Pain Lived, Love Found 2 (19 page)

I circled back around to where I saw Lola’s car and parked nearby. I continued to search until I spotted her and David at an ice cream stand across the busy street. They were having a heated argument and Lola was pissed. I have never seen this side of her before, and she wasn’t backing down. I knew I liked her for a reason. David had a nasty scowl on his face and his nostrils were flared. I watched as his hands clenched and unclenched into fists, and I got out of my car and began to cross the street. My need to protect Lola took over and rational thinking went out the window. As I was crossing the first busy road, I saw the unthinkable. David pushed Lola hard in the chest and sent her stumbling back, and that’s when I lost it. I crossed in front of cars as I ran to Lola and David, not caring that I almost caused multiple accidents. Once I got to them, Lola was about to lunge at David when I punched him square in the nose at full speed, sending David flying into some nearby bushes. I hoped those bushes were full of thorns.

I stalked over to him and grabbed him by the shirt.  “You like to hit women, you little bitch? Hit a man! Hit ME!” I yelled.

“ACE! Stop it!” Lola screamed, but it fell on deaf ears. I punched David’s face over and over, bloodying his perfect, caramel-colored skin, feeling his jaw break as I continued to strike him with all the strength in me. David was screaming and crying out like the little bitch that he was, begging me to stop but I wouldn’t.

This time Lola jumped on my back and screamed in my ear telling me to stop, and it was only then that I stopped. She got off of my back and I stood up straight, my eyes crazed with rage and anger. My chest was heaving with adrenaline as I turned my attention to Lola.

She looked at me as though I was some crazed monster that she didn’t recognize, and I looked at her like she had lost her mind protecting this piece of shit who had shoved her like she was a man instead of treating her like the delicate woman that she is.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Ace? What are you even doing here, and why did you do that?” Lola pointed at her bloody mess of a boyfriend who was still moaning in the bushes.

I think he said something about his nose and jaw being broken. “I was driving along, I saw your car so I looked for you. I spotted you over here, I see the two of you having a heated discussion, and then I saw that piece of shit shove you and I lost it. I ran over here to protect you, Lola!” I yelled back.

“I didn’t need your protection, Ace; I can handle myself!” Lola yelled in return.

I got closer to Lola and pinned her with my angry eyes and said, “I saw him clenching his fists as if he was going to hit you. He was going to hit you, I saw it in his eyes. He shoved you first, but he was going to hit you next. Trust me, I know guys like him. He’s a punk and a PUSSY!” I then glanced at David who was now trying to stand up.

“I’m a 4th degree black belt in Tae kwon do, and I’ve competed professionally all over the world. I also teach women’s self-defense classes at night, so trust me when I say I can take care of myself. I saw his stance, I saw his fists balling up, and I was going to kick his ass before you jumped in, Ace,” Lola replied in a matter-of-fact tone as she stood her ground and looked me in the eyes.

I couldn’t hide my surprise as my eyes got big at her revelation. “You never told me or Roman…” I started to say but she cut me off.

“Yeah, I never told you or Roman, because it’s none of your business, just like that piece of shit over there is none of your business!” Lola yelled.

“You are my business, Lola. I...we care about you, and we never liked or trusted him.” I softened my voice to make my next point as I continued. “You can do so much better than him, and I never understood why you wasted so much time on his pompous ass. You’re smart, you’re beautiful, you’re kind, and you’re funny. You should be cherished and loved for who you are, not changed into something you’re not.”

Lola’s eyes softened at my words. She saw the sincerity in my eyes and I know it caught her off guard. I didn’t intend on spilling my guts to her this way, but I had to. She had to know that she deserved better than that cowardly asshole that was still struggling to get out of the bushes.

Lola’s eyes turned sad and she looked down at her hands. Her voice softened when she said “Thank you, Ace. You didn’t have to say all of that.”

I gently lifted her chin so she had to look me in the eyes. “Yes, I did because you clearly don’t know how special you are, Lola. You deserve better, and what I did is what any real man would have done if he saw a woman being mistreated.”

