LWLU – Friendly Attack

“Sara, what’s wrong?”

If her life were a Michael Bay film, this was the point where the camera would swing around her and Paul in a slow, full circle. Just like the phone call in Bad Boys II that let Will Smith and Martin Lawrence know that things just got real, Sara could feel the decided shift. It was a moment where it felt like nothing would ever be alright again.

“Where are you, Nika?” She caught Paul’s gaze and held it, sure terror filled her eyes by the expression on his face. “What’s happening?”

“The part of the park where the crazy people meet. You know, the…” Her voice came to an abrupt stop and she sucked in air. “Oh, God! He found me. Hurry.”

The line went dead.

With purpose, Sara threw all her books into the locker and slammed it shut before starting down the hall. Paul quickly fell into step beside her. “I swear I’ll kill him if…”

“Sara…what the hell’s going on?”

She took in a calming breath to cleanse herself of the murderous rage surging through her veins. “Nika’s in some kind of trouble.”

“At school?”

“No.” She stopped in the middle of the hall and Paul nearly ran into her. “She’s at the park having lunch with Sucre.” She resumed the hurried walk towards the exit. “I knew he was hurting her, but it sounds like things just got worse.”

He grabbed her wrist to stop her once they stepped out into the frigid air. “What do you mean you knew he was hurting her? Where’s your coat?”

“What?” She looked around, confused. “Locker. I don’t have time for that. I have to go.”

Paul rolled his eyes and shrugged out of his coat, putting it around her shoulders. “Come on, I’m parked over here.”

Absently, Sara followed him while slipping her arms into the coat’s sleeves. His coat smelled nice.

Once they were in the car, Paul turned to her. “Which park?”

“Prichett Park.”

He shot her a dirty look while backing out of the parking space. “You’ll have to do better than that or we’ll never find her.”

“Um…something about crazy people.” Sara closed her eyes and tried to think of how that made sense in Nika’s scared brain. Her eyes flew open. “The part by the rusted bridge over Lucas River. Where the guys with swords and capes play on weekends.” She clicked her seatbelt into place and turned to him. “Please tell me you know where that is because I don’t know the fastest way to get…”

“Yeah, I’ve seen those guys. I know where I’m going.” He shot her another look. “Now, back the fuck up and tell me why you’re just now telling me that that lowlife I work with is hurting her.”

Sara had never seen anyone’s knuckles so white on a steering wheel or their ears so red. “I only put it together just now. I saw her at the start of lunch and her arms are covered in bruises and, I don’t know what to call them…grab marks…like someone grabbed her arm and wouldn’t let go.”

They drove for a few minutes in tense silence before Sara ventured another glance in his direction. “Are you mad at me, Paul?”

With effort, he relaxed his grip on the steering wheel. “I’m mad, but not at you.” The muscle in his jaw worked. “What did she say about the bruises?”

“First that she ran into a wall and then that she got drunk and fell down the stairs. But…Nika doesn’t drink and she doesn’t walk into walls.”

“Is that all she said?”

“Um…She called me Sherlock Holmes and said she had to hurry because Sucre would be mad if she was late.”

He muttered something under his breath, but Sara couldn’t make it out. Instead, she pointed out the window. “That’s Nika’s car.”

Paul parked next to the car and they both jumped out of the car, first walking, then running towards the bridge. What if they were too late? It took them at least 15 minutes to get to the park after Nika’s call. What had that sonofabitch done to her best friend in that span of time?

Fifteen minutes was an eternity…

The scene was surreal. Bright fire engines and smiling dogs comprised the most ridiculous cartoon sleeping bag Sara could imagine. The simple picnic basket was overturned, its contents strewn across the lifeless grass for several feet. What Sara could only hope was grape juice had soaked into the dirt and splattered across the edge of their makeshift picnic blanket.

But it couldn’t be grape juice, could it? Spilled grape juice wouldn’t look like blood…

Nika sat in the middle of the sleeping bag, knees drawn up to chest, arms on her knees, head buried in her arms. She was rocking herself back and forth while sobs racked her body. It was the single worst sight Sara could ever remember seeing before that day.

