Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 136791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Jesus. I squeeze my eyes closed and take a deep breath.
"I told him to let me go, but he wouldn't. He grabbed my arm." She winces like she's remembering the feel of his hands on her body. "Then he tried to kiss me. I tried to fight him, but he's a lot bigger than I am. When he tried to pull my shirt off, I screamed as loud as I could and then kneed him in the balls and punched him."
"He scratched you trying to get your shirt off?" I ask, running my fingertips over the angry red mark as gently as possible.
She nods. "Quan heard me screaming and opened the door. When he saw what was happening, he dragged Tony off me. I don't remember what happened after that, but Tony ran off." She shivers and pushes her body closer to mine. "Quan called the police and then called Titan to come and get me. Did they find Tony yet?"
"Yeah, baby girl," I whisper to her. "He's in jail. He'll never hurt you again."
"Okay," she whispers back, some of the tension draining out of her. Even then, she clings like she's terrified to let me go.
I stay with January until she falls asleep.
"Thank you," Jana whispers when I slip out of the bedroom a little while later. She's standing right outside, her back against the wall and tears in her eyes. Exhaustion weighs heavily on her. "I didn't think she'd ever stop crying."
I pull her into a hug. She looks like she could use one.
She pats my back. "You're so good to my little girl."
"I'll always be good to her," I promise, meaning it.
"I know you will. You're a sweet boy, Michael. Ma Lucia would be so proud of you." She gives me a tired smile and then pats me on the cheek. "I'm going to sleep with her tonight so she won't be alone if she wakes up."
"That's probably a good idea," I agree, although I want to be the one in that bed with January, protecting her. Her mom clearly needs to reassure herself that her little girl is okay, though, so I won't fight her on it. I'll just crash on the couch so I'm here if my girl needs me. "I'm going to check on Titan."
"The boy who did this to her is in jail?"
"Yeah, Curtis Kaleo turned him in," I tell her.
Jana nods and then slips into the bedroom with January.
I watch as she climbs onto the bed with her and brushes her hair back from her face. They're so much alike, it's unreal. Jana is a little taller than January, and her hair is graying. Weary lines are etched into the skin around her eyes, but she's as sweet as her daughter. She works so damn hard to take care of January and Titan. She's a nurse, working an ungodly number of hours each week. I think she and my mom would have been great friends had they ever met.
I find Titan on the front porch, staring out into the dark.
"She's sleeping," I tell him, sinking into one of the chairs beside him.
"She was hysterical," he says, pain in his voice. "Mom and I couldn't calm her down. I thought she was going to hyperventilate."
"She'll be okay, Titan," I promise him, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. "We'll make sure of it."
He jerks his chin in the semblance of a nod.
"I may have fucked up."
He glances over at me.
"I went after Kaleo," I mutter, looking away from him to the street. Half the lights are out. Someone keeps busting them out with rocks. Every time I come home from school, I have to call and ask the city to have them replaced. I think they're about to give up on keeping this block lit up, but I don't want January out here without enough light to see in case Kaleo ever comes lurking around in the dark. "He's going to retaliate."
"Figured that's what took you so long to get here," Titan says like he's not surprised. "You make it count?"
"Yeah." I nod, staring down at my bruised knuckles. "I made it count. He won't come after January anymore. He knows I'll kill him if he tries. He says he turned Tony over to LAPD."
"Good," Titan grunts, though I'm not sure if he's talking about me making it count or about Kaleo turning Tony in for the shit he tried to do to January today. Not sure it matters either way.
"Maybe I should cut back on my course load so I'm around more," I muse, running my fingertip along a trail of dust on the arm of the chair.
"I've got it, man," Titan says, shaking his head.
"If he starts some shit–"
"If he starts some shit, I'll handle it. If you hadn't gone after him for this, I would have." Titan shrugs a shoulder, shooting me a look I can't decipher. "He had it coming for sending that motherfucker after January. If he retaliates, I'll deal with it. That's what you have me for anyway."