Page 24

“I need to grab some clothes,” I said to Mercy as I drove home. Today was one of the few times I’d driven myself to practice in the last few months since I usually rode with Aceyn. Today, he had meetings that were set to end later than I wanted to be at the arena, so I decided to drive. “I keep putting it off and just buying stuff, but I need to stop being lazy, especially since I’m moving in with him. I need to see what I’m taking or getting rid of.”

“Take your clothes and rent it out fully furnished so you don’t have to worry about it,” Mercy suggested.

“I was thinking about that,” I said as I switched lanes. It was raining hard as hell, and it didn’t look like it would stop any time soon. “I have to ask Bizzy how much of an appeal that is.”

“Do short-term rentals for business professionals.”

“Oh, that sounds like a good idea,” I said, nodding. “As soon as I get to the house, I’m going to text Bizzy and tell him that’s the way I want to go.” I turned down my street just as thunder clapped through the sky, and I jumped in my seat.

“Damn, that shit is loud,” Mercy said. “Make your trip quick just to be safe. You know how Missouri weather can be. One minute, we have a cool little storm; the next, we have a fucking tornado touching down.”

“I am,” I agreed. I pulled into my driveway, pressed the garage door opener, and groaned in frustration. “Fuck!”

“What’s wrong?” she questioned.

“I forgot to change the damn battery to the garage door opener when it beeped at me a few months ago, and now it's dead. I have to get out in this damn rain.” I reached into my back seat, grabbed a jacket, and put it on. “I’ll call you when I’m on my way home.”

“Be safe,” she said, then hung up.

I dropped my phone into my purse, pulled out my house keys, shut off the car, and ran to the door. Quickly, I unlocked the door, entered the house, and went through the living room, where I took off my jacket and dropped my purse on the couch as I passed it. I kicked off my shoes at the bottom of the steps and took them two at a time to get upstairs. I pushed open my bedroom door and headed to my closet to grab another gym bag to pack and leave. Mercy was right about Missouri weather. It was tornado season, and the last thing I wanted to do was get stuck here.

I quickly packed, and just as I stepped out of the closet, another rumble of thunder ripped through the sky, followed by lighting, and the lights went out.

“And this is why I’m getting the fuck out of here,” I said out loud as I approached the dresser and pulled it open. I grabbed enough panties, bras, and socks to last a while and shut the drawer. Just as quickly as I made my way upstairs, I retraced my steps and returned downstairs, putting on my shoes and making my way to the living room. I put my jacket back on, picked up my purse, stuffed it in my gym bag, and headed to the front door. I pulled it open and stopped in my tracks.

“Mike, what are you doing here?” I asked, confused as hell. Even though we’d known each other for years, I’d never given him my address, so he shouldn’t have known where I lived.

“You should’ve picked me,” Mike said, walking up the steps to my porch. I hadn’t seen him since the press party last week, and I hadn't even thought about him because my life had been so busy. He shook his head, and the wild look in his eyes made me step back. “I’ve been telling you for years that we were meant to be together.”

I slammed the door in his face, locked and moved from it. “What the entire fuck?” I said out loud as I shook my head. “What in the actual fuck?”

“Open the door, Legacy!” Mike yelled as he beat at the door. “Open the door!”

“Mike, take your crazy ass on before I call the police!” I yelled back as I went through my bag to get to my phone. I looked up when the deadbolt started to turn. “This nigga got a key?” The door unlocked, and he turned the handle. I ran full speed at the door just as he started to open it and slammed into it. It slammed closed, and I locked the deadbolt again and put the chain on the door before running back to my bag and pulling my phone and keys out. I dropped my bag and ran away; I knew that damn chain wasn’t going to keep him away. I ran through the living room to the kitchen and out the back door. I ran around the side of my house, hopped the gate, and got to the front to see my car on all flats. “This muthafucka sliced my tires?”

Thunder clapped through the sky, and I saw my front door open. I dropped down to hide behind my car and dialed 9-1-1.

“What you want?” Xoey said as she smacked on her gum.

“Xoey?” I questioned.

“Hey, girl,” she replied as if I’d dialed her number. “ What's up?

“Why are you answering the phone for 9-1-1?” I raised slightly to look through the windows of my car to see if I could see Mike.

“It’s my night job, remember?” she replied with a slight attitude. “Now, what do you want?”

“Mike’s crazy ass showed up at my house talking about I should’ve picked him!” I whispered into my phone. “I don’t even know how this nigga knows where I live. I never gave him my address.”

“Wait, what?” her voice went from playful to serious. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I don’t have time to explain, Xoey, get the fucking police here,” I said. Suddenly, I stopped feeling the rain hit me, but I could still see it falling. I turned around to see Mike standing behind me with a smile and a crazy look in his eye.

