The Kids In Gold

Go Out Swinging

Baby's POV

It's been a few days but my cheek is still hurting and my eye is blacked so I haven't been going out. The choke marks around my neck have went away for the most part. I haven't told anyone and I've ignored my parents. I wanted to tell Zamani but I guess she really doesn't want anything to do with me. Kind of deserved that. But I feel like she would be the only person to care at all for some reason.

It's early and I'm already up because I haven't been able to sleep much. My mind is just racing on what to do and how to feel. I caused the situation so can I be mad? Like, it was my fault but.. I don't know. But I'm tired of sitting around here wasting my summer away. I need to get up and go do something.

"Maybe I'll do some shopping" I say out loud to myself. Yeah, sounds like a plan.

I look at myself in the mirror and am disgusted by what I see. My eye is making my whole face hideous. Make up won't even hide this. I just throw on some sunglasses, grab my purse and my moms keys off the living room table.

I have to drive slow because my vision is a little obscured because of the swelling and tint from the sunglasses. I can't even listen to music because it will distract me too much but that's neither here nor there. I arrive at the mall and just sit looking at the entrance.

"Nobody's even going to be worried about you, Baby. Just go in" talking myself into not being a bitch. I step out the car and instantly feel as if everyone's eyes are on me, but they're not. I take a deep breath and keep walking.

I walk into Zumiez and search through the new collection of tees they have. I look up and see a tall, brown skinned boy with waves in his hair. His pants are hanging off of his butt, but his Black Panther shirt is long enough to cover the top of his boxers so only a little of the red coloring is showing. He looks up and sees me looking his way but I pretend to be looking behind him. He looks at me and then walks past me out of the store.

I watch him walk out and disappear into the crowd. I turn and continue browsing and shuffling through the racks but nothing catches my attention so I leave and walk into Pac-Sun.

As I search through the socks, I look up and see Zamani in her uniform shirt walking from the food court back to her job. I stop looking through the socks and follow her, jogging a bit trying to catch up.

She reaches her job and from a distance I see her inside talking to the guy from Zumiez. She looks up from her conversation and locks eyes with me, causing the boy to look at me as well. I keep walking into her store but head to the shoes on the wall instead of acknowledging her.

"What are you doing here?" I hear Zamani ask in a monotone voice over my shoulder.

I shrug. "Buying shoes"

"Yeah, right" she replies. "Don't play with me, ma" she grabs my arm and turns me to her. She instantly gives me a weird look and reaches for my sunglasses. I tug my head away and look in the opposite direction. "The fuck happened to your eye?" she asks turning me back in her strong grasp.

She takes my glasses off and touches my eye and I wince.

"How the fuck this happen?" She says now looking at the almost gone choke marks on my neck. She raises my head like a concerned mom looking at it.

"Doesn't matter, you wasn't answering" I reply smacking her hand away.

"Dead ass, who did this? Akira?"

"No"

"Then who?" she ass furiously.

I stay quiet.

"It was him" she says storming off to the back, pulling her shirt off exposing her toned back in her sports bra. She comes back out with her backpack and grabs my head, walking directly past the guy she was having a conversation with. "Let's go" she says.

"Zamani what are you doing" I ask, nervously.

She pulls me to her car and opens my door slamming it after I get in. She tosses her bag in the back and gets in the drivers seat. Her right arm is jittery, shaking nonstop. She speeds off and doesn't say a word the entire ride. Ignoring each statement and question that comes from my mouth.

She pulls into her neighborhood and finally slows down as she reaches Akira's house. She gets out and I follow closely behind.

"The door is usually unlocked" I say as she reaches it. She grabs the knob and enters the house.

"Where's his room?" she asks me. I point upstairs and she heads up there. "This one?" she also asks, pointing to a door. I just nod my head yes.

She opens the door and Akira is sleeping. She grabs him by his shirt and tosses his sleeping body onto the floor.

"What the fuck" he yells out.

She closes her hand and hits him in his face, holding one of his wrists with her free hand and kneeling on his other arm so he can't use it. She hits him repeatedly. First in the face but then in the stomach.

Akira is letting out shouts and everything goes silent in my head. Just looking at her throw fist after fist into his body. She stands up and hovers over his body.

She kicks him in the stomach and another time in the face before clenching her fist up again. Akira covers himself loosely, still getting hit.

Out the corner of my eye, I see Davien run past me into the room and hit Zamani from the side. Still frozen I watch as they exchange hits and he slowly begins to over power her. She kicks him in his leg and he bends over but tackles her into the wall making a small hole where her shoulder went into it.

I snap out of it and run into the room trying to pull him off of her but with an easy shove he tosses me aside and hits her a few times. Akira stands back up and pushes me out of the room, hitting me in the same eye as before and I hit the floor. He shuts the door and I hear him lock it.

All I hear are grunts and punches landing and things being knocked around.

I feel blood coming from my forehead and start to cry and then I hear screams from her.

Long, painful screams coming from Zamani. I stand up and kick at the door trying to open it but my efforts are useless. Her screams grow louder and I start to throw punches and more kicks at the door tears streaming from down my face.

The screams stop and I hear nothing. Minutes and minutes go by and finally the door opens.

Davien opens the door and easily throws Zamani's body out into the hallway with a sick smile on his face, shutting the door again.

Zamani's face is bloody and has bruises on her body and her khaki pants are unbuttoned and belt is unbuckled.

I let out screams and more tears stream from my eyes as I hold her body. She's barely moving in my arms, blood being coughed up from her mouth. I stand up and struggle to pick her up, holding her body against mine, easing her down the steps as she can't even walk. We reach the bottom and she falls again.

Once again, I struggle to pick her up but this time manage to get her to her car and lay her in the backseat.

The keys are still in the ignition so I get in and drive us to a hospital. I hear painful moans from her and look into the rearview, seeing her eyes close.

"No, No!" I scream at her. "You are going to be okay"

Her eyes open again but slightly, and not for long.

"Zamani, it's going to be okay" I say in hopes she can actually hear me.

Hey eyes slowly close and her moans stop just I reach the entrance to the hospital.