“I’ve seen you coming and going. Scared of your own shadow. Turning your nose up at the people you pass on the street. You think you’re too good for this city? Too good for the rest of us?” His eyes skated over me and his mouth twisted into a sneer that sent shivers racing across my skin. “Stuck up bitch.”
He was so angry, but he didn’t even know me. It was confusing and terrifying.
When he took another step closer to us, I squeezed Noble so tight that she squeaked in complaint. He was lifting a gnarled hand again, so I turned, making his heavy palm land on my auburn ponytail instead of my daughter’s hair. It was a dumb move, one made on instinct alone, but I was kicking myself as I felt his finger latch onto my hair and yank. He pulled hard enough to bring tears to my eyes, and I stumbled back a step.
I felt his chest bump against my back and bit down on a cry.
“Mommy?” Noble’s voice quivered, and I could feel her body shaking against mine.
I tried to shush her, but my throat locked when a pair of rough, abrasive lips hit the side of my neck. He licked a wet trail up the side of my neck and I couldn’t bite back a gag.
“You taste expensive, pretty thing. Can’t wait to take a bite out of you, and I got a buddy who likes them young. The younger the better.” The implied threat was horrifying.
I kicked backward with my foot, aiming for a shin, a knee, anything. The heel of my sneaker glanced off something hard, which earned me another furious yank of my hair.
I opened my mouth to scream. Noble was crying, her tiny hands clutching my clothes and my skin. I wanted to believe that if I was able to make a noise, someone would step in and help. If not for me, then for my daughter. Even in this terrible place, surely strangers wanted to keep children safe. Only I knew that wasn’t true, and the more time that passed in this fucked-up situation, the more I realized that we were truly on our own.
I yelped as a hard hand slid over my ass and blinked back helpless tears.
I couldn’t let this happen. I had to keep Noble safe.
The panic was rising to an uncontrollable level. I was whimpering and desperately trying to pull free without losing my hold on Noble. My frantic mind considered putting her down and telling her to run, to find somewhere safe to hide while I was mauled by this aggressive stranger on the street. But she wasn’t even four yet, and I wasn’t convinced anywhere in this city was safe. I thought I knew what it was like to be trapped between a rock and a hard place before, but that wasn’t even close to the pressure squeezing my heart right now.
The groping hand was trying to find purchase between me and Noble, looking for a handful of skin. Any more of this and I really was going to throw up. I opened my mouth to scream, to call for help, even if it was useless, but suddenly I was released. I had to focus on not falling forward and crushing my kid between me and the broken sidewalk.
I whirled around, placing Noble on her feet so we could run if we had to. I pushed her protectively behind me, ready to flee or fight. Her small hands latched onto the hem of my shirt and tugged. She was as ready as I was to run for safety.
Only, the scary man who had grabbed me was now dangling from the hands of a guy twice his size and twice as scary. My intimidating rescuer towered over six feet and was built like a damn tank. His short hair was covered by a ratty and worn baseball cap, and his darkly handsome face was set in furious, tight lines. The thug was dangling in his grasp high enough that his toes were barely touching the sidewalk.
“What did I tell you about lurking around my place, Skinner? I don’t fucking like it.” The guy’s voice was a low growl. Intimidating without even trying. “I don’t fucking like you.”
Out of habit, I reached back and covered Noble’s ears with my hands. She wasn’t new to foul language, but I didn’t need her repeating this stranger’s garbage words, which she absolutely would at the most inopportune moment.
My eyes widened as he shook the lurker hard enough to snap his head back and forth comically. The smaller man whimpered and clutched at the hands locked on the front of his dirty coat.
“Let me go, Solo. I was just having some fun. She’s a prissy bitch. You’ve seen her walking around here like her shit don’t stink.” The pleading was wasted. The larger man was clearly unmoved.
The new arrival’s massive arms tensed and flexed as he practically threw the other man on the ground. I noticed he was dressed in nothing more than a dark t-shirt even though it was chilly outside. The short sleeves showed off more than his impressive build. In the faded street lights, I could hardly make out the designs that were inked over almost every visible inch of skin. That wasn’t an uncommon look in this neighborhood. Gang tattoos, prison tattoos, and general outsiders who called these streets home tended to rock some serious ink, but this guy’s looked more deliberate and artistic than a simple statement piece.
