Beautiful Scamp

I don’t wait to hear if he swears at me or tells me no harm done. In truth, I don’t really care.

“Hey, watch it!” grumbles a guy in his twenties as I barrel into him, making my way for the doors, having to be nearer to her. I turn a solid gaze on him and he steps back, seeing in my eyes what I normally try to keep hidden. The beast. The monster. The man I used to be.

Finally I get to the exit, slipping past the security guard with a mumble of thanks as I tuck a twenty into his hand. He might vaguely recognize me, but generally I keep a low profile. I’m not known to most of the people in this city and I like to keep it that way.

Out in the darkness of the city, I realize she could be anywhere, and that brings another thought to my mind: I might never see her again. Jesus, I almost double over, having to fight to keep from hyperventilating. I’ve glimpsed such beauty that shouldn’t exist on earth, and if I have to go back to life without it I don’t know if I can go on.

Think, Val. Stop and think. Rushing out into the street isn’t going to make her appear any faster.

The chill wind whips up dust into my face, and I pull my dinner jacket around me, fastening it against the cold evening air. There’s the dull rumble of conversation and laughter from inside the casino, the blare of a horn somewhere nearby, the scent of asphalt after the recent rain.

And then I hear it. A clatter of trashcans from an alleyway across the street.

It could have just been a cat, but I don’t think so. It’s her. I can feel it.

Moving that way, I start to hear voices, low but rising as I get closer.

“Little girls shouldn’t play with the big boys.” A chuckle, the sound of someone spitting. “This isn’t the first time we’ve caught you on our turf, is it? Hand over the stash and we’ll let you go back home.”

Another voice chimes in: “But we catch you around here again, we’re going to have to charge you a pitch fee, just like anyone else.”

I crouch by the entrance to the alley, scoping out what’s going on before heading in. All I can see is the backs of three heads, shaved bald, with prison gang tats on their creased necks. Leather jackets, torn jeans, leather boots. They’re all standing in a line up by the end of the alley, where a metal fire escape snakes up against the side of the building.

“Of course, there are ways to pay a pitch fee that don’t involve cash. Fine piece of ass like you, we can work something out.”

Chuckles all round, then one of them shifts aside and I see her.

She should look scared. Anyone else would be scared in her position. But instead, all I see on her face is defiance.

“You like my ass, why don’t you fucking kiss it?”

With that, she moves forward, spits right in the face of the one in the middle and before he can react, her knee connects right with his balls. I hear his choked exhale as I get to my feet and rush forward, watching him buckle under the pain as the girl ducks out of the way of the next attacker’s fist. Fuck, if anything happens to her…

“Bitch!” says the third, grabbing her around the neck, her sunglasses skittering across the alley floor as I throw a punch at the second attacker’s head.

“Motherfucker!” I shout as my fist connects with his ear from behind, suddenly right back to my old self, the one who would have taken a gang fight on a Saturday night in his stride.

He turns, surprise on his face, but isn’t quick enough to dodge my next punch, which hits him square in the nose. He falls back, and I hear a scream from beside me. But it’s not my angel who’s squealing in pain, it’s the last guy standing. Her teeth are digging into the flesh of his forearm and he’s suddenly struggling to get away.

And in the scuffle, he knocks her off her feet and she falls to the ground.

“Fucker,” I growl, suddenly seeing red. How dare he harm a single hair on her beautiful head? How dare he even touch my angel?

If she’s cut. If she’s bleeding. If she’s bruised. I’ll fucking kill him. I’ll destroy him. I’ll wipe him from existence.

He’s already assessed the situation and decided he’s at a disadvantage before I can react, and I have to chase him back down the alley. But rather than keeping on running, he turns to look back, and that’s his downfall. Crashing into a trash can that’s fallen across the way, he loses his footing and lands on his face in the trickle of water running from the wall.