Page 76 of Risking it All

My heart twisted and my brain raced as I couldn’t keep up with it all.

Lev wiped his eyes as they filled with tears. “He hits me.”

“Who hits you?” Relic barely breathed out, and the rage was clear in his tone.

“My dad,” Lev whispered. “He hits me and my mom. Sometimes, she hits me too, but it’s because she’s mad that I made Dad angry. He has a lot of anger, and when he gets mad,he hits people. Even our neighbor. Guys at the bar. He just gets angry.”

“Mrs. Collins,” Demarius said, and in a blink of an eye, he was out of the room. Relic right behind him. Lev then bolted, and Melanie and I followed.

The world moved in a slow-motion blur. Down the hallway, out into the bright sunlight. Halfway across the parking lot, Lev’s father towered over Mrs. Collins, screaming at her. His face red, spit flying from his mouth, saying the most awful things about her, about Lev, about how coming here made his son worse. Mrs. Collins kept edging back as he pushed into her personal space. Lev’s mom sat in the front seat of the car, staring ahead as if nothing was happening.

With her hands in the air, Mrs. Collins told him to take a deep breath, to calm down and when she said, “I’m done speaking with you. We can talk again when you’re calm,” Lev’s father grabbed her arm and backhanded her across the face.

“Don’t touch her!” Lev jumped forward, put his hands on his father’s wrist, and the air rushed out of my lungs as Lev’s father sent a blow. Lev went flying backwards. He hit the concrete hard, his head smacking the ground.

We all froze, but then, as Lev slowly eased up, dazed at what happened, his father stalked after him again, the fury on his face making it clear he wasn’t done.

“Get in the car!” Lev’s dad roared.

Lev crawled backwards in retreat. “No.”

“Get in the car now!” Lev’s dad grabbed his arm, jerked him to his feet, but Lev’s legs gave, and Lev’s dad dragged him across the ground. “Get up!” When Lev didn’t, Lev’s father threw back his arm to punch him.

Zuri screamed, “No!” as Demarius and Relic raced for Lev’s father.

I ran for them, too. “Demarius! Relic’s on probation! He can’t hit him!”

A split second before Relic reached Lev’s father, Demarius tackled Relic sending them both rolling to the ground. I raced past them. Lev’s father punched Lev, one blow raining down after another. I grabbed his arm as Melanie jumped on Lev’s father’s back. She pulled at his hair, scratched at his face. He released Lev, trying to fight off me and Melanie. Years and years of Dad, Isaiah, and West showing me how to defend myself came flooding back, and it all came down to the same thing. When all else fails…

I kicked the hell out of Lev’s dad. His crotch, his stomach, his legs, and then wherever I could reach as I shouted and screamed, “No one will hurt me! No one will hurt me ever again!”

Lev’s father crumbled to the ground, yet I kept kicking. Arms went around me, lifting me into the air. I screamed, sobbed, I fought, and Relic said into my ear, “It’s okay. He’s down. You’re right. No one’s going to hurt you again. Ever. You’re too strong for that.”

I stopped then—the crying, the yelling. A strange sensation created a different type of haze. No. Oh no. I punched someone. Hit them. Lost control. Jail. I was going to jail. What had I done? In the deafening silence, we then heard Lev cry, Lev’s father curse and moan, and Mrs. Collins begging the police for help. Lev’s mother still sat in the car, staring straight ahead, as if comatose.

The edges of my vision were cloudy, a loud buzzing noise filled my head, and I couldn’t think straight. Oh my God. What happened? What did I do? I needed help. Lev needed help. What was going to happen to him now? What was going to happen to me?

Keeping an arm around me, Relic lowered me to the ground, crouched in front of me, and tucked my hair behind my ear. “You okay? Did he hurt you?”

I blinked once because I didn’t know. “I hit him.”

“You did,” Relic said. “The bastard deserved it.”

“I hit him.” I jerked my cell out of my back pocket and desperately entered my code wrong two times before breaking through. On autopilot, I called who I needed, who I knew could make everything okay.

One ring then the answer, “Mace?” Dad said. “You okay? I thought you had therapy today.”

“I need you,” I hurried out. “Please come. Please. I need you, Dad. I need you now.”

Chapter thirty-five

Relic

It was bizarre being on this side of a police-involved situation. The police were polite, checked on me to make sure I was okay, handed me water to drink, and they were patient as I explained what happened. They also did a great job comforting everyone else, especially Lev. One police officer sat on the ground next to Lev, talking to him until the ambulance arrived.

Demarius and I sat on the curb of the sidewalk to the school and watched the scene unfold. Mrs. Collins and Zuri were deep in conversation with one police officer or another, then they talked to some woman in dress clothes who I heard someone say was from child protective services. My gut twisted, but what else could anyone do?

Melanie and Macie sat on the opened back of an ambulance as the paramedics checked them out. Melanie’s mom showed less than two minutes after everything happened, arriving early to wait for therapy to be over. She stood by Melanie’s side, arms lovingly wrapped around her daughter’s shoulders. Macie’smom showed quickly. Then, a few minutes later, another guy and some bouncer of a man with a shit ton of tattoos descended upon the scene. Macie’s mom stayed by Macie’s side as the two other men talked to a police officer, Mrs. Collins, and the social worker.

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