Kendall

"Kendall the Tobey needs you at the bar." Ashley says as she serves the customers their drinks and moves to the table beside me. After shaking my head, I move to the back of the bar. "What is going on, boss man?" I say, and all he does is laugh. "I need you to keep an eye on the bar for me for a little while. The owner and I are meeting. They will be here in fifteen minutes. Can you do that?" He says, and I nervously shake my head. I use my shorts to wipe my hands, pick up the rag, and proceed to the area where the customers are. This is going to be my first time working behind the bar alone. "Hi there, what may I get you?" I ask a man sitting on the bar stool. "Just a beer, please." He smiles as he speaks. Shaking my head, I reach into the cooler beneath the bar and take a beer. I smile as I remove the cap and give it to him. He gives me an additional tip after paying and leaves. Everything was going smoothly for about an hour before a fight broke out. Ashley is tending to the bar with another person while I dash to the office. Without knocking, I dash into the office and find Tobey, Arlo, and an elderly man sitting and chatting. "I am sorry, boss, but those guys have returned and are fighting once more." I say, looking at my heads, and I notice they are shaking, so I hide them behind my back. I hate fighting. I hate violence. It brings back memories from my past that I am trying to push away.

"Ok dear, stay here; we will deal with it." Tobey says as he and the older gentleman leave with him. As I make my way to the hall, I see them dragging the guys out of the bar after separating them. "Never again bring that shit into my bar. If you want to fight, you do it out here." The man says. I release the breath I did not realize I was holding with a sigh. "What made you tremble during the altercation with Ms. Wyatt?" When Arlo asks, I turn to face him. I say, "It is none of your business," and return to complete my work.

We close the bar at two in the morning and clean up after my shift, which ends at three in the morning. I am wiping down the tables when Alro walks out of the back room. He notices that I am the only person still here. At one in the morning, Ashley picked up her little girl Eliza from my grandmother's house. "Are you the only one here?" He asks me. After setting the chairs on the table, I simply shake my head without giving him a glance and go on to the next table. "Yes, why?" I ask him. Before he speaks, he surveys the area. "Do you close up by yourself all the time?" He asks me. I look at him and sigh.

"No, I don't. Ashley had to leave early to take her daughter to the hospital because she had a fever, and Tobey is in the office chatting with you and the older man who is with you. Normally, there are three of us. I say as I finish cleaning. Arlo is by himself in the bar as I make my way to the trash can, pick up the trash, and go back to the dumpster.

Someone approaches me from behind and snatches my hair as I am loading the trash into the dumpster. "Ahhh!" I scream as my hair is tugged and I am flung against the bar's brick wall. "You spoiled our fun tonight, you little bitch. And now you are going to pay for it." The man sneers in my face; I catch the stale scent of beer and cigarettes on his breath and try not to gag and cry. But also, from the terror coursing through my body as he raises his hand and clenches it into a fist. I wait for the hit by closing my eyes, but it never arrives. Opening my eyes, I see Alro hurling the man to the ground while he continues to strike him. The man screams in agony as Arlo repeatedly strikes him, interspersing kicks to add variation.

"That is enough, Arlo." I hear a deep voice, and I turn my head and see Tobey and the older man rushing out the door. I am shaking now, and I had no idea that I had fallen to the ground. I was consumed with fear; I was not paying attention.

"Kendall, dear, what happened? Are you ok?" Tobey asks as he rushes to my side and helps me up off the ground. I try to stand up, but the fear that is rushing through me makes my legs shaky, and I nearly fall again. Arlo, however, grabs me and carries me inside. He looks at Tobey and tells him to deal with the trash without looking behind him.

"Can you tell me what happened, Ms. Wyatt?" The man asks me. I look at him, and I can see the pity in his eyes, and that pisses me off. I am tired of being the victim all the time. "I was taking out the trash, and that guy came up from behind me and attacked me. He is one of the ones you broke apart earlier for fighting; he said I was going to pay for ruining his fun." I say in a shaking tone.

I look at the man, and before my head catches up with my mouth, I speak. "Who are you?" I say, then cover my mouth with my hands. I quickly apologize out of fear that it will annoy him. "I sincerely apologize for speaking out of turn," I say. He laughs at what I say before responding. "Do not worry, Kendall. This bar is owned by me, Lucian Perez Alro's father." He smiles at me as he says this. "What was the reason behind your apology for asking? I will not hurt you. Nobody in this place will. That is what I can guarantee you. Now why don't we get you cleaned up and home? You must be tired." He says kindly, and I smile. "It is ok. I am just going to grab my bag and head home. I will clean up once I am there." I say, standing up and walking to the back to grab my stuff.

