Stronger With Him

by JA Hensley

  "Well, first thing we need to do is change your locks. Since he has a key, that’ll at least give you a little protection. Next thing is that you're going to stay with me tonight. He knows better than to try to get through me." Christin always has a plan.

  "I have school tomorrow and I need to get ready. How am I supposed to do that at your place?"

  "You can stay in the guest room and I'll drive you to class tomorrow. You can leave your car in my garage so he can't damage it. I don't know if he would, but I don't trust him. Then we can come back here. We'll figure it out." She smiles at me.

  "I’ll pick you up from class," Stephanie adds. "Maybe by then we'll have a better idea of what we're dealing with."

  I brush the tears off my face and sit up. My girls never let me down. "Okay. Let's go get new locks and then we can pack a bag. I don't want that fucker in here ever again."

  "I'll drive. We'll meet you in the car." Christin and Steph go out the door.

  I run to the bedroom to get my purse and my phone. As I'm locking up, my neighbor is walking toward me. I try to hide my cheek, but he sees me.

  "Are you okay, Rebecca? What happened?" He looks so concerned. It’s sweet, but I'm not telling him anything.

  "Nothing, Colin. Just clumsy, I guess." Probably not the most believable thing but it's all I can think of.

  "Oh, all right. Take it easy." I guess he bought it. I smile and walk away as fast as I can.

  "Clumsy, my fucking ass," I think I hear Colin say to himself as I exit the building.

  Once I get into Christin's car the questions start.

  "Who was that hottie that just walked in? Does he live here? Do you know him? Have you fucked him yet?" I can't keep them straight when both girls are firing them at me so fast.

  I shake my head and laugh. "Of course I've fucked him. Are you guys crazy? You know I'd never let something that hot live next door and not ride him like a cowgirl." I'm trying for sarcastic but I'm not sure it's coming through.

  Christin looks at Stephanie and they both have their mouths open. I just shake my head and laugh even harder. Steph speaks first.

  "Don't even joke about something like that. I've never seen anyone hotter, and if you aren't fucking him, then maybe I should."

  "Bitch, you better not. I saw him first and I think he wants me." Christin is laughing now, too.

  "Both of you shut up. Nobody is going to touch him. I have to live next door to him, so hands off. You hear me?"

  "Yes, Mommy," they answer in unison. We all stare at each other and then laugh again as Christin backs out of the parking spot and starts toward the hardware store.

  * * * * *

  After having lunch and buying a new deadbolt and doorknob, we’re speeding back to my apartment. Stephanie needed to go check on her grandmother, so we dropped her at her place and Christin took me home. I took a walk around my car when we got back to make sure everything was fine and it looked untouched. I'm glad he hasn't done anything to it. I can't afford any repairs right now.

  We make our way to my apartment and things are as I left them. I breathe a sigh of relief at this small favor. I dig out my screwdrivers and Christin opens the packages. As we're removing the old lock, Colin comes out of his apartment.

  "What are you two doing? Do you need some help?" He's smiling at me and barely acknowledges Christin. Most people notice her first.

  "We're changing the locks on Becca's door to keep her psycho ex-boyfriend out."

  I groan out loud. Why does she always have to give so much information?

  "Psycho, huh?"

  I can't look him in the eye, but I notice his posture changes a few seconds later.

  "Did he hit you, Becca? Is that what happened to your cheek?"

  "Don't worry about it, Colin. Everything's fine." I try to smile, but it makes my face hurt.

  "No, I’m going to worry about it. That's bullshit and you know it. Men don't hit women. Let me take care of it for you. He won't bother you again." I look up and Colin's face is red, eyes blazing.

  I jump up from the floor and put my hand on his forearm. Damn, he’s built. "Please, let me handle it. You don't need to get involved in my drama. I can take care of myself." I can see him thinking it over.

  He sighs and shakes his head. "I'll let it go for now but know that you can come to me if anything else happens. I'm not happy about it, but I'm willing to stay out of it, unless I see him do something."

