Crimson Judgment

by Robert Lyons

  Now it was Jessica’s turn to put on the sour mood. She stopped as well, crossing her arms in front of her chest to display her displeasure with the comment coming from her “sugar bear.”

  “I think it does matter what other people are doing, especially when we are going to be crammed in next to them and they’re inebriated.” Jessica awkwardly adjusted the glasses resting on the bridge of her nose.

  “Is this all because of what Zayde did that one time?” Wade resumed walking toward the main gate. The crowd waiting to get inside was essentially non-existent. The ticket booths and security checkpoint metal detectors were all cleared out as well.

  Man, we’re super late…

  “Of course you’d think it’s no big deal! You weren’t there, picking up his strung-out ass from a bus stop,” Jessica scoffed. Her golden-blonde hair swayed in the light, evening breeze. She wasn’t the most beautiful girl to ever walk the earth, but she certainly had the natural beauty that turned many heads as she walked by.

  “Okay, I’ll admit, that was probably not a good day for him. He’s been going through a pretty rough patch … with his family and all.”

  “I get that, Wade.” Jessica sighed, dropping her irritation and taking a deep breath to balance her mental state. “It’s just … sorry, I know you wanted to have a good time with me out here tonight … I just don’t know how to deal with Zayde. Knowing that he’s going to be in that concert somewhere in addition with everyone else…”

  The two had reached the entrance. After flashing their stipulated tickets and getting through the metal detectors, Wade and Jessica were free to roam in the concert hall. The show was well underway, but their proximity to the stage and speakers was still at a tolerable distance. Communication was sort of difficult, but could be done as long as voices were raised.

  Wade chuckled, speaking more to himself than to his girlfriend. “Don’t sweat it. Zayde’s shaped up since he moved out and got his own place. You haven’t seen Zayde for the past six months. He’s returned to his old self—mostly. So, there’s no need to worry about him flipping out.”

  “Fine,” Jessica said in a flat tone.

  Wade smiled, albeit bittersweet. “Now, let’s enjoy this before I’m sent far, far away.”

  Jessica felt a bolt of lightning run through her as she recalled a revelation from a couple of weeks in the past. It was another normal day after college classes were over that she spent cooped up in her room, trapped in the pages of a novel. The ambiance was one that gave her a sense of peacefulness. However, that serene atmosphere didn’t stick around for long.

  She heard the door lock turn over and the hinges creak slightly as the door was pushed open. Looking at the clock, Jessica knew it was time that Wade would be home from his second job. She closed her book and walked out to the living room to greet her boyfriend. She was sure he’d be tired from pulling a double-shift.

  But the man she saw standing in the doorway was not one who portrayed any sense of weariness. His stance was wide and projected strength, but his face exposed a certain degree of fragility. He was torn on the inside, but he had made a decision.

  Jessica learned that her lover enlisted into the military, with the intent to be in the Special Forces attached to the HAWK operatives. It was a job with one of the highest chances of never making it back home.

  The news hit Jessica like a ton of bricks. Her boyfriend was going to be in the army. At what point in his twenty-four years of life did he ever show even a remote interest in doing something so dangerous? Jessica wondered what had happened to suddenly change Wade to pursue such a hazardous career.

  “Hey, Jess! Jess!”

  Far too preoccupied with her memories, Jessica hadn’t realized that her body was still in motion in the present. She was about to walk right into a pair of people who were standing off to the side near the entrance.

  “Oh!” Jessica exclaimed, slamming on her brakes, but it was too late. She unwillingly utilized the two people as a bump stop. Once she recovered, pushing her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose and taking two steps backward, the stream of apologies began to flow out of her mouth. The nervousness of talking to a complete stranger, as well as the embarrassment stemming from looking in front of her, revealed her struggle to speak when put on the spot.

  “I-I’m so s-sorry!”

  “Huh?” an annoyed voice exclaimed. One of the two young men turned around, a look of disgust painted across his face. The other was appalled as he stared at the ground. “What the hell you doin’? Not payin’ attention to where you’re going? What kind of shit is that?”

