Hating the Guy at the End...

Chapter Eight: Difference between Daises and Lotus Flowers

A black two door Challenger pulled up beside me, purring for attention, windows tinted, and rims cleaner than a grandma's old display dishes behind that glass case. Anyway, I climbed in, immediately settling in the leather seats and taking in the scent of Samuel- men cologne with a touch of cinnamon from the Christmas tree shaped air freshener hanging from his rear view mirror. The low murmur of a old 80's rock song played in the background, it seemed to have drowned in with the loud engine that roared when the car drove out of the parking lot and down the long street to the main road.

"Put the address in." Samuel ordered while switching lanes in the two-way road. In other roads, he was putting our lives in danger because he can't drive behind a few cars and wanted to speed down the road. I want to get to Olivia as fast as I can, but if I'm dead in a car accident- I can't help her. I managed to punch the address in without being tossed around the car or getting car sickness.

We arrived to Kitty's apartment on the edge of Queens before anything could go wrong. John wasn't in site, but I knew he was close by, watching closely, maybe even waiting for Olivia to show her face so he can snatch her up. Samuel eyed the street; cautious on the setting, but he made no notion in locking his car door three times. Children ran up and down the block playing with water guns to ease their torture in the heat, a few older people say on their porch fanning themselves with self made fans while listening to the radio. So far, so good.

We hurried up to the third floor, Samuel was taking two steps at a time while I was still trying to keep up; me and my damn short legs. By time I reached to the top, Kitty's door opened and Olivia peeks out into the hall with a iron frying pan in hand. "Who's that?" She said in a worried tone that indicated she was going to slam the door on us.

"Calm down Olive, this is Samuel, the guy that broke John's arm that night."

She immediately relaxed, but still armed. "Come in."

The apartment was small, not smaller than my all on one bedroom lot, but still had a separate bedroom and as soon as you step inside, you're hit with the couch and tv (bit literally, but it's right in your face). "Are you Okay?" I voiced after catching my breath.

She looked calmed down, but her eyes still held fear as she gripped the frying pan. "Yeah, just spooked. Where can I go now?"

"I-I don't know." I said softly. "Call your mom again."

"She's not answering. I tried three time already, I keep getting sent to her voicemail." Olivia started to pace the room, shaking her other hand before combing back her sliver hair and flopping down onto the couch to keep herself from having another panic attack.

"A safe house." Samuel voiced. "There's homes for abused woman, a housing program right in New York. No one will know where you are and you can't tell anyone, that'll help you. We just need to get you to the police station, file a report and I'll pull some strings."

"What are you? Some kind of bodyguard."

He gave off a tiny chuckle, "More like Guardian angel."

"More like, don't flatter yourself." I retort, he was so far from being an angel, yet along guardian. "That can work." I also praised, even though it's killing me on the inside to agree with him. "I can't see him, but I just know John is out there. So we would have to figure out a way we can transport you to the police station."

"We don't have to sneak her out. I can get the car ready, you two come down. We're going to the police station, there's nothing much he can do their without getting arrested. Pack your stuff, we need to leave now." With that, he walked out the apartment to get started on our fool proof escape plan.