhere.
“McKenna! Stop being dramatic. Here, let me help you pick them up.”
He moved past me and onto the landing, grabbing candy and drinks. It was then a cold panic washed over me as I realized what he might see.
“Bradley, don’t!” I cried, rushing towards him and trying to wrest the items from his hands.
“Relax, McKenna. It’s just groceries. I can-” He stopped cold and I realized that I was much to late. He held up the small, pink box and looked to me with a fury that made my very blood freeze.
“What the hell is this?” He bellowed, his face turning red.
It was right then that I understood that there was no avoiding what was about to happen. He had me alone, he was angry, and there was no one who was going to help. The way I saw it, I had two choices. I could cower to him, as I always did, or I could stand up for myself for once. After all, I had tasted what a real relationship was supposed to be like! I knew how it felt to be loved, valued, appreciated. If this monster of a man thought that he could come into my life and just ruin everything… well, I wasn’t going down without a fight.
“Was does it look like?” I retorted, rising to my feet and lifting my chin defiantly.
“Are you kidding me? This isn’t for you, is it?” He stood too, taking a step closer to me, rage radiating from his form. But I didn’t back down. I couldn’t.
“So, what if it is, Bradley? It’s none of your business! You need to get the hell out of here before I call the police!”
“You won’t call the police,” he countered, his face bordering on purple. “Because you know I’m right. You know that, deep down inside, there is no one good enough for you but me.”
“Oh, go suck a dick!” I screamed, absolutely done with this. I was done being quiet, I was done being scared. “I’ll call the police and I’ll take that pregnancy test and I’ll never, ever think of you again!”
“Huh, so it is for you then. Funny, after all that time together, I never figured you out as a common whore!”
“I am no whore!” I didn’t know what came over me. Sure, I was mad, but I knew better than to provoke him outright. Even though I knew that, I looked up at his face and spat right at him.
Time went into slow motion as my gob of saliva arched out and hit his cheek. It stood there a moment, glistening in the morning sun, and he wiped his face with a deliberate sort of fury.
“You little bitch!” he screamed, raising his hand to strike me.
I shrieked, I couldn’t help it, and cringed away, holding my arms up to protect myself, I should have run, maybe tried to kick him in the nuts, but I was so terrified that I was rooted to the spot.
Bradley could hit me, and it hurt, but I wouldn’t let him conquer me again. I would get up. I would fight him, and I would never stop until he was dead.
But the blow never came. I knew that time had seemed to slow down, but not that much.
Opening my eyes, I saw that Bradley’s arm had been stopped by a familiar,
tanned hand. Standing only a few feet away from me was Rafael, protective rage in his eyes.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
I stared at the two men, and I could feel the tension ramping up between them. I knew, that without a doubt, one of them wasn’t going to walk out of this a whole person.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
~Rafael~
Of all the ways I had imagined the day going, this wasn’t anywhere on the list. But as I stared into the eyes of McKenna’s ex, I knew that the two of us were about to cross a line that couldn’t be walked back from.
But I didn’t care. This man -no, animal standing in front of me had hurt McKenna. Purposefully. And it seemed that, even with my previous “encouragement”, he still was intent on trying to claim her.
And to think, that I had been waiting in a cab outside of McKenna’s place because I wanted to surprise her. In about a week or so, we would have six months of being together, but I would be out of town for another conference and I wanted her to know that I hadn’t forgotten.
I had been thinking of how to present to her the flowers and candy I had gotten her. I had been sneakily sleuthing the information out of her for the past month, and I had wanted to see that light behind her eyes when she realized what my sometimes-strange questions were about.
Of course, that was when the office called, and I was distracted for all of five minutes. When I hung up, I was relieved to see that I hadn’t missed her but was considerably less happy then I saw someone standing at the complex door nearly push her down the stairs.
I ran over, of course, rage already going at full tilt, but it wasn’t until I recognized her ex that I truly saw nothing but red.
“I’m giving you one last chance to back away,” I said, my voice more growl than human but I didn’t care. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to call the cops, but I won’t beat you into the scum that you are.”
The man, although he could hardly be called that, ripped his arm away and snarled at me. “So, you’re the bastard who’s poisoned her against me?”
“You did all of that yourself,” I said, stepping forward so that we were almost touching. I wanted him to feel my presence, to be intimidated by me while I looked down at him like the dog he was. “As much as I’d like to take the credit. You’re a disgusting abuser, and she has been far kinder to you than you deserve.”
He laughed, and his spittle flew up to splash against my chin. Disgusting, just as he was. “Come on, you don’t believe all that, do you? Couples fight and she’s just overdramatic. You’re telling me you never got into an argument with your babe, Mr. Big Man in the cheesy suit?”
“People argue all the time. But that’s not what you did. You know it. She knows it. And I know it. So, I’m still giving you that chance to leave, but it’s disappearing quickly.”
“Whatever,” the man backed down then pushed past me. “She’s just a whore who’ll do the same thing to you then come running back to me.”
There were a lot of things in the world I could tolerate. I’d sat through so boring that it’s painful meetings, my father’s funerals, speeches by politicians who I wanted to shove their heads up their own asses, but there was a line. And insulting the kindest, most generous woman I knew was so far over that line it might as well have been in orbit.
“You know what,” I hissed, grabbing his shoulder and whipping him around. “The offer expired.”
Before he could open that vile mouth and speak any more lies, I slammed my fist right into his narrow lips. It was a familiar feeling, considering I had already once pummeled him into a pulp, but last time I had been drunk. Now I was sober, and one hundred percent fully conscious of the righteous fury flowing through every part of me.
This time the man wasn’t as stunned, and he tried to throw a blow back. I blocked it, sliding it along my arm, then swiveled in a jab that landed right against his cheek and sent him stumbling.
It had been ages since I had truly fought someone – not counting the first time I had handed him his own ass- but it was all coming back to me. My prepubescent years in the ghetto, the scuffles in high school when someone dared to insult my immigrant father, the rough patch I had gone through after that saintly man’s death. It all flowed over me like a second nature that I rarely indulged.
Suddenly he lunged forward from the ground, tackling me around the waist. I was surprised by the move and we both went backwards, causing me to hit the back of my head on the railing as we went down.
The world was just shockwaves for a moment and my head swam. I was vaguely aware of one of his punches landing on my cheekbone, but the pain was so delayed that I was already fighting back before I felt it.
He was too stupid to even try to pin my arms, so I reached up and slammed my fist right into his jaw. His eyes rolled up in his head for a moment, and the sudden gap of consciousness allowed me to roll us over so that I was on top.
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 b
ack 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.”