  This outburst only made Jessica draw back farther. She averted her gaze until she was staring exclusively at the ground, not daring to look up.

  Why is he so pissed off? Jessica’s shoulders began to quiver. I didn’t run into him that hard.

  “HEY!”

  Wade’s roaring voice came over Jessica’s shoulder with enough gusto to be heard over the loud booms from the musicians who were on the stage in the near distance. Naturally, every head within the vicinity turned in the direction of the announcement.

  “You her boyfriend?” the snappy talker barked out.

  “Speaking.” Wade took a couple of steps forward, positioning himself between the hostiles and his girlfriend. He folded his muscle-bound arms across his wide chest, his face decorated with a look of discontentment. “I don’t appreciate the way you were talking to her. You get off on lashing out at girls?”

  The young man who was doing all of the talking was a beanpole. His height had no substance to match it, but even with his length, he was still shorter than the behemoth that was Wade. There was an eighty pounds of muscle discrepancy between the two. It came as no surprise that the young man was hesitant to reply once he identified Jessica’s lover and protector.

  “If that’s how you see it, knock yourself out. I was just reminding your brainless girl that she shouldn’t be running into people.”

  After a small pause, the young man speaking extracted his cell phone and lowered it close to the floor. Somewhere on the hardwood planks was a small, black collection of dust. “That was the pill, but it was knocked out of his hand and stepped on. So, it’s wasted. Intentional or not, it was her fault for walking into him. She owes my friend the difference.”

  “So that’s what this is about.” Wade’s mouth twisted up, laughing with disgust. “She got in the way of his pill-popping habit. Maybe he should have pre-gamed at home where this wouldn’t happen.”

  “You asshole!” the shorter man who was quiet up to this point suddenly exploded, grinding his teeth with a building rage. “Who the hell do you think you—?!”

  “Do you want a problem?” Wade took a step forward. The young men hesitated. Wade was hoping intimidation would make them pull back. “If it was so expensive, then why didn’t you have your boy covering your back while you were doping?”

  “Listen to this fucking guy!” The shorter man stepped forward, arms raised toward the ceiling and staring at Wade with hostile intent.

  “Wade!” Jessica called out, anxiety in her voice.

  “It’s okay, Jess,” Wade called back, maintaining eye contact with the potential threats. “Stay behind me…”

  “I got this, Rick,” the taller one chided the shorter one, stepping forward so that he was standing toe to toe with Wade.

  “Yo, Alfred! Are you going to use it?” Rick’s voice dropped, suggesting that an awe-filled event was about to transpire.

  “You want to do this? Right here?” Wade narrowed his eyes. People who were standing near the back of the concert hall either stayed back far enough to watch from a safe distance or just ignored the altercation altogether. No one from the outside of this situation wanted to get involved. Wade couldn’t blame them, but he definitely wouldn’t have turned down some outside intervention.

  Just then, the artist currently on stage must have played out the last song, because the music slowly died down. The finale was celebrat
ed with a deafening cheer from the onlookers. Afterward, the concert hall grew far quieter as the stagehands milled about, changing the equipment for the next artist. With the booming of the speakers now silent, the altercation drew far more attention.

  “I had different plans for tonight.”

  “Shut the fuck up! Get your ass ready for a beating!”

  Wade scoffed, raising his fists and readying himself for the hits his body would have to absorb before he laid out his opponent.

  “Wade! S-somebody! Help!” Jessica cried out.

  Wade’s mind stopped for a moment. Wait. Did I escalate this or is something completely off?

  A quick look at his opponent’s face confirmed Wade’s suspicion. This person was far too willing to fight, despite the apparent disadvantage of being so much lighter than Wade. This was an unusual encounter to say the least and the only time people were this ready to fight was when they were under the influence.

  Wade squared up his hips. He was going to protect Jessica at all costs. There was no telling what this guy, high on whatever, was capable of doing. The mere thought gave all the motivation Wade needed to eliminate the danger.

  “Over here! Security! There’s a fight!”