Lola now looked at me with worry and concern in her eyes. “What if he presses charges against you, Ace? You could go to jail! You were a boxer; your fists are considered weapons. Look at what you did to his face.”

“Let me worry about that.” I reached out and caressed her soft cheek, trying to ease her fears.

“His family has everyone from top to bottom in their pockets. They can make life miserable for you and Roman,” Lola pleaded.

“And I can do the same to him.” I glared over her shoulder at David and then back at Lola.

“I’m not afraid of anyone, especially people like him. I might be a little afraid of you, Miss Tae kwon do,” I smiled.

“This isn’t funny, Ace,” Lola said, the worry still in her eyes.

“Stay here,” I said before I walked over to David who finally managed to stand up.

He jumped when he realized that I was standing before him. “I’m calling the cops! You’re going to jail for this!” he yelled, sounding like a sniveling nerd.

“You’re not calling anyone. Here’s what you are going to do: you’re going to stay away from Lola. You will not go to her home, her job, or try to physically see her ever again. You will not call, text, email, write letters, send faxes, or attempt to contact her in any shape or form, nor will you use second or third parties to contact her. The minute I find out you have done any of those things, I will hunt you down and cut off your balls and feed them to your two precious dogs Cuddles and Duke, before I slit their throats and then slit yours,” my voice was low and full of venom when I spoke.

David’s one good eye that wasn’t swollen shut got big in surprise.

I’m sure he was wondering how I know about his dogs and the violent way I plan on ending their lives, and his. I did my homework on David Preston a long time ago.

“If you go to the cops I will make sure you and your family disappear off the face of this earth with your body parts scattered all over the world. Don’t believe me? Try me. Lola was always too good for you. I knew you were bad news from the very beginning, you spineless waste of skin! Now, I suggest you call yourself a cab and act like this never happened, and remember what I said.”

I pinned David with a long, steely look until he nodded his head in understanding and scrambled off. I walked back over to Lola who was standing with her arms crossed angrily across her chest. “What did you say to him?” she demanded.

“Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about,” I smiled.

“Ace, I’m serious!” Lola yelled.

“I told him in no uncertain terms to stay the hell away from you, Lola.”

She threw her arms in the air, “I knew it” and began walking away from me.

I pulled her back to me, my anger boiling up inside me again. “Why do you insist on protecting him? What is it about men like him that have women like you always going back for more?” I yelled.

“Excuse you? Women like me? Going back for more? You are so off base it’s not even funny, Ace! And please, tell me just what kind of woman I am?” She had her hands on her hips and she was ready for a fight, and so was I.

“Women like you who are beautiful, smart, have a wonderful personality, a great job, but settle for pieces of shit like David Preston who want to control you and change everything about you that makes you, you; that makes you special and different from all the rest. Women like you who don’t even know how special they really are, who don’t know that they deserve to be treated like queens, not fucking dogs! Women who have such low self-esteem about themselves that they think they can help or change a jerk like David Preston when men like him will only hurt you or kill you in the end.”

I saw Lola fighting back the tears in her eyes as I touched on several nerves with the things I said to her, but I had to say them. I cared about her too much not to.

“I have to go.” She ran off in the direction of her car.

“FUCK!” I kicked over a garbage can in anger and frustration. I didn’t mean to hurt her, that wasn’t my intent. I simply wanted to tell her the truth and hoped that she would realize that she’s worth more than she knows. As I maneuvered my way back through traffic and across the street to my car, I saw Lola pull off. I knew our relationship would never be the same after today.

***

After my altercation with Lola and David, I went home and cleaned myself up. I was still very pissed at how things ended with Lola so I went to the gym to get some boxing in.  I went there from time to time just to stay in shape and to sharpen my skills. I sparred harder than usual and my sparring partner Joey looked at me curiously a few times. I knew it was time for me to take a break when I kept imagining it was David’s face I was beating in.

