"it's me you want, not her."
Suddenly, the doors swung open. A majority of the customers eyes widened.
Pamela and Angela's eyes followed the man as he headed towards the both of them.
"You with Tamara?"
Angela nodded, speechless. But Pam pulled a face.
"You look too old to be her boyfriend." She snapped. Angela kicked her underneath the table.
"Look kid, I'm being serious."
The two pointed towards the bathroom without hesitation. The man was standing tall, and had a few gashes on his face.
"I'll explain later...just go! I've got something to take care of."
He rushed away to where the bathroom was and sure enough, there was Tamara. Kicking and screaming.
"Let her go Ma!" Frank yelled, eyes blazing. "It's me you want, not her."
"Look, here's your knight in shining armour. You've killed enough of my family Castle, I'm not letting you take me too." She spat.
"I told you to let her go."
Frank's voice alone could make anyone's blood run cold. But it didn't deter Ma Gnucci.
"Screw you. And your little girlfriend, you bastard! I should give her a painful death. Since that quickie that happened to your family wasn't enough."
Tamara couldn't believe it. Here she was, being manhandled by two sweaty men who smelt awful. All in this run down, two star from Yelp diner. The bathroom was literally mouldy. And here was the same man who had saved her that night the club was shot up.
She shut her eyes. Maybe she did want to see him again, but she was tired of encountering him every time she was in a life or death situation. While she was in thought, she realised one of the men holding her back was becoming careless and she could move her hand.
And with that, she immediately jabbed her thumb (which by the way, she had received acrylics just last week) into his eye. He yelled in pain, covering his eye and she quickly turned and kneed the other man down below. They both were in immense pain. Ma Gnucci stared in complete bewilderment.
She'd purposely brought the two men who she knew from past experiences and they were literally on the disgusting bathroom floor, hissing in pain...from a skinny twenty something girl. But Frank caught her off guard, and quickly pulled out the small handgun and shot at the two men's heads, then turned and shot Ma in her kneecap.
He couldn't waste the bullets. He knew there was going to be a hell of a chase when they left the bar.
"What are you doing?!" He shouted. "Quickly!"
"Oh yeah."
Tamara rushed away from where Frank was and bolted away. Pamela and Angela were staring at her as if she'd gone mad. But they were still in complete shock about Frank's arrival.
Frank headed out of the bathroom, and into the street.
"Get in the van!" He yelled, and the three of them quickly did what he said.
It was a huge van. Tamara and Angela sat in the front, as Frank sat at the steering wheel.
"Where the fuck am I supposed to go?!" Pam yelled.
"Get in the back." Tamara shrugged.
"Get IN PAMELA!" Angela yelled. But it was almost too late, Pam took too long and there was a gunshot and a thump on the outside of the van.
Tamara immediately pushed open the van door and headed to see Pam slumped against the vehicle. She grabbed her friend's hand and helped her up. Then used all her might to open the back door. Shutting it, she called out to Frank to confirm they were both in. And with that, he took off.
"Did the bullet hit?" Tamara asked, taking off her coat and placing on Pam.
Pam nodded, still in too much shock to even get a word out.
With an immediate swerve, Tamara was thrown to the side of the van and crashed her head.
"You alright there?" Frank called out.
"Just...brilliant" Pam shivered, still clutching her foot. Blood seeping from her fingers.
Tamara ripped the hem of her dress and slipped off Pam's shoe.
"We'll take the bullet out when we're somewhere steady." She said.
"Alright." She said, voice beginning to turn raspy and then threw her head back. The three had spent their entire childhood and adolescence trying to avoid being shot.
Now they were in one of the hugest gun brawls they'd ever encountered.
"Where are we going?" Tamara asked.
"I know a place." Frank said, with eyes on the road. "But we can't stick there too long. That she-devil has it out for all of us."
"Lead the way." Tamara said, as he parked roughly. Practically on the kerb.
"Okay, can you explain why she's trying to kill me?! I try and turn over a new leaf and this is what happens?"
"You got reflexes lady. If you were a second slower you would've been a goner."
"Is that supposed to be comforting? Because it's really not."
Angela helped Pam out of the back and Tamara quickly made her way after Frank.
"I just need to grab some-" Frank stopped in his tracks, causing Tamara to bump into him.
"What the-"
His place was ransacked from the bottom to the top. Even the sink was ripped out.
"They stole my shit too." He muttered to himself, looking at mess.
"So we climbed the stairs for nothing?" Pamela wheezed.
