~Yvonne.
My hand hovered above the doorknob as I tried to control my racing heartbeat and breath before continuing into the house. I breathed in through my nose and exhaled through my mouth, but my attempts to calm myself, even after repeating the action three times, proved futile.
My mind was spiraling and I almost visibly shaking. I had a lot of questions that needed to be answered, a lot of 'what if’s' that needed to be attended to.
What if it was the reason for the urgent dinner?
What if it wasn’t?
What if, as usual, I had been invited to collect the ‘best nobody’ of the century award?
But what if it was the reason for the dinner?
What if I really meant something? What if he saw me as someone? Five years of hard work could not have just been a basic five years that he would discard me just like that, like I was nothing?
A sharp pain ran through my left thigh, causing me to suck in a sharp breath before exhaling through my mouth. It was nothing. The pain, the burdens, the questions threatening to explode my mind, were all nothing. I was bigger than them all.
Squaring my shoulders, I lifted my chin and chanted;
“I am big, I am brave, I am beauti…crash!” The sound revolted through my skin, causing me to jump with a gasp escaping my lips. He was careless, I knew, but, this sound had way more force than a mere glass slipping off his hands. He had purposely smashed that glass against the wall, but why?
Was he angry? At me? Or was he just nervous?
The anxiety was beginning to kill me.
Gripping the doorknob firmly, I turned it and ventured into the house.
“Kev,” I called out in a near whisper, searching through the hallway before moving into the living room.
“Bubby, is everything ok? Bub…" Another gasp escaped my lips, this time causing me to half-run into the living room and dart my eyes between the three men in the room.
A slender man who stood tall even though he gave half of his height, knelt in the middle of the room with his hands and legs bounded behind him, and a huge man with a full hair, and beard which he braided into two, stood next to the slender man and pointing the mouth of the gun to the slender man's temple.
I forced a spittle down my throat before slowly padding my feet towards the men.
“Whatever you think happened, I am sure it was just a misunderstanding. Please lower your gun and let's talk this through. I said to the huge man, "Kev, it was just misunderstanding, right? Tell them it was a misunderstanding, we can talk this through.”
“Shut the fuck up, Yvonne. Can't you read the fucking room?” The slender man bit out.
With furrowed brows, I ground my teeth to keep back the words from rolling off my tongue. They were at the tip of her tongue; those five words, but I couldn't. Not to Kevin. He loved me when no one else could, I couldn't be that heartless.
The third man; a hulky man with full hair which he packed in a messy bun, who had been hiding in the shadows, carefully slid out his gun from his waist holster before leaning up on the wall, chuckling dryly as he swaggered toward the slender man -Kevin.
I raised my eyes to look at the man's face but, they fell on his hands as they did the button of his coat, and I caught sight of the tattoo of a rosary on the back of his palm.
“Kelvin Colber,” the man began.
I shivered at the sound of his voice, it sounded like an endless portal, deep and cold and…wicked. His voice echoed throughout the living room, and although I could not see his face, I knew he wasn’t the type anyone would mess with.
He had this aura that made me tremble, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from visibly shivering. Stopping before Kevin, he wound a finger around the trigger and pressed the mouth to Kevin's forehead.
I gasped and covered my mouth with my palm when he slightly turned his head to me.
“You are not so friendly, are you?”
I gulped. There were now two guns pointed to Kevin at very critical places, if they were to pull the trigger, Kevin would die. In the hands of some men, I had no idea who they were.
“Sir,” I called, slowly walking toward the man with the messy bun. Although the other guy was bigger, Mr. Messy bun gave me shivers. “Can we talk this out? This must be a misunderstanding, can you put down the gun first?”
He scoffed, and I wished I had seen his face to know if it was an excited scoff or an 'I will murder you too' scoff.
“She is defending you, even without knowing what you did. Must be nice to have a ride or die, right, Rocco?”
The huge man hummed, and I suppose he nodded too.
Why was there only one bulb in the living room?
“She ain't one.” Kevin bit out. A splash of pain ran through my heart as Kevin looked up at me, his eyes void of emotions.
It was my second time of seeing such, of staring into such emotionless and unapologetic eyes. And even though I hadn't thought I'd experience such again, I never thought I would experience such with Kevin. He was my boyfriend, I was his ride or die.
How could he say that I wasn't after five years? After everything we've been through. I rode for him all these while, and I was more than ready to put my life on the line for him. At least, two months ago, I was, but still, he had no right to say that.
