by Hart, Rebel
Just a few more shielded seconds, Clint. Work with me here.
I saw Clint’s shoulders stiffen but his hands slowly unclenched. As he backed away from the guy, making his way back for me, I caught his eyes and saw the nervousness growing in them. His eyes darted around in the darkness, looking for a way out. He hugged me close and kissed the top of my head, then moved his lips to my ear.
“I’ll pay for this statement later, but keep your fucking mouth shut, Rae.”
I had a bad feeling about this. And so did Clint. He was nervous, which made me even more nervous. He turned back around, giving me darkness to stand in. And slowly, I slipped my hand around my back.
Main Boy’s voice boomed. “You know what I think?”
Clint sighed. “What do you think, dickweed?”
“I think we’ve been chatting long enough. I came here for a good time, and I’m not leaving until I get one.”
Then, as my finger found the red emergency button, I watched Main Boy rush for Clint.
38
Clinton
I reached my arms out and fisted the guy’s shirt as he came for me. I backed him all the way up to his car as Rae let out a yelp. I had to get these guys away from her. They were predatory, and they announced it well enough with their eyes. My bike was close. Really close. And the key was already in the ignition. I pinned that asshole to the hood of his car to give myself time to think. A well-placed knee to the groin turned his buddies’ attention away from Rae and to me.
“Get him, guys.”
As they ambushed me, I heard Rae calling out. The crunch of dead grass could be heard, and I hoped she was climbing into that fucking tree, doing her best to get away from these assholes. They ripped me away from the guy I had pinned to the hood of the car, tossing me back to my bike. And as I fell to the concrete, I gazed up at my getaway, hoping with all my might they’d follow me and leave Rae alone.
Piss them off first. They’ll follow you then.
“That all you got?” I asked.
I leapt off the ground, poised for a fight as their main guy hunched over, grabbing his balls like a little bitch.
I grinned. “Because if that’s all you got, there’s no way in hell you’ll please a girl like Rae. She needs something a little… thicker.”
“Clint! Shut up and come on already!”
Her voice sounded far away, and I hoped that meant she was running. Another guy rushed toward me and I clotheslined him, preparing myself to throw another punch. The fight began and I hit them everywhere I could, making sure not to leave my bike. They kept coming at me with punches. With elbows. With snarky remarks about all the things they’d do to Rae once they got their hands on her.
I wasn’t having any of it.
I ran myself into one guy’s stomach, picking him up off the ground. I body-slammed him into the hood of the car, then moved just before another one kicked me. I heard the headlight shatter before the lighting dimmed around us. A yelp told me that glass had raked right across someone’s skin. I chuckled to myself as I whipped around, lifting my legs to donkey kick the asshole headed for me.
And since I couldn't see Rae, I took that as a good sign.
“You guys really are pathetic!” I grunted. “This is easier than last week!”
“You’re gonna die tonight, asshole.”
The growling voice told me it was time. I bolted for my bike, praying to any god that might be listening for help in abating Rae’s anger. Because I knew she’d be angry at me. Spitfire angry. But I had to get these assholes away from her. I had to keep her safe.
And whatever that took, I was willing to do it.
“Oh, no. You're not getting away. Get in the car, boys! We got ourselves an asshole to run down!”
“Clint!”
Her voice seemed so far away, but that was the point. Give her a chance to run before leading these guys off somewhere else. I threw my leg over my bike, not worrying about my helmet. I cranked up the engine and sped out of the parking lot, hearing my gear shifter groan and flailing my leg to get the kickstand up as I took off.
It worried me when I didn’t see that headlight turning toward me in the rearview mirror.
“No!”
Rae’s shriek told me everything I needed to know. I whipped around, revving my engine as I raced down the road. I saw the car hopping the curb, blowing past that fucking tree. I saw it racing up the street before the headlight illuminated Rae’s form on the side of the road. She was climbing the chain-link fence around the elementary school playground, hopping it before the boys even got out of their fucking car.
I grabbed my helmet off my handlebars and pulled up behind their car, whipping the helmet at their rear windshield and shattering it into a million pieces.
That got their attention.
“You son of a bitch!”
Rae yelled, “Clint!”
“Get him!”
“You’re dead tonight, fucker! I just replaced that damn thing!”
I laughed. “Gotta catch me first, assholes!”
Rae cupped her hands over her mouth. “Clint! Don’t do this!”
“Get yourself safe, Rae. For fuck’s sake, just stop fighting!”
I saw the car back away and turn around. It swerved, showing that the boys were more drunk than before. I turned and raced off, letting Rae’s voice fade into the background as we peeled away from the grocery store, weaving in and out of the small parking lots. I didn’t want to take this shit to the main roads. I didn’t want anyone getting hurt. I just wanted to cause enough ruckus to get someone’s attention. Anyone’s. A police car driving by. Some innocent bystander who would call 9-1-1. I’d gladly go to jail and do time as the adult I was if it got these drunken, horny bastards away from my girl.
I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to fix my relationship with Rae, though.
After something like this.