"Sorry kid." Frank said, eyes blank.
"Um...we can go to a place I know. It's pretty deep in somewhere."
•••
"Grandma! Open up!" Tamara called out as she knocked the door hard.
"I'm coming!" A voice yelled, but it was literally anyone else's than her Grandma's.
The gate opened, and it was her uncle Kenny. In his draws.
"Um...hi, Uncle. Is Grandma home?" She asked.
"You haven't been here in almost three years and now you dropping by here with your lil school friends, one bleeding out. I know you ain't here for a hello."
"Answer the damn question."
"Who you cursing at?"
"Who else, you bum? Let me in, and move out of my way. Ain't nobody have time to be watching you scratch your balls at the doorstep." Tamara snapped.
His eyes widened at her harsh tone.
He moved out of the way, but side eyed Frank.
"Settle her on the dining chair." Angela said.
"Frank, come with me."
"What is going on?" Her aunt Nadia said, walking in.
"I'll explain later, I promise. Just please help me get this girl immediate medical attention."
"Aren't you Pre-Med?"
"I DROPPED OUT OKAY?!"
Nadia scattered somewhere else to get the supplies Grandma used to store.
"Hold still, alright Pam?" Angela reassured her, squeezing her hand quickly. Then removing the bullet from her leg.
She hissed in pain but it was out.
"I don't know if I have much space in this house." Tamara said, as she stretched to get the blankets and pillows in the airing cupboard. "But my extended family always used to come here."
"My old room was kind of large but then again I used to share it with all my cousins."
She opened the room, and it seemed untouched. Turning the light on to see the familiar flower wallpaper and beige carpet.
"Pam take the bed." She said, and Frank helped her on it.
"Me and Angela can take the floor."
"I'm not complaining." Angela said, stretching her arms.
"Slept in worse conditions."
Tamara, Frank and Angela set the pillows and blankets on the floor.
"Everything alright?" She asked Pam.
"Good, even if I got shot."
"Okay, Frank you're gonna be in the living room. Bathroom's on the left." She said.
He nodded curtly and then shut the door behind her.
The next morning, the three were sat at the table with her aunt Nadia.
"Good afternoon." Her aunt said.
She scoffed. "Shut up."
"You can eat my ass. Literally. Just eat my entire ass."
"I take it your foot is doing better."
"Yeah. Luckily your aunt had tweezers."
"Well, since the whole gang is here. Do you mind explain what the hell is going on?"
Frank's head was low, but his eyes quickly flitted to Tamara's.
"If you're not gonna tell me, find another place to stay tomorrow." Nadia said firmly. "Your Grandmother would not appreciate it if she came back from her timeshare in Florida to this."
Tamara's grandmother had a quintessential old black woman's house. When she looked in the freezer for something to eat, there was only butter pecan pie ice cream. Several items were covered in plastic. The living room was the largest in the house, and it had only warm tones, with a mild brown loophole carpet.
There was glass cabinets with framed photos of generations from before with all sorts of novelty ornaments. The wallpaper was peeling slightly peeling and the television was beyond ancient. It at least dated back to the 60s or 70s.
She knew her own mom and aunts tried to persuade her Grandma to get newer stuff but she would blatantly refuse sometimes. Tamara got her stubbornness from her.
The house was dead silent. Frank was brooding on the couch, not even watching the tv but in all fairness, the television was so old, the audio came out garbled. Pamela was resting, and Angela was in the kitchen, rummaging for things to eat.
The four had nothing to say to each other. Not in a tense way. But frankly, Pamela and Angela had no clue why they were being shot at. Or why a random white male had rolled up in a van. Tamara was going through the vinyls, in hope of finding something good to listen to.
Frank had made the three rip out their SIM cards and threw their phones out of the window while he was barrelling down the road last night.
The Delfonics, Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, Al Green. Tamara gave up. She wasn't in the mood for this oldhead music. She let out a groan and lay back on the carpet.
"What are you pouting about?" Frank asked, shaking his head.
"You have some nerve, after what? You've just been there and brooding for the last ten minutes. What else you need. Scattered rose petals? A cigarette? Black and white filter?"
Besides himself, Frank couldn't help but chuckle.
"I just know I can't spend anymore time here." He said.
"What do you mean you? They came after me. And they're not going to stop until we get them first." Tamara said, with a sort of determination to her voice.
Frank's eyebrows knitted together.
"With all due respect kid, are you outta your mind?"
Tamara stared at him.
