Cario “Crow” Domingo
Areal man protected women. He didn’t beat them.
Titan wasn’t anything but a coward with a heartbeat.
Ever since I was a kid, I couldn’t stand that grimy motherfucker.
Every time I looked at him, all I saw was a bully who got off on terrorizing women and anybody too weak to fight back.
No way was I gonna allow him to disrespect Rebel.
Yeah, she was the toughest woman I knew, but even the strongest women deserved to be protected.
Titan crossed a line the moment he put his hands on her.
He hadn’t just attacked another woman. That sucka nigga put his hands on somebody I cared about, and that was a mistake he was about to pay for, and I put that on my life.
The fucked-up part was that Titan shared the same blood as Rebel.
A father was supposed to be his daughter’s first protector, not the very monster she spent her whole life trying to escape.
Instead, Titan became the reason Rebel always had one eye over her shoulder and one hand ready to fight.
That bitch-ass motherfucker had been getting away with that shit for far too long.
He was finally gonna answer for every woman he ever put his hands on.
His luck had run out the second he laid another hand on Rebel.
Today, he was about to learn the difference between a bully and a man willing to bury one.
The bar he owned wasn’t open yet, which worked just fine for me.
That gave me plenty of time to make my statement loud and clear before the first customer walked through those doors.
Usually, I was calm. I stayed out of trouble, ran my shop, and minded my own damn business.
But when you fucked with someone I loved, all that calm shit went straight out the window.
I turned to face Rebel, who was sitting in the passenger seat.
She had tried to stop a nigga from confronting her bitch-ass father.
Matter of fact, he didn’t even deserve the title of father.
The sorry motherfucker was nothing more than a coward who put his hands on women because he was too weak to pick a fight with a man.
Just as I opened the driver’s door, Rebel clutched hold of my tattoo-covered arm.
She had a look in her eyes. It wasn’t fear; it was something else.
Something that made me stop. It was the look of someone who knew exactly what I was about to do but hated what it would cost me.
She didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to.
The grip she had on my arm said everything.
“I don’t think you need to do this.”
“Rain, I already told you I wasn’t playing. That nigga’s gonna have to see me.”
“Goddamn it. I know you’re serious when you use my real name,” she sighed. “How about I come in for backup?”
A slow grin tugged at my lips. “Nah. Stay where you at.” My voice dropped an octave. “I got this. Besides... I ain’t about to let the woman I care about be touched anymore.”
“Won’t you let me be your Bonnie to your Clyde?” she asked with a crooked grin. “Hell, it’s three of them niggas in there. They probably need they ass whooped as a group.”
I shot her a look. “Rain...”
“What? I’m just saying. If we jump ‘em together, we can be home before dinner.”
I couldn’t help but shake my head. “You think this shit funny?”
“Nah.” She smirked. “But if you get your ass whooped, I’m definitely laughing on the ride to the hospital.”
“You got jokes.”
“I got hands too. Quit acting like I’m made of glass.”
“I said I got it.” My tone left no room for argument. “Trust me. When I get back, you can cuss me out all you want. But right now? Be a good girl and let me handle my business.”
“I ain’t your dog.”
“Nah... but you sure do know how to listen.”
“The hell I do.”
“You do eventually.”
“You got me confused with one of your little girlfriends.”
I chuckled. “I don’t have girlfriends.”
“Damn. That’s tragic.”
“For them.”
“You done?”
“Nah.”
I gently peeled my fingers off my tattoo-covered arm. “Stay your hardheaded ass in this truck.”
“And if I don’t?”
I smirked. “Just stay here, Rain.”
“Fine. But if you get your ass whooped, I’m telling everybody you tripped over a barstool.”
I laughed as I shut the truck door. “Love you too, Rain.”
When I stepped out of the car and walked into the bar, I spotted Gao sitting at the end of the counter, sipping on a beer like he didn’t have a care in the world.
The second he looked up and recognized me, his mouth started to open.
He never got the chance to say a damn word.
I stormed over, grabbed the back of his shirt in a vise-like grip, and hurled his ass clean over the bar.
He crashed into the shelves behind the counter, sending liquor bottles and glass shattering in every direction.
The loud crash echoed throughout the bar, immediately drawing Rudy from the back.
The second he stepped into the room, his eyes locked onto Gao, who was sprawled across the floor behind the counter.
Unlike his homeboy, Rudy was ready. He reached to his hip, pulled out a knife, and started circling me, looking for an opening.
When he lunged, I jumped back just enough for the blade to whistle past my chest. He slashed again.
This time, I stepped inside his reach and drove a stiff jab straight into his nose.
Blood exploded instantly. Before he could recover, I cracked him across the temple with another punch.
He stumbled backward, dazed, but never let go of the knife.
When he tried to slash me again, I slipped to the side, knocked the blade clean out of his hand, and sent it skidding across the floor.
Before he could react, I drove a vicious uppercut into his jaw.
His head snapped back, and he crashed flat onto the floor with blood gushing from his mouth.
I walked over and started stomping his ass over and over until he curled up, trying to protect himself, while Gao stayed crumpled behind the counter, groaning through the broken glass, too scared to jump back into the fight.
Although I wanted to make an example out of those punk bitches, I wasn’t about to waste all my energy on a couple of clowns. They were nothing more than Titan’s lapdogs, taking orders from the man who was really responsible. If anybody was gonna feel my wrath, it was him.
