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It was yet another gorgeous sunshine- filled Sunday morning in downtown Pittiesburge. Emma accompanied Justin to bible study. They sat in the second to last row of pews. Justin was looking exceptionally studious with his white and blue-striped blazer over a royal blue dress shirt with a white bow tie, as he carefully studied the passages in the bible being read.
Emma was next to him, laying on his right shoulder. She was in a red and purple floral-patterned sun dress and made a point to wear a big, vibrant white church hat, especially on this particular day. She wanted to be as low key as possible, where a part of her was still fairly shaken up after encountering Mrs. Oshawna at church last Sunday. Her read on her was scarily accurate, yet Emma was very gifted in concealing these types of things from Justin. It was far more easy to pretend that everything was peachy, so that’s what she did for the time being.
A few hours elapsed; Justin and Emma stepped out of church, readying themselves for a relaxing Sunday evening. Emma let out a yawn and covered her mouth as her eyes had rather dark circles beneath.
“Damn babe!” Justin observed. “Have you been getting any legitimate sleep these days? You seriously look a wreck!” he told his girl.
“Oh wow, Justin, really?” she snapped at him. “Is that really something you tell your girl, and right after church? I swear sometimes...”
Emma then stopped dead in her tracks; she felt her heart nearly plummet to the depths of her stomach. From a distance, she watched a familiar black car roll up and park in right front of the church. She immediately turned, her face full of fright.
“Justin!” her voice now screeched in pure terror. “We have to go back inside the church now!”
Justin’s face wrinkled up with confusion.
“Wait, what’s wrong, babe?” he asked trying to calm her. “Did you leave something inside of the church or what?”
She tugged on his sleeve. “C’mon! Let’s go!” Emma increasingly turned more hysterical with panic and started to look almost physically sick to her stomach.
As Emma continued to plead with Justin, a dark complected man stepped out of the car. He was rocking an iconic afro with a pick stuck on the sides. He was wearing all black: a black short sleeve t-shirt, black jeans, and black Air Jordan’s. He had on a flashy gold chain that he boldly displayed around his neck. He then posted up outside of his car in a confident manner, as he nibbled on a toothpick.
“You can’t get away from me that easily, girl!” the man exclaimed in a blaring voice.
Emma placed her face in her palms of her hands. Justin was truly bewildered by whole experience. He slowly began to feel a deep-seated rage as he attempted to get to the bottom of things.
“Emma, what the hell is all this about?” Justin crossed his thick arms over his chest. “You got another man you conveniently forgot to tell me about?”
“I swear, I was planning on telling you, Justin-“
“Tell me what! Yeah! And sure! Now that the man is standing right here! Now would be the time! Start talking and fast!”
“Please, Justin, just calm down please! I used to date him back in the day before you. I met him online, and I didn't find out until after the freaking fact that the man is totally freaking insane! He’s been stalking me for months! Like I kid you not!”
“Why the hell didn’t tell me any of this sooner! Like how am I supposed to trust you right now! Honestly, I don’t know what to believe!”
“What the fuck are you saying? Are you putting this all on me?”
Other members of the congregation who were around the parking lot began to take notice of the heated situation as Emma’s voice became increasingly loud and more agitated.
“I met him in a Christian chat room, but he believes in this weird doctrine that I’ve never heard of before! As far as I know, he could be a damn Satanist! So please Justin, let’s just go inside and we can call the cops or something, but I just can’t be out here right now, like seriously!”
Justin completely disregarded this statement and began to walk down the steps and towards the man.
“Justin! Stop! Stop! Come back!” Emma screeched. “Come back! What are you doing! Justin!”
Justin continued to make his way towards him until he found himself just a few feet away. As Justin inched further, the man lifted his shirt and extracted a pistol. The other members of the congregation began to scream in terror along with other spectators with were walking along the adjacent streets. Chaos descended as clusters of people started to run away frantically, leaving Justin nearly alone with the gun man. Emma was literally frozen with horror; her body began to shake as she looked on. Her delusional stalker confidently held the gun to the head of her lover.
“Hey buddy,” said Justin as the gun was aimed at his temple. “You may want to put that toy away before someone gets hurt.”
The man glared at Justin, his pistol still trained, his eyes were mere empty pits of existence. There was no guilt. There was no reverence, only pure insanity radiated from this man’s piercing gaze.
Justin doesn't seem fazed by this fact; however, he began to undo his tie. As this was happening, the man cocks the hammer on the gun.
“Justin!” Emma screamed, tears flooding her face.
Justin simply grins as he continues to remove his bow tie. He undoes the top button on his shirt and lowers his collar, revealing a tattoo of a skull with a blue bandana. As soon as the man sees this, his whole demeanor changes. For the first time, he actually feels a bit of fear ripple through his dense conscious. He slowly lowers the gun and begins to back away.
“So, you recognize this, huh?” mocked Justin. “Good! Good for you! You see, I used to roll with these fellas in my youth. I went through some shit, that’s for sure. I can’t even really begin to imagine the amount of pain and unadulterated suffering that one would go through if word got out that one of their own was murdered by a lowlife punk like you! I can promise you that it wouldn’t be pleasant for you, buddy, quite the opposite, if say so myself!”
“Look man, I don't want no trouble like that,” the man said as he finally put the gun away.
“Then I suggest that you bounce, homie!” aggressed Justin. “Oh, and if you ever fuck with Emma again, you will get to see what I mentioned firsthand. It only takes a phone call, hell, a text message, and you’re done, buddy,” Justin said with finality.
The man spat on the ground, trying his best to hide his pure embarrassment. He silently walked back to his car with his head held down the entire time; he quickly hopped in his ride and drove off. Emma remained on the steps, feeling completely disillusioned of what she’d just witnessed.