by H. Q. Frost
"I don't need your judgment!"
"Dom?" There was a soft knock at his bedroom door.
"Fuck!" he screamed, at the end of his rope. Nyla went on talking, the madness in his head blocked it out.
"Honey, can I come in?" His mom cracked the bedroom door.
"I'm sorry for screaming, Mom. Go back to sleep. I'll shut the hell up. I just need to get off the phone."
"You okay?" She frowned at him.
"Yeah, go back to sleep. It's your only night off. Go to sleep. I'm sorry."
"Who are you yelling at like that? Are you in some kind of trouble?"
"No, Mom." He tossed his phone onto his bed and walked toward her. "I'm sorry for screaming."
"I love you," she told him, holding him in a hug.
"I love you too." He kissed her forehead and when she walked out, he closed the door and took a breath before walking back over to his phone.
He picked it up almost hoping Nyla had hung up, but the running time was still going.
"Nyla, I have to go," he lied.
"You live with your mom?" she asked softly.
"Yep," he snapped, expecting her to look down on him because of it.
"I thought it was just you and Jeff. Is that why you've never asked me over?"
"No. God. Fuck. Let me hang up the phone now. Please!" he begged.
"I'm sorry for making you mad," she said through tears and it triggered his anxiety again, enough that he couldn't take it.
"I'm coming over." He hung up the phone as he recalled the hundreds of times he'd heard his mother cry the same words to the two men that abused her.
Nyla infuriated him to no end that night, but he couldn't go to sleep knowing she thought she did something wrong. Grabbing a pair of basketball shorts, he pulled them on then grabbed a t-shirt and headed into the living room. Seeing Jeff passed out, he sighed and turned the TV down then grabbed his mom's keys and was out the front door. He parked on the street behind her then crept through her backyard neighbor's yard and jumped the fence to hers. Hearing her dad talking to her through the open window, he laid low in the shadows.
"He was protecting me, Dad," she said through tears.
"He beat that boy to a pulp."
"Would you rather he let Gavin hurt me?" she protested.
"No, I'd rather my daughter be smarter than hang around any punks like either of them, Nyla! I expect more from you!"
"Dom's a good guy, Dad. You don't even know him."
"And I don't want to, so I'm telling you to stay away from him."
"You can't do that. I'm not a kid anymore. I live here to help you out, not because I have to."
"You can't afford rent on a movie theater's wage! I can barely afford rent!"
"I gave you two hundred dollars last weekend! I'm trying to help out! And now I have more hours, I'll be able to give you more!"
"I don't want your money, Nyla! I want you to be smart and know trouble when you see it!"
"I do and Dom's not trouble."
He may have been, but she was determined to see a side of him neither were sure existed.
"I have to sleep. I have work tomorrow," he grumbled heading for her door. "This conversation isn't over."
Dom almost left but his phone started to ring, her number flashing on the screen. Hearing his phone, she quickly locked her bedroom door and ran to the window.
"Dom?" she called out in a whisper.
Emerging from the shadows, he slowly approached her house.
"You heard all that?"
"Nyla, you gotta do what your dad asks you to. You can't get kicked out because of me."
"My dad can't tell me who I can and can't date."
"But maybe your dad is a better judge of people's character than you are." His eyes locked on hers.
She stayed secured in his gaze a minute, before shaking her head no and moving out of the way so he could climb in.
"I'm not coming in," he told her.
Her mouth opened but she didn't know what to say.
"I came because you were upset and you said you were sorry for something you didn't do. Tonight made me mad, not you. I heard my mom say she was sorry after every time she got hit. Don't be sorry for something like me getting pissed off."
"Dom, come in," she insisted and moved again.
"Not tonight. Get to sleep." He turned to walk away.
"I can't sleep." She climbed out the window, tripping and having to grab him.
"Get inside your fucking house," he growled.
"Shut up. Don't tell me what to do. Please talk to me."
"I can't be here right now. I just couldn't let you think you did something wrong when I started this shit. You reminded me of my mom when you said that and I had to see you to tell you, you didn't do anything. Please get back inside before your dad finds out I'm here and he shoots me, because he has a right; I'm on his property."
