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Chapter Twenty-five
Once she returned to the restaurant, Ruby had to deal with both perplexed moms. It was an exhausting undertaking since she had no answers to give them for why Kurt had stopped the men in front of the restaurant.
Not willing to admit she’d been stalked, and because of her lack of acting skills, she played dumb instead and watched the disbelief filter over both women’s expressions.
Thankfully, they let it go when she brought up the subject of the coming baby. Excitement once again filled their minds and stories were shared about happy times with little munchkins. As captivating as Ruby found the conversation – something she’d have found abhorrent before her condition – time flew.
Soon, Ruby suggested she take Molly home. Not only because Kurt made the suggestion, but for reasons of her own. She wanted to see where Molly lived, and what her home life was like. It was important to her that she know the woman who would eventually look after her little one.
As they drove toward the outskirts of the city, Molly asked, “Would you like to stay and supper with me and Kurt? I’m making his favorite Mac n Cheese with fried chicken, spinach salad and apple pie.”
“Are you trying to tempt me with delicious food?”
“And show off my good cooking. It’ll add to my skills when you check the references for me getting hired.” Molly grinned at Ruby while sitting relaxed beside her.
“Then you have a deal. Problem is, I can’t seem to keep food down. I’ve had to be really careful what I eat.”
“Ahh. I know a treatment that works for some pregnant ladies. Have you tried eating small bits of ginger or drinking ginger tea?”
“No. I’ve never heard of it before.”
“Let’s stop at the supermarket before we get home, and I’ll buy some fresh and some pickled.”
Ruby wheeled her truck into the parking lot and went with Molly toward the large store. On the way inside, she saw a group of people, milling around at the edge of the lot, growing rowdier and louder as they approached.
“Fight!”
“The bitch has a knife!”
Suddenly, the folks that had milled around pushed away, crowding both her and Molly. Unintentionally, she was shoved and found herself at the edge of the cluster around the two women circling each other, one waving the weapon. “You let your cart go on purpose. It hit my kid; you stupid blind bitch.”
“I most certainly did not. I’d turned away and didn’t even see it moving. For Chrissakes, why would I want to hit your kid? I have kids of my own.” The scared woman looked around to find a way out.
“Because you’re an idiot who cares fuck-all about anyone else.”
“Look, I don’t even know you. Put the knife down and get away from my car. My kids are crying. You’re scaring them.”
Realizing the confrontation could end in injuries, Ruby asked the woman next to her. “What happened?”
“The dumb blonde with the knife freaked out when the black lady’s cart hit her car. It just missed the kid, and she’s shouting it was done on purpose. I saw everything. It was an accident.”
Ruby gauged the screaming blonde’s behavior and decided her actions must be fueled by more than anger. She was spitting words and reacting like a person in shock rather than someone clear-headed. Taking that into consideration and realizing it made the woman much more dangerous, she grabbed a close cart and pushed it forward to intervene between the two circling women.
“Hey, sweetheart, I know exactly how you feel about flying carts.” Once she had the knife-wielding woman’s attention, she twisted the cart hard to knock down the assaulter. Happy to see the knife fly from the woman’s hand, she thrust the cart away and bent over to control the screamer.
“That’s enough of your bullshit, lady, you’re going to hurt someone. Calm down. Your kids already have a great story to tell their father tonight as it is.”
Her words fell on deaf ears. Happy to have something to hit, the fighter hauled back and slammed her foot into Ruby’s side.
Caught unaware by the assault, Ruby flew backward and would have had the wild blonde on top of her if Molly hadn’t given her the precious few seconds she needed by slamming the furious fighter on the side of her head with her purse. That gave Ruby time to position herself to use her fighting skills. In a few well-learned moves, she got the other in a headlock and had control.
She spoke calmly, knowing she’d be heard. “Okay, honeybun, calm down now. We don’t want any more violence. Your kids are traumatized enough as it is. Lookie here, there’s a siren getting closer. You want the cops hauling your ass to jail? Because if they see you in this condition, they will, and I’ll be the first to press charges.”
“Let me go. Stop. Please.” The woman in Ruby’s control went limp and started to cry. “I’m sorry, I lost it.”
“Can I let you stand up before the police get here?”
“Yes. Please, don’t let them see me like this. I’m sorry. My kids.”
