Chapter 23 Retaliation #3
"How're you feeling Azalea?" Karter questions, stopping beside the bed. He leans down and raises his hand to my face.
"If you touch me, I'll rip your hand off," I scrunch my nose.
"What she said," Grey nods his head in my direction.
I love you.
"Y'all are an evil couple. Evil," he stresses.
"I'm not," I give him an innocent smile.
"It's five-thirty," Jai peers over at the clock on the wall.
Grey's demeanor changes completely and a glare settles onto his face. Not at anyone in particular but it's just there.
I know what has to happen now. And I know that my life will never be the same.
Dad's going away.
"You have to go?" I question softly. Grey's features lighten a bit when he looks down at me.
"Only for a little while," he begins putting his boots back on.
"I don't want to sit here anymore," I say, "I need to be active."
"You need to rest," Grey deadpans and I scrunch my nose at him.
"I need to get my hyper energy out," I explain.
"Run horizontally," Jai chimes in the idea.
"She's not talking about that kind of active," Grey grumbles, knowing me too well.
My 'active' is walking around and interacting. Other 'active' is running and working out. Ew.
I sit up fully. I can't just sit here.
I start getting up, Grey pushes me back down gently by pressing his monstrous hand on my forehead.
"Grey," I groan, sitting up again.
"Azalea," he warns, pushing me down again.
"I'm going to throat-punch you," I glare.
"Do it," he gets closer, his eyes narrowing. I crack my knuckles.
"It's gonna hurt," I warn, nodding my head.
"Go ahead," He keeps on. I love you.
"I don't want to hurt you," I let a smile onto my lips. He places his fingers under my chin and he brings my lips to his.
I melt. Even though my lip feels like it's falling off, I could care less.
"I wouldn't recommend kissing," Karter mumbles.
Grey pulls away.
"Fuck off."
"Hush wiener," Grey and I speak at the same time.
I really love him.
~~~
? Grey ?
Jai knocks on the front door of the house. The fucks all came to a decision to not let me be the first person her dad sees.
Like they own me or some bullshit. But I agreed when they brought Lilah up. Goddammit.
The door opens.
"Can I help you?" He slurs but tries to hide as drunk as he is. He's drunk as fuck.
He's so drunk he doesn't remember who I am.
"Oh yes you can," Jai plasters on a fake smile.
Jai reaches around to the pocket of his pants.
"Goddammit. Where the hell did I put my handcuffs?" He curses. Dumb motherfucker.
Jackson Carson turns and he starts running. Which is to be expected. Slow fuck.
I grab the back of his shirt and I yank him back into the wall beside the door.
"This is illegal!" He shouts.
I send an elbow to his face and he falls, leaning up against the wall.
"I did nothing!" He sneers, blood dripping out of his nose. He sends his head forward and it clashes against my nose.
Why the fuck can't I dodge a headbutt?
I feel my nose start to bleed and that only makes me angrier.
And then he freezes.
"I know you," he says.
"Y'all aren't cops. You're a gang!" He shouts, "You're that punk who's been messing with my child!"
She's not a fucking child.
"The woman you've been putting your hands on?" I sneer.
"She's no woman," he scoffs.
"You're no fucking father," Theo starts to charge for him, only to be pulled back by Jai.
Theo's been through shit with abusive parents. He grew up an orphan and he'd gone through some fucked up houses.
That's actually how we found him and how he came to join our shit. But he's also a fucking dumb ass at times. Not at times, most of the time.
So is everyone else. And Lilah, she's just fucking oblivious to what the hell is going on, bless her goddamn heart.
"What's going on?" A quiet voice asks, walking down the stairs. Azalea's mom.
"Mrs. Carson," Jai smiles, "we're apart of the FAA, and we're here to bring your husband into custody."
"They don't have a fucking warrant, Marianne!" He shouts.
If I had a fucking dollar for every time a motherfucker said this shit, I'd be richer than the richest fuck on earth.
"They've pulled their guns on me! Call the real police!" he continues on his pitiful shouts. I look around to the two other guys in the room. Obviously, their hands are empty.
Marianne continues walking down the stairs and the closer she gets, the more visible her bruises are.
"Sick motherfucker," I toss him on the ground.
"I'm not resisting," he resists, wiggling around like a fucking fish out of water. I back away from him, making him look even more like a fucking idiot.
If I could kill him, I would.
Theo walks with Marianne outside just as Jackson is jumping up.
"She snitched, huh?" he catches his breath.
"Nah, the fucking gash she had on her face told us all we needed to know," I glare.
"How'd it go again?" I ask.
"Wasn't it a punch that did it?" Jai goes along.
"Yeah," I nod, taking the Jai's class ring he lent me just for this occasion, "and the ring was on which finger again?"
"Pretty sure it was the middle," Jai nods and I slip it on my middle. In the corner of my eye, I see him start to try and run.
Well, that's not fair. Lilah couldn't run.
I kick his back and he falls into the railing. He grabs onto his leg and lets out a shout of pain.
I look along the railing and the wall. Dried blood remains on the walls and I know it's hers. I grab him by his shirt and lift him to his feet.
"Now you can't run, motherfucker."
As soon as he turns his head and he looks at me, I drive my fist into the side of his face. Not hard enough to knock him out. But he'll need stitches. I let him fall.
I wouldn't want to knock him out. If he's out, he won't be able to feel the pain.
"What'd you do next, Jackson?" I hum. He grumbles unintelligibly.
I look up at the ceiling in thought.
"K-Kneed her," he finally utters.
"That's what I thought," Jai chides, "It was either that or another punch."
I knee him in the mouth. Harder than he kneed her. Good. In prison, he'll be missing a few teeth.
I bend down next to him.
"You're gonna rot in prison," I grip the hair on his head and tilt his head back, "and after that, you'll rot in fucking hell."
It's not about just sending this motherfucker to prison. It's fucking retaliation.
No one will ever lay their hands on her again.
I send the side of his face another jab, following it, I slam his face into the ground.
I could lose my position because of it but I don't give a fuck. Azalea is worth more than a job position. She means more than anything, I don't know why or how, but she does.
I'd give up whatever she wanted me to just so I can still see her fucking smile and to hear her voice when she calls me Sugar.
Fuck that name. But she's happy when I let her call me it.
What am I feeling?
? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?
Thank you for reading! These last two chapters have taken me a little while to write. It's a sensitive subject and I wanted to go about it the right way to truly portray the characters in the way I thought they should be.
*Not edited*
Word count: 4929
-Ashlyn Montgomery