"He's not going to shoot you."
"I might," her father's voice came from the back door and she gasped, quickly grabbing Dom's hand and tugging him behind her.
"Stop trying to protect the boy, Nyla," her dad mumbled tiredly. "Get in the house." He held the back door open.
Dom's eyes flashed to her dad's hands, checking for a weapon that wasn't there.
"I don't mean no disrespect coming here, Mr. Wood. She was upset on the phone and—"
"I heard what you said. Take a seat. And, Nyla, get your ass in the house or this won't end well. It'll either end with police or my gun."
"Nyla, it's your dad's house. You have to respect him," Dom told her quiet enough he hoped her dad didn't hear; he did.
She believed her dad's threat so she pushed her lips to Dom's, whimpering when he didn't kiss her back.
"Have a seat," Maleek told him when she ran through the back door, then he walked to her bedroom window, slamming the glass pane down so she couldn't listen to their conversation. "What's your name? And don't tell me, Dom," he snickered.
"Dominic Sestak, Sir."
"You attend the community college?" he asked sitting across from him.
"No, Sir," Dom replied, not knowing Nyla told him that lie.
With a chortle and shake of his head, Maleek glanced toward her bedroom window. "She's been lying to me about you." His finger waggled at Dom.
"I'm sorry. I never told her to do that."
"You've got a temper." The older man's tired eyes narrowed.
"I don't like men that put their hands on women, Sir. And when that guy grabbed her arm and hurt her, I got angry."
"Your momma was a battered woman," he stated, having heard what Dom told Nyla.
"Yes, Sir." The surety that was in his voice before was gone.
"You're a protector."
"I just don't like men mistreating women." Dom couldn't look him in the face.
"I don't either. Especially not my daughter."
They sat in silence a few minutes.
"You got no car. She tells me the car you been getting her to work in is your momma's. You even have a job?"
"Two, Sir." He nodded. "I'm buying a car tomorrow. Something temporary until I save up enough money for the car I want."
"And what's that?"
"The car I want?" Dom watched him nod and he cleared his throat. "A Camaro SS."
"What year?"
"Any year I can afford first."
When Maleek laughed, it wasn't at him and it calmed some of Dom's tension.
"I had a sixty-eight Firebird when I was around your age. Wooo, she was fast."
Dom eased into his seat. "You take her racing? My buddy had an old Firebird. Peeled the tires and dropped the trans."
They laughed together and it started an easy conversation about cars. As the sun was rising, Dom's cellphone started to ring.
"Shoot," he whispered seeing it was his mom.
"Go ahead." Maleek waved his hand.
"Hello?"
"Dominic, you took my car?" her angry but steady voice came over the phone. "W
here are you?"
"At Nyla's, talking to her father. I caused a fight here earlier tonight and I had to apologize."
She sighed and closed her eyes. "I almost called the station, Dom! I thought you were in bed and the car was stolen! Do you know how much trouble you would have gotten in?"
"Yes. I'm sorry. I'll be home in a few minutes."
"Get home safe. I love you."
"Love you too, Mom."
"I didn't get that apology," Maleek said, and when Dom looked at him confused, he said, "For the fight you caused."
"I am sorry. It won't happen again. And if you'd like me to stay away from Nyla, I'll respect that until she's out of your house."
"Hell." Maleek sighed and got to his feet. "I couldn't tell that girl what to do to save my soul. You want to stay away from her?" Maleek's graying eyebrow cocked.
"No, Sir. I'd prefer to see your daughter with your okay."
"I'm giving it, but I can take it away. You can be a good kid, Dom. Protect my daughter, don't put her in more harm by wailing on some punk who might take it out on her next time he sees her." When Dom's face fell and his mouth popped open, Maleek said, "Didn't think of that, did ya?"
"I won't let that happen."
"Leave that punk alone or you're gonna have to leave my daughter alone."
"Yes, Sir." He complacently nodded.
