CHAPTER 2: DUKE
Mary Jo was walking towards the nurse's dormitory. She was reaching for her keys when she saw someone she knew. It was someone she didn't want to deal with. It was her ex-boyfriend that was abusive towards her. She had no idea how he had found her, but there he was, wearing a smarmy grin on his face when he saw Mary Jo.
"Hello, MJ," he sneered. "I told you I'd find you."
"Duke, what the hell are you doing here?!" said a frightened Mary Jo.
"I told ya, babe, I came to get back what's rightfully mine."
"You haven't changed one bit! That's why I left you in the first place!"
"NO ONE leaves Duke Johnson!" Mary Jo was shaking in her boots as Duke snapped closer to her, pinning her against the wall. "Now, because I traveled all this way, I'll let you go back in and collect your things. Then, you're going to call that shithole hospital of yours and tell them you quit, and then we're splitting this poke town! Understand?"
"Hey, asshole!" It was Linus, coming to visit Mary Jo.
"Linus!" said Mary Jo, relieved to see him. "I'm glad you're here!"
"You must be Duke," growled Linus. "You get back in that redneck-mobile you came in on and head back to where you came from!"
"Oh, I'm a shaking in my boots!" laughed Duke. "Listen here, 'tubs'! I don't see what MJ sees in you, but THIS is MINE!" And Duke grabbed Mary Jo by the arm hard, bruising her arm in the process. "Now I suggest you waddle your fat ass out of here before I roast you over an open pit and have a pig roast with your carcass!"
"Now I'm shaking in my boots!" laughed Linus. "Is that all you got, dickhead?!"
"No, I got this, as well!" And Duke pulled out a switchblade and held it up. "Now I already told you that Mary Jo is my property and NO ONE, especially a fat slob like you, is going to take her away from…"
Before Duke could finish, he was taken by surprise by a punch to his jaw, but not from Linus. It came from Charlie, who had come with Linus as he and Pat were about to go on a double date with Linus and Mary Jo. After decking Duke, Charlie picked up the cad by his shirt.
"Now listen here, scum!" Charlie growled. "If you threaten my friends again, try to force yourself on this woman here, mind you I don't give a shit about you being her ex and what you 'staked claim' to, if you try to force her to go with you, the cops coming after you for kidnapping and possible rape and domestic abuse will be the LEAST of your goddamned worries if I get my hands on you!"
"Who the fuck do you think you are?!" yelled Duke.
"You are looking at a sergeant in the Marine Corps, asshole!" said Charlie, not taking his eye off the jerk. "As I was saying, you come back here, you do any kind of harm or attempt to do any kind of harm to my friends, to Mary Jo, to ANYONE here in Sparkyville because you THINK you own someone, I will stomp a mud hole in your ass so deep, you won't shit for months! And this punch I just delivered you, consider that just a taste of what you'll get next time you pull this shit again!" Turning to Linus he said, "Hey Linus, you want to add anything else?"
"Yeah, Charlie, just this…" And Linus punched Duke hard in the gut, making him double over in pain.
"Not bad for a lardass, eh?" Linus sneered to Duke.
"You son of a bitch!" groaned Duke.
"No, Duke!" sneered Mary Jo. "YOU are the son of a bitch! Now you get your ass out of here and out of my life one and for all! If you come back, I will kill you, Duke! Do you heard me?! I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" And she kicked Duke in his groin, making him go back down. Then she spat on him. Charlie and Linus picked him up and carried him over to his car. Mary Jo opened the driver side door and the men tossed him inside.
"Leave and never come back, bitch!" snarled Charlie. "That's an order!"
Duke gathered himself and turned on his car, but before leaving he had one final parting shot for Mary Jo and Linus.
"This ain't over, MJ," he sneered. Looking at Linus he said, "You won this round, tubby. But the fight's only begun."
"LEAVE!" shouted Charlie. And Duke sped off. The attention then turned to Mary Jo. Pat, who was in Charlie's SUV, then came out to check out the situation.
"Mary Jo, are you okay?" asked Linus.
"I am now that you guys are here," said a relieved Mary Jo.
"Who was that asshole?!" asked Pat.
"My ex Duke," Mary Jo replied. "He was very abusive. I told Linus about him before after we reconnected."
"I swore I'd protect her at all costs," said Linus. "That dickhead won't quit trying to harass her!"
"He'd better if he took my warning serious," said Charlie, still staring in the direction Duke went. Turning to Mary Jo and Linus, he said, "Mary Jo, I think it would be better if you moved out of this dormitory. Duke knows where you stay at and who's to say he would heed my warning?"
"Where would I go?" asked Mary Jo.
"Where else?" said Linus. "With me."
"You'd have me live with you, Linus?" asked Mary Jo.
"You two have been a thing for a while," said Pat. "Might as well live together."
"I think it's a good idea," said Charlie. "We'll even help you with the move."
"Thanks, everyone," said a happy Mary Jo. "I would feel safer if I was at Linus's place." And the four of them left the dormitory for their double date as planned. Duke watched from a far distance. He fumed as Mary Jo got into the SUV with Linus, Charlie, and Pat, who he didn't see in the beginning.
"MJ, you WILL be mine again!" he growled to himself. "I just have to lay low for a while."
NEXT CHAPTER: UNEASY REUNION