I dive for the counter, hopping over and down on the other side. It can’t be lost! Maybe the microSD card can be fixed? The drive… it’s not only crushed, but broken into pieces. I look to Jada who is already managing to right herself, then I realize the gun is on the floor.
Straightaway, I attempt to reach for the weapon, but she gets to it first. She raises her arm, barely aiming.
I cover my ears ahead of the thunderclap of the bullet being released from its chamber.
I don’t feel hurt. I check myself; no blood. I turn. The target wasn’t me, but the shop owner just behind me.
His once orange shirt now has an expanding crimson blot across his shoulder. Ultimately the red cascades down to his chest; red complimenting the orange. I watch in horror as he falls to his knees, unable to catch himself due to his tied hands. The wounded man lays face first on the floor. Unmoving.
“Is he…?”
Jada snickers.
Red fills my vision and I lunge for Jada. I don’t know what’s come over me. Maybe I am through feeling defenseless in every situation, or perhaps it’s the way I just witnessed an innocent bystander get shot… but I am done being perceived as a broken girl, too fragile to handle anything. Driven by my pursuit for answers, regardless of how ugly this world can be. Theo taught me that life is precious, and I’ll be damned if I let this crooked bitch fuck with mine!
We wrestle for the gun. Jada may me strong but I had an older brother who tussled with me, just for shits and giggles.
She pushes me and I push back, causing the gun to spin away from view as we both battle for it. On our feet, she turns to pick up the weapon, right before I grab a handful of her braids and pull.
She smiles, barely able to perceive me from the awkward angle I have her; somehow the gun is in her hand!
I let go of her hair and step back, hands raised.
The part between her eyes wrinkles as we stand facing one another. I used to think of her as confident and sexy. Now, I see the real Jada. Cold-hearted with nothing but heinous intent.
I turn and gasp at absolutely nothing.
Using the moment from the diversion I created, I step forward, thrusting my leg between her stance. I curl my calf behind her knee and push on her chest.
Jada loses her balance, tumbling backward and dropping the gun on impact.
Instinctively, I kick it away. I’ve never held a gun in my life, let alone used one before.
I lower myself onto her legs, pinning her in place. One arm secured beneath my weight while the other is caught behind her own body.
“You destroyed the only proof I had!” My teeth hurt with how hard I was clenching them.
She laughs, although marginally weaker this time. The smug girl licks the top of her teeth and I’m nearly compelled to position a box over her head, just so I didn’t have to look at her.
“When Nicholas recruited me… I was more than on board to ruin your pathetic excuse of a life. Getting paid was just a bonus.”
Nicholas? My Uncle Nicholas hired her to do this?
Lost in thought, she catches me off guard. Managing to free her once pinned arm, she sinks her nails into my forearm, like the savage little bitch she is.
The gun is too far, while there’s not much else in reach without chancing Jada getting loose from my hold. On the counter above us, sits an industrial sized roll of green, stretch-plastic for shipping. I suck in through my teeth as she manages to dig her nails into me even more. “Ah, fuck!” Little swells of blood appear, preceding trickles of crimson, dancing down my arm. Goddamnit! What would Tony Soprano do?
“You don’t deserve it! I should be the manager! The guys were mine, way before you ever showed up! Who would want a defective, flat-chested girl like you?!” she spits attempting to squirm out from under me. Her words are like venom. Jada's hold on me is relentless, showing no sign of being released. Clearly, she has no intent of letting me walk away from this.
With my free arm, I reach toward the heavy-duty packing material, wiggling my fingers till the wrap gives way. I yank toward me, allowing the roll to unravel its stretchy contents. In my peripheral, the idle shop owner is now lying in a pool of his own blood. I won’t let that be my fate. With the opaque plastic, I make quick use of it by swinging my free arm around Jada’s head.
Finally, her nails rip free from my arm, as she attempts to remove the wrapping from around her face.
My arm burns but I know she can hurt me with only one free hand. Lifting my knee, I shift my weight to her chest, then settle once again on top of her. With one arm still pinned behind her back, she switches between pulling the plastic from her face to clawing at my jeans.
Jada battles to free from her airways.
I want… no, I need to be the one to survive this. For Theo. For myself! Extracting more of the stretch-cling from the roll, I tirelessly make wide circles, encompassing her entire head.