"What's all this." Maleek's finger wiggled toward his own earlobe. "That shit hurt?" he asked about Dom's gauged ears.
"Not anymore." Dom chuckled.
"You can get jobs with all this?" Now his finger waved around his lip, indicating Dom's lip piercings.
"I'm holding down two," he replied in confidence before pushing his hand out. "Thank you for talking to me."
As Maleek shook his hand, he said, "Don't let me down. And don't tell Nyla we sat out here for three hours talking cars. I'm going to tell her I scared you into treating her right."
"Yes, Sir." Dom laughed. When Maleek went inside, he turned toward the fence but stopped because he couldn't sneak through the yard when the sun was coming up. He'd get shot. "Shit," he whispered and took off in a jog to get around the block and get his mom's car home.
Picking up an unexpected shift, Nyla called Dom's phone.
"Hi, Myra," Jeff answered.
"Hi, Jeff." She chuckled at the name he just wouldn't let go. "Dom at work already?"
"Yep. He's at work. Do you work today? You want to go see a movie with me?"
"I do work today. I can probably get you a free movie ticket if you come up to the theater."
"What about if I have a date?"
"I can probably snag two." She grinned.
"What's out to see? I'll look!" he boasted in excitement.
"Hey, Jeff. I was just seeing if Dom could get me to work, but I'll walk."
"I can't drive. I don't have my license yet, but I can walk you." Jeff's protection through her neighborhood was better than none.
"You sure? That'll be okay with Dom?" She wasn't sure if Jeff was allowed to roam the streets without Dom or one of the other guys around.
"I walk to Boney's. You want me to walk you to work, Myra?"
"Sure. Thanks."
"Bye."
Looking at her phone, she chuckled and shook her head.
"Who was that?" Jeff's mother asked coming from the kitchen.
"Myra. She's Dom's friend but kind of my friend. She's more like Dom's girlfriend."
"I know who Myra is, honey. You're going to her house without Dominic?"
"She needs someone to walk her to work."
Swiftly grabbing her car keys, she said, "I can drive her."
"But I'm going to the movies, Mom," Jeff insisted.
"That's fine. I'll drop you off and you call me when the movie is over and I'll pick you up."
"You can't. I'm going to ask Kaitlyn to meet me there. I can walk home."
"Just call me when it's over. Come on." Heading out the door she said, "Tell me how to get to Myra's."
When Jeff guided her to Larry's, she slowly pulled in front of the house, staring at his front door.
"Don't look at his house." Jeff pushed her face and she slapped his hand down. "He was an asshole."
"Watch your mouth."
"Pull up one house. Myra lives right there." He pointed.
When she pulled up, Jeff laid on the horn.
"Jeffery!" She slapped his hand again.
A smile filled Nyla's face when she opened the door, thinking Dom had showed up to give her a ride, but when she opened the back door to get in, she froze seeing Jeff and a female driver.
"Hi, honey, I'm Dom's mom. My name's Marilyn."
Her cheeks heated as she stood planted next to the car. "I'm so sorry Jeff asked you to pick me up."
"I didn't!" Jeff insisted. "She made me."
"Get in the car. It's okay. I told Jeff I'd drop him at the movies."
Humiliated as she was meeting Dom's mom without him there, she hesitantly climbed into the back seat.
As she buckled in, she said, "I'm Nyla."
"Nyla or Myra, or is it interchangeable?"
She chuckled. "It's Nyla. Jeff likes to call me Myra." Reaching forward she tapped his shoulder and Marilyn smiled back at her.
"Are you in school, Nyla?"
"Not yet. In the fall I plan on attending classes at Crescent Community."
"That's nice." Marilyn smiled at her over her shoulder.
"We moved here a few months ago."
"Who do you live with, sweetheart?" Marilyn looked back again, seeming to study her.
"My dad."
"My dad died from cancer," Jeff blurted.
"I'm sorry." She touched his shoulder and Marilyn looked at her hand, maintaining a smile.
"That was over eight years ago. Did you know your neighbor, Larry?" Marilyn's smile was sweet but Nyla saw the sadness behind it.
