Page 54 of I Need It

“Get out!”

I looked for my phone in my purse to make a call, when another pain shot up my spine. It stilled all movement, causing me to grip my stomach again. My head was spinning, and the only thing I could do was turn to my side and pray while holding my belly. I watched that fucker turn to leave, but when he got to the door, his hands flew up in surrender, and he began backpedaling.

The eyes that met mine only had the tears falling down my cheeks. Not long after, I saw the anger that flooded him, and he knocked Janson on his ass. He dived on top of him and hit him again, knocking him out cold. He immediately grabbed his phone and dialed 9-1-1 as he slid next to me on the floor. The panic in his voice had my heart hurting even more.

“Christian… what are you doing here?”

“I came to see about you, baby. I’m glad I did.”

He rested his hand on my stomach as he kissed my forehead. “Is that Janson?”

“Yes. He pushed his way inside and made me stumble backwards. The weight of the stuff I was carrying pulled me to the floor.”

“Where were you going?”

“To Mesquite to surprise my daddy.”

“You had to know that I wouldn’t be able to go an entire month without seeing you, right? Had his ass not shown up, I would’ve missed you. You would have already been gone.”

I nodded as the pain once again shot up my back. Christian was about to move me, and I yelled, “Don’t! I don’t know what I hurt. It could make it worse if you move me.”

He nodded and glanced over at Janson, who was now stirring. He stood and went to him, blocking my view somewhat. “Why the fuck were you here?” Christian asked.

“She’s pregnant with my baby,” Janson said as he strained to get up.

“Naw, nigga. I met her at the hospital when she lost that baby. The baby she’s carrying now is mine. I will take yo’ punk ass out of here and worry about the consequences later,” Christian said as he pulled a gun from his waistband.

My eyes bucked. “Christian! No!”

“You know I could kill you and get away with it, right?” he said to Janson, completely ignoring me. “You are trespassing and assaulted a pregnant woman. I could blow your fucking brains out without consequence.”

Janson was stuttering all over himself, begging Christian to be cool. “Yo, man. I won’t bother her no more. Please, don’t do this. I fucked up.”

“Yeah, you right. You fucked up. What should I do about that though? I mean, if I kill you, I know you won’t come back. If I let you go, you could try to get revenge later.”

“Man, listen. I swear you won’t see me near her again. Please.”

When I heard the sirens in the distance, my heart started to slow down from the high-speed race it was running. I thought Christian would lower his gun, but he didn’t. I assumed he didn’t want Janson to try to leave. He slowly backed up to me, while Janson sat there with his hands lifted. When the cops knocked on the door, Christian put his gun away and yelled, “Come in!”

The cops entered slowly and looked around to see us all on the floor. “Who’s the homeowner?”

“She is,” Christian said. “She needs an ambulance. He’s the aggressor.”

The other police officer went to Janson as the other approached us. Christian surprised me when he said, “I need you to know I have a weapon. I’m going to lift my hands slowly so you can remove it for now.”

The officer nodded as he put one hand on his weapon. Christian lifted his hands and said, “It’s in my waistband on the left side.”

I noticed the other officer had his weapon drawn, pointing it in our direction. It was legal to carry in Texas without a license, so Christian had done nothing wrong. Actually, it was honest of him to even admit he had it.

“My wallet is in the back pocket on the same side. You’ll find my driver’s license and my license to carry as well,” he said.

Well, there went that. He was licensed in an open-carry state. Good for him. After the officer removed the gun and his wallet, the other officer lowered his weapon and assisted Janson from the floor, removing him from the apartment.

“You can stand if you would like to, sir,” the officer said to Christian.

“No, sir. I’ll get up once the ambulance gets here.”

He stared back at me and lowered his hand back to my stomach, rubbing it in circles. “Christian, can you check to see if you see any blood?”

---