Abused

Chapter 2: Hiead

1

      I flipped on the window wipers as I drove down to Ashanti’s house. It had been three days sense I had last seen her and it was driving me insane knowing she was alone with her father. I parked up the street from her house and climbed out locking my door before doing so. I ran covering my head from the pouring ran with my right arm. I reached the ally behind her apartment and climbed up the fire escape ladder to her window. I knocked on it to have no answer. I covered my eyes and peered around the room through the window.
      Ashanti was lying on her bed with her headphones on sleeping.
      “Great.” I mumbled. Once she has those things on, she wouldn’t be able to hear me.
      I placed my hands firmly in the window and pushed up on it praying that it was unlocked. I smiled as it opened and climbed in quietly, shutting it slowly behind me. I slipped off my soaking wet clothes and crawled in bed next to Ashanti and smiled as I noticed she had been waiting for me with her clothes off.
      I slipped off her headphones slowly and put my lips to her ear. “Wake up Dutchess.” I whispered.
      She opened her eyes slowly and for a split second I thought I saw fear that was quickly replaced with love. “Hey Hiead.” She said wrapping her arms around my neck.
      I knew something was wrong by her expression. She would always hold me a little too tight when she wanted comforted. “What happened?” I asked looking her straight in her blue eyes.
      “What do you mean?” She asked having her voice crack just a bit.
      “He did it again didn’t he?” I asked feeling my rage build.
      Ashanti was shocked for a moment and she hesitated. “Yes.” She said weakly.
      I snarled and tried to jump up from her bed, but was held down firmly. I looked back at Ashanti with a surprised look that was quickly replaced by fury.
      “You cant! I’m under eighteen and you’re twenty-one. You can get arrested for rape even if I say I wanted you to.” Ashanti said firmly but quietly. “My dad will bring you down with him to make me miserable.”
      “How will they know?” I asked.
      “Believe me Hiead. They would.” Ashanti said. “Besides. Yamagi and Roose are coming to visit today and they’ll stay over, so my dad wouldn’t dare touch me when they’re in the room.”
      “Today?” I asked.
      “Should be here in about an hour.”
      I smirked. “That leaves us with just enough time to-.” I was cut off when pounding was heard on Ashanti's door.
      “Ashanti! A couple of boys are here to see you!”
      Ashanti frowned and stood up. “Okay Marshall. Tell them to wait in the living room. I’ll be right out.” She yelled.
      A grunt and a few words that could hardly be made out came from behind the door as I stood up. I walked over to Ashanti’s dresser and opened the bottom right hand drawer where she kept a few of my clothes when I leave them behind. I slipped on a pair of briefs and a pair of baggy blue jeans and snarled when I couldn’t find a shirt.
      “Gomen. You took your last shirt.” Ashanti whispered from behind me.
      I stood up and looked at her. She was in a pair of tight-fitting low-riders and a baby blue long-sleeve shirt. She smiled at me. “Okay. Move over so my dad won’t see you.”
      I nodded and walked over towards the window. I waited impatiently as I heard Ashanti greet her friends. I watched as they came into her room and eyed me.
      “I know it’s been about three years sense we all seen each other, but Roose, Yamagi I would like you to meet Hiead Gner.” Ashanti greeted cheerfully.
      I looked at the two familiar faces. The ones I had seen when we were in battle. “We met.” I said flatly.
      Ashanti looked puzzled. “You have?” She asked.
      Yamagi nodded and looked at me. “We shared a room at G.O.A.” He said.
      “Isn't that where you’re trained to be Pilots for the Goddesses?” Ashanti asked.
      “Yeah. Unfortunately we got stuck with Candidate eighty-seven.” Yamagi snarled.
      I smirked and looked down at my right wrist. I had never told Ashanti why I had that tattoo, or much of my childhood during the war with the ‘Victims’. “I’ve changed sense then.” I said.
      Roose looked at me awkwardly. “Really Hiead-kun?” He asked.
      “Not enough for you to call me that.” I said.
      “You never told me you knew them.” Ashanti said to me.
      “I didn’t know who you were talking about.” I lied.
      “How many other Roose or Yamagi’s are there!” Ashanti exclaimed.
      I shrugged. “Roose used to be fat when he first arrived. And Yamagi called his mom ‘that damned old hag’.” I said. “Yamagi was short…really short, but I see that changed.”
      “Roose? Fat?” Ashanti laughed.
      “Yeah.” Roose said nervously. “My repairer got me back into shape.”
      “I guess I could believe Yamagi was short.” Ashanti laughed.
      “Hey!” Yamagi snapped.
      “Who wants to go get a couple of drinks?” I offered. It still wasn’t like me to be that nice, but I guessed a drink wouldn’t hurt.
      “And a bite to eat.” Roose said patting his stomach.

