“Do you have any shame at all? You, an other man, visiting here?” The fury I had held back all night finally exploded. I had spent hours convincing myself to hold on to this relationship, but now, seeing this, I couldn’t hold it in.
“An other man?” Dwayne scoffed. “Get your facts straight. In love, the one who isn’t wanted is the other man. Penelope, since you don’t want to say it, I will.”
He locked eyes with me and spat, “She’s way out of your league. You don’t deserve her.”
I had swallowed enough. At this point, my blood boiled over, and my fist connected with his face, sending him stumbling back a few steps.
Before I could follow through, Penelope’s hand cracked across my cheek. Her eyes burned with anger as she barked, “What the hell are you doing?”
She hit me to protect him. That fire inside me roared into an inferno.
“I’ll kill you!” I roared and charged at him, vision red with rage.
We went at it, but Dwayne was taller, stronger, and clearly spent time at the gym. And with Penelope pulling at me, it was two against one. I couldn’t get the upper hand.
The commotion drew out the neighbors, and people soon rushed in to break us apart.
“Penelope, why are you siding with an outsider against Jackson?” one of them shouted.
“Yeah, what’s going on here?”
“And who are you supposed to be?” someone else demanded of Dwayne.
“He threw the first punch,” Penelope said coldly, shooting me a glare before rushing to check on Dwayne.
Blood dripped from his nose, smeared at the corner of his mouth. Seeing that, Penelope’s face twisted in concern. “Are you hurt?”
But I was worse off than him, yet she didn't care at all. All her care, all her tenderness, was only for him.
Dwayne cast me a mocking look. “It’s nothing. Just a scratch.”
The neighbors were whispering now, piecing together what was happening. Someone quietly asked me what this was all about, but I couldn’t bring myself to answer. My face was burning with more than bruises.
Gently dabbing at the blood on his face, Penelope turned her cold eyes on me and demanded, “Apologize to Dwayne, or I’ll call the police.”
“You want me to apologize to him?” I stared at her in disbelief.
“Yes,” she said firmly. “Apologize to him.”
“Ah, damn it,” Dwayne suddenly groaned, clutching his wrist. “Penelope, I’m sorry. I broke the watch you gave me.”