TW: Minor Violence, Mugging, Pepper Spray, Some Cursing
That's Life
I ducked out the back door of the store before anyone could notice that I was gone. I knew that if I had stayed any longer they would have asked me to stay. Jessica had called out, leaving the store short-staffed on their busiest night. Normally I would have stayed, but I would have had to miss Paul and I's nightly smoking session and no amount of money is worth that.
One of the first rules of the boardwalk was to always pay attention to your surroundings. Unfortunately I forgot that rule and was too busy panicking about being late and digging through my purse to make sure I had grabbed all of my stuff to notice the person standing in the alley watching me.
Their hands shot out and snagged me, dragging me into the grimy darkness of the side alley. My back hit the wall and the air left my lungs in a sharp gasp. I got just a quick second to look at his face before a hand reached for my neck. I cried out in shock and his hand flexed lightly; not enough to actually cut off my supply, but enough to send me a warning to not make too much of a fuss. Dread turned my stomach into a lead weight and I could feel it weighing me down.
His hands were large, almost able to wrap all of the way around my neck. Even though he wasn't too much taller than me, his frame was at least two times wider. His hair and his beard was long and tangled, but his clothes were relatively clean. Hard green eyes rimmed in red glared down at me, narrowed and irritated. Though I don't know why he would be irritated, he wasn't the one dragged into a dark alley to be mugged.
"Listen, bitch," His low voice growled. I cringed as the smell of his breath hit me, it smelled like rot and alcohol. "You aren't going to scream or fight. If you make this harder than necessary you will regret it, understood?"
I swallowed nervously and nodded. He smiled, revealing yellowed and crooked teeth.
"Good," he purred, flexing his hand again, "Give me everything in your purse. Starting with your wallet."
Immediately I started digging through my purse and I pulled out my wallet. He took it and stuffed it in his pockets. I started to pull out a bracelet that I kept hidden in my purse but then felt the cold can of pepper spray that I had forgotten was there. I kept my face scared, but rapidly put together a plan.
Dropping my bracelet back in my purse I slipped the canister in my palm. I sent a quick prayer to the universe and unlocked the safety before clenching my eyes shut and bringing it up, spraying where I thought his eyes were. Apparently my aim was true because he started screaming immediately and let me go. I hit the ground and stumbled a little, but righted myself and started to run towards the entrance of the alley.
My eyes were burning too and my sight became fuzzy, probably from some blow-back of the pepper spray that got into my eyes, but I kept pushing forwards towards the light. I needed to reach the lights before he recovered. I bumped into trash cans and tripped over trash bags, but I finally reached the boardwalk and I lunged out into the familiar lights.
As I stepped out I ran into someone, falling back with an "oof". Whoever I had run into started to grumble angrily, but quickly stopped as they took in my state.
"Are you okay?" asked a quiet, masculine voice, "Are you hurt?"
"M..Mugged," I wheezed, my throat was starting to burn and it made it painful to breathe "I...pepper-sprayed the guy, but I got... in my eyes." At that point my adrenaline seemed to wear off and a wave of emotion overcame me. Before I could stop myself I started to cry, which amplified the tightness of my chest and the burning in my eyes.
"Hey," the voice continued. I felt hands gingerly clutch my shoulders and pull me up off the ground. He let go, but I could still see that he stayed close to me even though people were walking around us like we weren't even there. "Don't cry, we will take care of it."
He gently grabbed my elbow and maneuvered me to the nearest food cart where he demanded several cups of water. From there he guided me over to some benches and sat me down. He lightly tapped me on the forehead and I allowed him to push it back until I was leaning slightly back. Then, he started to slowly pour the water over my eyes.
After the third cup the burning started to ease up. After the fifth one I was able to open my eyes just enough to finally get a look at my knight in shining armor. He was tall, about as tall as Paul if not just a touch taller, with long, black, shining hair. He had no shirt on, but was wearing what looked like a black jacket. From one ear a silver earring with a feather dangled.
On the tenth cup he decided that that was enough and handed me a piece of cloth. I wasn't sure where he got it, but it was clean so it worked. I dabbed gently at the excess water around my eyes, ignoring the angry twinge from the sore skin and the lingering burn in my eyes. He remained silent, watching me thoughtfully.
"Thank you," I murmured once I finished, handing him back the cloth. He nodded and took the cloth and dumped it into the trash can next to us.
