by S. J. Bishop
"Yeah, but what if that guy who just opened the door has one? Do you really want to risk Riley getting shot? I'll call Ethan. Let's see what he says."
I turned my head back toward the house and saw that Taylor and Riley were now talking to some big, bald, fat man with a gut that hung out at least fourteen inches over his pants. He had stepped out onto the ruins of the porch that surrounded the house when Taylor had banged on the door. It wasn't obvious whether or not he'd been expecting her. He was dressed in black and looked like the worst kind of criminal—one who didn't give a damn about anything or anyone save himself. My body cringed as I watched him. I tried to lick my lips, but my mouth was too dry.
Beside me on the passenger seat, Kaitlyn dialed Ethan's phone. I almost yelled at her to put the phone down and forget about Ethan. I appreciated that he was trying to help, but a lot of good his help did me if he wasn't here.
"Ethan," Kaitlyn said when he finally answered. "We found Taylor."
There was a lot of incoherent babbling from Ethan's end. I couldn't make out the words, but I could make out the tone. He was trying to sound forceful. Trying to sound like a cop.
"No, she's definitely here," Kaitlyn said. "We're looking right at them."
This time, I heard what he said. "Don't move!"
Kaitlyn glanced at me, telling him we'd try not to, then hung up. "He says not to move," she told me as if I couldn't hear his shrill voice over the phone.
I scoffed. "Of course he would say that. He's a cop. He's trained to tell people what to do. I'd be happy to let the police handle this, Kaitlyn, but where the fuck are they, huh? I don't see one fucking cop anywhere near here. Do you?"
Kaitlyn's eyes searched the grounds around us. "Okay, you have a point, but Ethan and his team aren't far. Give them a chance to get here."
I sat in silence, fuming. I hated the idea of watching Riley, who looked terrified of Taylor and the big fat man and of being dragged around like a fucking ragdoll. Her little body wasn't made to be handled so roughly. She was only four years old, for God's sake. Suddenly, Taylor grabbed hold of Riley's shoulders and thrust her toward the fat man. Riley shrunk away from him, but Taylor pushed her back.
"What's she doing?" Kaitlyn asked.
The fat man stared down at Riley. He walked in a slow circle around her, looking her up and down. Finally, he held up two fingers. Taylor shook her head, frantic, her eyes pleading. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I could tell she was saying, "No." She held up five fingers, dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms around the man's legs. She was begging him.
The fat man finally nodded, and Taylor stood back up. The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. He unwound five of them and handed them to Taylor.
"Oh my God," Kaitlyn said. "I think I'm gonna be sick. Did Taylor... did she just sell Riley?"
I was already out of the car and running toward my daughter before Kaitlyn had even gotten her door open.
47
Kaitlyn
Axel was at the crumbling old porch before I was even halfway there. He'd bolted from the car so fast that I hadn't had a chance to stop him. He darted off without even taken his crutches. Instead, he'd sort of half-run, half-hopped over the yard until he reached his destination.
Not that I would have stopped him from running. I still couldn't believe that Taylor had just sold her daughter for five hundred dollars. I shuddered, wondering what the fat man would want to buy Riley for. I couldn't imagine it was anything as sweet as his deep desire to have a daughter.
"Axel!" I shouted, but I was too late. He flung himself into the fat man, who fell back against the front door with a heavy thud.
"Daddy!" Riley cried.
"Shit!" Taylor yelled.
Taylor tried to snatch Riley, lifting her weakly off the ground. Her arms weren't strong enough to carry her, though, and Riley fell to the dirt with a thump. A long, loud wail echoed through the night as Riley screamed.
Axel heard her and turned his head to see what was happening. The fat man jumped him from behind. Axel clamored to the ground, the fat man wailing away on top of him. His fat fists flew into Axel's back again and again. I heard Axel cry out. The fat man was sitting on Axel's legs.
I ran toward the porch, intent on stopping Taylor, helping Riley, and getting the fat man off of Axel. I just wasn't sure which to do first.
"Run, Riley!" I shouted, as Taylor's leg reached out and kicked my stomach. There was more force behind it than I would have given her credit for, and I coughed uncontrollably as I fell to the ground.