  I smile up at him. "Thanks, Colin. And, yes, I’ll let you know if I need anything. I'm going to spend the night at Christin's tonight, so hopefully there won't be any problems." At least I hope not.

  "All right. Why don't I give you my number in case you need it? Do you have your phone?"

  "I'll go get it for you," Christin says as she walks further into the apartment.

  "Seriously, Becca, I'm not cool with this. Let me beat the shit out of the asshole and be done with it. I can't stand the thought of him hurting you again."

  "You're so sweet, but this is my fight. I'll handle it." Christin hands me my phone, but Colin takes it from me, quickly tapping buttons.

  "I've got my number programmed in here now and I expect you to use it anytime. I mean it. Call me if you need anything, okay?" He smiles as he hands the phone back.

  "I promise, and thank you. I appreciate it."

  "No problem at all. You ladies have a good day." He grins as he walks past us and out of the building.

  "Holy fucking hell," Christin says shaking her head. "How is it that you haven't been getting some of that? He's obviously interested. Get your head out of your ass and jump on that, woman." I just sigh knowing that she's trying to cheer me up and go back to working on the new lock.

  About an hour later, we have both locks changed and I'm finished packing an overnight bag and my backpack for school tomorrow. Christin has been wonderful to help me with it. Now we have to figure out how to keep Ron from coming over here tonight.

  "What if you text him and tell him you're sick? You know how much he hates it when you puke."

  "I don't know if that’ll work. He seemed pretty determined this morning."

  "I know," she says snapping her fingers. "You can tell him that I had an emergency and you had to take me to the hospital. You don't have to tell him which one and you can shut your phone off because they don't allow them in the emergency room anyway."

  "Don't you think he'll go to where you work? He knows you're a nurse, dumbass." Although, it's not a bad idea.

  "He doesn't know where I work in the hospital and it's so big, nobody knows you if you don't work the same floor. Besides, if he does go in, they can't tell him anything because of privacy laws. Trust me, this will work." She's nodding excitedly.

  "You're probably right. It's our best option. It just seems unreal to me that I’m lying and hiding from my ex. I'm living in a soap opera, right? This can't be my life." I feel the tears threaten to fall again.

  "Yes, it's your life but not for long. Let's get your shit and get out of here. You can text him once we get to my house and your car is tucked away in my garage." She hands me the backpack and picks up my bag.

  When we get up to leave, I grab Christin in a big hug. "Thank you for being such a great friend to me. I don't know what I'd do without you."

  Christin pats me on the back. She's not really an affectionate person. "It's all good, babe. I'm happy to be your friend. Now let's get going."

  The drive to Christin's is uneventful. I try to enjoy the few minutes of solitude and get my thoughts in order. I’m having trouble processing everything that’s happened today. My ex-boyfriend, who has become a violent idiot, hit me in the face because I had sex with someone else. He claims that I'm his and that nobody else gets to touch me. My hot, bodybuilder neighbor, that I've talked to less than three times, wants to beat the shit out of the ex-boyfriend so he’ll leave me alone. I'm going to park my car in Christin's garage so Ron doesn't vandalize it and I'm going to hide at her house tonight to avoid any more
confrontation. I'm also going to lie to the man that hit me so he doesn't show up at my apartment and cause drama for the neighbors.

  Whose fucking life did I fall into? This is the craziest thing I've ever heard of, let alone lived. It's like a crazy reality show. This kind of shit doesn't happen to regular people, but it's happening to me.

  When I pull into Christin's driveway, she has the garage door open for me. Once I'm parked, I get my bags and follow her inside. Christin lives in a townhouse that’s two units attached with garages on the far ends. It's a fairly new development and her job as a critical care nurse pays her well enough to afford it.

  "You know where your room is. Put your stuff down and we'll figure out how to word the text to the dickhead."

