Somebody Told You Wrong

Anastasia

Los Angeles, California March 13,1955

Again, Chresanto and I were on the hunt. This time, for the battered woman that we met a week before. We were going to get the money she promised she'd pay for us, and from our sources, we found out where she lived. Chresanto knocked on the door as we waited patiently outside.

The house she lived in was small and kind of run down looking, with paint peeling and an yard taken over by weeds. Suddenly, the door swung open. The battered woman opened the door a crack, peeking out.

"Yes? Wait...you're that pretty lady and man from the bar the other night. I-I'm glad you're here..I need...MORE! I almost went crazy!" She said.

"We'll get you more just as soon as you give me my money. You do have my money, don't you?" Chresanto asked.

"Of course...please come in." She opened the door. Chresanto, Benny, and I followed suit into the room. It had plain furniture and one painting of Jesus on the wall along with a newspaper clipping of Malcolm X. We heard the door closed and turned around, only to see the girl pointing a gun at us.

"Don't do anything stupid, girl." Chresanto said, not scared at all.

"Oh this isn't stupid, August. This is finishing what should've been done a long time ago." She replied, sounding much more confident. It was like a whole new person possessed her.

I was genuinely confused, and scared since this is the first time a customer has pulled a gun out on us. I looked at Chresanto, and he didn't seem to understand either.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Go. Sit on the couch so I can explain more clearly." She said, pointing the gun towards a couch. We followed orders, keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't try to do anything sneaky. She said on the couch across from us and crossed her legs.

"I already knew about you, August, way before we met at the bar. Does the name Jacob ring a bell?" She asked. I immediately snapped my head towards Chresanto. He told me about him. His jaw tensed up and so did his fists. I've never seen him get like this, not even when our customers didn't have the money.

"The fuck are you bringing him up for?" He spat. The girl smiled.

"I'm Anastasia. Soon to be Anastasia Perez. You see, I'm in the business with him, just like Miss Somaya here is." I tensed up when I heard my name. "Poor Jacob couldn't be here right now, so he asked me to do him a favor. Find you, and keep you until he comes back." She said so nonchalantly.

Chresanto remained quiet. For the first time, he didn't know what to say. Benny sat with his hands in his lap. I stared at her like she was the devil right in front of me. She had a sly smirk.

"Oh, but don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. Jacob wants to have the pleasure of doing that. But...I've gotta make sure you don't escape right? All of you. I've been following you and Somaya, you see. Oh, and I have many characters. I just blended into the background when you were out. How I appear to you now, is just another character of mine. I'm not an abused woman."

"Miss, you do realize that you're not going to get away with this, right?" Chresanto said. She just chuckled.

"Oh hun, that's where you're wrong." Before he could reply, she pulled the trigger, aiming for his ankle. Luckily, she missed by a few inches. Immediately, we all pulled out our guns. Anastasia stood up and screamed "WAIT."

"Why the hell should we? You tried to shoot him!" I screamed.

"If you kill me, he'll kill Tiana!"

My face dropped and so did my heart. How the hell did she know Tiana? Anger grew in me hearing this woman speak my sister's name.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I growled. Chresanto and Benny stood glaring at her. She smirked.

"So I see she hasn't told you the good news? She met Jacob! He's in North Carolina, surprise! Oh, and they seem so deeply in love. Well...she does anyway." Anastasia replied. I wanted to beat her face in. She just continued. "So you wouldn't want poor little T to die because of your stupidity, would you?"

I growled and said through my teeth, "No."

"Exactly, my dear, so-"

"But I just have one question."

"Ask away."

And before I knew it, I charged at her. She didn't have time to react before I hit her over the head with the gun. She fell immediately to the floor with blood gushing from the wound. She screamed. I hit her one more time and she fell to the ground, eyes closed. I checked her breathing; she was still alive. I looked over at Chresanto and Benny. They both looked shocked.

"I got tired of her talking. Can we leave?" I asked, getting up. I was tearing up in anger. Chresanto came towards me and put his arm around my waist and kissed my cheek. We all walked out of the door. I had a lot to think about that night. I laid down beside Chresanto and we were both quiet for a while.

"Honey, you know we have to leave, right?" Chresanto said. I turned towards him.

"You mean we running away from this assholes? Oh trust me, I'm not afraid of them." I replied.

"You should be, Somaya. Jacob is dangerous. He killed my fucking father. And now that they know about you...I mean she followed you around...I'm not going to let anything happen to you. We're leaving tomorrow morning."

"But what about Tiana? Anastasia said Jacob wanted us here when he got back. If he doesn't find us, he could kill T." I said. I started tearing up because I knew that it was a possibility that I could lose one of the most important people in my life.

Chresanto grabbed my chin and made me look in his eyes. "I'm not going to let anything happen to either of you, okay? I will handle Jacob. He'll have to kill me before he hurts any of you. I love you, Somaya. Do you trust me?"

It wanted to yell, kick, and scream. I wanted to wake up with the sun shining in my eyes, wrapped in his arms and realize that all of this was a horrible nightmare. I wanted to go back to North Carolina and forget that I ever met this man. But I fell in love, and I had no choice but to trust him. I looked into his eyes and realized he was serious.

"Of course," I replied. "I trust you."

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