"Kaitlyn!" Riley squealed. She looked terrified. Her face was pale, and her eyes kept darting back and forth between me and Axel like she was trying to decide who needed her help the most. My stomach ached as I got to my knees. Please God, please God, please God, let the baby be okay.
I stood back up. Taylor was waiting for me, her eyes glassy but with a cold intensity behind them that frightened me. Riley stood between us, and I made a dash for her, beating Taylor by a half a second. I ran with Riley in my arms, flying toward the car. Taylor was close behind me, though. She reached out and managed to grab a handful of my hair, yanking hard enough to make me stumble and cry out in pain. I felt the hair rip from my head, and Riley fell from my arms.
"Run, Riley!" I screamed, falling to the dirt, where my hands narrowly missed hitting several shards of glass that were splattered around. Riley stood staring at me, fresh tears running down her cheeks. "Run!" I cried again. "Get to the car!" I pointed in the direction I'd been running with her, and she saw it. Her eyes lit up, and Riley ran.
Taylor lifted her leg as I lay on the ground, intent on smashing her foot into my stomach. I don't know whether it was the future mother in me or my own instinct for self-preservation, but I rolled out of the way and jumped up with a new fervor.
"You fucking bitch!" I screamed, lashing out at Taylor with my fists. Taylor had expected me to lie still, I think, and take the beating. Her eyes were red, and she probably wasn't thinking straight. Taylor stumbled backward, falling onto a pile of trash on the sparse lawn. A coke bottle rolled out, and grazed her fingers. She picked it up and threw it at me. It missed me by inches.
I heard Axel grunting and yelling in the background, but I'd lost all track of him by now. I couldn't focus on anything other than Taylor. "How could you sell your own daughter?" I asked. For a second, her eyes flashed with sorrow, and I wondered if somewhere, deep down, there wasn't a trace of humanity left in the woman Taylor had become. Then the sorrow was gone, as if it had never been there at all, and I decided it had probably been a trick of the sunlight that was starting to rise in the east.
Suddenly, my stomach lurched. I brought my hand to my mouth, willing things to settle back down, but it was too late. I leaned over and threw up. Taylor stared at me, disgusted. My head began to swim. I tried to move, to run toward the car, but things were growing foggy. I wasn't sure whether it was the pregnancy doing it, or if maybe I'd hit my head harder than I'd realized when I'd fallen before, but either way, the ground was rushing toward me fast. I braced myself for impact. The fall didn't hurt nearly as badly as I'd feared, probably because I'd been ready for it. I rolled over in time to see Taylor's shiny, yellow teeth smiling at me from above. She looked ready to kill.
48
Axel
Christ, this fucking fat ass would just not stay down. I threw my weight against him a third time, and the guy barely budged. He must've weighed at least three hundred pounds. I'd gone up against big guys before, but not with a torn ACL. My leg throbbed as I forced myself against him with all my might. Somewhere deep inside my knee, something popped. A sharp, terrible burn ran out in all directions from my knee, and I collapsed to the ground. The fat man smiled at me.
"I know you," he said. "You're some big fuckin' football jock." He smirked as he said it. His voice was a low growl, tinged with a hint of humor. The asshole thought this was entertaining.
"What were you planning to do
with my daughter, you sick fuck?" I screamed, writhing on the ground. I fought back the tears that were welling in my eyes.
The fat man smiled. "She's a little young yet, but in another five years or so, I thought I could add her to my lineup. Some guys like 'em real young like that. Not me, you understand. But some. To each his own, I say. ‘Til then, I figured she could clean my shit." He started laughing, and I realized he was high. Not the smooth, mellow kind of high you got from smoking weed, but the crazy lunatic high you got from something like bath salts. In another six seconds, he'd be eating my face off.
I heard Kaitlyn cry out and looked over just in time to see Taylor yank her hair. Kaitlyn fell to the ground, but Riley was able to get away. My heart relaxed, if only slightly. At least Riley was safe.
"The cops are on their way," I said to the fat man.