He knocked the phone out of my hand and struck me in the face; my head bounced off the door, and my nose started to bleed. “You should’ve listened to me!” he yelled as he grabbed my ankle and dragged me back to the house. I clawed at the ground, trying to dig my nails into the ground to stop, but it wasn’t working. I could feel my nails rip from the beds, but I didn’t stop trying to escape. I kicked my free leg at him, but my hits didn’t faze him.

“Help me!” I yelled but my screams were drowned out because of the thunder.

Mike got me back into the house, slammed the door, and locked it behind him. He kicked me in the back to stop me from moving, then pulled off his coat and threw it on the couch.

“I don’t understand you, Legacy!” He yelled as he paced in front of me. “I have been here, giving you gifts, showing you how much I love you. Flowers, coming to see you play. Making sure you got excellent coverage in your career.” He kicked me in the side. “I had Kenneth sign you to The Mares, even though he didn’t want you. Only for you to complain the entire time you were there and eventually come here.” He bent down, grabbed a fist full of my hair, and pulled my head back to look at him. “You came here and got with him . How could you do that? How could you let him have you? Touch your body?” He traced my jaw with his index finger. “You let him have the piece of you that is sacred.” He pulled my face to him and inhaled. “And I know you did because I heard. I heard you call out his name, cry out in ecstasy as he fucked you. I heard it all.”

“Mike,” I groaned in pain. “You’re hurting me.”

“Just like you hurt me,” he sneered. “You broke my heart, Legacy. We could’ve been good together. I would’ve worshiped you. But no, you decided to be with him. To let him touch you.” He licked the side of my face and pulled me from the floor. “But that’s okay, even though he’s touched you, it won't matter because I’ll be the last man to do it. You’ll scream my name like you did his before I kill you.”

“Oh, bullshit,” I said as I started fighting back. If Mike thought he was going to have his way with me, then kill me, and I wasn’t going to fight back, then he had me fucked up. I started swinging; some of my hits connected, and some didn’t, but that didn’t stop me. He let me go when I kicked him in the nuts, and I tried to run away, but he caught me and slammed us into the wall.

“You feel what you do to me, Legacy?” he ground his dick into my ass, then slammed my head into the wall. Instantly, I was dizzy, and my knees started to buckle. Mike grabbed me around the waist and began to dry hump my ass. “I can't wait to get inside of you. I know your pussy is warm and tight. Do you know that I jacked off to the sounds of him pleasing you? I sat on that phone, listening to you get fucked, and imagined that it was me making you cry out like that. My dick was so hard that I had to jack off. Just like right now. My dick is so hard for you, Legacy.”

“Get the fuck off of me,” I said, pushing against him.

“Oh yeah, fight back,” he groaned into my ear. “Fight me.” I could feel him jacking off, and my stomach rolled. “You want this big ass dick, don’t you?”

“No,” I yelled. “Get the fuck off me, Mike!”

“Let me get this nut out, then I’ll take care of you, baby,” he whispered. “Just let me get this off, and I’ll take care of you.”

“Get off me!” I yelled and pushed back.

Mike slammed my head into the wall again, and I started to see spots, but I wasn’t going to let myself pass out. If I did, I knew I would never wake up.

“Oh shit, I’m about to cum,” he groaned. “Shit, shit, shit.” I felt him start moving faster, and warm liquid hit my back. “Oh, look at my nut against your skin. It looks more amazing than I pictured.” Mike slapped his dick against my back, and I started to gag. “It's beautiful.”

He let me go, and I slid down the wall, trying not to cry. Even though he hadn’t physically penetrated me, I felt so violated. Mike stood over me, his dick in one hand, and he used his other to brush my hair.

“You’re such a beautiful woman, Legacy,” he said as he rubbed my hair. “The next fantasy I have is you sucking my dick. I’ve wanted your lips around my dick since you were a little girl following behind me, wanting me to teach you to play basketball. He slowly stroked his dick, then cupped my jaw to look up at him. “Open up.”

“I’ll bite that bitch off if you try and put it in my mouth,” I said, pulling my face from his hand. I tried to push off the ground, but he kneed me in the face, making my head snap back and hit the wall again.

“I’ll break you one way or another,” he said, then grabbed my shirt and dragged me from the wall and into the middle of the living room. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched my front door open, and Aceyn step into the house, looking like he was ready to kill any and everybody. He grabbed Mike by the back of his shirt and tossed him into the wall.

“I knew I should’ve killed your ass last year when you tried me,” Aceyn said, then started kicking Mike in the face. He didn’t stop until his face was smashed in, and even then, it took him a minute to stop.

“Aceyn,” I groaned, and then everything went black.