I was raised during the economic recession of the early 2000s and my parents saw me as the only hope for the family. Throughout school my mom would come into my room interrogating me. Asking "Did you do your homework? Do you have As?" I was sure I would live a life far greater than theirs thanks to their sacrifices. I continued studying late and giving up weekends but as high school slugged on I noticed new cars in the driveway. The bathroom was redone. The fence was repaired and we went on vacations.
The market was rebounding and my parents were living it but in their joy they stopped begging for my progress reports. They stopped harassing me to be better and so I stopped. Progress reports came home filled with Cs and where promptly ignored or thrown in the trash.
I had no idea. After all the years of needless studying, I was coming out of my shell. Girls no longer averted their eyes when I walked the halls but rather happily greeted me. I played soccer with random kids at the park and I caught on faster than I was calculus. I was finally myself. I graduated with a report card that resembled musical chords, Ds and Cs, so I played some on my guitar for my girlfriend Maddie.
My parents would've let me stay with them but washing dishes was enough to pay rent and food. Maddie worked there before I did and we had conflicting schedules but my high school sweetheart was going to stay around for a long time. Our combined paychecks allowed a comfortable life and we even had date nights arranged.
This Friday was going to be our first date night and I wanted it to go perfectly. She would normally be off of work before me but that Friday we arranged to get off with only an hours difference. Maddie walked and I rode a bike so I planned on catching up with her when I get off and good thing I did.
An orange glow filled the sky as I rode down the hill. I know Maddie intended to get groceries so I went straight there instead of home. I turned a corner there she was. Handing her purse to a burly man holding a knife up to her. He didn't see me so grabbed Maddie then ran with her into an alley.
"Someone please!-" She cried out before he covered her mouth. I rode to the alley and jumped off my bike. I see them turn into another corner so I bolted avoiding the bags of trash and broken bottles.
"No please don't!" She cries out again. I reach the corner but stop when replies.
"Shut the fuck up! I'm going to show you what happens to pretty girls walking alone." He says as I turn the corner. Maddie is pinned against the wall wearing an impromptu gag while the burly man is lifting her skirt with his knife. She sees me but the man is busy trying to keep her pinned. There's more bottles on the floor.
"Leave her alone!" I say bringing a bottle down on his head. It shatters the end but the man is still standing. Before he could react, I drive the broken bottle into his arm.
"FUCK!" He yells out dropping his knife. He turns to me and sees that I'm about to stab him again so he booked it. Jumping over the trash that he was throwing in an attempt to slow me down, I realized that I was leaving Maddie alone. The burly man knew that I was faster than him so he ran into the road while there was traffic. I'd be foolish to follow.
I returned to Maddie and we waited for the police. She had a cut on her leg but the man left her purse on the floor. She looked more mad than afraid.
"I'm so sorry Maddie. I tried to stop him." I said putting my sweater around her.
"You did stop him. But why did you chase him? What if he hurt you or worse?"
"I was just trying to stop him so that he couldn't hurt anyone else."
"You should just let the police handle it. Speak of the devil." She said as a patrol car arrived. We gave our testimony and turned over the man's knife and the bottle I used to stab him.