Think, Asher, think! I inched forward, careful to keep my mom behind me. “Asher, Son—”
“Ssh, Dad, I got this.”
“Jermaine, you don’t want to do this. Imagine what Mya will do when she finds out—”
“Don’t be talkin’ like you know her. You don’t know her, I know her.” He turned the gun into himself, tapping it against his chest.
“Why don’t you let my parents go on inside and we can talk? Man to man.”
Mom whimpered, and I heard my dad quietly trying to comfort her. I needed them out of here, somewhere safe. Somewhere where he couldn’t touch them.
Shit. I was in over my head.
“Call her,” he demanded. “Tell her to come here.”
As slowly as possible, I dug my cell out my jeans pocket and dialed Mya, all while keeping one eye on Jermaine.
“Asher,” she breathed. “Thank God. I thought—”
“I need you to come to my house.”
“Asher, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“Jermaine is here,” I kept my voice as even as possible. “He wants to talk to you.”
“H- he’s there?” Hushed voices came over the line. I could pick out Jason and Felicity in the background.
“Hurry,” I added, before hanging up. “It’ll take her at least ten minutes.”
“I got time. I got all the fucking time in the world.”
Mya made it in less than seven minutes, but it had felt like a year. The second she stepped out of Jason’s Dodge Charger, Jermaine seemed to relax. “You came.”
“What’s going on, J?” Her tone was soft, but I didn’t miss the sheer horror in her eyes as she noticed the gun in his hand. “What did you do?”
“Nothin’. I didn’t do nothin’ yet. I just needed you to listen.”
“And you thought following my boyfriend home and threatening him and his parents with a gun was the way to get my attention?”
“I wasn’t thinkin’. Shit, Mya, everything’s so fucked up.”
“I can see that,” she seethed and I tried to catch her eye to silently ask her what the hell she was doing. But then it dawned on me; she wasn’t trying to aggravate him, she was trying to draw his attention off us to her.
“Asher, Son, we should go inside and call the police,” Dad whispered.
“You two go.” I kept my eye on Mya. “I’m not leaving her.”
“Asher,” Dad hissed. “Now is not the time for heroics.”
“I’m staying.”
He and Mom moved toward the house just as Jermaine advanced on Mya. I didn’t have time to think as I lunged for him. He was so focused on her, he didn’t see me until it was too late. My body slammed into his and we toppled to the ground.
“NO!” someone yelled as a gunshot went off. The gun clattered to the floor and Mya kicked it clear of Jermaine.
“You’re okay,” I rasped, a little winded from the fall.
Sirens sounded in the distance, and Mya helped me clamber to my feet. “What were you thinking?” she scolded me before falling into my arms. I held her tight as I searched for my parents to check they were all right. But something was wrong.