  A shrill voice broke the tense silence as bright flashlights were pointed in Wade’s eyes as well as the two young men.

  “Stop! All of you!” the security guard shouted in a gruff voice.

  In that instant, Wade dropped his fists while sucking his teeth in disappointment. Thanks to all of the adrenaline, a part of Wade wanted the thrill of a fight, but he also experienced relief. Assault could be a tricky charge to fight in court. Smart phones were extracted from pockets and pointed in the direction of the entrance to capture the ruckus.

  Although Wade had relinquished his aggressive posture, the young man in front of him seemed to pay the security guards no mind. His murderous intent only seemed to have amplified since an intervening force had arrived.

  “It’s game over, man,” Wade stated loudly. “Why don’t you drop the tough guy act?”

  A bitter laugh escaped from Rick’s lips as Alfred finally lowered his fists.

  “Man, do you have any idea how hard it is to get one of those? You gotta know somebody directly. This ain’t any easy shit you can get at the back of a gas station.”

  “What the hell are you on about?” one of the security guards asked, pointing the bright flashlight in the young man’s face.

  Now that Wade wasn’t being blinded by flashlights, he was finally able to get a clear picture of his former opponent’s face. The two people standing before him were clearly not well. Rick’s face made no effort to conceal the vile thoughts formulating in his head while Alfred was sizing up his opponent like a bloodthirsty hound.

  “Hey, man, you all right?” the other security guard piped up, taking a step closer with flashlight on.

  “It’s gone … my chance is gone.” Rick’s eyes reddened, tears rolling down his cheeks.

  Is he crying? Seriously? Wade dropped the building tension, relaxing his body.

  “Sorry about the trouble.” Alfred’s face was still illuminated by the flashlights. “I’m gonna take his ass home. He pre-gamed too much and now he’s trippin’.”

  “Hold on a second.” The first security guard put his hand up as a sign of caution.

  What a mess. Wade sighed. I mean, I figured we might cross paths with some nasty people, but this was a little too much…

  “Sir.” The other security guard turned to Wade. “There was no physical contact, correct?”

  “Nope. Just a lot of testosterone.” The answer from Wade was rather laid back. He had nothing to worry about. No fists were thrown. A “mild disturbance” label could be slapped on the incident, nothing more.

  “All right.” The guard nodded, grabbing a small radio unit attached to his green neon, reflective vest. “There was no incident of assault.”

  “Okay, neutralize the situation. I’ll get the show back on the road.”

  “No problemo,” the guard answered the static-filled voice from the other end. “Okay … so who started it?”

  “It started when my girl bumped into that guy.” Wade pointed at the sniveling mess Rick had degraded to. “Because of that, he dropped his dope. My girlfriend apologized, but they wanted ‘sorry money.’ I told them where to stick it and they tried to get physical.”

  “Do you guys have anything to add?” The guard turned toward the group of young men.

  “N-no, sir. That’s pretty much how it went down,” Alfred hesitantly agreed, keeping his voice low.

  “Very well. There was no assault, so I can’t call the cops.” The guard lowered his flashlight. “However—I can’t have you all stirring the shit pot. I’m going to have to ask all you to leave. I’m going to need you four to get out of here … now.” The security guards corralled the two parties toward the entrance in separate groups with some distance between them.

  “Sorry, Wade. It’s my fault.” Jessica’s voice was soft and quiet, a combination that made her hard to hear as the musicians started back up.

  “Shit happens.” Wade smiled nonetheless. “We’ll figure out somewhere else to go.” He turned to the guard assigned to escort them. “Sorry about the trouble.”

  The security guard nodded, acknowledging Wade’s apology. Luckily for Wade, he was the type of man to always have a Plan B up his sleeve, so the night wasn’t wasted. “Off we go,” Wade carried on, grabbing a hold of Jessica’s hand and leading her back to the entrance.

  “Hold on!” a familiar voice came from behind.