Stepping over Rudy’s battered body, I headed toward the back of the bar.
A closed door caught my attention, and I figured it had to be Titan’s office.
Without breaking stride, I drove my boot into it.
The door flew open and slammed against the wall with a deafening bang.
The first thing I saw was Titan sitting comfortably behind his desk.
Standing in front of him was a woman wearing nothing but a bra, scrambling to cover herself after my unexpected entrance.
My presence left her petrified while Titan looked up at me with pure irritation written across his face. A slow grin spread across my face.
“Get the fuck out,” I said without taking my eyes off Titan.
The woman didn’t need to be told twice. Snatching up the rest of her clothes, she hurried past me with her head down, nearly tripping over her own feet trying to get out of the office. I turned back to face Titan, who leaned back in his chair like he wasn’t staring death in the face.
“You got a lot of fucking nerve kicking in my door.”
I cracked my neck from side to side and took a slow step toward his desk. “And you got a lot of fucking nerve putting your hands on Rebel.”
The grin disappeared from his face. “Oh, let me guess. You’re here to confront me over that boy-girl?” he chuckled.
Before Titan could finish laughing, I lunged across the desk.
My fist crashed into his jaw, sending both him and the chair flying backward into the wall.
Framed pictures rattled before crashing to the floor.
Titan groaned and tried to push himself up, but I was already on him.
I grabbed a fistful of his shirt, yanked him to his feet, and drove another punch into his ribs.
He swung back out of desperation. But I slipped the punch, buried a hook into his midsection, then hammered another shot across his face.
He staggered into a liquor shelf before crashing against his desk.
Instead of staying down, Titan snatched a heavy whiskey bottle off the shelf behind him and swung it at my head. I ducked just in time as the bottle exploded against the wall, showering the office with broken glass.
“That’s all you got?” I growled.
Titan answered by grabbing his office chair with both hands and hurling it at me.
I knocked it aside with my forearm. It slammed into the wall hard enough to splinter apart.
Every ounce of swagger drained from his face.
His eyes darted around the room, searching for anything that could save him.
With nowhere left to run, he lowered his shoulder and charged.
That was a big fuckin’ mistake. I sidestepped him, wrapped an arm around his neck, and drove his face straight into the edge of the desk.
The crack echoed through the office. Blood splattered across the polished wood as his body went limp for a split second before collapsing to one knee, leaving a crimson smear behind.
Before he could gather himself, I jerked him upright and buried another right hand into his jaw, making his knees buckle.
He crashed onto his back, gasping for air.
Then I stepped over him, grabbed him by the front of his shirt, and dragged his sorry ass through the broken glass.
“You like putting your hands on women?” I snarled, driving another punch into his jaw. “Fight a man.”
Titan rolled onto his side, coughing blood as he struggled to get back to his feet. The cocky grin he’d worn earlier was gone, but hate still burned in his eyes.
Then the office door burst open. I looked up and saw Rebel walking in, wearing a bandana covering the lower half of her face, and a pistol in her hand like she had lost every ounce of damn sense.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked.
She ignored me completely.
Instead, she pointed the gun straight at Titan.
“Nobody move.”
Titan looked between the two of us in complete confusion.
“Rain, what the hell are you doing?” I asked again.
Without taking her eyes off Titan, she shrugged. “Collecting unpaid child support.”
Even with blood pouring from his mouth, Titan looked offended. “The fuck did you just say?”
“You heard me.” She waved the gun toward the cash safe. “Open it.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Rain...”
She shot me a quick look and then responded. “Stay out of family business.”
I couldn’t believe this hardheaded woman. She really was gonna rob his ass. Crazy enough. Titan laughed through the pain.
“You think I’m giving you shit?” Titan grunted.
She shrugged. “You wasn’t planning on giving it to me when I was a kid either, so here we are.”
She motioned with the gun again. “Safe. Now.”
Titan looked at me. “You gonna stop her?”
“Nah,” I muttered. “This one on you.”
Still glaring at his daughter, Titan got up and slowly spun the combination. The safe clicked open, and Rebel walked over, grabbed stacks of cash, and stuffed every last dollar into her backpack. She then glanced around the office before spotting an expensive watch sitting on the desk.
“Ooh... this cute too,” she smiled.
I laughed despite myself.
“Rain...”
“What?” she said, sliding the watch into her bag. “Interest.”
She looked back at Titan and then spoke again, “You owe me thirty-plus birthdays, Christmases, school clothes, emotional damages...”
She tilted her head. “I figure we still got a balance after this.”
I shook my head and laughed. “You done?”
She zipped the backpack closed. “Yep.”
Then she pointed the gun at Titan one last time. “Oh... and happy Father’s Day, bitch.”
I threw my head back laughing. “You are so damn ignorant.”
She flashed me a grin beneath the bandana. “And yet... you love me.”
“Damn right I do,” I told her, and then my smile disappeared to focus back on Titan.
At first, I decided not to use my gun. I wanted him to feel every punch the same way Rebel had felt every hit he put on her. But knowing he had his own daughter jumped by grown men made my decision easy.
I raised my Glock and fired two shots. Both bullets tore through his kneecaps.
Instantly, Titan let out a bloodcurdling scream as his legs gave out beneath him.
He crashed backward onto the floor, clutching at his shattered knees while writhing in agony.
Without another word, Rebel and I turned and walked out together.
The bully had finally met his mothafuckin’ match.