  I can't help the giggle that escapes. I'm so nervous I can barely think. Once I put my bags down in the guest room I meet Christin in the kitchen.

  "I think you should say that I fell down the stairs and hurt my ankle and you had to take me to the ER. It takes about six hours to get through there with that kind of injury since it's not life-threatening. Even if you're an employee, the major emergencies have to be treated first. Totally believable because I'm accident prone, and it’ll explain why your car is gone." She smiles and winks at me.

  "Have you done this before? That sounds very thought out and practiced." I raise my eyebrow at her the way my mother used to do to me when she thought I was up to something.

  "I may have used it in the past to avoid clingy men. It's always worked for me. Just do it. If we need a Plan B, we'll come up with something else."

  I take a deep breath before typing out the excuse and hovering over the send button. I can't stand how nervous I am. Normally, I would say that I'm not worried about Ron, but after him throwing dishes and then hitting me this morning, he’s proven he has a side that he's kept well hidden all these months.

  "Stop thinking and just send it, Becca. You can't let him get in your head." She smiles at me while nodding toward my phone.

  "I just don't know what he's going to do and I don't need any more problems. I don't want you to get hurt and I don't want to deal with his shit."

  "We'll keep the lights off tonight and if he does show up here, I won't answer the door. If that doesn't work, we'll call the police and have him removed. It’ll be okay, I promise."

  Nodding, I press the send key and let out the breath I was holding. No going back now.

  It takes less than five minutes to get a text back from Ron.

  What the fuck? When will you be home? I still want to talk to you.

  Christin takes the phone away from me and reads the message. She shakes her head and starts typing. Before I can get the phone away from her, she’s hit send.

  I have to help my friend. There’s nothing to say.

  "Christin, are you trying to get me killed? How could you send that? Now he's going to be even worse to deal with."

  "I think you need to just cut him off. He can't treat you like this and pussy footing around isn't going to stop him."

  "Nothing I can do now." I hang my head and try to think of a way out of this. My phone alerts to a new message.

  There’s plenty to say. YOU ARE MINE and I won’t let you go. I’ll be at your place tonight waiting for you.

  Well, fuck. "Now what am I going to do? He's going to be pounding on my door because he can't get in. I don't want Colin to get involved, and I know he'll confront Ron. This is a fucking nightmare."

  "Call Colin and tell him to stay out of it. Let him know what's going on. He gave you his phone number."

  "No, I'll try to fix this now."

  I don't know how long I'll be. Why don't we go out for dinner tomorrow and we can talk then?

  "Really? You just offered to go out with the guy? You're fucking crazy." Christin shakes her head at me.

  "No. I'm trying to do this in public where there are witnesses if anything happens. Hopefully, it’ll calm him down enough tonight to not go to my place." My phone chirps again.

  Fine, but we’ll talk tomorrow one way or another.

  I slump down in my chair. At least I have another day to figure out what I'm going to do.

  Chapter 6-Colin

  As I walk out of the building, I feel my anger rise to the surface. What kind of low-life, piece of shit punches a woman in the face? Obviously a drug lord like Ronaldo. I've got to remember not to blow my cover. Where’s this coming from? I barely know my neighbor, but here I am plotting out a course of protection for her. She's really throwing me off my game. I've never had any feelings for women before, outside the desire to fuck. I don't treat them poorly; I just don't get involved in their lives. Rebecca is different and I know I need to do what I can to keep her safe. I'm not sure if she'll let me, but that won't stop me.

  Today is all about recon, so I go check out the university. It's important to get a layout of the campus so we can start tracking any suspicious activity.

  Most of the classroom buildings are locked since it's the weekend, but the library’s open. I figure there's no harm in checking it out. Sometimes deals happen in the stacks. I take some time to walk around each floor. There’re very few people here, probably because classes don't actually start until tomorrow.

  Stopping at the reference desk, I’m greeted by a small woman who looks like she's spent her entire life in a library. She's got on an old, long dress and dark-framed glasses. She looks like a stereotypical librarian from the 1950s.

