Chapter 6 - Desperate Moves
Cornered, penniless, and disgraced, David Vance did what any coward does when his world collapses: he lost total control.
It was a rainy Tuesday night, three days after the restaurant incident. Maya and I were finalizing our sworn affidavits with Eleanor when the sudden sound of shattering glass echoed from my front porch.
The security alarm shrieked loudly.
"Stay here!" I shouted to Maya, pulling a heavy brass fireplace poker from the hearth.
I ran toward the front hallway. The decorative glass side-panels of my front door had been smashed in. Standing on the porch, drenched in rain and smelling heavily of cheap bourbon, was David. His eyes were bloodshot, his tailored coat soaked and filthy.
"Maya!" he screamed, kicking the wooden door with all his weight. "Get out here, you fucking traitor! You ruined my life! My mother is facing prison because of you!"
"David, back away from the door!" I yelled through the shattered glass, holding the poker high. "The police are already on their way!"
"Shut up, you crazy old hag!" David roared, reaching his arm through the broken glass to undo the deadbolt. "I gave her everything! She was nothing before me! I'm going to take everything she has left!"
Suddenly, Maya stepped up beside me. She wasn't shaking anymore. She wasn't crying. The fear that had plagued her for four years was replaced by an icy, unwavering resolve.
She walked straight up to the broken door, looked David dead in his bloodshot eyes, and held up her smartphone, which was recording his every word and action in high-definition.
"Keep talking, David," Maya said, her voice steady and echoing with incredible strength. "Every threat, every kick, every breath you take right now is adding ten years to your prison sentence."
David froze, his hand hovering over the deadbolt. He looked at Maya—really looked at her—and realized that the weak, broken girl he had tormented for years was completely gone. In her place stood a woman who would never be terrified of him again.
May you like
The faint sirens began to wail in the distance once more. David backed away slowly, stumbling over the wet steps, before breaking into a desperate run down the driveway into the darkness.
He didn't make it to the end of the block before police cruisers surrounded him, spotlighting him in blue and red as he was tackled to the wet pavement.
