“I’ll call 911, and we’ll get the police over to Bobby’s house,” he explained. I felt like he was looking for my agreement. I just nodded. I looked behind me; I was right at Tamarus Street. “It’s the smart thing to do Synclair; I promise.” With that, he turned around to face away from the busy street. I bent down to Bobby.
“I’m gonna help your mom; you wait for the cops, you hear me? Tell Reece, I’m sorry.” Bobby nodded, and I took off.
Reece
“Hello? I need to report a domestic dispute; a guy named Mack is trying to kill his wife, Nadine,” I rattled off to the 911 agent. I looked down at Bobby. The little boy put his hand in my mine, and my heart broke. When I was his age, my dad was teaching me how to ride horses and ATV’s, I couldn’t imagine what this kid had been through.
The dispatcher asked for an address and I repeated what Bobby had told Synclair a few minutes before. The dispatcher asked for our location, so I gave her what cross streets I could see, and she told us to stay put. Putting my phone in my pocket, I hung my head and let out a deep sigh. Wait, where was Synclair? I looked up and realized she was gone! Where would she… No, No, Fucking Way! She wouldn’t dare go take on some drugged out lunatic. Making a mental checklist of everything I knew about the exasperating woman, had me thinking otherwise.
I looked down at Bobby and frowned. “She made me promise to wait here with you for the cops. Syn can help my mom; I know she can.” The kid looked up at me with so much hope in his eyes; I couldn’t help but nod. Dammit, she left, knowing I wouldn’t leave the kid. I was supposed to wait here, at the corner, for the cops? While she did what? Wrestled a drugged out wife beater?
Fuck it, I was not letting the woman; I may someday love, if I don’t kill her first, take on some druggie named Mack. If he put a fucking hand on her, I was going to rip it off and slap him with it.
“Change of plans Bobby, I need to know where you live.” I grabbed his hand and started moving.
Synclair
It wasn’t hard to figure out where Bobby’s house with. The closer I got, the louder the shouts were. There was even a group of bystanders. Nothing like a good domestic dispute for some cheap afternoon entertainment.
I walked up to the group of guys standing in the street. I couldn’t believe they were just watching while Mack attempted to beat his front door in. I could hear Nadine pleading with Mack to leave, and everyone could hear Mack screaming how she was going to die. I looked at the men next to me.
“Seriously?” I asked the tough-looking guy in the wife beater shirt and black shorts. He looked over at me and shrugged. The guy next to him was toying with a baseball ball. I started until I got his attention. Jerking his chin in the air, he smirked.
“Bitches get what bitches get.” He snorted and high-fived the idiot next to me.
Well, so much for chivalry. I turned back to the situation trying to figure out what to do. The door Mack was pounding on wasn’t going to hold much longer, and once he got inside Nadine was a dead man.
“Nadine, once I get inside I’m gonna fuck you, then I’m gonna let all these guys fuck you, and after that I’m gonna fuck those bitch daughters of yours, how’s that sound? You fucking slut,” he screamed giving the door a hard kick. I watched the frame start to splinter.
That was it! Enough was enough. These assholes weren’t going to do anything but watch, and I’ll be damned if I was going to stand by and watch Mack carry out his threat. Grabbing Tweedledum’s bat, I took a deep breath and approached Mack. The bat felt good in my hand; I let it hang at my side while I quietly walked past the gate to the bottom of the steps that led to the door. Mack didn’t even hear me. I should have been scared. Mack was a huge man. He worked as a tow-truck driver and had skull tattoos up and down his arms and back. He looked like a linebacker from a football team, and I was about to swing on him. Shit, I must be crazy.
Not seeing many options, I crept up the porch. Just as Mack was about to give the splintering door the final breaking kick, I swung as I hard as I could and connected with the back of his knees. He fell forward to his knees and his slammed head against the door. Raising the bat over my head, I brought it down square on his back. Thinking that should keep him down, I let the bat hang at my side and backed down the steps. I saw Nadine at the window, and her eyes widened with fear when she saw me.
