A Line Not to Cross
Day 4, evening
Jaisa
“I have killed men,” I said quietly, “but I am not responsible for his death. Here,” I held my hand out towards an empty table, hoping to calm things, “let’s sit d-”
“And what about y-” Reye started. I could tell what he was about to do. I could feel it. By the time his hand was moving I had already stopped it.
“DON’T! Don’t even think-” before I had finished Buchanan started to move towards Em. He had gotten less than half a step by the time he was on his back with my hand around his throat. I was shaking with rage. If either of them had harmed a hair on her head blood would have been spilled this night.
I crouched down and whispered so only he could hear. “If you so much as look at her wrong you’ll live to regret it.” His panicked eyes flinched away from me. “If you hurt her you won’t. This is not a threat, it’s a promise. Tell your friend.” I held his gaze for another moment, long enough for my full meaning to sink in.
“Do NOT mess with my little girl,” my dad bellowed, throwing Reye into a nearby table as I stood up. Nice of him, though I wouldn’t have minded flattening that one’s reproductive organs as well.
“Stop now!” Andy barked at the few slackers dumb enough to be moving towards us. “If any of you spineless roach eaters take one more step your ass is done!”
Then Ash, “Yall don’t want an old fashion ass whoopin to go down in here, do yall?”
As I left the tent I could hear the colonists begin to talk in a rush. No doubt a dozen different versions of what just happened would be circulating by the end of the hour. No matter. Those two wouldn’t go near Emily again. Everything else was irrelevant.