I snatch his hand before he can touch her. “You do not touch her or acknowledge her. She is nothing to you now. You are beneath her, you stupid, pathetic little piece of shit of a man. I am going to love…” I lean closer so I can whisper in his ear, telling him how much I am going to love killing him. I twist his hand back, enjoying the satisfying sound of his wrist breaking.
“Trey, I have him!” I yell, and Trey breaks into the house through the back. He takes the guy from me and drags him out, where another guy will pick him up and throw him in the back of a bus made purposely for them,
“Abigail, ready to start your new life?” I ask her, and she smiles just slightly. “Yeah, anything would be better than this.”
She follows me outside, and I put her in the SUV, where she will be taken with the girls to special care.
Trey comes from behind the house and we go to the next girl.
Lani
We get out of the truck and wait for the first SUV to bring us the girls. The first door opens and Lynn gasps, then runs over to meet a young girl around Lynn’s age.
Lynn talks about her friend Abigail all of the time, I’m assuming this is her.. She’s the only thing she missed about her old life. They lived next door to each other and they helped each other deal with the shit they suffered.
“Oh my god, Lynn! I was almost afraid to believe it was you,” Abigail cries, and they hold each other. “Was he right? A new life? I can be happy?” she whispers, like she’s almost afraid to believe it’s true.
Lynn nods. “Yes, no one will hurt you. You can go to school. I’m working on getting my high school diploma online.”
Abigail’s eyes widen in shock. “That means I could be a doctor if I wanted to be?
Lynn grins. “That’s exactly what you can do!” She jumps a little. I love seeing her so happy and excited.
Etta is waiting on her friend to show up too, so Lynn helps Abigail on the bus and comes back to stand with us.
Two more vehicles come in our direction. The door of one opens and a bunch of girls step out. We all jump into action, introducing ourselves, explaining what’s going to happen next and that they have a choice in every aspect of their life.
All of these girls are so young, some even younger than Lynn, and it’s baffling to me. I knew this shit was happening, but seeing the faces of these girls makes it so much more real.
Another vehicle holds a mom who is in her twenties, but she has a bunch of kids with her. We help her on the bus, along with giving her some snacks and toys to keep the kids preoccupied.
A truck pulls up and a girl stumbles out. Etta rushes over and cries out. I know this is her friend.
Trey pulls up on his bike and helps Etta with the girl. We put her in a separate vehicle because she needs medical help right now and Etta goes with her.
Vinny shows up a second later, looking pale. I run to him, concerned. “What happened?” I demand, gripping his cut in my hand.
“I caught him hurting her,” he whispers and runs to the other side of the vehicles, puking. I run over to him and rub his back, trying to be there for him.
Trey hands him a bottle of water. “I am so fucking sorry you saw that, baby.” Trey is in pain because Vinny is in pain.
I just hug him tight. “Remember, he won’t be able to hurt her anymore. You stopped it from happening again. We knew this was not going to be easy, baby, but we’re making a difference in their life.” I kiss his chest and hug him a little tighter. Trey joins in the hug and squeezes us tightly.
Vinny settles, and more and more vehicles show up, bringing more and more young women and kids.
An older truck drives through the field to the side of us—did one of the girls escape themselves?
I walk around the SUV so I can be there to greet them, smiling encouragingly before they get close enough for me to actually see inside.
It’s not a girl. My eyes go to the beard and the stark white shirt. I freeze in shock before I see a gun flash in the sunlight.
Oh no.
I stop breathing and think of all of the young girls who are still boarding the bus. I turn around to run to them to protect them before I hear the first gun blast.
My eyes go to Trey, who is running to me as fast as he can, but I just can’t feel.
I look down and see blood pouring down my arm. I’ve been shot. That’s when I feel the burning sensation on the right side of my body.
“Trey,” I whisper. He catches me before I can hit the ground.
Trey
“No,” I repeat over and over again when I hear the gunshot. I turn around to check on Lani, but she’s frozen in her spot with blood pouring down the right side of her body.
I run to her as fast as I can just as I hear another gunshot hitting the side of the bus where all of the girls are.
Lani looks down and sees the blood, paling with every second that passes, and her knees buckle. I catch her before she hits the ground.
I pick her up in my arms and bring her to one of the SUVs, laying her in the back seat. “Oh god, Trey!” Vinny yells and helps me pull off her shirt to check the gunshot wound. I’m shaking so fucking bad, I barely manage it.
The bullet wound is right on her shoulder blade. I take her shirt and press the fabric against the wound. “Vinny, put something against the wound in the back.” He takes off his shirt and uses it to help staunch the blood.
I climb to the driver’s seat, start up the SUV and take off to the hospital in Raleigh. I look in the mirror and see Vinny has Lani in his lap and is pressing his hands against both wounds.
My worst fucking fear and it happened right before my eyes. I feel like I haven’t breathed since the second I saw her get shot.
The thought of losing her or our baby is more than I can bear. I grip the steering wheel hard, making sure I don't fucking break it, because I need to get her to the hospital as fast as I can.
I take out my phone and call Lani’s doctor so she can check on the baby. I throw my phone in the seat next to me and floor it.
All I want is for her to be alright. “She’s waking up, Trey,” Vinny tells me, and I look in the mirror. Her eyes flutter open and she looks up at Vinny.
“Hey, baby.” Vinny kisses her forehead and she looks around the truck, crying out in pain when she moves a little. “Be still, baby, you were shot in the shoulder.”
She settles. I want to fucking hold her so bad. I had a bad fucking feeling and that stupid fucker came out of nowhere before I could react.
“We’re almost there, baby. Just relax and everything will be okay,” I reassure her as best as I can from the front of this fucking vehicle.
The minutes tick by so fucking slowly as we wait for the hospital to come into view. I reach over and call Lani’s doctor, telling her we’re minutes out and to be prepared.
I slam the SUV into park at the emergency entrance, and a shit ton of nurses and doctors run out to greet us.
We practically keep this hospital fucking going with our donations. If it weren’t for us, this place wouldn’t be shit.
I take her out of Vinny’s arms and lay her down on the gurney as gently as possible. She grips my hand and she’s wheeled inside.
“You need to wait out here until she’s fully checked. I will keep you updated. I promise,” the nurse pleads, and I nod. I want their attention to be on Lani, and if I was in there, they couldn’t do their job properly.