Josiah Marquez

**Present day...**


My mouth throbbed as the bitter smell of beer seemed to seep into every pore. I heard shrill voices all around, lots of curses, while Ana was pulling Isabela’s hair, with one knee between my legs and the other on the seat next to me. I heard the slaps, the grunts, and I had to react.
I dug my fingers into Ana’s hip and pulled her, not anticipating that this would only add momentum to the force she was using to try to yank the redhead’s hair out. Isabela was reacting, punching the air, trying to hit her attacker. Then I stood up and put my arms in front of the beast’s chest, forcing her arms down, trying to make her let go of my friend.
“Ana, stop it!” I ordered, as she thrashed around being pushed away.
“Let me go, damn it!” she yelled.
“No!”
The woman continued to struggle, possessed, while I took steps back, pulling her against my body, feeling the heat where our bodies met. I felt the top of her head under my chin, her coconut-scented hair bringing back memories. It was hard to stabilize the girl’s movements when all she was doing was kicking the air and screaming that she was going to finish off her rival. Meanwhile, on the other side, Bill, a big guy with a shaved head, and Harry needed to work together to hold Isa, who had broken a bottle, brandishing it and trying desperately to throw herself at Ana.
Luana followed us, and she was the one I needed to have a talk with for letting my neighbor get completely wasted, especially when she was practically offering to give a handjob to a stranger...
“Cut it out!” I ordered through clenched teeth, in her ear.
“Fuck you!” she shouted, thrashing even more, to the point where her skirt slid up to her hips, exposing her red panties for anyone who cared to see.
When one of the waiters pulled out a phone, definitely trying to record the scene, I quickly spun Ana toward the door, turning my back to the camera, and threw her over my shoulder. I pulled her skirt down before anything more showed, ignoring how my hand burned against her pale, round ass. I grabbed the car key from my pocket with the other hand and tossed it onto my cousin, ignoring her wide, scared eyes.
“Go ahead and open the passenger door of the Ranger!”
Lu knew my car and ran to do as I instructed, while I used my free hand to hold my ex’s legs, which she was straining to kick against my chest.
“Let me go, you asshole!” she yelled, out of her mind.
I ignored all the terrified looks from the bars around, eager to witness the commotion, until we finally reached my car, parked on the right side of the street. I tossed Ana onto the passenger seat and slammed the door, holding the handle while she pounded everything inside and tried to get out.
“God!” Luana whispered, terrified and swaying next to me, holding her hair with her skinny, bony hands.
“What were you thinking?” I yelled, turning my face toward her without letting go of the door. “You brought Ana to a bar and let her get completely wasted, knowing she gets blackout drunk? What kind of friend are you?”
“It was your mom who told us to come. And besides, Ana doesn’t usually get that drunk! You and your gang are the ones who’ve been making her life hell, that’s why she went after that bitch!”
“She does get blackout drunk. Don’t be a liar! And after doing shit like today, she always forgets everything,” I shouted, furious.
“Shit?” she questioned. “You scared off the guy she was talking to when Ana went to the bathroom, said your group would break him if he didn’t leave—” she accused, fuming, pointing a finger at me. “You and Ana did God knows what in the bathroom, and came back covered in bites... Is she the only one who makes a fool of herself drunk?”
“I didn’t even drink! And you know what? Shut up, get in the damn car, and make her stay quiet!” I yelled through clenched teeth, frightening her.
“Fuck you, Josiah!” she cursed, opening the rear door.
“Ana, for God’s sake, let’s go home...”
“I want to finish her off... That fake, fucking, bitch!”
I hope the Little One doesn’t hear that kind of language all day...
“Do it another day, come on! We’re too drunk, and Júlia is at home with my aunt. Remember you have a daughter? You need to go back home, hydrate, and be okay to take care of her tomorrow.”
Talking about the Little One was always a trigger.
Not just for her mother.
It was a hell of a trigger for me too.
I saw when she stopped hitting the door, waited a few seconds, and when she looked at me through the glass, I could tell she would kill me if she could. Her eyes, a green almost amber, were possessed, filled with wild hatred. I tried not to smile, but it was hard. Ana had smeared makeup, shoulder skin marked by my teeth, and it was maddening. That look from above reminded me of her on her knees, swallowing me whole, tears streaming as I pounded into her throat... Damn! I couldn’t get hard out there in the middle of the street.
I circled the car and prepared to open the door.
As soon as I saw her at that table, flirting with some random guy and downing shots of tequila, I knew the night would end like this, with her completely wasted and out of control. That’s what she did when she drank too much, but only when she took antidepressants. The meds Ana took amplified the effects of alcohol. If she was acting this way, it meant she had started taking those damn things again... I thought she had stopped after the pregnancy.

I took a deep breath, preparing to get into the car, worried that she might scratch me while I was driving. What could I do? I provoked her so much that it was bound to end like this eventually. I sat in the driver’s seat, rolled down the windows, and lit a cigarette.
“Oh, for God’s sake!” Luana grumbled, glaring at me through the rearview mirror as she tossed the car key onto my lap. “Save the smoking for that dump you call a home.”
“Take an Uber, damn it!” I suggested. “And I didn’t even drink because the two princesses decided to ruin my night, and I stayed sober knowing I’d have to take this crazy one home.”
“Fuck you, Josiah!” Ana said quietly, staring at the passenger window, her words slurred. I started the car with a smirk on my lips. It was great to irritate both of them at once. They were both to blame for me having to drive them back to La Grassa, the condominium where we lived. “I’ve lost nights for a year and four months. I never threw that shit in your face.”
I swallowed hard, keeping my mouth a thin line. I drove through the streets in silence, taking drags from my cigarette and glancing sideways at Ana. She was so beautiful, even with those pouty lips twisted in anger. And the Little One was a carbon copy of her, except for those arched eyebrows and that blonde hair.
A pang of sadness hit my chest, thinking about everything I lost because of her, that woman next to me. She took away everything I dreamed of, my future, my peace. And even though looking at her there, so quiet, warmed a different part of me, I knew Ana didn’t deserve anything good. She deserved to suffer. Deep down, I knew everything she did to me.
The Docinho I once knew was still there, inside that empty shell of a resentful woman, so full of hatred that she put her bitterness before what was best for the little one she loved so much.
I remember how broken she was, even more than I was. I remember how I pieced her back together, bringing her back to life, doing my best, only for the bitch to stab me right in the back.
Angrily, I parked the car roughly in front of Marta’s house. When Ana tried to open the door, I locked them, activating the automatic lock button.