Menace

"Noel"

I walked out of my final, Ian moving in tandem with his little star wars robot in his hand and his lunch box in the other. I was sure I aced the test because I studied hard for it and knew a good portion of the material from personal interest studies. Now I had two weeks to myself since the hospital told me to take the time to unwind before the fall semester started which was nice of them. I really had been trying to see all the people in my life who genuinely cared and I could now think of about twenty people in the hospital who seemed to care how I was doing.

"Hey little man nice toy," a voice I've never heard yet sounded slightly familiar appeared in front of us. I was looking down so I had to look up and noticed a clean but heavily worn pair of Jordans attached to long skinny legs that went all the way up to the face of a light-skinned black guy with hair that had obviously been sponged to death.

"Who are you," I asked pulling Ian close to me. He held onto my pants leg while looking up at the tall man.

"I'm sorry man let me introduce myself. I'm Maxwell Robinson, your brother in law to be I hear," he said gesturing to my engagement ring.

"Oh," I said grabbing for Ian's hand and began to turn in the other direction wanting to avoid any sort of confrontation.

"Yo wait up," he said jogging next to me which didn't really need to happen since I was walking as quickly as Ian's legs would allow him to move.

"Austin said he wanted nothing to do with you and it's not appropriate for you to be here. Also, how did you know where I go to school," I asked not really looking for an answer since my main focus was on making it to my car. I could see above that the clouds were getting thicker and grayer and knew that rain would soon pour down.

"Look we need to get in touch with Austin could you at least give him our phone number or give his number to me," Maxwell asked.

"I don't think he would appreciate me giving you his number and he'd probably throw away anything you gave me with your number on it and I don't want to waste paper and kill trees unnecessary," I said opting for picking Ian up and carrying him to the parking lot where my car was while Maxwell kept trying to get my attention.

"Yo come on do you follow everything he tells you to do. You seem like the type to be a good little bitch, he tells you to get on your knees I bet you do it without thinking twice," Maxwell said as I made it to my car. His voice was aggressive and I felt a bit of fear. I defiantly unlocked my car and put Ian in the back seat he climbed in his booster seat and clicked the seat belt in place. He looked scared and had his hands in his mouth which he did to cope with stressful situations. I closed his door and moved to open the driver's side door ignoring the irate taller man. As I opened the door Maxwell's hand shot out and he closed it back.

"Look here my nigga you're going to take this number and have my brother call me or I'm going to beat your ass in front of your son," he said his face a few inches from mine. I tightened the keys in my hand and pressed it to his inner thigh

"My key is sitting over your femoral artery. If I dig deep enough I can cut it and you will bleed out quickly. Trust me I'm a nurse studying to be a doctor so I'm well trained in anatomy and physiology. If you don't back away I will cut you. I don't want to because you're going to bleed out all over me new vans that Austin bought me and I like these shoes. Also, Ian is too young to play fighting games let alone see some die in front of him but if I have to I'm willing to pay for the therapy to get him back on track," I said in a shakey yet serious voice. I wasn't used to standing up for myself but he called me a bitch in front of my son and threatened me so I had to show Ian that I would protect him no matter how scared I was myself. Maxwell smirked at me, "Guess you aren't that big of a bitch," he said as I pressed the key into his leg knowing that the key was too dull to draw blood. He pulled away from me and smiled as I quickly got in my car my heart pumping with adrenaline.

"What's wrong Noel," Ian asked from the back seat.

"Nothing Ian sit back in your seat for me," I said pulling off going directly home completely rattled from the encounter. I got to my building and told Ian to get out and follow me. I couldn't help but to check over my shoulder multiple times as I rushed Ian into the apartment where Austin and Amar were doing crunches in the middle of the living room that they had rearranged for exercise. Austin was smiling until he looked at me and his expression turned grave. He ran over dropping down first and checked Ian to see if he was alright before standing up and looking me over.

"What's wrong Noel," he asked me seriously.

"Your brother Maxwell cornered me outside of class then threatened me. I had to bluff him to get away," I said falling into his arms feeling so weak and I knew I was crying. Amar walked over and held onto my leg.

"What's wrong Daddy," He asked sounding scared for me.

"I'm alright Amar, I'm just tired. Take Ian into the room you get free iPad time," I told him. He smiled grabbing Ian's hand and ran into their room. Austin pulled me in tighter when they were away and just held me.

"I'm so sorry, I should have known they'd come after you," he said holding me.

"He didn't ruin your test did he," He asked me looking me directly in the eyes.

"No I took it before he came to see me," I said into his shoulder which my face was buried into. I could smell his scent and could feel his warmth.

"Good otherwise I'd have to torture him before I kill him. He doesn't get to threaten my family. Was Ian okay," he asked me.

"Yeah just confused."

"Good, go get changed I'll order dinner and see if I can get in touch with my nosey sister and get her to call them off before I see them and have to snap some necks. Oh and don't mind the bedroom I had something planned but that's not really the vibe right now," Austin said pulling away allowing me to walk to our bedroom which was covered in white flower petals. I looked around thinking of how romantic it was and also my mind focused on who was going to clean it up. I shut the door behind me and stripped out of my clothes and walked into the bathroom turning on the shower. I used my hand to gauge the temperature. When it was warm enough I stepped in and lathered my body with soap and washed it off repeating the process twice then getting out and drying off on my way to the smallish closet and grabbing a shirt, underwear and some shorts since it was a bit warm in the house. Feeling a little bit better and a slight headache from the adrenaline decreasing I left my room only to see Ian there looking like be had a question.

"Hey Ian whats wrong," I asked him.

"Nothing," he said beginning to walk away. I watched as he walked back and looked up at me the. Ian brought his hand up motioning that he wanted me to come down to his level. I spent the most amount of the time with him so I knew a lot of his quirks and mannerisms. He was a kind, shy, and curious kid who was comfortable around us and slightly more comfortable with Chloe then other women but would go back into his shell around others. I cared for him dearly which was just my character.

"What can I do for you," I asked him.

"Are you okay," he asked his hand over his mouth as he whispered.

"Yeah I will be okay," I told him my hand going to his hair.

"Are you going to adopt Amar after your wedding," he asked me and I got excited seeing where this was going.

"Yeah, we are," I told him while nodding. He liked when we gave verbal and non-verbals.

"Are you going to adopt me too," he asked me with hopeful eyes.

"Well do you want us to," I asked as Austin was passing. Ian waited for him to go to their bedroom before he spoke.

"Yes I want that," he asked.

"Alright then Ian you're going to be a Robinson, anything else," I said not making it too big of a deal since he didn't like that.

"Do I get to call you and Austin, Dad now," he asked me.

"Yeah you can Ian," I said giving him a hug which I made short. Standing up I watched as he walked off before going into the living room with a smile then remembered being cornered by Maxwell and that shadowed the moment making me hate him even more. I sat down and Austin came up to me and sat beside me.

"Are you feeling okay, I wish I knew where they were staying so I could settle this," he said looking at the television but I could tell that it wasn't paying attention. He was furious underneath his even demeanor but he turned to me.

"Ian asked me if we would adopt him," he had this genuine smile on his face that made me smile.

"I know he asked me first," I responded.

"What," he said shocked.

"Yeah after I got dressed," I said and he sucked his teeth," What did you tell him," he asked.

"Yes," I said leaning my head on his shoulder and he put an arm around me.

"I'm going to keep them away from you and the kids. I want you to relax we have three months before our wedding, that your sister has taken over, the adoptions, and you have school. I will make them go away," he said as the boys ran into the room. I just hoped he could do it because I didn't want any problems to develop from his brothers being around.