Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
J unicia
It had been a few days since Leo stole my car, and I hadn’t heard from him since.
I did file the police report, but I didn’t press charges.
I just wanted it on record in case he did something else.
I tried to show a little sympathy since he was going through a hard time, so as long as he didn’t bother me again, I wouldn’t get the police involved.
I wouldn’t tell Franklin that if he asked, but I hadn’t seen him since that day either.
We lived so close but somehow kept missing each other.
If I didn’t know any better, he was purposely avoiding me. I wasn’t sure why because I knew that he noticed that something was brewing between us. It was the way he stared into my eyes. They were so dark and intense. It felt like he was interested in me but didn’t know what to say.
I was surprised when he stepped in for me.
It was for sure unexpected since we didn’t know each other.
I didn’t know what to say or do. I wanted to repay him for what he did, but I didn’t know how.
I knew nothing about him to know what he liked.
I saw him sitting on his porch a lot drinking out of a coffee mug, but I wasn’t sure what was in there.
For all I knew, he could have been drinking liquor.
I was a little judgmental, but he didn’t seem like the type to drink all the time. Not that all drinkers had a look.
Before getting fired, Leo was a social drinker.
If he was out or at a party, he would have one or two drinks max.
After he lost his job, he started drinking every single day, sometimes multiple times a day.
I knew it was hard for him to lose a job and his license, but he wasn’t going to get another job if he continued with his behavior.
He wasn’t my problem anymore, at least I hoped not.
All day at work, I thought about Franklin.
I always thought he was handsome, but seeing him up close, I was able to fully take in his features.
He had dark eyes that looked like black coal.
Being close to him made my body shiver. He probably thought I shivered because of the cold, but it was the effect he had on me.
I wanted to kiss him when he came on my porch, even though I was a little nervous at first. It was our first encounter, and I didn’t know what to expect.
There was concern in his eyes when he asked me if I was okay.
I couldn’t see the full design, but he had a tattoo that peeked over his jacket and on the side of his neck.
The man was sexy as hell, and quiet, but underneath lay something else.
Pulling a gun out on a stranger had me thinking there was more to Franklin than met the eye.
I wasn’t sure what it was, but I was curious to find out.
I needed to be worried about if Leo would come back to my house or not.
Something told me he wasn’t going to go away so easily since he hadn’t already.
His being quiet could have been plotting something against me.
I didn’t know what he was capable of, and I didn’t want to find out.
I just prayed that it finally sunk in that things were over, and he would go about his business.
Maybe he could find some other unsuspecting woman who didn’t care about him not having a job, or any ambition.
It was possible he already did, and that’s why he hadn’t bothered me.
When I got home from work, I peeked over to see if Franklin’s car was in the driveway, but it wasn’t. I was a little disappointed because I wanted to see him.
“Leave that man alone.” Talking out loud helped me get my thoughts together sometimes.
On the way home from work, I had stopped at the liquor store for some wine and picked up dinner from a restaurant nearby.
I had forgotten to take something out for dinner, and I didn’t feel like cooking anyway.
I had to travel forty-five minutes to another hospital to do a survey, and by the time I got home, I was tired.
I was in the middle of watching a movie when my throat started itching. At first, I tried to play it off, but it continued. After a few minutes, my arms started itching as well.
“What the hell?” I tried clearing my throat to scratch it, but it wasn’t helping. The next thing I knew, my lip began to swell.
I got up to get some Benadryl from the bathroom when I heard a crash through my living room.
“What the fuck was that?” I turned to walk toward the window and saw a brick lying on the floor.
“I told you this shit wasn’t over!” Leo yelled from my front yard.
I snatched the door open even though I should have been calling the cops.
“Leo, why the fuck did you throw a brick through my window? What part of this is over aren’t you comprehending? For someone to be so smart, you’re fucking stupid!” I walked toward him not caring about the swelling in my lip or the fact that he could have done something to me.
When I got close enough, he grabbed me by the neck, but I kicked him in his balls, and he immediately let me go. He fell to the ground and rolled around, holding himself.
Franklin pulled into his driveway, and as soon as the car was in park, he got out and ran over to me. He didn’t even bother turning his car off or closing the door.
Leo was still on the ground when Franklin approached. He looked down at Leo, then back at me. His expression shifted from concern to anger when he noticed my lip. “He did this to your lip?” He gripped my chin and turned my head from left to right.
“No. No. He grabbed my neck, but I kicked him.”
Next thing I knew, Franklin turned around and kicked Leo in the side before he started beating the shit out of him.
“You fucked up by coming around here again and putting your hands on her.”
He pummeled the shit out of Leo, and I didn’t know what to do, so I ran into the house to grab my phone. I felt so bad that Franklin got involved because it was obvious he had just gotten off work.
I quickly grabbed my phone from the charger and called the police. I went back outside to try and stop the fight because I didn’t want Franklin to get into any trouble, especially because of me.
The two of them were still tousling in the grass when I got outside. More so Franklin than Leo because Leo had a hard time hitting Franklin back.
“Franklin! Franklin! I called the police.”
I ran over to them and called Franklin’s name again. I was smart enough not to get too close.
“Franklin, I’m okay. I promise. You have to stop before the police come.”
His glasses were now in the grass, and a few buttons on his shirt were popped. He looked like he’d been fighting, but he didn’t look half as bad as Leo, who had a black eye and busted lip.
Two police cars whipped into my driveway, and four officers got out of their cars.
“Freeze!” they yelled with their guns drawn.
Franklin and I put our hands up, and Leo tried the best he could from the ground.
The officers walked closer to us.
“This guy threw a brick through my window and tried to choke me.” I nodded toward Leo on the ground. “I filed a police report the other day about him stealing my car, but I didn’t press charges because he returned it. I want to press charges now though.”
All four of them put their guns away, and one of them knelt on the ground and put cuffs on Leo.
One of the others came closer to Franklin and me. He looked between us.
“You want to tell me what happened?” He pulled out a small notepad.
He acted like he didn’t just hear me say what happened, but I told him anyway.
I told him everything that happened from Leo stealing my car and him showing up and breaking my window. I assured him that Franklin was just trying to protect me and that he shouldn’t be in any trouble.
“Is that everything?” the officer asked when I was done.
“Yes.”
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a card, then passed it to me. “Call me if you need anything else.”
“Thank you.”
Two of the officers took Leo, while the other two asked Franklin a few questions.
Once they were done, they left us standing in my yard.
For a few seconds, neither of us said anything. When Franklin looked at me, I saw him get angry all over again. I knew to him my lip looked worse than it was.
I grabbed his hand, and he schooled his features. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. When I saw your lip, all I saw was red. What happened?”
“First, you need to shut your car off and close the door.” The side of my mouth curled into a small smile as I tried to lighten the moment.
He looked toward his car and chuckled, then looked at my house.
“You need to get what you need to close your front door and come over to my house. You can’t go in there with the window busted like that. I probably have something in my garage I can close it up with for now. You don’t need to be out here, though, because it’s cold.”
“I need some Benadryl for my lip first.”
“I have some. Go close your door real quick.”
I did what he said and met him back in the grass a few seconds later. I didn’t feel comfortable going inside my house yet.
Franklin and I walked over to his house. I stood on his porch while he shut the car off and locked it up. I couldn’t believe how the day had turned out.