I felt an empty beer can clink against my bike and something wet sprayed my back. The car’s engine revved, catching up with me. I throttled it through a parking lot and hopped another curb. My bike went airborne for a second before landing onto a small back road. I heard the car behind me practically falling apart in order to keep up with me. I knew if I looked back, I’d see something hanging off that piece of shit.
I tried looking around for Rae, but it was no use. I circled back to the grocery store but she wasn’t near the elementary school or back inside the store. I didn’t see her walking along the streets or heading into the gas station. I had no fucking clue where she’d gone, which meant I now had to solve the other issue on my hands.
“I see you!”
The four fucking maniacs chasing me in their rundown car.
The main roads were empty at this time of night. Half past ten, in the middle of the work week. I blazed a trail up the main roads, trying to get away from the goons. I soared through yellow lights and took sharp turns on red lights, hoping and praying to trigger a cop from out of nowhere. But, of course, there were none to be found tonight. Fucking hell, I’d torn through this town and gotten clocked by more cops than anyone else. Yet the one damn night I needed them to clock me, they weren’t anywhere in sight.
That’s some fucking karma, if I’ve ever witnessed it.
The closer they got to me, the more panicked I became. Rae was safe, and as long as they were tailing me, I knew she’d stay that way. They were drunk. They’d probably been to some dumbass party of hoes and gangly dickweeds from their high school. But I knew how volatile guys were when drunk. Roy and I had destroyed many lives while drunk. We’d wreaked many hours’ worth of havoc with alcohol in our systems. And it seemed that no matter how hard I pushed my bike, they pushed their car just a tad bit harder.
The only way I stayed out of their reach was to take sharp turns.
Because their car couldn't handle them.
We blazed a trail through town before I took a sharp right. I rumbled over some abandoned railroad tracks and blazed into the darkness. A
massive stretch of road that didn’t have lamps hanging overhead. Nothing but dilapidated houses and abandoned parks where children used to get their kicks before growing up and moving away. I heard the car behind me sputtering as they continuously threw beer cans and bottles at my fucking wheels, trying to get me to careen off the damn road. And when that didn’t work, they moved over into the other lane in my rearview mirror, approaching me with their windows rolled down.
“Nice bike you got there!”
I peeked over at the guy who had tossed Rae to the ground last week.
“Think I could fuck your girl on it?”
I reached out with my hand and hooked my fingers up his nostrils, pulling at him until he was hanging halfway out of the car, screaming as the driver started swerving, trying to see what was happening. His hand wrapped around my wrist, clinging to me for dear life as he yelled in horror. I chuckled and smiled widely before releasing his nose, shoving him back into the car with my hand.
Then I slammed on the brakes of my bike, whipping a U-turn and kicking up burnt rubber before speeding off in the other direction. And for a while there, the car wasn’t even in my rearview mirror. Did I shake them? Were they gone? I had enough time alone to breathe a sigh of relief.
Until I saw a light click on in the corner of my eye.
“Holy shit!”
“You motherfucker!”
I heard the boy behind the wheel of the car screaming as he careened out of the fucking woods. I slid my bike close to the asphalt, twisting away from him as he shot himself across the damn street. It took me a few seconds to get my bike back underneath me before I sped off again, and it was those few precious seconds that enabled them to catch right back up to me. On my tail again, like they had been.
And for the first time in my life, I had no idea what the fuck to do to shake these assholes.
39
Raelynn
“Clint!”
I watched his bike speed off into the distance with the car behind him. I rushed across the elementary school playground, doing my best to try and figure out where the fuck he was headed. My lungs burned. My legs ached. I clutched my purse, wrapping it around my neck and shoulder before reaching for my phone. I pulled it out to see if anyone was listening.
But all I saw were a bunch of random numbers pressed into my phone.
“Shit,” I hissed.
I could have sworn I’d pressed that damn red emergency button. Fucking hell, did I have to screw every little thing up? I kept running, feeling my purse slamming against me as the revving of Clint’s engine started coming closer to me.
And as it barreled by the elementary school, I was still half a football field away from the road.
“Clint!” I roared.
I felt my voice growing hoarse. I saw the car rush by just as I got past the school building. I bent over, panting for air as I watched the car full of angry drunken idiots swerve down the road. Were there not any cops out tonight? At all? The hell was that about?
I had to get to Clint.
I fumbled with my phone as I stood up, throwing my head back, trying my hardest to catch my breath. Even for someone who enjoyed P.E. and sports, I still couldn't keep up. I grumbled to myself as I clutched my phone. I looked down, hovering my finger over the red emergency button. The dial-out to 9-1-1. The number that would surely bring people to help out this situation.
But then I heard laughing in the distance. I heard Clint’s bike revving before the rickety sounds of the train tracks were heard.
If I called the police, would Clint get in trouble, too?
“I can’t get him in trouble for this. It’s not his fault,” I murmured.
Instead, I dialed Michael’s number. Hoping beyond all hope that he’d pick up the phone. I knew he was done with my shit. Done with me and the idiocy surrounding Clint and me. But Michael was the one with the car. Allison hadn’t gotten her driver’s license yet because of some weird fear of making herself motion sick, so her parents still carted her around.