"Fuck the cops," he said. He reached for something in his belt, and I thought this was it—that he had a gun and I was about to meet my maker. But it wasn't a gun. It was a switchblade. Still not good, but far better than a fucking gun.
"I'm gonna cut you up," the fat man said.
I looked at him and laughed. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was a moment of delirium. Maybe it was just the absurdity of the situation. Either way, it had a strange effect. The fat man stopped moving. His head tilted to the side, and his eyes watered.
"Why are you laughing?" he asked.
I had no idea what the right response was but thought it best if I said something. "Because you're fat," I replied. It was dumb, but it was all I could think of.
His lips trembled. "That's what my ma used to say, too," he said. His shoulders hunched as his body shook. Whatever he was on was clearly having an effect on him, much to his own detriment, but to my favor.
"Aaah!" I heard Kaitlyn cry out. I turned in time to see her fall to the ground. I wasn't sure if she was still conscious. Taylor stood over her, poised to pounce. She had a dangerous look in her eyes that made my heart race. I didn't know what she might do with Kaitlyn laying there so exposed like that.
I hadn't spent years in the NFL for nothing. I knew how to make the tackle when it counted, even when injured. I rolled to my side and forced myself up, bearing the brunt of my weight on my good leg. Then I lunged at the fat man while his head was still down. He wasn't expecting it, and he fell backward with relative ease. The back of his head thumped against the porch railing as he fell. Blood flew out from his head and just missed landing in my eye. He lay on the ground, unmoving. I stood there a second, unbelieving. After all that, this mighty giant had fallen with a simple defensive move. Coach would be proud.
Kaitlyn screamed again, and I snapped my attention back toward her. She was off the ground, but still looked wobbly on her feet. She was struggling against Taylor, who kept trying to kick her. Kaitlyn's face was white, and there was a smear of blood across her forehead.
I ran toward them, knocking Taylor away from Kaitlyn with ease. She never even saw me coming. Taylor went flying through the air, but somehow still landed on her feet. She was like a damned cat. Even her eyes glowed a brilliant yellow-green. The sky was growing brighter now as the sun rose. I could see Riley sitting behind the steering wheel of my car, which was no longer hidden in the shadows of night. She looked terrified, but safe, which was the important thing.
"Axel!" Kaitlyn screamed.
The alarm in her voice was piercing. I turned to her, terrified that Taylor had hurt her worse than I'd thought, but she was pointing behind me. I looked back at Taylor. I'd completely forgotten about the gun Ethan had warned us about. Taylor held it in her hands, which were much too shaky for comfort.
"Taylor," I said, trying to sound calm. Kaitlyn's eyes were wide. The blood had drained completely from her face, and I was worried she might faint. "Relax. No one's going to hurt you, alright?"
Taylor looked from me to Kaitlyn and back again as if trying to decide something. "It hurts, you know?" Taylor asked. "You think I don't know what a fuck up I am?"
"Taylor, it's never too late to change," I said, hoping that she wouldn't notice I was getting closer and closer to her.
Taylor laughed. It was low and frightening. The laugh of someone not quite right in the head. "I don't deserve Riley," she said. "But neither do you. You're no better than I am. I bet you don't even know the name of that fucking doll she likes so much. She wouldn't stop whining about it the whole time she was with me."
"Betsey," I said.
Taylor's eyes widened. She wiped at them with a dirty hand. "Give me your money," she said. "Whatever you have."
I reached into my pocket and tossed my wallet to her. It dropped to the ground a foot in front of her. She bent down to pick it up, and it was then we heard the sirens. Taylor shot back up, forgetting the wallet.
"You asshole!" she said. "I'm not going back to jail! I'll fucking die there! You can die too for all I care!"
Riley's scream echoed through the air, "Mommy!"
Taylor turned slightly towards her just as she fired. A thundering boom sounded from the gun. The bullet whizzed by me, missing me by several inches.
"Riley, get back in the car!" I shouted. I turned to Taylor, whose face was now as pale as Kaitlyn's had been before. I took a step toward her, intending to get the gun while she was distracted. Then Riley screamed again, louder and more piercing than anything I'd heard before.
"Aaaah! Kaitlyn!"
