Page 132 of Your Side of the Offense

Her face twists to that bitchy sneer I always hated.

"What the fuck does it look like?" Tracey responds with cheek.

No, this bitch didn't.

"You assaulted Harvey," I say, trying not to be too loud. This woman violated Harvey and my relationship. I owe her an ass whooping.

"Don't be delusional. He liked it—"

I grab her uniform shirt where her tits are almost spilling out and yank harder than I've ever yanked. The buttons fly everywhere. She stumbles forward, shrieking and tries resisting but I already took her by surprise and her forehead kisses the table. She screams, trying to pull herself from me.

"Stop!"

But I reach for her ponytail and twist as I stand, dragging her to the sand near me. The noise made by others barely registers as I shove her down the sand face first. My rage is boiling over and I see nothing but red, nothing but the vision of her ruin.

I hate this fucking bitch.

Her attempts at fighting back don't help. My father taught me defense and offence to help me against predators growing up. She doesn’t stand a chance. I shove her face in the sand, my knee on her back, making sure she has no escape. I push harder as she thrashes like a fish out of water. I feed her sand, knowing she has no choice but to open her mouth to breathe and cry for help.

It only brings me unexplainable joy and vindication. For Harvey.

I ease the pressure so she can hear my words. "You fucking predator!" I lift my hand so I can slap the shit out of her. I don't even care if she loses her hair as I make sure my grip is ironclad. It brings me satisfaction seeing her whole face, nose, mouth covered in sand, and I hope to fuck it's all in her eyes too.

Strong hands yank me off her before I can choke her on the sand some more and I thrash, feet kicking as I do.

"Let me go!" I scream. "Let me the fuck go!"

"Ma'am, stop!" a male voice calls behind me, but I barely hear as I watch for that bitch Tracey. People rush for her, and she is screaming like the bitch she is. I hope she chokes on the fucking sand.

"I can't see!" she screams and it brings a big smile on my face.

"You better run from this town, bitch. I'm coming for you," I scream loud enough for her to hear.

It’s downhill from there as police come and I leave in cuffs ten minutes later. But the adrenaline pumping through me has me wishing they could release me so I can finish what I started. At least arrest me for a completed ass whooping. It will be a shame to be yelled at by my father for something I didn't fully do.

By the time the iron doors shut in my face, most of the high is subsiding and I realize the kind of mess I’m in.

I am in fucking jail. For assault. Shit.

When I am allowed to call, it suddenly dawns on me that I don't know any numbers on memory. I don't even know my parents' numbers, nor any of the guys. The other two women I’m with are a prostitute that was the last to come in an hour ago and a woman who is covered in blood, also in for aggravated assault and probably attempted murder.

Apparently, she stabbed her husband after finding him in bed with another woman in their home, coming home from a long work trip to surprise him. For the past few hours, I have been listening to her story as she cried, telling me he won't even come for her.

The whole thing is pretty wild. I was glad when the prostitute came in so she could attend to her, and I could try to remember the numbers. Curse you smart phone generation. If I was a millennial, I wouldn't have these problems. Those people used to carry Nokias, they have a memory that rival today’s hard drives.

When I think I have remembered my sister's number, a police officer comes back.

"Miss Bailey, step forward," she says.

I step forward with too much enthusiasm and she gives me a disapproving look. But I have been here for hours, smelling all the weird smells of this place with a crying woman and my bladder is almost giving up. I just want to leave. So, I'll take the chance of a call I was promised an hour ago when the prostitute came in.

"Yes."

"Come to this side," she says sounding bored, like she is over the entire world.

"Okay," is all I can manage.

I am led out front where I came in and find Harvey waiting for me. He meets me halfway and I am allowed to hug him.

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