“Oh, she isn't? Who then is? Danielle? You two are supposed to be getting married next month, aren't you?”
“That's none of your business.” The huge man kicked Kevin in the guts before the words could leave his lips, causing him to drop to the floor.
“Kev,” I rushed to him to help him up but, he shoved my hands away.
I looked at him and saw him looking back at me with anger flaming in his eyes. He was angry, but why at me?
He had no right to be angry, I should. He was the one who denied me, he was the one who invited those scary looking men to the house, heck, who knew who they were. And what they did.
Backing up from Kevin, I let my eyes dart between the two men, even though I couldn't see their faces. “Who are these men, Kevin?”
“Fuck off, Yvonne.” Kevin said through gritted teeth.
My heart immediately dropped to my stomach. Kevin changed. I watched him change, and I wished I could boldly say I knew what changed him. He didn't do drugs, he never did, and he sure didn't have any problems that could make him change. I was certain.
Kevin used to be all rainbow and sunshine, but now, I couldn't tell what or who he was.
“Speak to her that way again, Kelvin Colber, and I will have your tongue cut out.”
“It's Kevin Colton and I can speak to her however I fucking want!”
Bang!
The smell of gunpowder filled the air as blood began oozing out of Kevin's knee. I gasped and raised my eyes up at Mr. Messy bun as the light in the room flicked on with the rays falling on him.
A gasp escaped my lips as his eyes met mine. Dark and dangerous green eyes. I shifted my eyes back to Kevin, he was shaking on the floor like a convulsing patient. The blood escaping his body was not helping matters either.
“You haven't answered my question, Kelvin.” The man with the messy bun said, pulling me out of my shock. “You are getting married to Danielle next month, aren't you?”
“You. You are misunderstanding the whole thing!” I snapped. Did he just shoot a man because of a mere misunderstanding? What was he?
“He can't marry Danielle. He and Danielle can wed because she is his sister! They are siblings.”
He raised his brows at me and I nodded, “you just shot a man based on false news.”
He scoffed and this time, I was certain it was an amused scoff. Clicking his tongue, he took some steps closer to me, closing up the gap between us. His body towered mine, and although I was a regularly tall person, I felt smaller standing before him.
“Oh, sweet silly little pea.” He patted my head like a father would his child. A mixture of forest and ocean wafted through my nose and filled my lungs. I couldn't tell if they were from his mouth or body, but, I couldn't complain.
Bang!
I shrieked, forcefully dragged back from my wander as the bulb burst. His eyes were still on me as his hand which had been pointing to the bulb he just blew off slowly turned to Kevin.
“You have ten seconds to answer the question. One to-"
“Fine! Yes! We are going to get married next month, on the twenty-first. She is my fiancée, not my fucking sister.”
My heart dropped to my stomach before slipping out of my body and shattering to the floor this time.
How was that possible? They had told me they were siblings. All the times they travelled 'home' for the holidays, all the time they travelled 'home' for a family meeting, had they been lying. All these things had been going on before me and I hadn't seen it!
Tears clouded my eyes as I looked down at Kevin, he was still bleeding. Profusely, but that was the least of my worries.
“Tell me it's not true, Kev.”
“Well you can't always have what you want, Yvonne.”
I sniffled and blinked to keep back the tears from rolling down my cheeks, “what about us?”
“Fuck off, Yvonne, I don't have time for this. I am in fucking pain and I'm loosing a whole lot of blood.” He groaned, trying to reach for his legs.
“We've been together for five years, Kevin.” And I was hoping you'd propose to me tonight. I added in my mind.
“I was doing you a favor, are you that dumb that you couldn't notice? Nobody wanted you and I picked you up, why would you think I would want to marry a broken, basic bit-”
Bang!
Every life in Kevin got sucked out as the bullet passed from his temple and escaped through the other and possibly into the floor.
With widened eyes, I darted my eyes between the two men in the room; the huge one casually tucked back his gun behind his back and Mr. Messy bun was checking his watch like he didn't just fucking kill someone.
The tears in my eyes instantly dried up, the hurt in my heart also seized. My boyfriend was just killed before my eyes, but, I couldn't feel it.
I wanted to feel that pain.
I kept my eyes on Kevin and watched as blood pumped out of his temple, but, it didn't come. The pain of loss, the pain I had felt years ago, I couldn't feel it for Kevin. Slowly, I raised my eyes to the man with the messy bun to see him looking down at me with the most casual face. Like he hadn't just killed someone.
“Let's get going, sweet pea. We are already late for our wedding.”
