2: 2
I looked up, and froze.
It was the upperclassman who had shown me the way that afternoon while I was doing my enrollment paperwork. Tania Gilbert.
She was wearing the diner's apron, her thin frame trembling, but she still planted herself in front of me and wouldn't move.
"Sir, she's a new student, she doesn't know anything. Let it go, just let her leave."
Every pair of eyes in the diner snapped toward us.
The owner swung his leg up and drove a kick hard into Tania's stomach.
"Let it go, my ass. Tania Gilbert, you're a broke student washing dishes for tips. Who the hell asked you?"
Tania let out a muffled grunt, doubled over, and dropped to the floor, the color draining from her face.
"Tania!"
I lunged forward to help her, but two waiters seized my arms and held them fast.
Tania lay clutching her stomach, dragging her head up to force a faint smile at me, her eyes full of panic.
"Don't be scared. I'll hold them off, you run—"
Before she could finish, heavy footsteps came down the stairs.
The owner's face flipped in an instant. "Oh, Mr. Jennings! What are you doing coming down yourself?"
A middle-aged man with a beer belly came swaying down from the second floor.
The stink of liquor came off him, and three small-time thugs who looked like bodyguards trailed behind.
Anna Lambert bent forward too, smiling to smooth things over.
"Mr. Jennings, don't you worry. The girl's just a little shy. We'll bring her right up to you."
Terry Jennings's little eyes raked over me from head to toe. He licked his lips and made a clicking sound of approval.
"Ha. Good taste this time. A real fresh one."
Then he threw a disgusted glance at Tania on the floor, a contemptuous smile twisting his mouth.
"Who's this?"
The owner scurried up, bowing and scraping.
"Just a temp. She doesn't know her place, tried to spoil your evening. I'll deal with her right now."
Terry Jennings walked over to Tania, crouched down, and patted her cheek.
"Little girl. You can't even save yourself, and you've got the nerve to butt into Grandpa Terry's business?"
With that, he sneered, reached over, and grabbed an empty beer bottle off the next table.
He smashed it down on Tania's head with a crack.
The shatter of glass exploded through the whole diner, shards flying everywhere.
Tania screamed, blood pouring from her forehead in an instant, smearing across her whole face.
"Tania!"
I wrenched free of the waiters and threw myself down, pressing my hands over the wound gushing blood.
But the blood welled up between my fingers, and there was no stopping it.
Eyes burning, I lifted my head and screamed at Terry Jennings.
"Are you insane? You're going to kill her!"
Terry Jennings stamped a foot on my shoulder and kicked me down hard, laughing without a care.
"In Riverside, if I finish off some broke laborer, it costs me a little medical money. That's all."
His leering eyes moved back and forth between me and Tania, and then an even filthier smile spread across his face.
"Pretty little thing, I'll give you one more chance. If you still won't play nice, then your upperclassman here can keep me company instead."
"My brothers in the private room happen to be short on fun. Clean this girl up and she'll do well enough."
Tania reached out from the floor, trying to grab hold of Terry Jennings's trouser leg, her voice hoarse as she begged.
"Please, don't... don't hurt her..."
Terry Jennings didn't even glance at her. He only jerked his chin.
The bodyguard behind him stepped up, raised his foot, and brought it down hard on Tania's hand.
Tania let out a scream that tore through the room, her body convulsing on the floor.
I watched her fingers bend into shapes they should never make, and my mind went blank with a single roar of noise.
Around us, some of the diners clapped hands over their mouths and dropped their heads lower.
I bit down on my lip until I tasted the rust of blood filling my mouth.
Terry Jennings crouched down, gripped my chin, and forced me to look at him.
"You see that clearly? That's what happens when you cross me."
"Now, come upstairs with me nice and quiet, and I promise I won't let my brothers touch this little girl. Otherwise—"
He stood and jerked his chin at Tania's other hand, the one still whole.
"She's still got five fingers left. Enough for me to stomp on for a while."
On the floor, Tania was nearly passing out from the pain, shaking all over, blood and tears running together.
But she still forced the words out through her ruined voice.
"Priscilla, forget about me, run—"
I closed my eyes, and the tears slid from their corners.
She was only an ordinary student, working her way through school like anyone else.
Shaking with fear herself, and yet, because she couldn't stand to watch another girl fall into the pit,
she'd used that thin body of hers to shield me, and taken all of this for it.
I drew in a deep breath, slowly raised my head, and fixed my eyes on Terry Jennings.
"I'll go upstairs with you."
Terry Jennings raised an eyebrow.
I went on. "But first, you take her to the hospital."
