“Oh my god, Kiki, is that a gun?!” cried Aimee, clearly in total freak-out mode. “Don’t shoot him!”
“Thank you, Aimee,” said Jack, satisfaction coloring his voice.
“I don’t want you to go to jail, is what I meant, Kiki” said Aimee, looking only at her friend.
“Hey!” said Jack. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Aimee turned to him, a cold look coming over her face. “It means, Jack, that I’d be perfectly okay with her shooting you if I thought she wouldn’t go to jail over it.”
Kiki smiled. She liked this Aimee better than the sad or cowed one.
“Get out,” Kiki said. “And stay out. You don’t live here anymore.”
“You can’t kick me out of my own house!”
Kiki moved her finger to the trigger and took two steps closer. “You sure about that?”
Jack held his hands up in surrender. “Fine, fine ... you crazy bitch. I’m leaving. But I’ll be back.” He pointed at Aimee. “You know you can’t keep me from coming into my own house.”
Aimee got an inspired look on her face. “Give me my car keys back, you jerk.”
Jack stole a look at Kiki and then reached into his pants pocket, taking out the keyring and throwing it on the counter. “Here. Thing’s a piece of shit anyway.”
Aimee said nothing, her eyes glued on Kiki’s hands.
Kiki moved farther into the kitchen and stepped to the side, giving Jack room to walk by. “Mess with Aimee and you mess with me. And my gun.”
Jack didn’t say anything until he got to the foyer. Then he turned and said menacingly, “You’re going to be very sorry you did this.” He slammed the door behind him on the way out.
Kiki rushed to the entrance of the house, stepping out and shouting, “Touch my car and you die!” She waved the gun at him making sure he could see it. She watched as he clicked something in his hand and the garage door went up. He disappeared inside, and shortly thereafter an engine started. An Aston Martin backed slowly down the driveway. Sweet ride, she thought, wondering what the hell Aimee was doing driving that old granny car while this jackass drove this design marvel.
Aimee come up behind her, stopping in the doorway. “Well, that was exciting.”
Once Jack’s car was clear of her Camaro, Kiki turned to look at her. “Yeah. Let’s get the rest of your stuff and get the hell out of here. He’s going to be back, either with something dangerous or the police.”
Aimee turned and ran to the kitchen, throwing open drawers and tossing things into boxes and even a few trash bags. “Put it all in! Just go! I’ll sort it out later!”
Kiki wasted no time following her and emptying the few remaining cabinets and drawers. She grabbed two fully loaded trash bags and ran them out to her car, throwing them into the backseat before turning to go into the house for more.
Aimee followed with two boxes stacked on one another, leaving them by the curb to fit in once the trunk was open.
Within fifteen minutes they had the rest of Aimee’s possessions loaded and had gotten into the car. Kiki turned to look at Aimee before she started the engine. “Are you ready?”
“Ready for what? To go? Heck yes.”
“No, I mean ready to start your new life.”
Aimee smiled. “Double heck yes.”
Kiki held up her hand. “Give me some skin on that.”
Aimee gave her a high-five, laughing when their hands nearly missed. “Oof, we suck at that.”
The distant wail of a police siren hit their ears at the same time. Kiki took one look at Aimee’s face and turned the key, slamming down on the gear shift and pushing down hard on the accelerator. They peeled out of the neighborhood, going well over the speed limit.
“Was that for us?” asked Aimee, her hand gripping the oh-shit handle.
“I don’t know. I figured we’d better not risk it.”
Aimee started giggling and Kiki glanced at her sideways. “You losing it?”
“Maybe. A little.”
“Good,” said Kiki, smiling. “I think you’re entitled. Your ex acts like a mean pimp.”
“That’s sad. I was married to a mean pimp,” said Aimee. “Is there such thing as a nice pimp?”
“No. Not in my experience.”
Aimee sighed. “I hate that I stayed with him for so long. I’m a serious wimp.”
“Don’t do that to yourself. That’s in the past. It’s onward and upward from here. No more pimps.”