I'm (Not) Sorry

Chapter 2

Jasmine forced me to stay home the next day. Thayne would be my fill-in. To tell you the truth, I'm always at the theater because I don't wanna be alone. I hate being alone. Have I said that enough? At least I have my dog, right?

Thank God for Lin. That man is a blessing. He called me after I told him about how I'd been feeling.

"Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"Not really..."

"Overthinking?"

"Yeah..."

"You sound like it... Get some sleep, Anthony. Stay hydrated, too, and make sure you eat something. Just..." I heard Lin sigh. "Just take care of yourself. You hear me?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I hear you."

"Good. I'll be checkin' up on you every now and again. Lemme know if you're feelin' better."

"Yeah, okay." I said goodbye before hanging up and tossing my phone onto the floor. I felt awful. I had a headache, I felt like throwing up, and I was insanely paranoid. Dallas was out of jail. Dallas. The same guy who beat, yelled at, raped, and hurt my girl. I know I could be using better adjectives here, but "hurt" is just the only way I can put it. All I've known for the past few months is hurt. There just ain't any other way to describe it.

Just wait 'till I get my hands on him, I thought. I wanted to stomp that man into the ground. I almost did the last time I saw him. I had him pinned to the wall while I was calling the cops. Jasmine still tells me she owes me her life. She doesn't. I was just doing what had to be done.

I met Dallas two years ago. Times flies, don't it? Jasmine and I were talking, but we didn't have any feelings for each other at the time. Maybe we did. I dunno. Anyway, Dallas wasn't too happy with me. Jasmine just wouldn't tell me anything about it. It was irritating me. Finally, one day while we were walking through Central Park, she spilled. Dallas wasn't too happy about that.

You can only imagine how angry I was when I heard her story. She was sobbing by the time she finished talking. After that, she looked worse and worse every time I saw her. Black eyes, bruises, scratches, cuts... God, it was awful.

One day, I saw them together. Poor Jazzy looked miserable. I was burning. Anger just swept over me as I grabbed Dallas by his throat, slamming him into a wall. I still remember what I told him, and I don't regret saying it.

"When I'm through with you, you'll be burnin' in Hell. That's exactly where you deserve to go."

The last part was a little mature.

It was a bit of a rumble, but I won. After getting bruised up (possibly with a broken rib), I had him pinned to the wall as I called the cops. Jasmine was horrified. She obviously hadn't seen that
side of me. Dallas was taken to jail. Sentenced for two and a half years. Good riddance.

Now, he's coming back. I shivered at the thought. What would he do to me? What would he do to Jasmine? I didn't know. That scared me. That scared me bad.

Jasmine came home crying. I didn't hear her at first, but I did once she came closer to my bedroom door.

"Jazzy?"

The footsteps stopped, but the crying didn't. Jasmine slowly opened the door, wiping her tears.

"Go to sleep, Anthony," she croaked. "It's late..."

"What're you cryin' about?" I asked. Sleep could wait.

"Nothin' you gotta worry about." Her tone surprised me. I didn't expect her to get so annoyed with me.

"Sorry..."

Jasmine's tone changed. "It ain't anything you did, hun. It's just... Go to bed."

"I ain't gonna be able to sleep until you tell me."

"Yeah, well, you don't ever sleep anyway."

"Just tell me."

Jasmine sobbed quietly and took out her phone. "Let's just say I ain't leavin' the house anytime soon." She handed me the phone without turning it on. I knew her pass code, so she didn't have to. I unlocked it, and she pointed to her message notifications. She had a text from a blocked number.

"Hope you haven't forgotten me baby" is what it said. I looked up at Jasmine with worried eyes.

"Don't tell me," I said nervously. "Don't tell me that was-"

"Dallas," she finished. "He still has my number... I can't do it again, Anthony. I can't deal with him... Not after what he's done to me..."

I took a deep breath. Suddenly, I was feeling sicker. I knew everything that was happening to me was happening because of Dallas, but knowing that he could come after Jasmine just made it all worse. I had to protect her. I assumed we weren't going to the theater anytime soon.

"Lay down," I told her. "I think we could both use some sleep."

Jasmine nodded in agreement and dropped her bags. She plopped herself next to me, not even bothering to change. I held her close. I never wanted to let go until I knew it was safe to.