"Maybe you can dodge a punch like a fist fight in a school yard, but this is life or death."
"Save me the theatrics." She said. "You're so cryptic!"
"Okay kid, tell me what would happen if Ma Gnucci and her mooks just rocked up here right now. What would you do?"
Tamara scoffed.
"I'm being serious. Just forget all the shit that's happened the last few hours and clear your mind. What would be the first thing you'd do?"
"If I'm being honest?"
"Alright I'm gonna turn around and I want you to come at me." He said.
"Okay."
She grabbed the umbrella and rushed towards him.
Frank whipped his head around, and bit the inside of his cheeks. Trying to stifle a laugh.
"Stop taking this as a joke." He said, voice cracking from holding in his laughter.
"You said to be honest!" She snapped.
"Let's just head outside. Don't want to trash this place."
The two made their way through the back door into the garden.
"Are you teaching me stuff? Is this gonna be like Karate Kid?"
"Yeah, you're gonna have to do chores for me for the next three weeks. Buckle up."
"You know Castle, you might be joking but I seriously doubt there's enough laundry detergent to remove all the blood from your clothes. I'm pretty sure you lose a gallon every day."
He folded his arms and for a moment, she saw a small grin form on his face.
"Okay, enough talking Short Stuff. You wanna learn offensive? Or defensive."
"Okay Big Ben." Tamara muttered to herself.
"What was that kid?" He called out as he took a few steps back.
"Nothing." She grinned. "I wanna learn offensive."
"There are no right or wrong answers. But that was right."
"I take it you prefer the offence."
"All you gotta know is with this, you gotta be relentless. Keep them on the defensive and don't even let them get a chance to collect themselves. Now, widen your stance."
Tamara did what she was told, and noticed Frank take off his top to reveal a white tank top underneath. Despite the circumstances, it was actually pristine white.
Then she lined up opposite Frank.
"Alright, come at me. Give me everything you've got, as fast as you can."
"Are you sure?" Tamara asked, taken aback slightly.
"I can block it, don't worry." He grinned, reassuring her.
She took a moment to clear her mind and then she was at it. Throwing herself towards him and hammering with punches and kicks as quickly as she could muster. He deflected them all but he almost had slight trouble keeping up.
"Just like that!" He called out, as he dodged a punch.
After an hour or so of practicing techniques, she found herself getting tired and struggling to catch her breath.
"Tired?" He asked.
She nodded, and took a swig of the water bottle she'd brought with her into the garden.
"Good. Now comes the hard part."
"That wasn't the hard part?" She asked, horrified.
"Come on don't get soft on me kid. We gotta at least test out what you've learned."
"But I'm exhausted!"
"That's exactly when people take advantage of it."
"Alright. Let me at it." She groaned.
And with that, she headed towards Frank, and launched into a flurry of strikes.
"Keep it up kid!"
Tamara remembered what Frank said, and with that she sped up and redoubled her attacks. And finally, one of her punches got past Frank's blocks and pounded in his lower abdomen.
It caught him off guard, and he toppled over into the lawn. She quickly pounced on him and pinned his arms down.
"I won? I won! Oh my god! Yes!" She cheered ecstatically.
"Yeah, good job kid." Frank groaned, and coughed as he thumped his head back into the grass.
"Do you surrender?" She said, pretending to hold a sword with the umbrella to his throat.
"This isn't the Princess Bride-" He paused when he saw how cheery she looked in that very moment. The entirety of yesterday she'd looked like she was on the verge of tears and given strained smiles. But right now, caught up in the sparring match had probably taken her mind off the entire Mob hit situation, she looked happy.
He shook his head.
"Yep. I surrender."
"Tamara Angelica Blake, champion of them all!" She cheered.
She quickly realised how warm his body felt on hers and got up immediately, her ears burned for a moment but she began to run around the garden.
"Keep it up and we'll get the whole of New York back." He said, still lying down on the lawn staring up at the skies as night fell.
"Is that what you want?" She asked, crouching down and propped herself up on her knees.
"I guess. But I doubt it. It's like a dream."
She glanced over at him, his dark eyes illuminated by the bright stars.
"I'm gonna have to leave. And make sure your friends are safe. Hell, if you met me a year ago I wouldn't have cared. But here I am, feeling sorry for myself and your mystery gang."
Tamara couldn't help but stop herself from giggling slightly, but she could tell he was being serious.
A/N:
This was kind of thrown together but I hope you enjoyed it, comment n vote hehe