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Moey goes to the stainless steel sink, turns on the cold water, and places her napkins underneath it. “Not here. Not now. I have more class than to fight you here. But I do fight back, so get ready,” she says, her trembling voice heard underneath false bravado.
“Yeah, Mrs. Gossip Queen, you’d rather talk yourself to death because you’re really not built for the messes you start. Every time you say my name, I hope you remember this moment, and it tastes like shit in your mouth; that goes for me and my family.” I narrow my eyes and glare at the wicked woman that has me feeling like getting locked up today wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Honestly, I might be facing charges after tonight’s fiasco.
Moey's bravado wavers and she takes a hesitant step back. "You made a big mistake, Jasmine. You have no idea how big. I am not the one to mess with, but you will see."
"I’ll be waiting, Moey. Just remember that I fight fire with fire. I know exactly what I'm doing," I reply, my voice resolute. "I won’t hesitate to stand up for my family and myself.”
The tension in the room escalates as we stare each other down, neither of us willing to back down. The bathroom door swings open, and a woman enters wearing all black with a gold sign that says Sandra with the word Manager underneath. The restaurant manager’s concerned voice breaks the standoff.
"What's going on in here?" Sandra asks, her eyes widening as she takes in the scene. Noticing Moey’s disheveled and battered look, she turns her attention to her. “Are you okay, ma’am? Did someone attack you?”
Moey glares at me with heavy disdain. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure, ma’am?” the manager presses.
Traces of a smirk upturn Moey’s heart-shaped lips. “I’m sure I am fine and will be even better soon. It’s just a little scrape and not nearly as damaging as things will be for the person who did this.”
Sandra studies the room, her mind visibly going through scenarios of what could have happened to cause the commotion before she arrived. Her eyes land on Moey again with concern. “Did someone attack you here at the restaurant? Ma’am, ma’am—”
Moey slips past the manager and Monica and leaves the restroom without responding. She shoots me a final threatening look before disappearing from the room.
“Does anyone know what happened to her?” the perplexed manager prods. When no one speaks up, she asks, “Is everyone else okay? Because we can’t have any more disturbances from your group tonight.”
“Everything will be fine,” Caitlyn tells the manager and walks over to engage in a conversation, attempting to smooth things over.
“Are you okay?” Leslie asks with a mixture of disappointment and concern in her eyes.
I shrug out of Leslie’s hold on me and say softly, “I’m sorry for causing a scene, sis, but I've had enough of her."
Leslie's expression shifts to seriousness as she nods affirmatively. "I didn't want things to escalate tonight, but we're in this together. I'll always have your back and support you, even when you might be as wrong as two left shoes,” she says in a hushed tone.
"Who says I'm wrong?" I retort. “Sometimes, you have to take life by the horns and charge like a bull.”
"And yet, somehow, I don’t think that’s what that quote was meant for,” she chuckles and looks around to see if Monica and Caitlyn are listening. They’re walking out of the bathroom door with the manager, engrossed in a deep conversation. Leslie leans close to me and says, “Girl, you followed that woman into the bathroom and attacked her with brass knuckles." She holds up the brass knuckles I dropped earlier. "I had to discreetly kick them over here to keep them hidden."
“Glad you got them. Mama would have been ticked if I came home without them.” I shake my head, realizing trouble will likely follow me until this situation blows over. "This is bad, huh?" I mutter.
Leslie nods solemnly. "Unfortunately, it seems we're all more entangled in this mess now, and that's what she wanted," she says wearily, a faint smile on her face. "You need to stay calm, sis. You shouldn't have stooped to her level and risked getting into trouble."
"Trouble? When I walked into that bathroom, I was ready to face it head-on. Sometimes, when they go low, you have to get down there and scrub the floor with them," I reply defiantly.
"Again, that is not the intent of that quote. Let's discuss this at home," Leslie suggests, taking the lead as we head toward the exit. My sister walks out of the bathroom as if ashamed of how the night ended. Meanwhile, I stride out with my head high, proud, like an MMA fighter who just won a championship and ready to give a speech and sign autographs.
“I’ll reach out to you soon,” Monica says to Leslie.
Leslie walks over to Caitlyn and Monica, thanks them for the invite, and I hear her apologizing for how the evening went. I roll my eyes and start toward the front of the restaurant.
My battle with Moey Dash isn’t over, but I’m ready for whatever. These thoughts fill me with exhilaration andanticipation when I suddenly collide with a solid wall of muscle and an angry gaze.
Eddie.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Leslie
Safe Place
“What’s going on, Leslie?” Wayne’s growl catches me off guard as I walk out of the bathroom, as he’s the last person I expected to see. Wayne’s icy glare isn’t for me, but it’s still piercing my soul as he stands beside his brother.
