Need You Now

Chapter 3: Son of A C*nt

Wednesday morning I woke up, after five hours of restless sleep, at 9AM. 

I couldn't get comfortable in my sweltering apartment sweating through the crop top and underwear I wore to bed. Feeling disgusting, I took a quick shower, before throwing on one of the clean, large t-shirts and sweatpants. I rolled the cursed pants up to my knees, not caring how it made me look. I refused to trap my swollen feet in any shoe, settling for a pair of black flip flops. I grabbed my purse, water bottle, and keys leaving the sauna that my home had become.

I drove to my favorite area of the city. 

It was a massive nature reserve with a large pond in its center aptly named Duck Park. There were multiple paths that wove through the trees. The pond was large enough to have four lengthy docks where people could sit and enjoy the day or watch the fish swim and ducks play. 

It was like a small slice of heaven in this concrete jungle gym.

This morning the park wasn't extraordinarily busy. 

As I walked down a path towards the pond, I passed a handful of tourists and locals exercising. From the south entrance of the reserve, where I had parked and entered, it was about a ten minute walk to the pond. Thankfully, the area was mostly shaded by beautiful trees. No homeless slept on the benches I passed, like they did in Rosewood. 

The city wouldn't allow for that to happen here.

Once I reached the center of the park where the large pond was located, I was happy to see that a shaded bench close to the water's edge was vacant. While I enjoyed sitting on the docks in cooler weather, the summer sun was too hot for that today. I settled into the bench, taking a deep breath of the fresh air that this little haven provided. I rested my clasped hands on my stomach and watched an elderly couple feed a hoard of ducks across the pond. 

Whenever I felt stressed, or spread thin, I would come here to find peace. 

I sipped at my water as time passed and the heat kicked up a notch. The elderly couple had left probably about an hour ago. I glanced at my phone seeing that it was now half past noon. I'd been here almost three hours and would need to leave soon so I could eat a good lunch. 

Then I would only have a few hours before leaving for my shift that starts at 7PM as usual.

While I was looking at my phone, I felt the bench slightly shift, but paid no mind to whoever had settled there. 

That was a mistake. 

Faster than lightning my purse was snatched from beside me by a man dressed in jeans and a black hood. He took off with it swiftly; dodging startled bystanders. Yelling, I quickly took off after him, with my flip flops smacking against the grass.

"Stop! You son of a bitch! Give that back! Help!" I screeched as I chased after him. 

Unfortunately, he was faster than I could ever be.

Too stubborn to let him go without a fight, I continued my pursuit. Every group he bulldozed through, I followed, disrupting the peace of the area. I continued screaming for him to stop but the man only sped up. He ran right past a group of three men. One of the men, a large brute with a shaved head and tattoo covered arms, made eye contact with my now jogging form. He narrowed his eyes as I desperately waved my arms and screeched 

"Stop him!!"

Without hesitation the hulk of a man took off in the direction of the thief, gaining on him, before they both disappeared around a bend in the path. Out of breath I tried to slow my momentum down as I reached the two other men, the hulking one had been conversing with. At that moment my flip flops malfunctioned and I tripped, my heart entering my throat. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, hoping to shield my baby from any impact the best I could, and held my breath.