about to call the police."
I held up my phone, which was a stupid thing to do, but all that happened was him laughing.
"Atlanta huh. Yeah place is infested with you lot. But there ain't no 911 around her, sweetie. It'll go straight to our local dispatch, and Sheriff’s a proud white brother. He ain't going to help no darkie over us."
"He ain't gonna help us neither," the guy on the bike piped up.
"Shut the fuck up, Junior," the guy turned and yelled. I was glad to have him out of my face but he returned looking even more angry.
"So Atlanta, huh?" Came a voice from the other side. Jimmy had come around full circle and he was looking at me, but not my face. I felt my skin clam up as if his eyes could cast slime. "Yeah you must be one of those high class hos that fuck rappers and ball players."
His voices came out soft and silky, far more dangerous than Earl's barking. I didn't like it one bit.
"Yeah we’ll give you a little lift sweetie," he said. "We get you a ride out of here, how bout you give us a ride?"
Earl snapped to him then looked at me, sorta dumb. He did that same greasy assessment that Jimmy had done. I wanted to run, but I was cornered between them and the car. Which was probably for the best, cause that would have just pissed them off.”
"Yeah, you probably stole that shit from other niggers. We'll help you get it out of town, just help us out."
The wild animal looks had dulled, and I could see lust simmering off them in waves as bad as their odors.
"Hey, get back here." I looked past at my unlikely savior, whose frowning face was aimed at his biking brothers. Maybe it was the animal instincts flaring in me, but I couldn't help but think he looked beautiful in his anger, his face long and all sharp edges, just cheekbones and jawlines.
"You'll get your turn," Earl said. A hand landed on my hip and I shoved it off. He let me. This time.
"What you doing mixing your blood with a lower race?" Junior shouted.
So much for being on my side.
"I ain't mixing blood, dumbass," he said. "Just taking her for a spin. These monkeys fuck like animals. Just bent over ass and tits, hanging out. You seen them travel magazines?" He licked his lips, and I shivered, tried to dial for the cops anyway.
Earl slapped my hand down. "Later sweetheart. Give old Earl a chance to help you."
"Aw fuck you, Earl," Jimmy said. "I called it."
"Like hell you did."
"We gotta go, yo," Junior said. "We running hot here. They gonna be looking for us."
"They don't know it's us." Jimmy leaned back on my busted hood.
I met Junior's cold blue eyes and saw them widen. His mouth moved, and he looked from side to side. He was looking for something to say, anything. Whatever the reason, he was trying to keep me whole.
"We're out in the fucking open," he said.
Earl looked around, realizing the road, and nodded. "Good point."
He grabbed me around the waist and began dragging me around the car. I dug my claws into his skin, but it was like leather. He slapped me across the cheek and pulled me past Jimmy, who gave me another sneer.
This could not be happening. I had a good job waiting for me in New York. I was a college graduate. I didn't even do any drugs. I couldn't be about to be raped by nazis.
Earl threw me hard onto the asphalt. I scrabbled back, feeling the world slowing around me and becoming high detail.. Earl’s hands moved to his jeans, and unworked the buttons. Jimmy watched us silently.
I wanted to look anywhere but at those two. The empty wash of land just made me more desolate, though. I looked back in time to see Earl undoing his jean button. It shone like the light of an oncoming train.
My eyes saw motion beyond Jimmy. Junior was coming up behind him, in a slow deliberate pace, even for my already slowed vision. He laid an arm around Jimmy. Jimmy turned, but then suddenly, Junior was pincering his neck, reaching across to meet his breath. Jimmy's eyes popped open and he struggled, but he seemed to have no