“You ready?” I asked Terrell. I was supposed to take him to pick up his car before taking care of Antonio, besides I needed to change into something inconspicuous. He glared at me momentarily and then kissed Maisha on her cheek as he left the room.
“When Sam wakes up, if I’m not back…just tell her that I love her,” I said to Maisha. She looked at me questioningly like she detected something in my tone.
“Ok…….I’ll tell her.”
I walked past her and followed Terrell to the car.
“What if you need my help?” He reasoned. “Then what?”
“I can handle myself. We’ve fought before so I already know his weaknesses. I’ll be fine,” I answered, recalling my scuffle in the hallway at school with Antonio the year before.
“Look, I care about Sam like she’s my own family and I think I should be there to get at this dude too,” Terrell replied. He was desperate to get a piece of Antonio, but not nearly as desperate as I was. Still, the reality of it was, if there were two of us, the possibility of getting caught doubled. So, I had to turn down Terrell’s offer for a second time.
He climbed out of my car without a word and I went to my room to change into a pair of black jeans and a long-sleeve black shirt before heading out to set things straight. My mission was direct and I imagined that it wouldn’t take long. I grabbed the address from my pocket, memorized the numbers quickly and tossed the piece of paper to the ground. I burst through the doors and nearly ran from the dorm back to my car.
My true emotions came over me quickly now that I was alone. I hopped in the car and peeled out of my parking space, ignoring the driver honking and cussing behind me. No one and nothing was going to stop me. The street lights seemed to turn green as soon as I reached them, almost like I was supposed to do this. It didn’t even take me five minutes and I was pulling into the parking lot and I took note that there weren’t many cars – maybe seven or eight. I could feel my blood pumping through my body as I grabbed my key from the ignition and ran up the walkway.
102…102…102.
I found it, knocked once and moved to the side with my back against the wall so that I couldn’t be seen through the peephole. I couldn’t help but to smile as I prepared myself. The chain rattled on the door and the deadbolt lock clicked; this was it. I spun quickly and caught Antonio with a quick jab to the face. He stumbled back a few feet and I slid inside, shutting the door quietly behind me; I didn’t need nosey neighbors interrupting what I had to do.
Blood poured from his nose and he buried his face in his hands, cursing loudly. I could’ve gotten him again then, but I wanted him to see it coming. I waited. Antonio glared at me and drew back his fist and swung, but I ducked in the nick of time and caught him with another one to the gut. All the air left his lungs as he staggered to keep his balance. When he finally composed himself he stared at me with hatred in his eyes. This was a hatred that went back to that first day in October when I’d stolen Sam’s heart from him. I actually felt kind of bad for him when it first happened, but now when I looked at him all I could see was what he did to her.