Then with horror, I watched as Mack began to drag himself up to a standing position. In the distance, I heard police sirens. Too late, I thought, as he started stumbling toward me, his murderous intent evident on his hard face. They’re always too late.
Reece
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Synclair approach the house. I was still half a street away, tugging Bobby behind me as fast as his little legs could carry him. I was already annoyed at the boy. For twenty minutes, he had refused to show me where he lived. When I finally looked up and saw the street name we were standing at, matched the one we have given 911, I took off.
My stomach rolled as I watched her sneak up behind the huge biker looking guy and swing the bat in her hand, twice. I couldn’t see where she hit him, I did see her walk backward down the steps. Then, I saw a very pissed off, gigantic bald, guy, start to slowly walk down the stairs toward her. FUCK! Not happening. I pulled Bobby to a lawn about three houses away. “Stay here, do not move.” I didn’t even wait for him to agree; I took off running toward Synclair.
Synclair
“You!” Mack shouted as he staggered down the stairs toward me.
Oh wonderful, he remembered me. “Wow, is that all ya got? Not too big on anything over three letters, huh big guy?”
Okay, one shouldn’t poke the beast, never poke the beast, but the fact that I was backing up from this, two ton, beer-bellied, asshole made my blood boil.
“I know you, you’re the bitch that told Nadine to leave me!” He pointed his finger at me.
I rolled my eyes, definitely not dealing with the bright side of the gene pool. “No, your fists repeatedly on Nadine’s face sent a pretty clear message that she needs to leave your loser ass,” I retorted.
He growled, actually growled. I knew I wasn’t going to get any help from the peanut gallery, and the sirens were loud, but no cops were here yet. I raised the bat, ready to swing for the fences as soon as Fred Flintstone was in striking distance.
“I’m gonna enjoy shutting you up bitch.” Again, with the bitch name? Didn’t he have anything else or was that his whole vocabulary?
“I’m gonna enjoy watching you dream that you could, while I knock you on your ass, limp dick, let’s go!” I shouted and got ready to strike. When he was close enough to where I could smell his, putrid, whiskey breath, I swung for his nuts. Two things happened at that very moment, Metro came careening around the corner, and a blur of person came rushing from my left, tackling Mack to the ground.
I blinked and tried to figure out what had just happened! I looked at the two men throwing punches on the lawn. Wait! I knew one of those men! Reece! Shit, it was Reece! Was he crazy? Mack would kill him.
“Stop, Stop, Reece you gotta stop!” I went to move forward, and the idiot from earlier wrapped his arms around me and pulled me back against his sweaty chest.
“Calm down she-cat, you gotta let the men handle shit,” He hissed in my ear. I snorted bitterly as I tried to pry sweaty guy’s hands of my waist.
“Nice job you were doing there, Men,” I sneered. Stepping on his foot, he immediately loosened his grip, and I bolted for Reece. However, Metro cops were already there, pulling Reece off Mack and dragging him away. Reece looked like a crazy person, his hair was wild and messy, his knuckles were red and he looked ready to kill. Mack, the dumbass, was laying on lawn with his hands covering his head. Hurts doesn’t it asshole! Not as much fun when the fists are flying at YOU! Is it?
“Don’t you ever touch her again you filthy bastard! If you ever even breathe in her in her direction, I will rip you apart,” Reece shouted at Mack.
I had never seen Reece
so angry. His tee shirt was torn exposing that chiseled chest, and his arms bulged while he strained against the cops holding him. I hoped they didn’t let him go; he looked like he wanted nothing more than to snap Mack’s neck.
“Syn, what have you gotten yourself into?” Crap! I knew that voice. Officer Donny. I sighed as I turned around.
“Hi, Donny. Can you have your people let my friend go? He was only trying to protect me from Mack over there.” I told him, waving my hand in Mack’s direction. Mack for all his bluster was crying on the ground like a baby.
Jesus, what a moron. Donny waved at the officers holding Reece, and they released him.