I bid good night and leave as soon as I have my bag. I begin my walk to my apartment. Yes, I did forget to mention that Ashley and Eliza live two blocks from the bar where I stay. As I am walking, I hear a car pulling up. I turn to see that it is Arlo. "Get in; I will give you a ride home. Walking by yourself in the dark is risky." He says I look around me and see two guys watching me carefully. I sigh and climb in. "Thank you. I live in an apartment building two blocks away." I say as I buckle up. After ten minutes or so, we reach my apartment. I unbuckle and look at him. "Thank you. Here is twenty for gas since you went out of your way to give me a ride home." I speak.

"I do not want your money. I offered, so no need to pay for gas, and I did not go out of my way. My house is this way, so it was no big deal. Now get inside safely." He says, smiling at me. Even so, I leave the cash on the seat and exit, quickly closing the door and entering before he sees. I walk up the stairs and head down the hall to the apartment. Ashley and Eliza are sleeping on the couch when I walk in. I slowly close the door, approach Ashley and Eliza, and take Eliza and carry her to bed. After putting Eliza to sleep in her pink princess toddler bed, I go out into the living room to wake Ash. "Hey, I am home. Get to bed," I say as she looks around for Eliza. "I just put her to bed. Get some rest." I say she shakes her head, saying thank you, and heads off to bed. I go to my room and grab my clothes to shower. After I am done, I climb in bed and fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

The following morning, I wake up to laughter. I get out of bed and wash my hands after using the restroom. After getting my robe from the closet, I go to the living room where I can hear the laughter. "Good morning, beautiful." I hear my two best friends say, and I look and smile, but it drops when I see who is sitting on the couch across from them. Arlo smiles as he turns. "Good morning, Tesoro." His other two friends grin at the name he gave me, he says. "W-what are you doing here?" I ask, ignoring the fact he insulted me in Spanish. "Well, you see, Arlo was concerned about you after you were attacked last night; all he could talk about was if you were ok." One of his friends says. "Stop talking, Reed." "You were attacked," Arlo and Missy say at the same time. After giving them both a quick glance and rolling my eyes, I went back to my room. I close the door behind me and proceed to my closet to get dressed. I hear a knock on my door, then hear Ashley on the other side. "It's me, Kendall," she says and opens the door. As I am heading into my bathroom.

I sigh as she asks, "Why did you not tell me you were attacked last night?" "You had spent the previous two hours with Eliza in the emergency room, and you were asleep when I arrived home. I did not want you to worry more. The guys just pulled my hair and threatened me, and nothing else happened. I am okay, really." I say this with a fake smile, and she simply gives me a sad smile and shakes her head, leaving the room so I can finish getting ready. I must work a couple of hours at the bar tonight, plus have homework to do. So, I do not want to rush when it is time to go to work.

After getting ready, I made my way to the kitchen, where I sat down with my notebooks and computer and began working on my schoolwork. "Kendall Marie, you better eat something and not fill up on energy drinks and coffee." Missy says as she comes in and sees a Red Bull in front of me. I smile and tell her I will and go back to working on my Romeo and Juliet paper. After I finish that, I get out my sketchbook and start working on that project. "That looks amazing. You are seriously talented." I hear a voice say, and I turn and see Arlo and Reed, Elias, standing behind me. "Thanks," I say and go back to working on it. But the only thing I can keep drawing is a place that is not safe; it is Craig hurting me. I rip it out of my book and crumple it up and throw it in the trash.

"What are you supposed to be doing?" Arlo asks me as he sits next to me, causing me to stiffen up. He notices and stands and moves across from me with a strange look on his face. "I am supposed to draw my safe space. But I do not have one. I never have." I say, looking down at my blank pages. He looks to be lost in thought. "Come with me and bring your sketchbook." He speaks. I look at him nervously. "Remember what my dad said. We will not hurt you, and I would cut my hand off before hurting you," he says to me, reminding me what his father spoke. And I can see it in his eyes he meant every word.

I grab my stuff, and he heads for the door. "We will be back later." He says to my friends and his. I look at Ashley and Missy, and they both smile cheerfully, like telling me it's ok. I sigh and follow him out the door.

I climb into his car, and he puts it into drive, and we head out of the city. "Where are we going?" I ask him as we go into the woods. "We are going to my safe place; you can use it as yours until you find one." He says. After twenty minutes we arrive. I follow him to where he was taking me, and I gasp at the beauty. We are on top of a cliff, and I have the most beautiful view in my sight. I am looking at the ocean, and it is like I am staring at crystals for miles with the sun shining onto the water endlessly. I can hear the ocean crashing onto the rocks below, and it's soothing. I sit down and smell the salt from the ocean along with the forest that is behind me. It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, along with the most calming experience ever.

I look at him and smile. "Thank you for this, Arlo." I say then go back to looking at this amazing view in front of me. He doesn't respond; he just sits here next to me in silence. Which is ok for me.