  "How may I help you, young man?" she asks quietly.

  "I was wondering where the gym is. I'm new to campus and I always try to find the weight room before classes start." I give her my most innocent smile, hoping that she will take pity on me and give me directions.

  "Yes, you look like you work out," she says as she stares at my arms. I guess she's not so old-fashioned after all. "The weight room is in the PE Complex. It's located on the other side of campus, across from the new Computer Technology building." She gets out a campus map and draws a line from the library to where the weight room is. I take the map and thank her for the help.

  "I hope to see you around here this semester." She winks at me.

  "Thanks, I'm sure you will," I say as I walk away shaking my head a little. It's always interesting when older women hit on me.

  When I finally reach the PE Complex, the doors are locked. It's hard to tell what the hours are for this building, but it doesn't look like I'm going to get a workout today, if they would have even let me in without a student ID. I could go over to the office and lift, but I don't need to run into the boss today. That guy is such a pain in my ass. I decide that the best way to get everything accomplished, and keep my mind off Rebecca, is to go for a run. I put my earbuds in, turn on my music, and start to jog around campus.

  As I go, I survey the grounds; trying to commit everything to memory because I have a feeling I'm going to need the information later. I take stock of each parking lot, where the lights are and any security cameras. Based on the little information we have about her, I know that Rebecca has been dating Ronaldo for approximately six months and she's a Psychology graduate student here. There's no indication that she's working with him, but I know that will be part of my mission to find out. After what I saw this morning, I highly doubt she has a clue what her boyfriend's been into. Rebecca should be in the Psychology building most of the time and I pay special attention to it. I only see two cameras on the parking lot side and one on the front of the building. The good news is that the parking lot is fairly well lit, so it makes me feel a little better.

  Why in the fuck do I care so much? I don't know this woman, I'm not fucking her, and I don't have time for a relationship right now. I shake my head and take off toward the center of campus, hoping I can forget her after a few miles.

  Once I've finished my run, I get in my truck and check my phone. There's a missed call from my brother, Jude. He's the last person I want to talk to right now, but I know he'll pester the shit out of me if I don't call him back. I d
ial the number and let the Bluetooth pick up in the truck, so I can drive hands-free.

  "Hey, Dickhead! How's it hangin'?" My brother is such a fucking idiot.

  "It's all good. What do you need?" I don't need to mince words since Jude knows how I feel about him.

  "Whoa, take it easy. I'm just checking on you, not trying to piss in your cereal. How's your case coming?"

  Now I feel bad for being a prick. "It's okay. Been doing recon the past couple days. My gut tells me there's more going on here, but I can't put my finger on it. How long are you out?"

  "Just a week or so, I think. Hard to tell with McMann, you know?"

  "Yeah, I know. You gotta quit being such a prick on the job."

  "Fuck you. It wasn't me this time, and you know it. That bitch is fucking lying."

  I roll my eyes. It's the same story every time Jude gets in trouble at work. I'm really surprised that he's still with the agency, but when you've got the experience he does, they put up with a little bullshit and use it to their advantage.

  "Okay, okay. She's a bitch and you're an angel. Just call me when you're working again. You know how much I hate it when you just show up on my assignments."

  "No problem, little brother. I'll keep you posted."

  "See ya, and please, stay out of trouble," I say knowing that it’ll do no good whatsoever.

  "I'm out," Jude replies just before he ends the call. The conversation doesn't help ease my suspicions about this case or what's going on with Jude. Something better happen soon or I'm going to go insane trying to figure this shit out.

  Chapter 7-Rebecca

  It's comforting to be back at school. Most people dread it, but it feels like coming home to me. The buildings, the students, the books . . . it all makes me feel at peace. It's hard work, but I know it’ll pay off someday. I arrive at my first class a few minutes early so I can find a seat in the back. I see my friend, Heather, sitting in her usual spot. I plop down beside her and she grins.