TEARS OF RAGE

Chapter 25

He separated himself from his friends and came to speak with Charmaine about who had won the game.

Everything went south as soon as he saw the bruise beneath her eye.

"What happened to your face," he demanded to know, placing a hand beneath her chin to compel her to look at him. Charmaine dropped her head and tried to walk away.

Swaylo jumped in front of her and roared in anger.

"What the fuck happened to your face, Charmaine?!"

His voice carried across the apartment building, with enough fury to make it clear that he was not about to let it go until she told him.

"Eric hit me."

Once those words left her lips, there was no compromise to his decision. He strode into Wanda Wilcher's apartment and found Eric sulking in the kitchen.

His dad was lounging across the sofa, oblivious to what had happened. Wanda tried to diffuse the situation, but Swaylo did not stop to talk until he got within striking distance of Eric.

"Hit me like you hit Charmaine..." he growled, offering Eric the first swing. Eric blinked in confusion, unsure if he should accept the challenge.

"Come on, you guys... Not in my apartment." Wanda cried.

Swaylo relieved him of having to make a decision.

He began punching his fists into Eric's face like a boxer, beating the stuffing out of a heavy bag.

It became a heated brawl when Eric's dad, Big Reggie tried to come to his son's aid.

He shoved Swaylo off of his son and tried to intimidate everyone else into staying calm.

Bald Bull tackled him across the kitchen table.

It flipped with a crash of bodies.

Big Reggie was a six-three bear, that weighed nearly three hundred pounds.

It took a lot to control him when he went into a fighting frenzy. But it was like a pack of wolves had descended upon him in the close confines of Wanda's kitchen.

Swaylo and C-Murder followed Bald Bull into the fray. Before Big Reggie could regroup, or regain his footing, a half dozen of Swaylo's friends had run into the apartment, and proceeded to rain pots and pans across his skull, and stomp him bloody.

Wanda Wilcher had to live in those apartments, whether her boyfriend accepted his ass-whipping, or decided to leave the area...She still had to live in those apartments.

So no one bothered to call the cops.

Big Reggie was too disoriented to muster any control or coordination of his limbs.

They left him inside of Wanda's apartment, trying to muster the strength to simply make it to the bathroom.

When Swaylo strode out of Wanda's apartment, Charmaine followed him.

He and his friends were heading toward the alleyway that separated the two buildings across from Wanda Wilcher's apartment. Her mom lived two blocks over, but she was not thinking about going home...

She followed behind Swaylo in silence.

She met him in the middle of the darkened alleyway.

Her eyes were wide with the awe of having him go ballistic when he found out that Eric had hit her.

The intensity of his fury had gone far past what she would have expected. There was murder in his eyes.

"Boy, are you crazy? You didn't have to do that."

Charmaine could still see the wild look of anger in his eyes. His body was shaking. His clothes were torn, rumpled, and smeared with blotches of blood.

He was so absorbed in his fury that he didn't even notice.

"What do you mean, nobody better lay a hand on you and I find out about it!" His meaning was clear.

The fierceness emanating from him caused tears to brim in her eyes. There was no filter on his emotions.

Before either of them understood the magnetic pull of endearment, Charmaine kissed his lips.

Within that moment the heat of their bodies ignited sexual arousal, as familiar as breathing.

A sharp intake of breath disrupted their intimate moment.

When they turned to the source of the sound, her aunt Wanda was standing at the entranceway into the alley; looking at them as though they were strangers.

As quick as it came, it evaporated like a puff of smoke in a hard wind. It took almost four years for them to recapture that magic... But neither of them had ever forgotten it.

A smile of adoration spread across Swaylo's face.

"So, you remember that night?" Charmaine asked with a tickle of her finger into his belly button.

"Of course, I remember that night..." Swaylo stated, his eyes glistening with mischief. "You practically tried to seduce me that night. You knew that I didn't have the willpower to resist your charms."

Charmaine pinched his butt and gave a girlish giggle.

"And what about now..."

Swaylo kissed her lips and held her close.

"There isn't another woman that can hold a candle to you."

Before Charmaine could respond, or enjoy their intimate moment, Swaylo's beeper chirped at his hip.

When he saw the code 1822 entered into the beeper, his features crinkled in confusion.

That code represented 911 doubled. A great emergency.

"What's wrong?" Charmaine asked as Swaylo went to get Dorian. The festive feelings that had been shared between them had evaporated like mist in a skillet.

Swaylo went to find the nearest telephone.

When he heard about what had happened to his grandmother, guilt and shame enveloped him.

How could he look at himself in the mirror, knowing that his actions may be the cause of his grandmother being murdered...

Traffic flew past in a blur, as he sped to the hospital.

He prayed every mile of the way, hoping that his grandmother would live and recover from her injuries.

The enigmas of the future can make a man restless

with doubts, and dread...

How could he ever divulge that sort of secret?