“You okay kid?” Donny asked, his kind eyes looking me over for injuries. I let out the breath, I didn’t even know I had been holding. Little arms wove around my waist, and I lifted my arm to see Bobby, beaming at me. I hugged him with all I had. His life wasn’t going to get easier, nothing I did today would do that. Even so, I wanted him to know that not everyone was an asshole, and maybe someday he could break the abuse cycle his mother was in and choose a different path.
I looked up to see Reece glaring at me. I was sure whatever Reece felt for me was gone. He looked angry and disgusted. I shook my head and looked at Donny.
“What do you need from me, Donny?” I asked, suddenly exhausted.
He smiled and pulled me into a quick hug. “You’re a good girl Syn, incredibly gutsy, maybe too gutsy! You have a big hear, Kiddo. I’m gonna need a statement from you and your friend over there, and then I’ll give you a ride back to campus.” I nodded and watched as Donny walked over to Reece and introduced himself. Reece didn’t even glance in my direction.
Reece
We were silent on the drive back to campus. Donny was a nice cop, and he seemed to genuinely care about Synclair. He had taken our statements and had left the other police officers to finish arresting Mack while he drove us back to campus. Little Bobby hugged me goodbye and his mother had thanked me at least fifteen times before we left. Bobby was a good kid, and I only hoped his mother never let that man near them again. If I weren't so mad, I would ask Synclair about her work at the woman’s shelter. However, I couldn’t talk. I was afraid I would say something in anger that I wouldn’t be able to take back.
I could not get the picture of Mack going after Synclair, out of my head. He had dwarfed her small frame; it seemed like it had taken ages to reach them. Once I did, I launched myself at the bastard and started wailing on him with my fists. Where I came from, men don’t hit women. Wives are loved, honored, protected, even spoiled, but never hit, ever. No, Synclair was not my wife, but I would kill a man before I let him lay a hand on her. She is mine. I just need to get out of this bet.
Getting out the bet should be the easy part. Reconciling, the soft, sweet tasty woman I’d had in my arms with the bat wheeling vigilante was far more complicated. She’d gone after Mack without hesitation and without fear. I couldn’t even imagine what had happened in her life that would make her react that way. I was sure whatever it was had to be bad. The look on her face when Bobby’s mother stumbled out of the house clutching a bruised face with one hand and a terrified little girl with the other was going to haunt me for a long time.
When we got to campus, I held open the door for her. She didn’t look up at me once. We both said thank you to Officer Donny and walked toward the dorms. I wanted to grab her and hold her, but I was afraid in my state, I would scare her. I had never felt so angry before; it was the first time in my life where I actually felt like I could have killed a man. The power of the emotion rumbling through me, even scared me. So much so, that I was afraid to speak to or even touch her.
Not that she was making much effort. She looked down at her shoes as we walked in silence. Damn, she looked rejected, broken. I wanted the look of passion she had earlier. Before everything had gone so wrong.
I walked her to her room and waited while she pulled her keys out of her pocket and opened the door. I turned to walk away, her small hand grabbed my arm.
“Reece I…” She started to speak. I held up my hand to stop her. Her eyes filled with tears, but they didn’t fall. No, my Hellcat was too strong for that, stronger than I could ever be.
“I can’t Synclair,” I choked out. She quickly removed her hand and shut the door.
I turned and practically ran out of her building, fearing the tears in my own eyes would fall.
Jogging to my dorm helped to pull myself back under control. I grunted in disbelief when I saw Amber leaning against my door. She was holding a thick, manila envelope in one hand and her cell phone in the other. She immediately brightened when I approached.
“Reesy, what happened to your face?” She gasped as I shouldered past her so I could open my door. Apparently, the jerk got a few good hits in. I would definitely be feeling this tomorrow.
“Go home Amber, I am not in the mood,” I grumbled. I was closing the door, when she shoved the manila envelope she was carrying at me.
“My cousin David is a police detective out here; I have 911 records, medical records, and arrest records. Synclair is not the person you think she is,” she crowed proudly pushing my door back open.
No shit, I thought bitterly. “What have you done Amber?” Whatever it was, I was sure it was mean.
