Page 53 of Rewind

“You son of a bitch, if you ever touch her again, I’ll make you wish you were never born,” he snarled.

Mark held his face, with wide-eyed terror. He curled himself into a ball, making himself smaller against another potential attack. Just like Ethan thought, Mark was the epitome of a coward. He could pick on those he thought were weaker than him but when it came to a fair fight, he was a little bitch.

This pissed Ethan off even more.

His heart raced and his lungs worked overtime from the angry heaving of his chest. He leaned over Mark and grabbed him by the collar prepared to deliver another blow but Amina wrapped her arms around his waist. “Don’t! He’s not worth it. Let’s just get out of here.”

He was tempted to ignore her words but when she placed her head against his back, he was instantly soothed. He released Mark and let him fall to the ground.

By now several people surrounded them, serving as witnesses. A matronly woman with gray-streaked hair came charging toward Ethan with her purse.

“You hoodlum! What did you do to my baby?” she screamed.

She hit Ethan with her purse, but Amina pushed her away.

“Mrs. Caldwell, calm yourself. Your so called baby assaulted me and this man assisted me.”

The woman Ethan assumed was Mark’s mother turned her fiery gaze on Amina. “My Mark would do no such thing. Haven’t you caused enough trouble for our family tonight as it is?”

“I saw it, lady. He grabbed her hair!” A random man in the crowd shouted.

“Stay out of it!” the angry woman yelled before focusing on Amina again. “You’re going to burn in hell for what you did. God is always watching. Hallelujah!”

Ethan attempted to shield Amina from this unhinged woman’s vitriol but Amina gently placed her hand on his arm and shook her head. “I can handle this.”

“Mrs. Caldwell,” she addressed the other woman. “Maybe you should stop worrying about my salvation and focus on your own. Your family is in shambles. Your son is an abusive mama’s boy who can’t take care of himself. The only reason he wanted to marry me in the first place was to have someone he could mooch off of for the rest of his life.”

“In the meantime, your husband is sticking it in any available hole he can and taking advantage of impressionable young women. But you’re probably aware of that but pretend not to notice because you want everyone to see you as some great pillar of society. We both know that isn’t the case,Katherine.”

“You’rea petty, judgmental, vindictive woman. No one really likes you. They just like your title and deep down you know that, and that’s why you’re trying to desperately hold on to it. Because without it, you’re hollow inside and there’s isn’t enough Jesusin the world to fill that empty void. I pity you because one day you’re going to wake up and see yourself for who you really are and wonder where you went wrong.”

Amina then turned to Ethan. “Come on, we can go now.”

“Damn!” a random person in the crowd shouted.

Mark’s mother literally clutched her pearls. If she wasn’t as rotten as her son, Ethan might have felt sorry for her.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and guided her to his car. “You’re riding with me.”

“What about my car? I can’t just leave it here. I’m sure the restaurant will have it towed after a certain amount of time has passed.”

“I can pay for a tow service to have it delivered to your house. There’s no way I’m letting you go back to your place tonight. It wouldn’t be a good idea, while tensions are high. That psychopath may show up there.”

“That makes sense. But where will I stay?”

“You’ll stay with me. I have an extra toothbrush for you.”

“But wouldn’t it make more sense if you follow me back to my house? I’ll pack an overnight bag and then you can take me back to your place.”

“I don’t want you out of my sight for a second. Besides, I can find you something to wear. I bet you’ll look sexy in one of my t-shirts.” He winked at her.

She merely smiled in return.

Once they were in his car and driving off the premises, some of the tension in his body slowly eased.

“How did things go tonight?”

Amina shrugged. “About how I expected. I didn’t get to interact with my cousin as much as I did with my first engagement party. The set up was different this time around, probably because there was less time to prepare. It’s okay because I think they both got the message.”

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