As soon as my attacker was back on the ground, the bigger guy stepped forward. I reflexively cringed as he lowered his big, booted foot down on the other man’s unprotected private parts. A wail of agony shrieked through the air, and I realized belatedly I should be hauling ass for my apartment, not standing around waiting to see how this brutal display of street justice played out.
I clutched Noble’s hand in mine and briskly jogged the last few yards to my apartment building. I lifted Noble over the sleeping homeless man and hustled up the five flights of stairs to our floor. The elevator had been broken since before we’d moved in, not that I would dare let either of us get trapped in a small place with anyone from this complex.
I was a panting, quaking mess when I finally slammed the door. I dropped to my knees and pulled my daughter into my arms, covering her tear-streaked face in kisses and whispering soothing words over and over again.
There was no way this could be our new normal.
But it was.
Noble deserved so much better than this.
I sighed, pushing her hair off her precious face. “You know what, sweets?” She blinked big, watery blue eyes at me and shook her head. “I think we both need cake.”
She nodded and cuddled close to me.
It wouldn’t occur to me until much later that I hadn’t bothered to shout a thank you or shown any appreciation at all to my savior. I had no clue if he was any better than the scumbag who had grabbed me, but he had at least kept my daughter safe, so I owed him, even if he was one of countless things in this forever dark place that scared the life out of me.
People didn’t help other people in this neighborhood… but he had stopped and helped me, whether his intentions were altruistic or not.
And I owed him… well… at the very least, more than a piece of cake.
Solo
I looked down at the man at my feet who now had a broken nose, two black eyes, and a split lip. His rat-like face was scrunched up in pain and covered in drool and blood.
Skinner was a bully when it came to anyone weaker and smaller than him. He liked to shake down the kids in the neighborhood for money, and I’d warned him on more than one occasion to leave the women and girls alone. He got off on scaring them and sending them running. I was done with him and his bullshit ways.
I didn’t like the way he lurked around, and I didn’t like that he sold drugs on the corner near my apartment building, because drugs brought around more shady, sketchy people like Skinner. I was done with warnings and threats. He was manhandling the young mother right out in the open. The little girl in her arms was hysterical, and I could hear Skinner laughing at their fear and panic all the way down the block.
I was exhausted. I’d put in a full day of work at the garage. It was a terribly kept secret in the neighborhood that the garage was actually a chop-shop, but that didn’t mean the job and the amount of time I spent working on the classic cars, which were my specialty, was any less labor intensive. I’d also spent a couple hours training at the gym around the corner from the garage. I always put in extra work when I had a fight coming up, so I was tired, sore, and in no mood for an altercation with someone like Skinner. I had zero patience for people who didn’t listen to me. It was disrespectful, and I made sure no one got away with openly disrespecting me. It was how I stayed the scariest thing on the streets I called home.
Plus, I’d seen the redhead and her kid around the block the last couple of months or so. I was pretty sure she lived in the same building as me, but I kept weird hours and wasn’t in the market for new friends or fragile females with baggage. The mother was very young and so out of place on these streets that she practically had a bright red and white bullseye painted on her back.
It was obvious to anyone with eyes that she didn’t belong here. She was like a newborn lamb trying to blend in with a pack of wolves. I had no idea what brought her to my city, but it must have been pretty bad because this was the last place anyone wanted to end up. My city was the last resort and the end of the road for most of the people who lived here. The young mother was already scraping the bottom of the barrel; she didn’t need to fend off an attack from a loser like Skinner on top of it. I had a feeling she would have fought tooth and nail to keep him away from her kid, and I admired that. This town wasn’t my last-ditch effort. For me, it was simply home, because I had a mother who would also fight tooth and nail to make sure nothing bad touched me. I was done with Skinner, and I wanted to make sure he understood that if he ever put his hands on the redhead or her child again, he was going to need machines to keep him alive because I would beat him into a damn coma.
I pointed a finger at the cowering man in front of me and told him flatly, “I warned you about hanging around my block, Skinner. It’s like you purposely want to piss me off.” I took a step back and crossed my arms over my chest. My shoulders screamed at the move, reminding me that I may have pushed a bit too hard when I was using the bench press tonight. “Do I strike you as the kind of guy who tolerates being ignored?”
The bloody man whimpered and curled his body into a protective ball. “I was just having some fun. That bitch needs to be knocked off her high horse. The kid was just in the way.”