Chapter 4: Her Brother Came Looking for Blood
“He's still in there.””
Tasha's words carried through the open doorway before her brother even stepped into the apartment.
I stood beside the living room wall, watching a broad-shouldered man in a gray hoodie approach the threshold. He looked to be in his early thirties, with a close-cropped haircut, a thick beard, and the kind of expression that made strangers move aside without being asked.
His name was Darius Bennett.
I'd met him twice before. Once at a cookout, where he'd spent most of the afternoon criticizing everybody's cars, and once at Tasha's birthday dinner, where he'd argued with a waiter over a bill that had already been corrected.
Neither meeting had lasted long enough for me to know him well.
But I knew the look on his face now.
He wasn't coming to talk.
He was coming to fight.
Darius glanced at his sister. Her handbag hung from one shoulder, and she stood several feet from the apartment door with her phone clutched in both hands.
"What happened?"" he demanded.
Tasha looked at me before answering.
"He put his hands on me.""
Darius's face changed.
"Where?""
"He grabbed me by the throat and threatened to kill me.""
Darius took one step into the apartment.
I raised both hands, palms open.
"Nobody needs to come any closer," I said.
He stopped just inside the threshold.
"You threatening my sister now?""
"No. I'm telling you to stay back.""
He gave a short, disbelieving laugh.
"You think you can put your hands on her and tell me what to do?""
"I think we need to keep this from getting worse.""
"Too late for that.""
Darius removed his hoodie, tossed it onto a chair, and rolled his shoulders.
The gesture was deliberate.
He wanted me to understand that he had arrived prepared to use his body to settle whatever he believed had happened.
Behind him, Tasha rubbed the side of her neck.
I noticed the movement immediately.
My stomach tightened.
I remembered how quickly I'd crossed the bedroom. I remembered her back striking the wall, her hands clutching my forearm, and the terror in her eyes.
There was no excuse for it.
Whatever she had said about my wife and daughter, I had made the situation dangerous.
But I wasn't going to let Darius turn that danger into another act of violence.
"Look," I said, "I did something wrong in there. I'm not going to pretend I didn't.""
Darius stared at me.
"You admitting it?""
"Yes.""
Tasha looked surprised.
Darius looked almost disappointed that I hadn't denied everything.
"What exactly did you do?"" he demanded.
"I moved toward her in anger. I put my hand at her throat, then released her. I threatened her.""
Tasha swallowed.
Darius's hands curled into fists.
"You put your hands on my sister's neck?""
"Yes.""
"And you threatened to kill her?""
"Yes.""
He moved forward.
I stepped back, keeping the distance between us.
"Don't," I warned.
"Don't what?""
"Don't turn this into another fight.""
Darius pointed at my chest.
"You don't get to tell me what to do after what you did.""
"You're right. I don't. But if you touch me, we're both going to make this worse.""
He looked at Tasha.
"Did you call the police?""
She hesitated.
"No.""
"Why not?""
"Because I called you first.""
Darius turned back to me.
"You're lucky she called me before she called them.""
I didn't answer.
The truth was, I didn't know whether I was lucky.
I had no idea what would happen when the police arrived, whether they would arrive at all, or what the next hour would look like.
I only knew that my wife and daughter had nothing to do with this argument, and I wanted to keep them out of it.
I reached into my pocket slowly.
Darius immediately stiffened.
"What are you reaching for?""
"My phone.""
"Keep your hands where I can see them.""
I stopped.
"All right.""
Tasha watched us from the hallway, her face pale.
"Darius, just get him away from me.""
Darius pointed toward the front door.
"Get out.""
I looked at him.
"This is my apartment.""
"Then get out of the room. Get out of the whole damn apartment. I don't care where you go.""
I took a slow breath.
"I'll leave the apartment once I've got my keys and wallet.""
"You think you're negotiating with me?""
"No. I'm telling you what I'm going to do.""
He moved another step closer.
I could smell the mint gum on his breath.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Tasha stepped between us, keeping several feet of distance.
"Darius, stop.""
He didn't look at her.
"He put his hands on you.""
"I know what he did.""
"Then why are you standing here protecting him?""
"I'm not protecting him!"" she snapped.
"I'm trying to get out of here without somebody else getting hurt.""
That finally made Darius turn.
His sister's voice had broken on the last word.
He looked at her more carefully.
The anger in his face didn't disappear, but it shifted into something more complicated.
"Did he hit you?""
"No.""
"Did he choke you?""
Tasha glanced toward me.
"He put his hand on my throat.""
Darius's jaw tightened again.
"That's enough.""
He turned toward the kitchen, where a wooden chair stood near the small dining table.
For one terrifying second, I thought he might pick it up.
Instead, he slapped his palm against the tabletop.
The sharp crack echoed through the apartment.
Tasha jumped.
I didn't move.
"You're going to pay for this," Darius told me.
I looked directly at him.
"If there are consequences, I'll face them.""
"You damn right you will.""
