He paused, confused, processing. Then he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a brown leather wallet. He started to open it—but I grabbed it from his hand.
“How about I hold on to that?” I said. The words felt stiff, unnatural.
I was drowning.
He nodded eagerly. I slipped the wallet into my jacket pocket.
One step back. Time to run.
I had it. I could leave. He wouldn’t catch me—not like this. Even sober, he probably couldn’t run.
I always loved you.
Heat flooded my body—starting at my feet and rising to my scalp. I could feel every strand of hair on my head. Wrong. Foreign.
I unzipped the flannel jacket, shuddering as the scent hit me again. It triggered something sharp and immediate. I tore it off and dropped it to the ground like it was burning me.
Before I could force my legs to move, the bar door slammed open hard enough that I thought it might rip off its hinges.
A familiar voice cut through the night.
“Hey!”
Erich vaulted over the railing and sprinted toward us. His arrival hit me like ice water—snapping Reed’s voice out of my head.
The man barely reacted. He was too slow, too drunk to process what was happening before Erich reached him.
“Wait, Erich!” I shouted—but it was too late.
Erich grabbed him by the front of his shirt and drove a fist into his eye. His head snapped back before he was thrown against the dumpster.
I wanted to run moments before, but after watching Erich’s fist fly into the man’s face, I would’ve liked to disintegrate to avoid being witness to murder.
It was just the three of us. No one else.
Erich didn’t stop. Another punch—this one to the nose— sending an arc of bubbled blood to scatter and sprinkle the bottom of the dumpster.
I forced myself to move. I snatched the discarded jacket from the ground and grabbed Erich’s wrist, pulling.
My hand barely wrapped around it.
The man slumped, dazed, trying to understand what had happened. He was too far gone to piece it together—not yet. His hand rose slowly to his swelling eye. Blood dripped onto the concrete beneath him.
I pulled harder.
“We need to go.” My voice came out through gritted teeth as I searched for any room to reason with my unnecessary guard dog before things escalated further.
Erich hesitated, but finally took a step back, and we ran. He didn’t say anything else as I struggled to keep up with his pace. I wanted to ask questions, but it was more for myself—to distract from what I had almost done. I had a feeling it wasn’t the time, especially when I could barely breathe.
Erich didn’t open my door that time. The passenger side was closer, so I beat him to the car, threw the door open, and jumped in, slamming it shut. Seconds later, he was in the driver’s seat, slamming his door behind him.
My heart was racing. Erich started the car, tearing out of the bar’s parking lot and swerving onto the road.
I hoped no one caught his make, model, or license plate. That would be a complication I wasn’t ready to deal with.
The drive back to the motel was much quicker with Erich speeding, but the silence made it unbearable. I was still gasping for air from running, while Erich was only slightly disheveled—his hair sticking to his forehead and his swollen knuckles gripping the steering wheel.
I smoothed my hair down, convinced I looked unhinged if I didn’t. The jacket sat in my lap, and for a moment, I wished I had just taken the wallet and left the jacket behind.
