Her Ruthless Bully

Prologue “I can’t believe you got caught kissing Beau Prescott’s girlfriend under the stairs!” Josie Witherspoon and her best friend, Colin Fairgood, were walking home from school. The large mansions, which lined both sides of the street, bore stately and placid witness to their conversation. “Everybody on the bus was talking about it!” Colin shrugged his skinny shoulders, like string-bean violinists stole the hearts of popular cheerleaders every day. “I can’t believe you can’t believe a girl like Mindy wouldn’t rather go out with me than that dumb-ass quarterback you live with.” “I don’t live with him,” she said, exasperated. “I live in his parent’s house with my mom. Big difference. We barely talk.” “Whatever. Just because you can’t see what a catch I am doesn’t mean Mindy don’t.” Josie pushed her cat-eye glasses up on her nose, and looked at Colin sideways. She could never tell if he was joking or serious when he insinuated that she was missing out by not having him as a boyfriend. They’d been friends since elementary school. Really, it had been a friendship made out of desperation more than anything else. Josie was one of the few black kids in the Forest Brook school system, and definitely the only black nerd, while tall and skinny Colin had been the only kid playing concert-level violin. Plus, despite the fact that she was black and he was white, both of their mothers happened to be live-in help for affluent families with homes on the same street, so technically they had more in common with each other than with other kids who were their own race. Back when they’d first met, they’d been a pair of misfits with the misfortune of going to an elite school that valued its wealthy student body and athletics over diversity and musical prowess. Why not hang out with each other, who else would want to hang out with them? But lately Colin had been making jokes suggesting he wanted more than friendship from Josie, and she didn’t know how she felt about that. “It’s not that I don’t think you’re a great catch,” she said. “It’s more like I’m surprised Mindy was smart enough to realize it.” Really surprised. On the few occasions she’d talked to Mindy, when she’d come by the house looking for Beau, Josie didn’t think there was much more than cotton candy and cheerleader chants going on between her pretty ears. “Jealous?” Colin asked with an impish grin. “More like scared,” Josie answered. “I’m just hoping Beau don’t come after you. You know how he gets.” Then, as if she had summoned him out of thin air just by saying his name, Beau’s over-large, shiny blue pick-up truck screeched to a halt on the other side of the road. And Beau himself came barreling out with Mike Lacer, their school’s starting wide receiver and the son of the family Colin’s mother worked for, right behind him. Most girls, including her—though she’d never admit it out loud—found Beau mesmerizing. With his thick black hair, contrasting silver eyes, chiseled body, aquiline nose, and All-American good looks, he was like the living embodiment of a Ralph Lauren ad. But right now, he looked a lot less preppy and a whole lot more intimidating as he came straight at Colin, his muscle-bound body tight with anger. “Fairgood,” he said, pointing at the ground halfway between them. “You and me. Right now.” “Aw man,” Colin said under his breath. But nonetheless, he put his violin case down and removed his backpack. “Are you kidding me?” Josie hissed. “You can’t fight them. They’re, like, twice your size!” Colin eyed Beau and Mike warily. “I don’t think I have much of a choice.” “Run, fool!” she said, stating what, she felt, was the obvious sol “I’m not running,” he answered, clenching his fists at his sides. “I might be skinny. But I’m not a coward.” “How about your hands? You can’t be getting in fights. You’ve got the Youth Symphony concert at the ASC this weekend.” She could tell that thought gave him pause. He’d been playing violin since the age of four, and he’d been taught to protect his hands above all things for most of his life. But still, he set his jaw and said it again: “I’m not running.” And then it was too late to run. Beau was standing right in front of them, his meaty right fist covered with his left hand. His silver eyes almost seemed to glitter with anger in the afternoon light. “Time for you to get out of here, Josie.” He and Mike reeked of alcohol. “Now, Beau, just calm down now. Two football players against the two of us? You and I both know that ain’t a fair fight.” “It isn’t two against two,” Beau answered with a smirk. “I’ll fight Fairgood on my own. Mike just came to watch the beat down.” “Yeah,” Mike said, obviously feeling no loyalty whatsoever to the son of his family’s housekeeper. “I’m just here to see Fairgood get his ass kicked.” Josie rolled her eyes. Mike might as well be a hype man, he was so ridiculously fond of repeating everything Beau said. “Beau, you need to think about getting some real friends as opposed to sycophants who go along with everything you say.” “What’d you just call me?” Mike asked, taking a menacing step toward her. Josie stood her ground and stared Mike down. “So, what, now you’re going to beat me up, too?” “No,” Beau said, raising his hand to still Mike before the wide receiver could answer. “Like I said, this is between me and Fairgood. You go on home now, Josie.” He