Austin lunges to the stairs of the pool and jumps up all four. He walks menacingly to my side. The guy in black stopped in his tracks, his hand slightly above my shoulder. I don't know what he was going to do but I'm glad Austin stepped in. "What the hell?" Austin repeated. Robert Zach and AC stepped out of the pool and walked curiously on the other side of me. I take a step back, away from his hand and pull myself slightly closer to Austin. The guy says "Don't mess with me." In a slow,deep voice. Austin stays silent for a while. "Yea?" He says slowly. The guy doesn't move. Then in an instant he is holding a knife and lunging toward Austin. AC lurches forward and grabs the guys hand, pulling it away as Austin slams his fist into the guys face. The guy stumbles back and Austin shakes his hand, feeling the impact of the punch. "Go! Get in the car and call 911!" He says to me. Then the man raises the knife to Robert as I'm frantically grappling for my phone. As I run to the car, I hear the knife drop and what sounds like bone hitting skin. I get outside the gate and slide to the emergency keypad on my iPhone. I dial 911 and after one ring an operated picked up. "Nine one one what's your emergency?" A woman with a slight southern accent asked. Out of breathe I try and speak. "A.. Man with a ... Knife at the ... The pool." Calmly, the operator speaks. "Calm down sweetheart. Now, I need you to tell me the location." I slow my breathing and tell the operator the address. We hang up and I stare anxiously back through the pool gate and then to the road for the police and back again. As I look back to the pool I see Robert clutching his arm, blood dripping like a Popsicle on a hot day. "Shit." I whisper. I look to the side of Rob and see Austin Zach and AC standing cautiously with their hands up defensively. The guy once again has the knife tightly gripped in his hand. "Shit!" I say again, peering back to the road. I thought the police station was only a few miles away! I soon see a cop car with flashing lights pull into the parking lot with its sirens blaring. When the cop gets out of his car, he runs to me and stops. Before he can get a word out I shout "there there!" Pointing to the guys. The police man looks to where I'm pointing and runs through the gate. "Freeze put your hands up!" I see the police officer pointing his gun at the man. "Drop the knife!" The man stays still for a minute. "drop the knife!" The cop repeats. The man tosses the knife by the cops feet and runs. He turns around and jumps over the fence by the lounge chair he was perched on earlier. The cop runs forward, but stops when the guy is over the fence and out of sight. I run over to Robert, Austin AC and Zach are already by his side. "Oh my god, Rob! Oh! Oh my god!" I stutter. "Are...are you okay?"
Breathing in a short breathe through clenched teeth, Rob answered, "yea." Even though you can tell the cut on his arm was deep. The cop barrels through us and looks at Rob's arm. "I called the ambulance. They should be here shortly. I probably shouldn't tell you this but that cut doesn't look too good." the officer says, clenching his lips and looking at Rob informatively. "Yea." Robert says again.
As we wait for the ambulance, Austin sits with me on the lounge chair next to which Rob, Zach and AC are perched. The cop is bending down next to Robert holding a towel tight to his arm. Austin wraps his arms around me and I see his purple knuckles. "Austin, your hand." I say looking behind me at his cut up face. I look over to Zach and AC too, and notice small bruises and cuts on their arms and faces too...
*two weeks later*
"Well, hopefully nothing like last time happens again." I say as I sit down on a lounge chair.
