Page 48 of Bronx

“You understand, right?”

He’s decided to avoid a physical confrontation with me and seems to be trying the reasoning method. I wish he had chosen to fight because all of this chit chat is only pissing me off more.

My throat hurts.

I don’t negotiate with idiots.

And there’s nothing he can say to change my mind about him.

So why prolong this?

“Why would she be hiding from you?” I ask, momentarily playing his game.

“I told you. We had a little disagreement.”

“Did this disagreement get physical?”

I watch as Ray’s posture shifts. He’s growing more uncomfortable with this conversation, which is exactly what I want.

“Do you know her?”

“Do I know who?”

“My girlfriend?”

I see both Ruby and Kim impassively watching us from behind a sheer white curtain in the living room’s bay window. It just clicks inside my brain that the Kim woman is the type to call the police in a heartbeat, so if I don’t want to get arrested on this fine spring day, I’m going to need to wrap this up pretty quickly. The last thing I need is to deal with a police officer. The second that cops see my big, tatted ass, they feel the sudden need to handle me first and apologize later.

“I’m done talking, Ray. You need to leave.”

“You know my name?” He starts pacing again and growing more agitated. “Karma come out of that house right now! I ain’t playing, you cunt!” he yells in the direction of the bay window.

I tighten and loosen my fists several times, trying to calm down. Using that word to describe Karma makes every muscle in my body clench with rage. She’s not my woman, but she’s a nice one, too nice for this disrespectful jackass.

“What did you just call her?”

Ray walks closer to me, in a threatening manner, clearly ignoring his life preservation skills.

“Are you fucking that cunt?” He makes sure to enunciate the descriptive expletive, which had always been prohibited to say in my house growing up. My Mother would have put us all on punishment if she even thought we said it.

“What are you going to do if I am?” I taunt.

Ray starts pacing again and muttering a string of sentences underneath his breath like some sort of nut job. I’m able to discern a few sporadic words I don’t like, such as bitch and teeth and hurt.

“I’d think long and hard about who you’re planning on hurting, Ray. Remember that guys like me get away with that type of thing. Guys like you don’t.”

“I’ll do whatever I want to my bitch of a girlfriend, and you tell that other one inside that she’ll regret interfering in our business.”

It’s my own fault that I’ve indulged this lunatic as long as I have, but I didn’t want to cause a bigger scene in front of Ruby’s house than Ray already has by being here.

But fuck it.

All my good intentions are shot to hell as I pull back my right fist and make sure it lands directly in the center of Ray’s chest. He immediately crumples to the ground, crossing his arms in front of him to protect himself. It should have ended there, but he keeps running that fat mouth of his and I can’t help myself.

“You’re nothing without me, Karma!” He yells wildly in the air, lying on his back, with snot running down his nose. “Come outside and face me, you cold-hearted bitch.”

I bend down and pimp slap him like Will Smith did Chris Rock on Oscar Night.

“Call her a bitch one more time, Ray. I dare you.”