“I had my cousin check out Synclair. Do you know her mother is a drug addict and prostitute?” She announced it as if she had just uncovered that Santa Clause was a lie. “Her mom has been arrested over a hundred times and has overdosed at least half a dozen. Synclair has been living in hotels her whole life, that is, she’s been getting kicked out of them. Apparently, they never pay their rent on time, and the only reason she is even at UNLV is because she won a scholarship.” She actually sounded happy about all this, excited even.
My head spun; this was bad, my poor Synclair. Now it all made sense, her running to the rescue of that family, the reason she was always alone, why she was so shy and kept to herself, why she didn’t trust men, why she didn’t trust anybody.
I needed time to work through everything in my head, I needed time alone. “Just go Amber,” I said, throwing the envelope on my bed.
“Don’t you see Reesy? She’s not one of us, she's a street person. There’s no telling who she’s slept with, or what kind of drugs she’s done, she’s not good enough for you!” Amber insisted as I gently shoved her out of the room and shut the door.
I laid my head on my cold, metal door. Amber was wrong, Synclair was not the unworthy one, I was.
Synclair
I stood in my shower and willed myself not to cry. When I first met Reece, he annoyed me! The jerk had even sat next me in class just to irritate me! Now, he avoided me. It was the end of December, and everyone had gone home for the holidays. On the first day of winter break, I watched Reece, Amber, Ron, and Ryan pile into his truck and tear out of the parking lot. They had all seemed so happy, so excited. Even Reece, who had been scowling as of late, had a smile on his face.
After the Mack incident, Reese avoided me as if I was diseased. In the two classes we had together, he arrived just as class was starting and sat close to the door. As soon as class was over, he bolted. He never looked in my direction; no dimpled smiles came my way. My arrogant, laughing Reece was gone and replaced by a brooding, man who couldn’t get out of my presence fast enough.
At first, I was sad, then I was hurt, and now I was just mad. So angry that tears were threatening to fall. I don’t cry. I never cry, and I wasn’t about to start bawling over a guy.
I knew that once Reece saw who I was, he would bolt. It only confirmed what I already knew: you can’t trust people because just when you need them the most, they never show up. I was sure wherever he was he was surrounded by a warm family and Amber. Hell, they were probably sleeping together this whole time. I was only some kind of challenge because I didn’t simply melt in his arms. The idea of him with Amber made me physically sick. Not just because I hated that phony bitch, but because I was jealous. I
wasn’t in love. I refused to be in love, but I was willing to admit that I wished he were pining away for me somewhere.
Now It was New Year’s Eve. Most tourists were down on Las Vegas Boulevard, getting drunk and snapping pictures. Locals avoided the strip on New Years. Unless you had to work today, you were nowhere near it. There was nothing exciting to a local about 300,000 drunk tourists, who were really trying the boundary of, ‘What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas’.
My phone beeped with another voicemail. I knew it was my mother. After spending Christmas Day with her and her new, druggie boyfriend, I had opted to go spend time with Uncle Jack. After all, his apartment was finished, and he had the most comfortable sofa I had ever sat on. It wasn’t as if my mom noticed my leaving. She and her creepy boyfriend got high and passed out before we even ate dinner. So, I wrapped up the food I had brought and put it in the small, hotel fridge and left.
Uncle Jack had invited me out for New Year's, but I told him I wasn’t feeling well. It wasn’t a total lie. I definitely felt sick, but it wasn’t the flu.
The remainder of break I caught up on homework, spent time at the shelter and decided I was going to move on from Reece Hudson. Apparently, after our little encounter in the cafeteria, I had caught the eye of a few, fellow students… male students. I had kept my head down and tried to ignore them. However, this one guy, Rory, kept asking me out. He was nice looking with wavy brown hair, and chocolate-colored eyes. He also tall and toned and he smiled a lot. He didn’t make my heart race like Reece did, but maybe that was a good thing.
Once thing was for certain, class would start tomorrow, and I had spent my whole winter break in this room. I was done moping around; there was no way I was going to change my life hiding from the world!
Before The Dawn: Prequel to Back to You - Synclair and Reece! See Where It All Began! (A Hudson Family Series- PREQUEL to BACK TO YOU! Book 0) Page 5