  It’s about damn time! Wade mentally pumped his fist, spotting his friend come running through the open paths in the crowd. As his lean, muscular frame jumped into view, the surrounding crowd clearing back even farther. The tired eyes, tanned skin, and long, disheveled hair that was tucked under a purple beanie had become his signature look.

  “Whoa … is that Zayde Maddox?” someone’s curiosity audibly slipped out.

  “Mister Maddox?” one of the security guards exclaimed, visibly shaken. “Wh-what are you doing out here? You’re supposed to be backstage!”

  “Where are you taking those two?” Zayde’s grouchy voice sounded like tires going over a gravel road.

  “There was a disturbance,” the other security guard chimed in.

  Zayde’s dark-brown eyes narrowed. He lifted his arm, pointing a finger. “That guy and girl are VIPs. They’re coming with me.”

  “But, sir…”

  “I don’t give a shit. Wade—big guy over there—looks like he could tear your head off, but he’s harmless.”

  “We need to contact our head of security to sort this out, sir,” the first guard spoke up again. “There is protocol—”

  “Head of security? Good luck getting a hold of him. He’s hanging out backstage with the rest of us. Now—Wade, Jessica—come with me.”

  Wade and Jessica stood stock-still. Were they supposed to follow Zayde or wait for instructions from the security personnel? The silence was stifling.

  “Oh, hell…” The second security guard exhaled rather loudly. “We’ll handle this. You two!” The guard looked at the couple. “Follow Mister Maddox.”

  “What kind of shit is this?!” Alfred’s furious outcry was heard a small distance away. Apparently they stopped to see why the couple was being held up.

  “Just because they know someone, they get off the hook?!” Rick’s despondency suddenly vanished as the accusing question was thrown into the air.

  Both outbursts were met with the guards grabbing a hold of the young men and shoving them toward the entrance of the concert hall. Some people began to clap and throw verbal insults concerning the interruption of the festivities.

  Wade turned to look at his friend, who peered at the ground with disinterest as the crowd voiced the well-deserved sendoff concerning the troublemakers.

  Damn … Zayde has that kind of pull nowadays? Wade was filled with awe. He’s really come f
ar in the game to be able to tell people off like that—

  That’s when it happened.

  The cries from the multitude nearby were barely articulated. Wade already knew what was coming. He turned on his heel, whirling around and pushing Jessica farther behind him to distance her from the imminent threat.

  By the time Wade had turned around, Alfred was already throwing the punch. How could’ve Wade seen it coming? Whatever inhuman reflexes the young man was using, it was enough to bring his fist forward fast enough that Wade had no time to counter, even though he saw Alfred charge from a small distance away. It was as though the young man ramped up his speed, blinking forward once he crossed a certain distance.

  Oh shit!

  That was the same instant Wade caught a glimpse of Alfred’s eyes. Unlike before, it had gone beyond the realm of “murderous intent.” What Wade was staring at in horror was a monster closing in on its prey.

  What the—?!

  THWACK!

  The air around Wade’s face vibrated, ruffling the micro hairs in his face. He took a step back to lessen the impact of the blow, but the fist never made contact. Wade opened his eyes to find that a hand had lashed out, intercepting Alfred’s attack. It would have been one thing if Zayde had turned around and saw where he had to place his hand to block. However, Zayde was still facing toward the stage. He had caught the attack while facing the other way.

  “Zayde?!” Wade exclaimed, taking another step back.

  Zayde narrowed his eyes as he lowered his hand, still maintaining grip on Alfred’s fist.

  “Everybody stop!” The two security guards closed in, finally catching up to the momentary assault.

  “Mister Maddox! Are you all right?”

  “Swell. This asshole just wanted to play some stupid games and he earned himself a stupid prize,” Zayde spoke up, without a single indication of being alarmed.

  “You all right, Wade?”

  “Yeah, I’m good. Thanks.” Wade nodded quickly.

  Alfred’s fist was still ensnared in Zayde’s palm. The two young men locked eyes, studying each other. After a silent moment, Alfred leaned his head back with a relaxed look in his eye. The two acknowledged each other’s strength.