Authors: Yolanda Allen
One Man's Trash (10 page)
FIFTEEN
Diamond pulled the yellow drawstrings to tighten the white Hefty trash bag. She
looked around the empty kitchen. She couldn’t believe that she was saying
goodbye to the place she’d called home for the past few months. Her very first
apartment.
“On to bigger and better things,” she whispered.
She grabbed the neck of the trash bag. ”Oh wow.”
The bag was heavier than expected. She’d spent the last two hours emptying the
contents from her fridge and cabinets. The only items left were a few bottles
of water, a bottle wine, and a large pizza. The movers had come earlier that
day to get her furniture, boxes and all the large items. She was hopping a
plane back to Georgia after giving her landlord the keys tomorrow.
“You need help with that?” Ryder touched the back of her arm
“No, sweetie, I got it,” she said. She opened the front door.
“You want me to go down with you? It is pretty late.”
She looked into his concerned eyes. “I’ll be fine.” She kissed his cheek. “You
can watch me out the window if that makes you feel better.” Diamond walked down
the three flights of stairs and out the building. She looked up to her living
room window and waved.
She checked out her surroundings. The sidewalk was covered with broken down
furniture, an old TV, and a wooden baseball bat. Her neighbors on the second
floor were moving out also. Although she tried to put on a strong front for
everyone else, she was still shaken up over the events that had taken place
over the last few weeks.
An unexpected chill went through her body as she rounded the corner, out of
eyesight, to the trash cans. She opened the plastic lid and dropped the heavy
bag inside. The hairs on the back of her neck rose. A shadow appeared against
the brick wall.
“Diamond.”
The sound of his voice paralyzed her.
“Diamond, we need to talk.”
Her pace quickened. What was he doing here? She gripped the lid with shaky
fingers.
His shadow moved closer and she quickly turned around.
“What are you doing here? I have a restraining order. You know that.”
“We need to talk. I still love you and I want you to give me another chance.
I’m sorry for what I put you through.”
“You had your chance. I’ve moved on. Now leave before I call the cops.” Her
voice was firm although her heart pounded violently against her chest.
“How can you say you loved someone and then move on that fast? I saw you with
him.”
He’d been watching her. She stared into his eyes. They seemed to glow in the
dark. Like he was part human and part animal. He bit into his bottom lip and
breathed heavily. She was trapped. She couldn’t go around him.
He balled his hands into fists by his side and stared at her with intensity. A
leopard ready to pounce on his prey.
“Please—”
He took a step closer before she could finish her sentence. She swung the trash
lid and tried to run past him. He grabbed her from the back and covered her
mouth with his hand. A cold piece of metal rested slightly against her throat.
“If you fight me I will slice your fucking neck, bitch. You understand me?”
Diamond didn’t respond. Tears welled in her eyes as he threw her down onto the
concrete and straddled her.
“If you scream, you die,” he whispered in her ear.
He held the knife at her throat. She could barely breathe with the weight of
his body on her belly. She tried to lay as still as possible afraid his hand
would slip if she didn’t. Hot tears streamed down her face as the cold tip of
the knife followed an imaginary trail from her lips, to her chin, to her chest.
Diamond closed her eyes. Her tummy clinched tight. He pulled the hem of her
shirt up and ripped through it with the knife. She gasped and opened her eyes.
JT’s hostile eyes stared down at her.
“JT, please.” Her voice trembled. “Please.”
He slipped the knife under her bra. “I like when you beg me.” His face glowed
with a wicked grin. “Say it again.”
She lay silent. Fear twisted around her heart.
“Say it again. Say please.” Anger laced his words.
She squeezed her eyes shut. A tear rolled down the side of her face into her
ear. She swallowed. Her throat was desert dry. The self-defense classes she’d
taken in college didn’t prepare her for this moment. A million thoughts fought
feverishly in her mind. Should she fight or give in? She was taught to defend
herself. But would she survive if she didn’t fight?
The thought of not surviving this moment sent panic through her body. She
screamed silently. Her family. Her friends. Ryder. She inhaled deeply as images
of her life flashed before her eyes. A life she had yet to live. She needed to
live.
She swallowed. “Puh—”
A loud thud interrupted her. She screamed as JT fell sideways into the trash
cans. She scurried from underneath his limp body. Ryder stood over him. A
bloody wooden baseball bat dangled from his hand.
She rushed at Ryder and he caught her with his free arm. A wave of emotion washed
over her. She wrapped her whole body around him. Afraid to let go.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m here.” He carried her trembling body as if she was a
little five year old child hanging onto her father to protect her from the
boogeyman. "Diamond, I'm going to sit you down so I can get my phone. We
have to call the cops."
She didn't move. He practically peeled her legs and arms from around his body and
eased her onto the step in front of the building. He sat beside her and grabbed
her hand. She looked into his eyes.
"Hello, I would like to report an attempted murder.”
THE END
Diamond and Ryder’s story continues in Book 2,
Another Man’s Treasure from
Ryder’s POV.
Available August 2013. Be the first to know: Click Here to
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Another Man’s Treasure
(Book 2) (Musicology Series)
Twenty-five year old, Ryder Gillian, former lead singer for
the Stone Ryders, returns to Atlanta, GA after being away for five years.
There’s only one thing on his mind. Stay away from trouble. Well, trouble
didn't get that memo. Entangled in a web of deception Ryder is desperate to break
free from the shackles of his past. Freedom has a name. Diamond Anderson.
Freedom
has a price. His heart.