"Um, no. I don't really know my neighbors." She nervously dropped her eyes to her hands balled in her lap.
"He was a nice man."
"He was a dick!" Jeff argued in disbelief at his mother's words.
"Jeffery," Marilyn said in embarrassment.
"Mom, I'm hungry. Myra, I'm hungry. Can we stop for something to eat or are you gonna be late?"
"I have time." She smiled at Marilyn in the rearview mirror.
When Jeff insisted on buying Nyla food, she incessantly declined, but Surf fries were being shoved at her as they pulled away.
With a nervous smile, Nyla pushed open the door when Marilyn parked in front of the theater. "Um. Thank you for the ride." An embarrassed chuckle left her. "I'm sorry, I don't know your last name."
"It's Sestak, but you just call me Marilyn."
"Okay. Thanks again."
"What time do you get off work?" Marilyn smiled back at her.
"Um, ten."
"You need a ride home?"
"No, thank you. My friend can give me a ride. Thanks so much."
"It was nice to meet you, Nyla."
"You too." She smiled and quickly got out, waiting for Jeff.
Jeff begrudgingly leaned over and let his mother kiss his cheek before getting out.
"Your mom's pretty. You guys look like her."
"Except we're dudes, Myra." He laughed at her.
"Except that." She grinned over at him "What movie you want to see?"
"I don't know. I'm gonna wait for Jesse, is that okay? I was gonna invite Kaitlyn but I don't want them girls knowing where you work. 'Cause then they'll come bother you 'cause they're jealous 'cause they like Dom and Dom likes you."
"Thanks, Jeff." She wrapped her arm around his and leaned her head against his bicep. "That was nice of your mom to give me a ride."
"Yeah. Larry was a dick but my mom isn't."
"Let's not talk about Larry."
As they walked through the doors, two girls ran up to Nyla.
"OMG! Gavin called in because he got beat up last night," one gossiped excitedly.
"Who
a," Nyla muttered, not wanting to go into the details she knew about.
"Who's your friend?"
"This is Jeff. He's my boyfriend's brother."
"I don't think Dom's your boyfriend, Myra. You should probably ask him first 'cause he doesn't really like girlfriends. He just talks to a bunch of girls at once."
When the girls stared at her with raised eyebrows, she smirked.
"He talking to a bunch of other girls, Jeff?" she asked, pulling him toward the time clock.
"I don't know. We don't really see him anymore 'cause that job Boney got him. He makes a lot of money though so he said he won't quit even if we can't see him. If he can't hang out with you anymore, I'll look after ya."
"I know you will." She hugged his arm. "Is Jesse coming up here?"
"Yeah." He looked back toward the doors.
"I have to punch in. Stay right here, okay?"
"Can I go over there to the claw machine?" He pointed to the wall.
"Just don't leave there so I can get you your tickets."
"What's wrong with him?" one of the girls quietly asked while they walked into the back to punch in.
"Nothing." Nyla shrugged.
"How old is he?" the other asked.
"Twenty-five. Who's the manager on duty tonight? I gotta get comp tics."
"Taylor."
"Thanks." Before any more annoying questions about Jeff pissed her off, she walked away.
When their shift ended, they all walked out together in a buddy system to get to their cars.
"Can anyone give me a ride home?" Nyla pathetically asked.
"Gavin would if he were here." One of the guys nudged her then grinned with a chuckle. "I'll give you a ride. Where do you live?"
"Nyla." Dom's voice had her whipping around to find him leaning against a pickup truck.
"Never mind. That's my boyfriend. Thanks." She touched her coworkers arm before running toward Dom. "Whose is this?" She grinned looking the truck over.
"Mine. Bought it today." He smirked proudly and opened the door for her.
"I met your mom." She giggled when he got in.
"I know." His reply indicated he wasn't happy about it.
"She's nice. She gave me a ride. Is Jeff allowed to like... can he go out by himself?"
"He can walk you to work during the day. Hey, did you talk to your dad?"
"A little." She tucked her hair behind her ear.
"Do you think he'll let you go camping with us?"
