“Alright,” she said. “If you think we really should.”
“Yes, I do. Something tells me Ryan isn’t going to let up,” I said. “I want to make sure you’re going to be safe.” We headed out and pulled in front of the small shop a few minutes later. We went inside and spoke to the man at the counter.
“What can I do for you young folks?” he asked.
“Do you sell pepper spray?” I asked.
“Matter of fact, I do,” he said, showing us his collection. He pulled one off the shelf and handed it to us. “This one is the best in my opinion,” he said. “Comes in a kit you can wear on your belt or put in your purse. Even includes a direct-contact stun gun. Put that up against someone, and they’re going down.” I chose two of them and looked around a bit. I was thinking about maybe buying a gun, and I spotted something in one of his cases that caught my eye.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“That’s a taser,” he said. “A bit pricey, but it’s one of the best on the market. Has a 15-foot range and you don’t have to worry about accidentally hitting someone in the next room. Better yet, you can buy it today and take it home with you.”
“Do you have two of these?” I asked.
“As a matter of fact, I do. The last two in my inventory,” he said. “You ever use one of these before?”
“No, we haven’t,” I said.
“Well, come on back, I’ll give you a quick course on ’em,” he said. We followed him to a small indoor range and listened as he showed us the features of the weapon, how to use it safely and how to reload it. He demonstrated it for us, then let us take a turn. After a half-hour or so, both of us felt comfortable with the things. He also gave us a quick lesson on how to use the pepper spray properly.
“I get the feeling someone’s been hassling the two of you,” he said when we walked back into the main part of the store.
“Well, yeah,” Candi said.
“I kinda figured that,” he said. “Listen, my wife holds a women’s self defense class here every Tuesday and Thursday night. In fact, she’ll be here pretty soon for tonight’s class. You interested in joining?” Candi looked at me for a second, then nodded her head.
“Yeah, I think I’d like that. Can my fiance sit in and watch?” she asked.
“Sure,” he said. “Let me just get the paperwork started and you can go on back if you want. By the way, my name’s Jimmy McFarlane. My wife is Andrea.” We introduced ourselves, then filled out the forms, paid Jimmy and went into a large room in the back of his shop. There were mats on the floor and chairs lined the walls.
We sat down and waited for a few minutes, and Andrea came into the room. She was a bit older than us, but was in very good shape and wore workout attire. She introduced herself and told us a little bit about the class. Candi seemed impressed with Andrea and listened intently.
Andrea told Candi what she needed to get for the class and suggested she observe that evening’s class since she wasn’t dressed for the workout. Candi agreed and we watched as Andrea put the other women through their paces. She seemed to know what she was talking about and the women enjoyed working with her.
We were both pretty tired when we got home, so we took a quick shower and got into bed. Candi and I made love as we always did, but I could tell something was bothering her. Afterward, I held her close to me.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
“I will be,” she said. “I don’t think I could have handled all this without you.”
“I’m always here for you, Buttercup,” I told her.
“I know,” she said softly. “I’ve never seen anyone stand up to Ryan the way you did. I felt so… safe.”
“Ah, he’s just another clown who thinks he’s all that and a bag of fries,” I said.
“No, you don’t understand. Back home, all the guys just went along with whatever he wanted.”
“So, he was just a bully, then. Figures,” I said. “I’m just a bit surprised you dated him. Was he really as bad as you said earlier?”
“The worst,” she said. “When I said it was the worst two minutes of my life, I wasn’t kidding. I mean, talk about ‘wham, bam, thank you, ma’am’ — without the thank you. He didn’t even use a rubber. I spent the next few weeks scared he had gotten me pregnant. I didn’t want to see him again after that, but he kept hounding me every chance he got until I threatened to tell his father that he had basically raped me. Then he backed off.”
“I thought you said he went to school in Las Cruces after he graduated,” I said.
“Yeah, but he would come home for the weekends,” she said.
“Are you going to talk to the school about him tomorrow, or do you want me to?” I asked.
“I can handle it,” she said. “But, thank you for being there to protect me. I love you so much for that.”
“You’re my Buttercup and I love you,” I said. “I’ll always be there to protect you.” She purred like a kitten as she kissed me.
The next two weeks were uneventful, but we always kept our eye out just in case Ryan made an appearance. Candi went to her self defense classes after school, then demonstrated what she learned when she got home.
“Remind me to never piss you off,” I told her after picking myself up off the floor.
“Never piss me off, cowboy,” she said with a smile.
“Oh, you’re trying humor now, are you?” I asked.
A couple days later, I was sitting at the duck pond studying. I pulled out my phone and sent Candi a text: “Luv U.” I followed that with a string of heart emojis. I got a response right away: “LYM,” which meant “love you more.” There was an even longer string of heart emojis in her message.