“Oh, you Ricci women. You’re always so high and mighty.” The smile was now gone from his mouth. He looked at me as though he was suddenly disgusted with my presence.
“Well, if I bother you so much, you’re free to leave. Seeing how I never even invited you to join me,” I stood my ground, smirking at him as I took another sip of my Bourbon. I could tellthat he didn’t like women who challenged him. He was more of a man who enjoyed women who were pushovers. He definitely entered the wrong chat.
“Just so you know, I always get what I want.”
Ew,what arapeything to say. I was right about him; he was a disgusting pig.
“Oh, Luca. You wouldn’t last a day in Buddha’s shoes. I give that half-Italian a run for his money,” I picked up my glass, threw my head back, and emptied the rest of my bourbon down the back of my throat. Like a mothafucking G. A man walked into the bar, paying close attention to his clothing. I realized it was dry; the rain had stopped. It was time for me to go.
Saying nothing because I didn’t need to announce my departure. I stood up to leave. I noticed the restroom at the back and decided to go before walking back to the hotel.
I opened the bathroom door and rolled my eyes when I realized it was just a single toilet in here. Using it quickly, I took my phone out again, as though I expected it to magically regain battery life. Buddha should be back by now if he wasn’t in that hotel room when I walked in. I was about to set that hotel on fire when he did.
Once I was done washing my hands, I opened the door to leave, hoping Luca had taken the hint and left. As soon as I stepped through that door, a big, heavy hand covered my mouth.
“What’s that you were saying? You give Buddha a run for his money. Well, I like a feisty bitch,” Luca said, his eyes wild and evil. I struggled against him and nearly threw up when he leaned closer, stuck his tongue out, and licked my face.
I knew I had to put up a fight; there was only one other female in this bar, and the men’s restroom was on the other side,away from the females’. I tried to scream, but Luca just tightened the grip he had on my mouth.
“I just know you got a tight, sweet,figa(pussy), I wanna taste it. Let me taste it,” Luca said, pushing me back inside the toilet. I knew that if he got me all the way inside and he closed the door, I was done for. So, I couldn’t let that happen. I had to fight this man, the best I could.
I tried clawing at his face, but he was too tall. I struggled and pushed forward but he pushed me back. I could not let this man get me inside this restroom. I screamed from behind the hand he had clamped over my mouth. My eyes widened with fright when he began tugging at the button on my jeans. My struggle weakened because now I was trying to keep his hands off me. I was almost all the way into the stall, and it finally hit me that Luca was about to rape me. Tears sprang to my eyes as I gave one last feeble push in an attempt to get him off me.
The next few minutes were about to be something I would never forget. Out of nowhere, a huge figure appeared, a strong, powerful arm wrapped around Luca’s neck, locking him in.
“Figlio di puttana!(you mothafucka)” The angry voice of Buddha boomed loudly in the small space. I stood paralyzed with fear as Buddha choked the fuck out of Luca. Luca clawed at the hand around his neck as his eyes watered, his tongue came out of his mouth, and his eyes began rolling to the back of his head.
“Buddha! Stop it, you’ll fucking kill him!” I called out to Buddha. I even tried to remove his hand from around Luca’s neck, but nothing worked. Buddha’s eyes looked glazed and seemed so far away. He was in a different place; his mind was somewhere else.
“Buddha,” I cried tearfully when Luca began to lose consciousness. The last thing I wanted was for Buddha to go to prison. We did not come all the way to Italy just for my husband to land himself in a foreign jail. I wasn’t enough to stop him; I managed to squeeze past him and run back to the bar.
“Please, help me!” I shouted at the bartender and the other men who were seated, minding their business, drinking their beer and hard liquor.
“What’s wrong, Miss America?” The bartender asked with a worried look.
“They're fighting in the bathroom. You need to get in there,” I said, pointing in the direction. I’ve never felt so helpless in my entire life. The bartender was taking his sweet time, making his way from behind the bar.
“Jesus, hurry up,” I said, using my hands for emphasis. Another man got up and made his way to where Buddha and Luca were. Running behind him, I stood back as it took both the bartender and the patron to pry Buddha off Luca. The way Luca’s body dropped with a loud thud, I swore Buddha had killed him.
“Does he have a pulse?” I heard the bartender mutter as he placed his hand against Luca’s neck.
“I hope he’s fucking dead,” Buddha said before turning his attention on me. Oh-oh, I was in big fucking trouble by the way the left side of his face was twitching.
“Come here,” he said, charging toward me with anger in his eyes, which had me backing away from him, almost tripping over my own two feet.
“Where the fuck did I tell you to go?” Buddha asked, snatching me by my upper arm. I didn’t even get a chance toanswer; all I knew was that I was being dragged out of the bar like a badly behaved teenager. I tried to see if Luca had regained consciousness, but it looked as though he was still knocked out. The bartender was busy slapping his face, trying to revive him.
“Stop it, Buddha,” I pleaded because his hand was about to cut off my circulation. We were walking back to the hotel, but it felt more like I was being dragged back. Suddenly, Buddha stopped and faced me. I let out a surprised yelp when he placed both his hands on my throat.
“I asked you a fucking question, Dior. Where did I tell you to go?” Once again, I was scared of this man. His eyes had gone cold again, and I knew he was absolutely livid.
“I did go back to the hotel.”
“Did you?”
“Yes, but when I got back, I saw Francesco and Luca in the lobby. I panicked, hurried out, and came here. I guess Luca spotted me and decided to follow me to the bar. Please, Buddha, my neck,” even though I explained the best that I could. My best clearly wasn’t good enough.
“What’s wrong with your fucking phone? I tried calling you. Did you switch off? After giving you your phone back, that’s what you decided to do, switch your phone off on me!” He yelled in my face. A couple of people walking by looked at us with curiosity. Thank goodness we lived in another country because this was fucking embarrassing.
