Free Assariyah by La'Toya Makanjuola Page B

called Dino but there was still no sign of him. I had given up hope that he would find me in time. I prayed silently in my head trying to block out thoughts of John shouting, “I’m gonna take pleasure in slashing you all over before giving you a golden shower.”
    “You don’t have to do this,” I said, trying to reason with him.
    He simply laughed at me and grabbed his whip, he was just about to hit me but the knock on the door distracted his attention.
    “Rose, Rose, are you in there Rose?” I heard Dino calling out frantically.
    “Dino help…” I started to scream but before I could finish, John began strangling me, cutting off my air supply.
    “Shut up or I’ll kill both you and your friend.”
    “Open the door now,” Dino yelled, not giving John a chance to answer he broke down the door instantly. Rushing in he grabbed John off me and punched him in the face, John punched him back. The two men began to scuffle until Dino finally overpowered John. Dino kicked John in his balls causing him to fall to the ground in excruciating pain, “You sick fuck, I’m gonna make sure you never forget this day. Come here Rose, imprint your initials on this punk’s forehead,” he handed me John’s knife.
    I was trembling all over, I wanted to hurt him so badly but couldn’t. Shaking my head I told Dino that I couldn’t do it. He was furious, “You can’t let him get away with this shit Rose.”
    Dino took the knife off me and carved my initials ‘RM’ into the middle of John’s forehead. It was a sickening sight, blood was gushing out of his skin and he screamed out in agony.
    “Rose Monet, don’t you ever forget that sick bastard,” I spat on his face before walking out.
    Dino carried me out through the back door of the hostel. “I’m so sorry Rose, I promised to never let anything happen to you and I let you down.”
    “It’s not your fault D, thank you for coming through when you did.” He tried to convince me to go to the hospital but I insisted that I was okay, I just needed to rest. Dino stayed with me that night, I didn’t want to be alone.
    I woke up around noon the next day. My body still ached tremendously and I couldn’t get the images out of my head. I was so jumpy, every sound I heard made me panic. I forgot that Dino had stayed the night and screamed when I heard movements in my kitchen.
    “Relax Rose, it’s only me,” Dino said, as he brought me breakfast in bed. I couldn’t eat it and pushed it aside.
    “How are you feeling?” Dino asked.
    Without saying a word I rested my head on his shoulders, I needed to feel safe.
    “Rose I want you to have this. I bought it for you this morning. Make sure you carry it with you on every job.”
    I looked down at the Snub-nose .38 special Dino held out for me and told him I couldn’t take it. I no longer felt safe, I had to leave Precision Escorts. What if I wasn’t so lucky next time? I couldn’t deal with this shit anymore.
    “Precision won’t be the same without you Rose, but I respect your wishes.”
    I smiled and gave him a tight hug, “Thanks D.”
    “Look, Rose I want you to have this it will make me sleep better.”
    I took the pistol from Dino and hugged him again. He kissed me on my forehead. “Stay beautiful and don’t you ever think twice about pulling that trigger.”
    I closed the door behind Dino and fell to the ground weeping. If only I felt as beautiful on the inside as everyone kept telling me that I looked on the outside. That’s the thing about life though, everything is never what it really appears to be but, by the time most people realise this, it is already too late. I was in deep and I knew that I would have to dig deeply to find myself once again. Enough was enough. I would not continue to dance to the beat of someone else’s drum.

Chapter 1 0
    I had made up my mind that I would not do the whole escort thing again. I already said my goodbyes to Dino and Isabella so the last person I expected to show up on