I put my phone to my ear, listening to it ring as I started jogging toward the road that connected the parking lot of Grady’s Groceries and the elementary school.
Michael chuckled, answering the phone. ”Hey, Allison and I were just talking about you.”
I panted for breath. “Michael. Please. I need your help.”
“Wait, what? Rae, what's wrong?”
“Me. And Clint. It—I’m at the—”
“Clint? What the fuck has he done?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. He—he’s in trouble and—”
“Why are you out of breath?”
I groaned. “Do you have your car at Allison’s?”
He paused. “Uh, yeah?”
I drew in a deep breath. “Please. I need you to come get me. I’m standing outside of the elementary school. We have to go after Clint. It’s important.”
“And why should I give enough of a damn about him to do something like that?”
“Look, I know you’re sick of his shit. And my shit. I know you’re sick of me, despite the makeup session we kind of had in the cafeteria. But I need you to come get me. It’s a very serious emergency, and explaining it only wastes time.”
“You make it sound like he tossed himself off a bridge or something.”
I yelled, “Damn it, Michael. I need you right now. My best fucking friend. Please. If you come get me, I’ll leave you alone. For good. I won’t talk to you. I won’t approach you. I won’t bother you with Clint shit ever again. Just please, this once, come get me and stop asking questions.”
“I don’t want that, and you know it.”
“Well, you’re sure as hell acting like it!”
I heard his bike revving off in the distance. Coming closer, only to fade back. And I could have sworn I heard the skidding of tires. The sound made me sick. So sick that I actually heaved. And when I did, Michael sighed.
“You said you’re at the elementary school?”
I sniffled. “Yes.”
“Are you crying?”
“Just shut the fuck up and get here.”
“Fine. I’m on my way. But I’m leaving Allison behind. She doesn’t need to get involved with his shit. Just like you shouldn’t have.”
“Spare me the lecture, please?”
“Stand on the curb so I can spot you. Bye.”
I hung up the phone call and stood there like a damn idiot. The sounds faded into nothingness for a few seconds, and it forced tears down my cheeks. I knew the first question Michael would ask the second I got into his car. He’d want to know if I called the police. And if I didn’t, he’d chastise me for it. He’d tell me I was turning into Clint, and I’d really risk losing my friend then.
So as I stood there waiting for him, I pressed that little red emergency button on my phone screen.
“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”
“Hi. Yes. I’d like to report an… ambush?”
“An ambush, ma’am?”
I cleared my throat. “Yes. An ambush. My boyfriend came to—”
Boyfriend? Is that what Clint was to me?
The word made me smile.
The operator cleared her throat. “Your boyfriend came where, ma’am?”
I shook my head. “Yes. Sorry. My boyfriend came to see me at work. We were standing in the parking lot after I locked up, and four drunk guys in a car pulled into the parking lot. Started harassing us. Calling us names. Throwing beer bottles and things at us. They were trying t—”
I heard the operator typing in the background as tears rushed to my eyes again.
“They were trying to what, ma’am? Where are you currently?”
I sighed. “I’m in Riverbend, in front of the elementary school beside a place called Grady’s Groceries. I don’t have any other address other than that. You guys have to hurry. My boyfriend started fighting with these guys so they wouldn't get to me. They were talking about things. Taking advantage of me and all that. He got on his bike
and rode off, and a car full of drunk teenagers are following him. He’s in a lot of trouble. Please.”
“All right, ma’am. I want you to stay calm. About how old do you think the boys are?”
“No more than eighteen. They go to Lincoln High School.”
The operator hummed. “Do you know what the car looked like?”
I searched around for Michael’s SUV as I racked my brain.
“Uh… it was a low-riding car. Like, not like the usual way a car sits on its tires, if that makes any sense. And it was white. A white, low-riding car with tinted windows. I don’t know anything other than that, though. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. It’s okay. Just take some deep breaths for me. You’re panting pretty hard.”
Was I?
Shit, I was.
I drew in some deep breaths. “I don’t want my boyfriend to get in trouble. He only fought against them and sped off to get them away from me. They were grabbing for me. There are parking lot cameras at Grady’s Groceries. The footage should show—”
The operator cut me off. “It’s okay. First we get everyone safe. Then we figure out who’s at fault. But, from one woman to another, I believe you. Okay? Just stay where you are.”
But just as she said that, Michael’s SUV pulled up to the curb.
“I’m sorry, I have to go. Please. Send someone out here. Hurry. I think my boyfriend and those goons have raced across the railroad tracks. And there’s a lot of trees and overpasses and things for them to get hurt on.”
“Ma’am. Do not go after them. Please, stay on the line with me and wait for—”
I hung up the call and ripped Michael’s door open. I climbed in, slamming the door closed as I buckled my seatbelt. I dropped my purse to the floorboard and slipped my phone into his cup holder. Then I looked him straight in his eyes as he waited for an explanation.