2

      We sat at a restaurant that was down town. I took a sip of my beer and laughed as we shared embarrassing stories about our life on G.O.A.
      “Hiead was scary.” Roose said. “He beat the living hell out of Yamagi-kun.”
      Obviously Roose was drunk. He had an arm around Yamagi’s waist and his words were slurred.
      “Yeah, well, just because he didn’t give me a chance.” Yamagi snarled.
      Ashanti sat in silence listening in fascination. “I thought about going to G.O.A. But I was to late because the last person on was a girl named Ikhny Allecto.” She said thoughtfully.
      I stiffened and turned to Yamagi and Roose who were trying to hold their laughter.
      “Oh my god!” Roose exclaimed. “If only you knew Ashanti-kun.”
      “Knew what?” Ashanti asked curiously.
      “Knew that Hiead hated that girl! She ended up being his partner!” Yamagi laughed. He wiped a few tears from his eyes before calming down.
      “She was your partner?” Ashanti asked.
      “Unfortunately.” I snarled. “That girl had issues. But you shouldn’t be making fun of my partner Yamagi! Remember yours?”
      Yamagi’s back stiffened as well and he looked horrified. “Don’t mention her.” He grumbled having memories flooding back to him.
      “‘Yama-kun!’” Roose said in a tone that sounded somewhat like Yamagi’s old partner.
      “She truly was the devil.” Yamagi sighed. He looked at his watch. “It’s nearly two a.m.”
      “We better get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day.” Roose said. “We are staying over at your house, right Ashanti-kun?”
      Ashanti nodded.
      I stood up and stretched. “This wasn’t much of a surprise. I always thought you two would end up together.”
      “I thought Roose was going to end up with Wrecka. Damn that girl bugged the hell out of me.” Yamagi said in frustration.
      I set a few bills down on the table to join the ones that Roose had left. We walked out and climbed into my car.
      Ashanti sat in the back with Roose and chatted peacefully.
      I narrowed my eyes in the mirror as I watched Ashanti kiss Roose lightly on his lips.
      Yamagi sat in the front with me and leaned against the door looking at the trees and cars fly by us.
      After no more then twenty minutes I dropped Ashanti, Roose, and Yamagi off at Ashanti’s apartment and was driving down deeper into that town. I pulled into a dark ally way and stepped out of my car lighting a cigarette as a dark figure approached me.
      “Got my money?”
      I snarled. “Yeah I got it. But listen homes. I can’t make no more deals with you…I have a family now.” I said taking a short drag of my cigarette.
      The man in front of me laughed and took my cigarette; blowing smoke in my face once he done so. “But our deal isn’t over. We still have twenty million dollars worth of heroin left.” He said.
      “Yeah well I quit! Find someone else to do your dirty work!” I said knowing my tone of voice would upset my employer.
      His name was Sesshomaru. He was named after an ancient demon that lived in The Warring Period of Japan.
      “You can’t just quit. That’s not how it works.” Sesshomaru said taking another puff of my cigarette.
      “That’s how it’s going to work now. I quit, period, end of story.” I said as I lit another cigarette. I took a long drag and let it out in little rings to the side.
      Sesshomaru started to chuckle and it turned into an evil laugh. “Good one.” He said before tossing the cigarette he took from me aside. He turned around and lifted a finger. “You almost got me there.”
      I snarled and grabbed his shoulder turning him around. “What does that mean? I’m serious. I quit.” I snapped.
      Sesshomaru snarled and picked me up by my collar. “No one QUITS.” He shouted in my face.
      Before I could do anything he held a gun to my ribs. I immediately stopped any plans on an attack. I could only grunt, for I knew whatever came out of my mouth would be an insult, and that’s exactly what I needed to do to get shot.
      “No.” Sesshomaru said taking the gun away and dropping me. “I’ll shoot your so-called ‘family’ if you quit.”
      I started to breathe heavily. “You don’t even know who she is.” I said as I set my hand on my hip where my gun sat.
      Sesshomaru laughed. “I know all about you and your miserable life; as I do all my employees.” He said with an ugly smug smirk.
      “Oh really.” I said not believing any word he spoke. “You expect me to believe you know everything about me?”
      “Not everything. Just enough information to blackmail you; just in cases like this.”
      “Prove it.”
      “You killed your dad at an early age when he beat you. Although this is not the story you told Ashanti…is it?”
      He truly was a demon.
      “You bastard.” I murmured in disbelief.
      “You were brought up by your rich uncle who owned his own company, a police station. You worked for him as a homicide detective until he died and you took over as it was supposedly written in his will.” Sesshomaru lectured. “But we both know that it was left to his son; who you saw kill himself. Didn’t you?”
      I breathed heavily. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was true. I killed my dad after I lost my temper; that was when he tried to make me kill people. I ran trough the streets with a gun and was later found by the police who sent me to live with my uncle. My uncle died the year I came back from G.O.A. and worked for him as a homicide detective. His son killed himself knowing he had to live without his father. That’s when I took over the company and met Ashanti.
      “Of course nothing will happen to dear old Ashanti if you fall at my feet and beg for mercy. Take back what you said about quitting.” Sesshomaru said.
      I snarled. “You expect me to beg for mercy! Forget it! Asshole! I quit, and you’ll do nothing about it.” I shouted. I didn’t expect him to do anything but turn and walk away. So when he pulled out his gun and shot me in the side, I was totally surprised.
      Sesshomaru left me to bleed to death with a quick laugh before running off. Why did he run off so quickly? Probably to dispose of the gun and any other evidence, such as witnesses.
      I chuckled thinking what a way to die. I thought I was through until I heard voices coming from the other end of the ally way.
      “I think I heard a gun shot.”
      “Yeah. It came from this way.”
      Thank god. I was one lucky bastard.