He pulled his phone from his pocket.
"I'm calling the police.""
Tasha looked startled.
"Darius—"
"No. We're not handling this ourselves.""
He dialed before she could finish.
I felt a strange, cold relief.
The police could document what happened. They could separate us. They could stop this from becoming a confrontation between two men who were both angry and increasingly unwilling to listen.
I didn't want to be arrested.
I didn't want to lose my job.
I didn't want my wife to discover that the man she trusted had threatened another person.
But none of those fears gave me the right to interfere with Tasha's decision to seek help.
Darius spoke into the phone, giving the dispatcher our address and explaining that his sister had been threatened.
I listened without interrupting.
Tasha moved to the hallway wall and leaned against it. She looked exhausted now, the earlier defiance replaced by an expression I couldn't quite read.
When Darius ended the call, he stood between her and the apartment.
"Police are coming," he said.
I nodded.
"Okay.""
He studied me as though my calm response offended him more than an argument would have.
"You got anything else to say?""
I looked at Tasha.
"I'm sorry I put my hands on you.""
She didn't answer.
I continued carefully.
"What I did was wrong. You didn't deserve that.""
Darius scoffed.
"Don't start giving her some speech now.""
"I'm not asking her to forgive me.""
Tasha's eyes lifted to mine.
For a moment, I thought she might say something.
Instead, she looked down at her phone.
A new message appeared on the screen.
She read it, and her face tightened.
Darius noticed.
"What is it?""
"Nothing.""
"Let me see.""
She turned the screen away.
"I said it's nothing.""
He frowned but didn't press her.
I watched the exchange from across the room.
It was the first moment since Darius arrived that I realized something else was happening around us. Tasha wasn't only frightened of me. She was worried about something beyond the argument, something she wasn't ready to discuss with her brother.
Her phone buzzed again.
This time, she silenced it without looking.
Darius stepped toward the doorway and peered down the hallway.
"How long does it take these people to get here?""
"I don't know," I answered.
He turned sharply.
"Nobody asked you.""
I fell silent.
A minute passed.
Then another.
The apartment seemed to hold its breath.
I could hear the elevator at the end of the corridor and the distant rumble of traffic outside. My phone vibrated in my pocket, but I left it untouched.
Finally, a knock sounded from the hallway.
Darius opened the door.
Two uniformed officers stood outside.
One was a middle-aged Black woman with her hair pulled into a neat bun. The other was a younger man carrying a small notepad.
The older officer looked from Darius to Tasha, then to me.
"I'm Officer Brooks," she said.
"We received a report of a domestic disturbance and a threat. Who can tell me what happened?""
Darius immediately began speaking.
"He attacked my sister. Put his hands around her throat and threatened to kill her.""
Officer Brooks raised one hand.
"Sir, I need you to slow down. I'll speak with everyone separately.""
She looked at Tasha.
"Ma'am, are you injured?""
Tasha shook her head.
"Not that I can tell.""
"Do you need medical attention?""
"No.""
Officer Brooks nodded, then turned toward me.
"Sir, I need you to step into the hallway with my partner.""
I complied.
As I passed through the doorway, Tasha stood very still beside her brother.
Her eyes met mine.
There was fear in them, but there was something else, too.
Something that looked almost like uncertainty.
Officer Brooks followed me into the corridor and pulled the apartment door mostly closed behind us.
"Tell me what happened," she said.
I looked at the floor for a moment.
Then I lifted my head.
"I got angry. I put my hand at her throat, and I threatened to kill her.""
Officer Brooks studied my face.
"Did you actually touch her neck?""
"Yes.""
"Did you prevent her from leaving?""
"I was close to her when it happened. I stepped back afterward, and she left the bedroom.""
"Did you say the words she reported?""
"Yes.""
The officer wrote something in her notebook.
Then she looked up.
"Mr. Reed, I need to ask you something important. Is there anything else about this incident that I should know before I speak with the other witnesses?""
I thought about the argument.
The insults.
The moment I lost control.
The threat.
Then I thought about the phone in Tasha's hand and the message that had made her face change.
I shook my head.
"Nothing else about the physical confrontation.""
Officer Brooks held my gaze for another moment.
Then she asked me to remain in the hallway while her partner spoke with Tasha.
I stood beneath the dim corridor light, listening to the muffled voices behind the door.
I had expected the next few minutes to be about what I'd done.
I hadn't expected Officer Brooks to return with a question that would make me wonder whether the argument had been the only reason Tasha wanted me gone.
"Mr. Reed," she said quietly, "your sister-in-law has made another allegation. Before we proceed, I need you to tell me whether you know anything about it.""
I stared at her.
"Another allegation?""
Officer Brooks glanced at her notes.
"She says this confrontation began after you discovered something she was trying to keep from your wife.""
My stomach dropped.
Because I had discovered nothing.
May you like
At least, not yet.
And whatever Tasha had told the officers, it sounded as if the worst part of this afternoon was only beginning.