“What are you…” Donna’s heart missed several beats when she noticed the blade in Laura’s hand and she struggled to move away but the woman who held on to her hair had a surprisingly strong grip. Donna whimpered in fear. “What are you trying to do?!”
“You must think yourself high and mighty and untouchable and righteous, don’t you Donna?”
Donna shook her head, she kept her eyes fixed on the blade which Laura toyed with in her hands. “Look, I do not know what your deal is with me but if it is an apology you want then I can give you that. I’m sorry, okay? There.”
Laura brought the blade to Donna’s chin and slid the flat side from one side of her face, down to her jaw, and then up the other side of her face, repeating it over and over.
“It is rather very easy to give an apology after causing a grievance.”
“But it is what you wanted, is it not?” Donna was getting desperate. The fear in her heart was beginning to choke. She looked around, they could easily kill her here and bury her body, she would be tagged missing for days, and they would begin a search in this area because her car was parked not far from here. She thought of her family and her eyes welled up with tears.
Laura enjoyed the look of fear in her eyes, she wanted to break her, to see her beg and cry to be spared but it seemed like this one was tough.
Laura enjoyed the tough ones.
“How about I peel off this pretty face of yours?”
Donna swallowed and shut her eyes briefly. “Please…” she whispered. “What do you want from me?”
The spot they were was suddenly illuminated by the headlights of a vehicle and the driver honked repeatedly as he drove towards them at a speed. The woman holding Donna by the hair let go of her to step back away from the vehicle which drove towards them like it had no brakes.
The vehicle came to a stop just inches away from flattening Donna, it kept the headlights on and would not stop honking loudly. Laura fumed, she could not see the face of the person behind the wheel and she knew she could not drag Donna with her as they now had the lights on them. She signaled to the other ladies to get in the car.
“This is not over Donna. Count yourself luck tonight.” Laura yelled out to her as her car sped out of the place and onto the road.
Donna remained on the dirt, she cried now as she rested her head on the headlights of the vehicle that had just saved her from the ladies. She flinched when she felt a hand touch her by the arm and her head snapped up to the person, he had in his hand her bag and shoes and was now trying to help her up. She sniffed and took his hand, he led her to the passenger's side of his truck and helped her get in, placed her things by her feet, and shut the door.
As he walked around the car to get to the driver’s side, Donna had a good look at him, he was built just like Keith but maybe just an inch shorter, the tears in her eyes prevented her from taking in details of his facial features before he got to the driver’s side and started the car.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” he asked her as they drove. Donna shook her head in response, all she wanted to do was to get home and be in the comfort of her own place and people. The man continued. “Do you need a hospital?”
She sniffed. “No, just… home.” she reasoned that he would not know where she lived. “I live at…”
“Downtown, block sixteen.” he completed her sentence. He didn’t face her but kept his attention on the road and was driving at such a speed as he was eager to get to his destination.
Donna sat up and her body tensed. “How did you know where I live?” she began to wonder if she had moved from the frying pan and into the fire.
He turned his head so he could look at her briefly before returning his attention to the road. “Right, my bad, you probably do not know but we live in the same area, you are hardly ever around so you would not be able to recognize that I have been your neighbor for the past three months.” he paused, waiting for a response from her when she said nothing, he introduced himself. “I’m Wayne.”
Donna relaxes a bit but she did not trust him yet. She quietly picked up one of her shoes and held it in her hand as a defensive weapon in case he turned out to be what he is not.
Wayne noticed that she had picked up her shoe and he chuckled.
“What is it?” Donna asked as she eyed him suspiciously.
He shook his head and waved a hand in her direction. “I just recalled something, that’s all.”
For the rest of the drive, neither of them spoke. Donna gradually relaxed when he drove into her neighborhood and came to a stop in front of her house. She put down the shoe discreetly into her bag and pulled on the hatch to open the door.
She murmured a thank you, climbed down, and shut the door, just before she turned away, Wayne spoke.
“I live just three houses back there.” he indicated with his thumb and Donna turned her head in the direction he pointed, then nodded with a smile and in a much clearer voice, said.
“Thank you, Wayne.”
He smiled. “Anytime miss.”
She stepped away from the truck and watched for a while as he backed the truck away. She sighed and turned around, walking into her house. Tonight had been dreadful, she would have a nice shower and pray that none of those ladies had followed her home. She locked the door securely when she was in, agreeing with the fact that sleep would be difficult for her to catch up tonight.