Joker: A Fair Lady.

XVII

As she left the apartment building, Grace stared in terror at the chaos that danced in the streets. People came and went everywhere, some terrified and others, who were the Protestants, raised their posters along with baseball bats and other things, ready to attack anyone who opposed them. The scent of burned garbage reached her nose, the redhead covered herself with one of her hands and accelerated her steps to get to the bus stop if the service was available. While heading there, Grace enhanced her steps become a career, the screams of the people were a mixture of fear and euphoria and the words they spat express the hatred they represented. And upon reaching the corner of the street, Grace discovered a family car braking just where she was. The pilot's door opened, and an agitated Richard appeared in front of her.

"Grace!" He shouted in anger. She shivered. "Get in the car!" He ordered. "What are you doing here?!" She asked startled. "Fuck damn it, Grace, don't ask and come in!"

"I'm not going anywhere with you, until you tell me, what are you doing here?!" The raven-haired man approached her and grabbed her arm, as if it were a custom and looked at her. "Your little boyfriend created all this chaos! Or what, you did not see it on Murray's show?! He murdered him," he spat, "he confessed to being the subway killer and the one who started all this shit!"

"And that has to do with me going with you?!" Grace reproached in what was released from his grip. "Because I'll take you with the police! You will testify against him!" The redhead's eyes widened as her mind tried to process what Richard said. "I knew that guy was weird, but being a murderer changes the whole picture!" He exclaimed with a big laugh.

Grace's body began to shake, she knew that Richard's intentions were for her to run and cry at his feet for help, as she did in the past, but the redhead did not intend to obey him, she did not intend to follow his act of powerful man. She looked around and the anarchy extended with immense breadth. She tried to run and Richard, in the face of that action, managed to hold her by her waist.

"Let me go!" She screams. Richard ignored her and began dragging her to his car. Grace did not stop screaming and looked at the people around, begging for help she knew would not come. And between her tears and despair, she decided to join the shouts of the protesters: "Help me, please, he is a rich man, he is a rich man!" She cried desperately.

The people around their turned their heads as those words had come out of her mouth. They watched as that man, in an elegant and neat suit, dragged the poor and humble redhead into his expensive car. Getting ready their baseball bats, objects and fists quickly approached that corner. Richard looked out of the corner of his eye at several subjects wearing their clown masks and ready for anything.

"Excuse us, this is a private matter!"

"Please!" Cried the redhead in tears. "He wants to take me with him, he wants to take me with him!"

"Close the fucking mouth, Grace!" He demanded.

And with those words it was enough for several of those guys to stand up against Richard. He released the redhead, she walked away several steps from there and dreadfully watched as the people threw themselves at him, hitting him and humiliating him for being a person of rank. Grace turned around and ran away from that place, while Richard's screams and supplications became a heartbreaking echo.

♣♦♥♠

Grace stopped her walk and leaned on a fence, carried one of her hands on her half face and the other on her belly. Her agitated breathing had made her more nervous than she already was. The thought about what she had done, she had acted terrible, but she needed to run away from him. She had to see Arthur, as soon as possible. Feeling a little calm, Grace stood up and took a big breath, she knew that her way to the center of the city would be affected and delayed by everything that happened. She looked up and relieved she watched as the bus arrived, made the stop and to her surprise and miracle, it stopped, opened its door and the driver looked at her with warning.