Riley's face was white, and she was looking behind me and to my left. I turned, my stomach sinking. Kaitlyn was on the ground. Her shirt was soaked in blood. I could almost make out the hole in the fabric where the bullet had passed through.
49
Kaitlyn
I was conscious of the fact that I'd been shot, but just barely. It had all happened so fast. I heard Axel grunt and looked up just in time to see him fling his body against Taylor's, tackling her like she was a football player. She wrestled against him, but he was too strong for her. It was no match. He jumped up, triumphant, holding the gun she had used to shoot me.
"Axel," I tried to say. He was walking toward me, but Taylor was running after him. My voice didn't come out. "Axel," I tried again, but my chest felt too tight to speak. I was having a hard time breathing.
"Daddy!" Riley shouted, and Axel turned. Taylor clawed at him, grabbing for the gun. She didn't seem ready to let it go. She grabbed the barrel, kicking his bad leg. I cringed. That must have hurt. His leg buckled, and he crumpled to the ground. Taylor stood over him, still holding onto the gun. She just wouldn't give up. Suddenly, a shot rang out. Taylor fell back, shock running across her face. Blood soaked through the sleeve of her arm.
"You shot me," she said. She sat staring at the blood running down her arm, then suddenly stood, got to her feet, and ran off.
Axel and Riley raced over to me. Each one took a hand. I could feel their hearts racing. God, they were beating so fast. They must have been awfully worried about me.
"I'm fine," I told them, happy that my voice was working again. And I really felt fine, too. Getting shot wasn't nearly as bad as people made it sound. "See?" I said, trying to sit up as Axel tried to push me back down. I laughed because that's what people did when they were fine. They laughed. Only, I realized that I couldn't stop laughing. Why was Riley's heart racing like that? It had better slow down, or she might pass out.
"It's okay, Riley," I said, reaching out my hand to press to her cheek, wanting to comfort her. That's when I realized how much blood was on my hands. I looked down and saw that blood had soaked through my shirt.
"Don't worry," Axel said, tears running down his cheeks. "You're fine. You're going to be fine."
"I'm not worried," I said, but I wasn't sure that was true anymore. Why was there so much blood? Where had I been shot? I tried to sit up again, only this time Axel didn't have to push me back down. This time, I fell back all on my own.
"Actually, I don't feel very well," I said. Axel brushed his lips over mine. They were warm and sweet, and I sucked every ounce of co
mfort from them that I could get.
Suddenly, there were voices everywhere. Ethan was hovering over me.
"Oh god!" Ethan said, and I saw the worry in his eyes now, too. He dropped to his knees, checking my pulse. "How long has she been like this?" he asked Axel.
"Five minutes," Axel said. "Taylor shot her. She fucking shot her." I heard the pain in his voice and wanted to reassure him that everything was going to be alright, but things were getting hazy.
"She's going into shock," Ethan said. He waved wildly for the paramedics who had just arrived. They rushed over to me, and Axel was forced to let go of my hand. I tried to tell them that Axel was the only thing keeping me safe, but they wouldn't listen.
"What's her name?" one of the paramedics asked.
"Kaitlyn," Axel said.
"Kaitlyn,” the paramedic repeated. "Can you hear me? Nod if you can hear me."
I nodded, and the paramedic shined a bright light into my eyes, making them water. They lifted me onto a stretcher. Axel and Riley followed closely behind as I was loaded into the ambulance. I was glad they were there because I was starting to get scared now.
"Ethan," Axel yelled. "Meet us at the hospital."
"Right behind you," Ethan returned.
The doors closed, and the ambulance sped off. "Kaitlyn, I need you to answer some questions for me if you can. Are you on any medications?" I shook my head. My throat was too dry to talk again. "Are you diabetic?" I shook my head.
Axel was beside me, holding my hand. He squeezed it each time the paramedic asked me something. "Are you pregnant?"
I hesitated. This wasn't how I'd wanted to tell him, but they had to know. I didn't want to lose the baby. I turned my eyes to Axel's, then nodded my head. I felt Axel's hand tighten around mine and saw his eyes widen. Then the world went black.