I put a hand on my hip. “I don’t know where yours is, but mine is down at the police station reporting a sexual assault that happened this morning.”
“Oh, I’m sure that was your idea.”
“No, it was Rand’s.”
“Ugh. Look just leave. I’ll handle all this, and you can be on your merry way.”
“Lady, really?” Mel folded his arms and stared at her.
She looked him up and down like a prime piece of beef. “Yeah, really. This is my boyfriend’s place and I don’t know what you think is going on here. Let me set this record straight—”
I cut her off with a snap of my hand. “No, let me explain this to you. You’re going to hand me the key you have to this door, and you’re going to walk out of here before Doxx gets back. If you don’t leave, I’m going to call the cops on you for trespassing while my friend, Mel, here makes sure you don’t leave before they get here. Then you can have both breaking and entering and sexual assault on your record.”
“I don’t know where you’re getting this sexual assault shit.”
Stepping into her, I grinned. “You put your lips on a dick that didn’t want them there. After he told you no. At least twice that I saw.”
“Oh, really? Then why did he like it so much?”
“Because he thought it was my ass.”
Her face turned furiously sour and she seriously looked like she was going to either hit me or vomit. It was glorious. “I don’t have the key anymore. I threw it at your fag boyfriend.”
“Good, then you can leave.”
“I want to talk to him.”
“Send a letter, lady,” Mel said. “You’re not wanted here.”
The door slammed open again, and Ora, Holland, and Ford were standing there. Ora and Holland stood on either side and pointed out of the apartment. “Get out, Essie,” Holland barked the command. “You’re not welcome.”
She looked at the now-five us looming around her and she finally got the message. She turned and marched out into the hallway. Ora and Holland stepped in with Ford.
Glancing at each of us, haughtily, she sniffed. “You haven’t heard—”
Ora slammed the door. “Yeah, we have heard the last of you.” He let out a sigh, and scrubbed a hand over his hair, and smiled at the rest of us. “Okay, what needs to be done here to clean this place of her filth.”
Ford let out his low chuckle and answered, [Exorcism.]
Maddox
We’d lucked out at the station and gotten a wonderful female detective who didn’t try to mock or shame me for reporting Essie. She listened, she reported, she advised, she took my evidence of screenshots with the ‘no’ on it repeatedly. She took the report and asked if I wanted to press charges. I didn’t want to, but Rand took over and asked what charges could be pressed.
The one she’d recommended was a Class A Misdemeanor, which was more a slap on the wrist, but it would stay on her record. The trial, such as it was, was quick and more a formality than anything else.
“She can’t afford a lawyer without your cash, Doxx,” Rand said. “She can afford the fine. She’ll have to make the call.”
“I’d recommend calling all of your financial institutions and telling them that she was tapping your resources before filing. That way, she won’t be able to reach out for your money,” the detective said.
“So, I can do that and come back tomorrow and file the charges?”
“You have three years to file the charges,” she said.
Rand nodded. “Then let’s get your finances cleaned and we’ll be back to file.”
“That is completely acceptable.” The detective finished typing in the information in the report. “And understandable in this case. If you’d like, I’ll note that in here so that if this ever comes up as contested, they’ll see the reasoning for your delay in charges.”
I nodded. “Okay, we’ll do that.”