Sucre was crouched beside her, hands on her shoulders in…what? An attempt at comfort? It might have been more effective if he hands weren’t cut, his knuckles scraped and bloody.

He looked up at them, revealing his left eye was swelling shut. “Gee…it’s not that I don’t like you two, but do you have to show up every time I’m out with my girl?” He tried to smile and grimaced in pain.

Good. He deserved it. He deserved a lot worse than whatever damage Nika managed to do to him.

Sara rushed to her friends side, shoving him into the dirt. “Get away from her!”

Sucre’s eyes flashed with rage. He started to get up, but Paul moved directly behind Sara. “Don’t.”

“Nika…it’s okay. I’m here now. Are you hurt? What happened?”

After several non-responsive moments – the longest of Sara’s life – Nika gradually peeked up from her arms. As expected, her mascara pooled underneath her wide blue eyes and trailed down her cheeks in ugly black streaks. What Sara didn’t expect was the busted lip and forming bruises on Nika’s throat.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Paul’s hand clench into a fist. He saw the bruises, too.

Nika looked around, dazed. In slow motion, her gaze went from Sara to Paul to Sara. She shook her head and brought trembling hands to her face to wipe away the tears, but her fingers shook so badly that she let them fall useless to her side. “I’m…I’m…okay now.”

Paul’s voice was strained. “What the hell happened here?”

Her gaze moved to Paul and panic flashed in them. “Umm…” She whipped her head around in Sucre’s direction and her voice shook. “Ummm…”

Sucre dusted dirt from his ripped shirt. “We were having lunch and some guys I know from school came over to hassle us. Things got physical. I handled my shit. They’re gone.”

“And these guys thought it would be fun to beat up Nika while you handled your shit,” Paul questioned, voice void of emotion.

“They’re real bad guys.”

Sara shot him a look while helping Nika to her feet. “Yeah, something tells me it only took one real bad guy to do this to her.”

“Is that supposed to mean something, mami?” Sucre shot to his feet. “Because I don’t have your fancy uppity vocabulary, so you’ll have to speak simple.”

Paul stepped in front of Sucre, blocking Sara and Nika from him. “It means your story is bullshit.”

Sucre bowed his shoulders. “Are you and me about to have a problem, Kellerman? I took them; I can sure as shit take you.”

“Oh?” He cracked his knuckles. “We’ll just have to see about that.” He shoved Sucre back. “Come on. I’ll even give you the first shot free. Let’s do this.”

“Stop it!” Nika’s scream echoed through the empty park, chasing the last brave winter birds from a nearby bench with an angry flutter of feathers. She shoved past Paul and dove into Sucre’s arms. “It’s not bullshit. It’s what happened.”

This didn’t make any sense. Sara put her hand on Nika’s shoulder. “You don’t have to lie for him. Not to me.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Neek…We need to take you to the hospital.”

“No!” Nika flew around to face her. “No. I don’t need a hospital.”

“But…”

“But nothing, Tancredi. You can take your condescending look of pity and get out of here. I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine and I’m not condescending. I want to help you.”

A fresh batch of angry tears spilled over her cheeks. “You want to help me? That’s rich. Just take your damn thug boyfriend and leave me alone. Fernando’s going to take me home and I’ll be fine.”

What the hell was wrong with Nika? This was insane. This…wasn’t her.

At all.

Paul pointed an accusing finger at her. “When are you going to realize that you wouldn’t have to play the fucking damsel in distress all the time if you’d stop creating your own bad situations? Your luck’s going to run out pretty soon and you’re not going to have a single person left who gives a damn when you need help most.”

Sara glanced at him then did a double take. What? She watched as he stalked off towards the cars and turned her attention back to the couple. Sucre’s eyes flashed with something feral and dangerous; Nika’s burned with hatred. She opened her mouth to speak, but felt her heart drop when she realized the hatred was directed at her.

Defeated, she trudged off after Paul without another word, pulling his coat tighter around her body to fend off the surge of tears and pain ready to break forth at any moment.

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