Because You Exist(46)

“Dude. Don’t shoot. He said I could do it. He owed me some money, man. He said I could do it.” The man was sweating, and I noticed his belt was slightly undone.

“What did you do to her?” I managed. I was trembling. I wanted to rip this man apart.

“Nothing man. I swear. Nothing.”

I leapt towards the man and pressed the gun against his forehead. “What were you planning on doing to her?”

“I—” but I couldn’t even bear to hear his voice anymore. I shoved the gun in the waist of my jeans and pulled my fist back. Then I let it go. I hit and hit and hit and hit and hit and hit until the man fell to the ground unconscious.

I turned to Jo who was still lying on the bed. She was alert, but frozen in her position. I didn’t want to touch her. It would be the last thing she would want. “Jo. I need you to go into the bathroom. Lock yourself in there until you hear sirens. Do you understand me? Don’t open that door until you hear sirens. I’m gonna make the bad men go away.”

Little Jo sat up slowly. Her eyes were staring at my now bleeding knuckles. “You promise?” she whispered.

“I promise,” I replied, my voice choked with emotion.

Jo didn’t need any more encouragement. She jumped up and ran past me, slamming and locking the door to the bathroom as soon as she was inside. I didn’t waste any time either. I rushed down the stairs.

But I didn’t make it very far. Jo’s father was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. His fist made contact with my face before I could defend myself. I fell backwards. Her dad began to kick me over and over in the ribs. A burning pain seemed to overtake my chest. I blindly clutched for the railing to pull myself up. When I found it, I pulled with all the strength I had left. Back on my feet, I tackled Jo’s father. We both fell down.

I was about to get another hit in when I could hear them. The sirens. Someone had called the police. I couldn’t get caught there. Too many questions. Too many answers I couldn’t give. I scrambled to my feet and pushed my way out the front door. The rain felt good against my skin that now seemed as if it was on fire. I felt dizzy. Out of breath. I just needed to make it back to the car. I couldn’t run anymore. I took one step. Then another. The sirens got louder. They were coming. I was glad. I was terrified. Another step.

I saw her before I fell into her arms.

Jo.

She would have to save us both now.





Chapter 22





The first thing I felt was the pain. My whole body was humming with every punch and kick it had taken. I could taste blood in my mouth, and it was near impossible to breath without wishing I no longer had to. The light inside Jenna’s kitchen was brighter than I ever remembered it being.

I felt underneath me and realized I was laying on top of a couple of towels on the kitchen floor. It was a smart idea. The less blood I spilled everywhere the better. I didn’t remember Jenna ever telling me someone broke into her house before, which meant we’d have to keep it as clean as possible.

Like this never happened.

But it did happen.

“Jo?” I called out. Her name issuing from my lips caused a fit of painful coughs. Every cough felt like someone had taken shards of glass and were slowly pressing them into the spaces between my ribs.

I was hurt.

Bad.

“I’m here.”

Her whisper came from the corner of the kitchen where she also sat on the floor. Her back was pressed against some cabinets and her knees were pulled up to her chest. With a grunt, I pulled myself up so I was sitting as well, leaning my head against the round table where I had eaten so many family dinners with Jenna, ignorant that a world where these things happened could ever truly exist outside the news that didn’t have anything to do with me, or the movies which were made to keep me entertained.

“Are you all right?” I asked her. She didn’t looked hurt. She looked a little dazed. She looked soaking went. But she didn’t look hurt.

Suddenly, tears were falling from Jo’s eyes. She brought a shaky hand to her face in order to shield her show of emotion from me. There was no need. I would never judge her for something like that.

She was the strongest person I knew.

I lifted my heavy hand towards her. “It’ll be fine, Jo.”

But she continued to cry. It seemed like every time I asked her if she was all right or told her it would be fine, she only cried harder. She buried her face against her knees and sobbed openly. I felt tears begin to fall down my own cheeks. I tried to brush them away before she saw them. I wasn’t embarrassed for her to see them, but she didn’t need to worry about me too. I wasn’t even sure why I was crying.