Page 89 of Dallas

He’s a small man.

Doesn’t matter how tall he actually is. Hesmall. He’s no kind of man. He’s looking at me like he thinks he can fucking menace me. But as I get closer, I see fear in his eyes, because he’s used to frightening children. Women. People who are smaller and weaker than he is.

It is time for him to tangle with somebody his size. It’s time for him to know what it means to be afraid. To be the one begging for mercy.

“I want you to know,” I say. “I’ll send you straight to hell and never lose a minute of sleep.”

He opens his mouth to start to speak but I don’t want to hear a single word he has to say. I never want to hear his fucking voice. I don’t want him to become a person. I don’t want him to try and justify a damn thing. He’s a worm. A lowlife, he deserves nothing.

And so I catch whatever he was going to say with my fist, plowing it straight into his teeth. When I feel them give, and I feel a deep sense of satisfaction.

He rallies to try and block my next punch, but he can’t do it. I hit him in the side of the head, then hit him again for good measure. He falls to the ground, legs splayed wide, and I stomp his knee with the heel of my cowboy boot, satisfied when I hear a snap. “If you ever show your damned face anywhere near her, ever again, I’ll kill you. You understand me?” He’s whimpering, unintelligible. Because, of course, he is. Because he’s scared now that he has to face a man.

“You better never look for her, but you better wonder if I’m looking for you, you understand me? She doesn’t belong to you. She never did. You fucking useless waste of space.” He tries to speak, the sound strangled. “Not a word from you. You don’t get to speak. If you try to involve the cops I’ll tell them you started it. Yeah, your word against a woman’s seems to work out well for you, but try it against me. See how it goes. The worst thing that could happen to you is they do nothing, and then it’s just you and me still out here.”

I can tell he hates this. That I’ve made him feel small and helpless. I revel in it. I hope she sees it.

I’d ask him to beg me for mercy, but I never want to hear his voice.

I’d ask him to beg for mercy, but I wouldn’t give it. It’s in his best interest to leave now, so I don’t finish the job.

“Leave,” I say. “Never, ever let me see you again.”

He whimpers, and climbs back into his car, laboring to move with his broken leg, but his pedal leg isn’t busted so there’s no reason he can’t get his sorry ass out of here.

I’m sure shock will help with that, and it’ll be a painful bitch when it wears off. Atleast I hope so.

I stand there, watching as he drives away, until I can’t see him anymore, adrenaline pumping through my veins.

I turn and see Sarah, sitting in the truck still, frozen. Her face is white, tears streaming down her cheeks. I watch as his car disappears down the road, and only then do I get into the truck with Sarah, pulling her against my chest as she shakes and cries.

“He’s never going to bother you again. He’s never, fucking ever going to bother you again, do you understand me? You’re going to go on and you’re going to have a life. The life that you want, that you need. And I’m always going to protect you. Always.”

“Dallas,” she whispers, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Thank you.”

“He’s had that coming for years.”

“Yeah,” she says. “He has. What if he reports you to the police?”

“It’ll be his word against mine. And I don’t think he’s going to like that experience. I also think he’s not going to involve the cops, because last time he went to prison. But it’s why I didn’t kill him. I can’t be with you from spending the rest of my life in jail.”

She laughs, a watery sound. “Well, I don’t want you to go to jail.”

“Me neither. But I would. For you.”

“I’d rather if you stayed out here and lived with me instead.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sarah

I’m still trembling when we get back to the motel. I can’t believe what just happened. Dallas has blood splattered on his white shirt, some streaking his forearms, and his expression is grim. He said that he would do that for me. He said it from the beginning. He meant it. He would kill for me. I’m glad he didn’t. I’m glad he didn’t make it so that he would be separated from me. We have all my things, I’m out of the rental. That part of my life is over. And I really do believe that Chris is never going to show his face again. Because at the end of the day, he’s a coward. He’s an absolute coward.

Seeing Dallas reduce him like that, took him from being the monster that I always believed him to be, and showed me what he really is. A sniveling, weak, disgusting human being, who can barely lay claim to the species.

He’s nothing. And he has no power over me anymore. I hate him. I always will. I will never forgive that piece of shitfor everything he put me through. Some people are monsters.

Some people should rot in hell.

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