was so sure she was going to follow his command, so sure he had her under his thumb. It was hard to believe she’d ever liked Beau as a human being, much less had a raging crush on him the summer before she started at Forest Brook Senior High, before he’d shown his true colors. She drew herself up to her full five-feet-five inches and lifted her chin. “And like I said, that’s not a fair fight. It’d be like Colossus beating up on Yo Yo Ma!” Beau’s face screwed up. “Who and who?” Colin stepped in front of Josie explain. “She’s referring to a comic book character and the best cellist on the planet. But it doesn’t matter, because if you want to fight I’ll fight. I’m not a coward.” Colin tried to push Josie behind him, but she scrambled to get in front of him and spread her arms in a protective stance. “No, I’m not going to let this happen,” she said. Beau threw Colin an exasperated look. “So you’re going to hide behind a girl? That’s how you want to handle this?” “Jo-Jo,” Colin said behind her, “you’re embarrassing me.” “I don’t care if I’m embarrassing you,” Josie shot back. “You have more talent in your index finger than Beau’s got in his entire body. And I’m not going to let you risk your hands because he’s mad over a stupid girl. And when I say stupid, I mean, really, really stupid—bless her little heart, but she ain’t nobody to be fighting over.” If Josie had been hoping to make Beau see reason, she got the opposite response. He stepped forward, so close she could feel his beer-tinted breath on her face when he said, “Josie. Go. Home. Now.” And before she could protest again, Mike was pulling her out from between them. “No!” she yelled. “Don’t touch me!” She kicked Mike straight in the balls. And when he fell to his knees, cupping his crotch like a movie villain, Josie used the opportunity to jump on Beau’s back. “Run!” she yelled at Colin. “Get off me!” Beau said, swiping at her like a bear. It took all of Josie’s strength just to hang on. “Run!” she yelled again. “I can’t leave you,” Colin yelled back. His fists were tight at his sides and it looked like his body was primed to do something to help, but his mind didn’t quite know what yet. Mike started trying to tug her off of Beau’s back from behind, but Josie tightened her grip around Beau’s neck and waist like a squirrely monkey. “If you want to fight somebody then fight me you stupid bully,” she said to Beau. “Josie, you work for me,” Beau said. “Now stop this and get on out of here so Fairgood and me can settle this like men.” “I don’t work for you,” she spat back. “My mama does. As long as I’m breathing, I promise you this, Beau Prescott, I will never, ever work for you.” “Get off!” he yelled, pawing her. Her glasses fell off her face then, followed by a sickening crunch. The world beyond Beau went blurry, but she hung on. “I’m not letting go until you promise to leave Colin alone!” They went on like this for a few minutes, until Beau finally yelled, “All right! All right! I won’t fight him.” Josie immediately loosened her grip and let herself slip to the ground. Beau Prescott might be a lot of things, arrogant, classist, and mean, but like her, he’d been raised by Loretta Witherspoon, and Loretta didn’t raise liars. The one thing Josie and him had in common was if either of them said something, you could trust it was true. She could barely see the expression on Beau’s face without her glasses, but it was easy enough to tell he was hopping mad by the sound of his voice. “I won’t fight him,” he repeated. “But this ain’t over.” With that, he headed back to his truck, Mike once again right behind him. Meanwhile Colin and she stood together, both breathing hard like a couple of prizefighters that unexpectedly managed to go the distance. “How am I still alive?” Colin asked. “What just happened?” “We showed them,” Josie said with a happy smile. “We finally showed them that our mamas might work for them, but that don’t mean they can push us around.” Colin was close enough that she could see the skeptical look on his face. “Yeah, but now I’m going to have to put up with Mike making my life hell.” He bent down and looked at something on the ground. “Plus it looks like Beau broke your glasses.” Josie’s heart sank when he pointed out her broken glasses. There was no way her mother would be able to replace them any time soon, without raiding Josie’s college fund. And heaven forbid if Beau told Loretta how her glasses got broke. She’d be in so much trouble. Josie couldn’t even remember a time when Loretta hadn’t lectured her about how important it was to always be respectful around the Prescotts, how she should never, ever cross them, no matter what any of them said to her. “You should have just let us fight,” Colin said beside her, his voice laced with the same dread she was now feeling in the pit of her stomach. She shook her head. “I hate Alabama. I can’t wait to get out of here.” “Me either,” Colin said. Then he took her hand in his. “But no matter what happens, just keep on thinking about the leaving part. One day we’re going to get out of Forest Brooks and nobody from here is going to be able to touch us.” He squeezed her hand. “You just wait and see.” Josie squeezed his hand back. Colin was right. She’d figure out how to get out of Alabama one day and when she did, she’d never think twice about Beau Prescott ever again.