“I’m sorry, Joey. I had a rough day, and I’m taking it out on you. I’ll finish up my work-out on the ropes and the punching bag.”

“No problem, Ace. We’ve all been there. You just caught me off guard a few times, that’s all,” Joey smiled as he took off his head gear.

I still felt bad for what I did. He took some pretty hard blows from me. I jumped rope for twenty-five minutes and then spent another half hour on the punching bag. I was soaked in sweat and it felt good. It felt like every muscle in my body was burning and screaming for mercy, but I wouldn’t stop - until my phone rang. It was Roman, probably wanting an update on Massimo.

“Hey, I was wondering if you weren’t busy I’d come by with some beer for you and we could shoot some pool or play some cards.” My cousin sounded like he needed a distraction as well.

“That sounds cool, but you don’t need to bring me beer. I’m cool with some pop. I’m just finishing up at the gym. Why don’t you swing by in a half hour? I’ll pick up some pizza from Mama’s Pizzeria.”

“I’ll be there.”

A half hour later we were sitting on the rooftop of my apartment building listening to Sinatra classics and eating pizza and drinking pop. I had just finished telling Roman about my run in with Lola and David earlier in the day.

“I wish you had done more damage to that piece of shit. I still can’t believe he put his hands on her! He better hope I never see his sorry ass again, Ace because if I do, he’s a dead man.”

“Not if I get my hands on him first, cuz,” I replied.

“Don’t worry about Lola. She’ll cool off eventually,” Roman reassured.

“I’m glad one of us is confident about that because I’m not so sure. I said some pretty blunt things to her that hurt her feelings. I made her cry, Roman, and now I feel like shit.”

“You told her the truth, and the truth isn’t an easy pill to swallow. Once she’s had time to think about everything and look past the hurt feelings, hopefully she’ll realize that you meant well.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“Then you’ll have your work cut out for you,” Roman replied with a smirk.

Just then my phone rang. It was Massimo. “Hello?”

“Ace, we encountered a problem. We took out all of Carter’s men, including his sellers, but Carter was nowhere to be found.”

I sat on the edge of my chair as the hair stood up on the back of my neck. “What the fuck do you mean Carter was nowhere to be found?” I yelled, which caused Roman to look at me in surprise and anger.

I put Massimo on speaker, and before long his reassuring tone came through. “He wasn’t in his usual spot from Kramer’s intel. He deviated from his normal routine. I have my men out looking for him as we speak.”

Just then we heard the door to the rooftop creak open. Roman and I turned around at the same time and saw Carter standing there with a semi-automatic pistol in his hand. “Here I am, motherfuckers. Put your goddamn hands in the air. NOW!”

Roman and I both raised our hands, with Massimo still on the line.

“You truly have a death wish, don’t you, Carter?” Roman calmly stated.

“My wish is for you, your cousin, and your entire family to be dead, so yeah, I do have a death wish,” Carter mocked. “I’ve waited years for this moment. My brother didn’t deserve to die the way he did.” Carter began to slowly approach us, his shoes crunching in the rocks on the roof.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have sent him out in your place to be killed like the coward that you are, Carter,” Roman replied.

I knew he was speaking loudly so Massimo could hear what was going on.

“I didn’t force Jameel to do anything! He wanted to kill you, he wanted to prove how much of a ride-or-die soldier he was, and I don’t stop any of my men from proving themselves to me.” Carter spat out angrily. The hand he held his gun in was shaking, and I don’t know if it was because of nerves or something else. Either way his unsteadiness was making me nervous.

“Even if it’s your mentally-challenged baby brother who didn’t know that his big brother sent him on a suicide mission?” I couldn’t hide my hatred for this waste of skin standing before me. It was no secret that Carter’s little brother was a bit off, which of course impeded his judgment. That’s also one of the main reasons why Roman was so fucked up after killing him. Jameel didn’t know any better. He took risks that normal people wouldn’t and his sadistic brother took advantage of his disability. There is nothing more despicable than someone who takes advantage of their own mentally challenged flesh and blood.