Her Terrifying Love

Part 14

Lyla pried her gaze from the lustful couple and counted out her tips at the cash register. She grabbed her sweater from behind the counter, draped it over her forearm.

"Good night, Frank." She waved to the manager.

Frank waved back. He wore every hardworking day of his fifty-five years on his lined face. "See you Thursday."

"Remember, Aubrey's going to take my shifts this weekend and next Tuesday," she reminded him.

His brow furrowed. "Why? Where you going?"

"I told you," she smiled. "To the beach."

"Just you and your girlfriend?" Frank wiped the counter with a damp cloth.

"It's Spring Break. There'll be lots of other kids there, too."

"No parents?"

"Nope." She grinned.

Frank shook his head. "Sounds like trouble to me."

She stepped out into the cool night air. She glanced through the front window of the diner at the college couple who pawed and groped one another. She could see the pretty college girl's face pink with pash-rash. Her eyes were closed in ecstasy. Lyla knew that exquisite feeling. It was like an out-of-body experience. Thoughts didn't matter. It was all about feelings. Deep emotional feelings from the most primitive part of the brain.

She felt like a creeper for staring. She averted her eyes and continued further down the sidewalk. The image that immediately popped into her mind was of Jack. And just the thought of him raised her body temperature against the chilly evening air.

The streets were unusually quiet, light traffic and no visible pedestrians on the sidewalk. In the distance, a radio whispered a familiar song, a tune that Lyla remembered her father singing while washing dishes. Or was it her mother?

She was blindsided - jerked off her feet and slammed against the brick building, the air knocked out of her lungs. Before she could process what had happened, her entire field of vision was filled with JoJo's menacing face.

"So, where the hell is he?" he hissed. His breath stunk of cheap whiskey.

Lyla squinted at him through a fog. She was stunned and confused, but fear forced her to focus. She could barely manage, "I don't know."

"Take a guess." His eyes narrowed.

"I have no idea," she whispered and lowered her buzzing head.

He lifted her chin roughly, held her eyes in his. "Don't you lie to me, you little--"

The diner door flew open.

"Hey!" yelled Frank. "Get your filthy hands off her!" He gripped a baseball bat, quick-stepping toward Lyla and her attacker. "I called the cops."

JoJo released Lyla and took a half-step toward Frank.

Frank brandished the bat and continued to advance. The expression on his face made clear that he would feel not an ounce of regret for splitting JoJo's skull in two.

"Come on, tough guy." Frank waved the bat. "Show me how tough you are."

The WHOOP of an approaching police cruiser motivated JoJo to bolt.

"You better run, you punk!" Frank yelled. He turned his attention to Lyla. "You okay, kid?"

She nodded. He leaned his bat against the wall, patted her shoulder with concern. "Why don't you come back inside and I'll fix you a nice ice cream or something?"

"No, thanks," she smiled weakly. "There's my ride."

Darcy pulled to the curb. Seeing the commotion on the sidewalk, she opened the door and stepped out onto the street.

"Lyla? What happened?"

"I'm fine." She went to Darcy's car.

"Bullshit." Darcy dismissed her got back behind the wheel.

"You should stay here. File a police report." Frank leaned into the window.

"I just wanna go home."

"You be careful. Both of you," Frank said.

Darcy steered her car away from the curb.

"Don't tell my dad about this," said Lyla. "He's got enough to worry about."