Before I could continue I heard a familiar voice tinged with worry cry, "Sunshine!" from over by the rides. I turned towards the voice and shortly afterwards I was gathered up and pressed into Paul's chest. I took a deep breath and savored the scent of nicotine, incense, and Chinese food. A feeling of safety flooded over me and I felt my eyes start to water with tears again. I fought them back and dug my face into Paul's chest while wrapping my arms around him tightly.
"Sunshine. Salem, look at me." He cupped my jaw softly and tilted it back so he could inspect my face. I started to feel embarrassed at how much of a mess I probably looked, but it faded away in the light of his concern. When he was satisfied he dropped my jaw, looking down at me with pinched eyebrows and lips that were twisted with anxiety. "Are you okay?"
I nodded and glanced around us, looking for the man who helped me. He was standing next to two other boys. The shorter one had curly honey blonde hair and impish eyes that reminded me of Paul. When he noticed me watching him he smirked and wiggled his fingers. I moved my gaze to the guy beside him.
This one was the most dangerous out of all of them. He moved with the grace of a big cat, an icy nonchalance that belied the power coiled within him, and his eyes seemed to be aware of everything that was going on around him. Between that and his choice of duster, I was already aware of the danger and decided to remain alert.
"I'm okay. Thanks to the guy over there, with the black hair." I nodded over to him and the guy smiled. "I was mugged after I got out of work and I pepper-sprayed the asshole, but some of it blew back into my eyes."
"She stumbled out of an alley and I realized that she was hurt. So I helped her wash out the pepper spray in her eyes." He added, flitting between watching Paul and I and the tourists walking around.
Paul sighed and brought me close again. "Thank you, Dwayne. I owe you."
Dwayne nodded and focused back on the crowd.
"How do you know, Dwayne?" I asked Paul.
Paul worried his lip briefly, but turned me around to face the others. "Salem, I'd like you to meet my brothers."
"You've already met Dwayne." Dwayne sent me a small smile and I gave him a shaky one in return.
"This is Marko." He pointed to the guy with the curly hair who was hiding behind his fingernails.
"And I'm David," the guy with the mullet and trench coat offered, staring at me coolly.
"Nice to meet you," I mumbled, meeting his eyes for about ten seconds before moving on to face the crowd. I squinted as the lights hit my sensitive eyes. "I'm guessing you're not blood-related."
"Really? What gave you that idea?" Marko asked curiously, his eyes as bright as the patchwork jacket he was wearing.
"Call it a hunch," I shot back dryly, smirking.
"We may not be blood, but we are brothers all the same," Dwayne stated quietly.
I nodded and sat back down on the bench, leaning back and closed my eyes as exhaustion hit my body.
"Are you really okay?" Paul asked, looking down at me with worried eyes.
"I'm okay, I'm just tired and frustrated. I dropped my purse when I ran away, so I don't have my keys or my wallet and I had a bracelet tucked in it from my mother."
"Don't worry about it, we'll get you home," David offered, nodding to the other boys. Before I could protest Paul and Marko had dragged me up off of the bench and were guiding me through the masses and towards their bikes.
"You really don't have to," I tried backpedaling, but they were relentless and strong as hell. They managed to propel me forwards as if I didn't weigh more than a feather. "I can call my roommate and have her come pick me up."
"Don't worry about it, Sunshine. You're one of us, we've got your back," Marko said with a grin as big as the Cheshire Cat's.
"Wait, what? When did I agree to join your gang?"
"You didn't, but that's okay because you don't have to. We view it more as an adoption." David turned and shot me a small grin. Before I could respond we strolled up to their bikes and I was distracted by their bikes.
They weren't the latest models, but they were well loved and you could tell. They were maintained until they were in perfect condition: polished, not a scratch or dent in sight. I could only imagine the purr that would roll out of the engine when they were started up and I felt my body vibrate in anticipation.
"Hop on, Sunshine." Paul patted the space behind him. Not needing to be told twice, I swung my leg over and my arms turned into iron bars around his waist. My instincts were telling me that this was not going to be a smooth, casual ride.
David's bike roared to life, shortly followed by the other boys. We peeled out of the boardwalk and into the night with the sounds of revving engines, squealing tires, and howls of laughter.
The next morning, I walked out to grab the mail and found my motorcycle in my driveway and my purse lying on the front step with my bracelet resting gingerly on top.
