AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You made a big mistake, boy,” he says slowly, widening his stance.
I get to my feet and stand with my hands balled into fists. “You’re not touching her.”
“Oh, I think I am,” he taunts, his lips tipping up into a smirk. “I think me and Denny are going to have a real good time with her.”
He glances over my shoulder, and when I turn to see what he’s looking at, fearing I already know, a firm fist meets my face. I stumble, but instead of falling on my ass, I’m caught and held up by Ricky. Denny sneers at me and closes the gap between us. Blood’s gushing out of his nose and dripping off his chin. He has a gash above his right eye.
The pleasure of seeing his fucked-up face is short lived when he punches my stomach, making me double over in pain. Ricky wrenches my arms back, and they scream in protest.
Before I get a chance to recover, another punch hits me on the side of the head. Denny bends and gets in my face.
“We were going to go easy on her, but you just fucked up on her part. Easy’s out the window now. And you get to watch, you little cunt.”
“Fuck you,” I wheeze. “You touch her, and I’ll kill you.”
He chuckles dark. “It’s not fuck me. It’s fuck her, and that’s just what she’ll get. Me and Denny are going to tear her pussy up over and over again until it’s just as worn out as her mama’s.”
Grabbing both sides of my head, Denny brings his knee up at the same time he wrenches my head down, connecting his knee with my nose. I feel a crunch and blistering pain in my nose, and I briefly wonder if it’s broken. I hang by my arms as Ricky holds me up. Black spots filter across my eyes and blood streams from nose, splashing onto the ground.
I lift my head, needing to see Aislin yet knowing I can’t do anything to stop this. I know Denny’s type. I know he’ll follow through with his threat. Word on the street is that he’s forced other girls before. My stomach bottoms out when I think of what he and Ricky will do to Aislin, of the damage and pain they’ll cause her. The thought makes me feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach again, stealing all my breath.
Denny’s still in my face when I open my eyes, his smirk making me want to puke. I see something glint and look down. He’s gripping a pair of brass knuckles. I grit my teeth and brace myself for the beating I’m getting ready to take. I’d take this a hundred times over if it would save Aislin. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll work me over so long that someone will hear and come help. I almost laugh at the thought. No one here will lift a finger to help.
All of a sudden, I hear a yell, seconds before my arms are let go and I’m shoved forward. I fall to my knees and catch myself with my arms. I turn and fall to my ass. I look up just in time to see Aislin welding a long tree branch and beating Ricky with it. She brings it forward with all her might and slams it down on a cowering Ricky curled up on his side. She looks wild standing there; her brown hair matted with dirt and leaves and her blue shirt torn on the shoulder. She has a line of blood trailing down from the corner of her mouth, and her eyes look crazed as she keeps swinging the tree branch.
She looks up just as Denny makes a move toward her. Clutching my sore ribs, I get to my feet. Her eyes briefly flicker to mine before bringing them back to Denny.
“Stay back, you bastard!” she snarls and lifts the branch over her head.
Ricky’s still on the ground, moaning. Denny stops in his tracks, looking from the branch, to her face, then down at Ricky, and back at her.
“Niko?” she says, her voice rough. “You okay?”
I walk over to her and stop only a foot away. She keeps her eyes pinned on Denny. He looks as if he wants to commit murder but knows he can’t do shit right now. He’s fucked right now, just as I was a few minutes ago.
I reach up and wipe away the trail of blood from her chin, leaving a smear behind. “I’m fine.” I grab her arms and bring them down. She lets me but keeps the branch in her hand. “Let’s go,” I tell her.
Her hate-filled eyes don’t leave Denny’s. Her chest pumps up and down with her heavy breathing; I’m sure from the adrenaline of beating Ricky with the branch.
“She may be my mama, but I’m nothing like her,” she says forcefully. “No boy will touch me and get away with it and that includes you, Denny!”
I can see he’s barely holding his temper by the fists he’s making at his sides. Venom—that’s the only word I can use to describe the look in his eyes.
“We’ll see,” he seethes through clenched teeth.
It amazes me how strong Aislin appears right now. She’s facing the monster down in front of us without flinching one muscle. I couldn’t be more proud of her at this moment. But we need to go before Ricky stops writhing on the ground and gets up. I’m not sure we can take them both with just a tree branch.
“We need to go, North,” I say, pulling on her arm.
Our backs are facing the side yard, and I start dragging her backward. Her grip on the branch holds steady, her penetrating eyes on Denny staying the same. He brings his eyes to mine, and one side of his mouth quirks up.
“I’ll be seeing you later to finish what we started, Niko. You won’t be around much longer to defend the bitch.”
I stop and take two steps toward him. “I’m warning you… You touch her again, and I’ll kill you. I may be small, but that doesn’t mean shit around here. There are other ways of hurting someone besides using your fists. Don’t come near her again.”
His laugh is maniacal, but he doesn’t say anything else, just watches us as we take slow steps backward. We make it to the road with our eyes still pinned on the back of the house. Luckily, Denny doesn’t follow us. I pull the branch from Aislin’s grip and drop it on the ground. Grabbing her hand and with my teeth gritting from the pain the entire time, we run as fast as we can the two blocks to our part of the neighborhood.
We’re both out of breath by the time we make it to Aislin’s yard. I look over and see Mom’s car in the driveway.
