My immediate reaction is to freeze up, Nina's reaction is to gasp, clasping her mouth with her hand, and Daniel's reaction is to run out the door. In a moment, Daniel grasps a kid around his shirt, pulling him against the hallway wall, the kid screams, Nina and I run out into the hallway,
"You just left the envelope?" Daniel asks, the child he's holding is crying, I want to step in, it can't possibly be the kid, but Nina holds my arm, stopping me,
"You left it?" Daniel yells louder, the child is terrified,
"Y-y-yes" the boy cries,
"Who told you to do it?"
"A- a man"
"What man? When?"
"Just before, he gave me ten dollars and told me to slip it under the door" the boy sobs,
"Where is the man now?"
"He was outside before" he speaks through tears,
"What does he look like?"
"He was really big, in a blue jacket"
Daniel leaves the kid where he is and runs down the stairs, I contemplate going after Daniel, but I also feel bad for the boy. I stay with him, trying to calm him down while Nina runs after Daniel. It all happens so fast, I hear yells from downstairs, I run down, after them, to see what's happening.
Outside the building, Daniel is holding George by his blue jacket, slamming him against the door, George tries to defend himself but before he can do a thing, Daniel punches him in the gut, making his body bend forward,
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Nina and I are both yelling, running down,
"No, it's not him!" I cry, Daniel was about to send another earth shattering punch into George, but pauses at our frantic voices, he holds George up by his shirt with one arm, his other arm is extended back, ready to punch,
"That's George" Nina cries, "stop!" Daniel lowers his hand, releasing the victim. George drops onto the pavement, his arms around his midsection, he's breathing hard and coughing.
"Are you okay, George? Are you okay?" Nina drops down to her knees next to George, she's crying,
"He's the guy that left the envelope" Daniel says,
"It's Nina's boyfriend, it's not him" I say, my body shaking from the adrenaline,
"I'll sue you!" George manages to say, looking up at Daniel with hate, "I'll seriously sue you!" he repeats, Daniel takes a step towards him, like he'll punch him again. I jump in, step in front of Daniel, my body a barrier between them,
"No, Daniel, no!" I cry, he pauses, but his eyes are fixated past me, on George,
"Where's the kid?" Daniel asks, "ask the kid if this is the one who gave him the envelope"
"It's not!" Nina cries, "this is my boyfriend!"
"We'll see about that" Daniel runs back into the building, searching for the boy.
"Who the hell does he think he is?" George cries, wheezing, "he attacked me out of nowhere!" Nina and I help him stand up, George continues cursing,
"I'm calling the police" he says, reaching for his phone, I stop him, lowering his arm,
"No, George, let me explain, please"
"What is there to explain? That lunatic attacked me!"
"We just got an envelope under the door, we were told a man in a blue jacket left it, so-"
"So what?" George yells, which makes him cough again, "so I can't wear a blue jacket now? Is that it? Am I the only guy with a blue jacket?"
All of this commotion gathered a small crowd of people around our apartment building. Daniel walks out of the building looking left and right,
"The kid is gone" he says, angry, his eyes fix on George,
"I'm suing you!" George yells, Daniel doesn't respond, just stares at him threateningly,
"Let's go inside" Nina says. The smartest thing anyone has said all day. We pull George after us and into the apartment, the muddled crowd watches us leave. Wonder if any of them has called the police. It's very likely, but for Daniel's sake I hope they haven't.
Nina brings George an ice pack, he places it over his abdomen, sitting down on the dining chair and slouching from pain. The whole time George and Daniel are eyeing each other off.
"What are you doing here George?" Nina asks,
"I'm suing you" George tells Daniel, ignoring Nina's question,
"Go ahead" Daniel says, George pulls his phone out once more,
"George, wait" I say, "Daniel was trying to help, look" I point towards the envelope, still lying on the ground next to the door, "we just got it, Daniel ran out and a kid told him a man in a blue jacket paid him to leave it there. Daniel ran out and saw you, he obviously thought-"
"Well he thought wrong!" George spits,
"Did you see anyone, George? Any big man in a blue jacket?" Nina asks,
"Well there's at least ten men in a blue jacket out there, and he chose to attack me!"
"You were the only man in a blue jacket" Daniel says,
"Oh, really?" George spits,
"What were you doing sneaking around the building?" Daniel asks,
"You're still going to accuse me of that?" George yells, he goes to stand up in anger, but drops down on the chair, grunting in pain, "it hurts!" he cries, closing his eyes, "I'm going to kill you!" he hisses,
"I'd like to see that, come at me" Daniel opens his arms invitingly,
"You will see, you piece of shit" George spits, this angers Daniel, who moves towards George, both Nina and I jump up to stop him, stepping between them,
"Daniel, don't" I say, "he's hurt, that's why he's-"
"You really believe he has nothing to do with it?" Daniel finally looks away from George and straight down at me,
"We've known George for years, it's definitely not him" I say,
"He was crouching behind a container when I came out"
"Yes, waiting for Nina! I wanted to surprise her!" George says, Daniel raises his eyes back at him, he looks like he's about to charge again,
"Will you need a doctor?" Nina aska him, George shakes his head no, "let me take your hat off, it's warm in here" she says, but George pushes her hand away,
"Leave it! I'm fine!" he hisses, his eyes land on me now, "tell your gorilla to calm down!" George says, his words make Daniel angrier, he jumps towards him. Nina and I scream when he gets past us, pushing a chair out of his way. Just when he's about to get to George, I manage to jump between them, Daniel stops just in time before crashing into me,
"To hell, Sofia, I could have hit you!" he yells, "you really believe that piece of shit?" he asks, looking at me,
"Just trust me, Daniel! It's not George!"
"What's happening here?" Phil asks, walking in, he notices the envelope on the ground and picks it up, "did you guys see this?" he asks, turning it over,
"Yes" we all respond at the same time,
"Shit, is it one of those envelopes?" he turns it over, "Sofia" he reads my name written on the back of the white paper. The three of us are all watching him in anticipation, but Phil doesn't go to open it. He steps into the room and offers the envelope to me, I shake my head,
"You open it" I say, not really wanting to touch that thing, Phil glances at George and Daniel,
"What happened here?" he asks,
"Just open it" Daniel says, Phil nods and rips the envelope open. It's a photo of me, Lara and Nina at the train station the other day when I arrived. He knew I was coming. He waited for me at the train station. Nina gasps, her face paling, I feel tears burn my eyes. Phil flips the photo over and reads the text written in black marker, "you got lucky once, never again" it says. We're all silent.
I glance at Daniel and notice he's watching George with a frown; Phil is looking at the photo, Nina standing behind George with her hands on his shoulders, and George is sitting hunched over in the chair, still grasping his stomach.
"Why were you hiding behind the container?" Daniel asks George, breaking the silence, all our heads turn to George,
"I already told you, I was waiting for my girlfriend" George spits, "but I have a question for you now. Why did Sofia start getting these when she moved into your apartment? Sofia, tell him, didn't you tell Nina how you suspected him? Huh?"
"He knows about that" I say,
"Yeah? And? What does he say?"
"There is nothing for him to say" I respond before Daniel gets a chance, "I was wrong about him. Just like Daniel is now wrong about you"
"I'm not wrong" Daniel says,
"You are, he's my boyfriend" Nina interjects,
"And we've known George forever," I add, but it doesn't seem to change Daniel's mind,
A knock on the door makes me jump, Phil goes to open it and lets police officers in. One of the neighbours have called them whet Daniel attacked George. I show them the envelope, they make a report. Luckily, Nina manages to stop George from accusing Daniel of the attack.