Teaching Mia

Chapter 3 - Saving Mia

Mia had just finished having a quick bite at Barril y Botella, a tapas joint near school. Time to head back to her daily 4pm study group. Oddly enough, the study group sessions had become the favorite part of her day. It was where she felt most comfortable. Something about working with others without having the true pressure to socialize.

She had just crossed a traffic light when she felt light footsteps behind her. She turned around to see three men approaching and staring right at her. Instantly, fear shot through her as she tried to dismiss it. Had she seen wrong? Imagined that look? It couldn't be. Could it?

"Ey sexy, a dónde vas?" one of the men growled.

No, it was definitely real. Mia simply kept walking and soon enough felt them at her heels. This time she picked up the pace and took in a big gulp of air.

Keep it together. They're probably just messing around, she thought.

"Sólo queremos hablar. We just want to talk for a second. Get to know each other better," another of the men said.

Eeek! Mia scanned her surroundings and noticed they were alone, the streets were completely deserted. Spaniards always took their mid-day siestas seriously, most shops didn't open again until 5pm. Just my luck, she thought.

"Ey, que te estamos hablando. Your ass is pretty enough, but I wanna see that sweet face of yours."

Time to panic! At those last words, Mia's flight instinct took over and did what she knew best.

Run.

She hadn't gotten far when she felt her arm being jerked back abruptly. Pain coursed through as she tried to pull away, feeling like her shoulder was being ripped out of its socket. Instantly, she started kicking her legs when she felt a huge blow to her head causing her to come crashing down on the floor. The impact of hard concrete on her small frame was awfully painful.

"Quieta! Stay still bitch. If you cooperate, this won't take long." The snarl in his tone was sickening.

"No me toques!" Mia managed to blurt out once the realization hit. But it was too late. One of the men pinned her tightly to the floor while the two others stared at her with pure vulgarity.

Oh God, think Mia. Flashes of a conversation she had with an old Israeli friend came to mind. Itay had been in the army and worked in secret service for the Israeli consulate in New York. What had he told her to do in these situations? Desperately trying to remember, it came to her. It's now or never.

"You don't want to do this. I have AIDS and will infect you." Mia's words distracted him enough to loosen his grip on her.

Time for act two. With all her might, she punched him right in the throat and he instantly crouched over, gasping for air.

Oh my God, that actually worked! She scrambled off of the floor and started running with all of her might.

"Joder!" She heard one of the thugs yell from a distance, but nothing would stop her now. She managed to cross the street over the traffic and continued running up the path toward school, as fast as she could.

She risked a quick glance over her shoulder to see if they were following her but nothing came into sight. Before she could straighten her view again, she felt herself crash into hard planes of muscle.

*******

"Leo, thank God you're here!" A frightened girl yelled out, and instantly clung into his arms, hugging him and burying her face into his chest.