Unpleasant Surprise (Contains )

The restraints around Wes’s wrists are unclasped and his arms freefall towards his sides. Still woozy from the ordeal he just went through, Wes only blinks at what he is now sure is a ball gag being unlocked and removed from his mouth. He can’t speak, all he can do is lay there breathing heavily. The shadowy figure is moving away from the bed. Wes is trying to articulate a thought when he notices his phone’s screen light up, still facing down as it was before, and sliding a short distance. The phone is illuminating the cash he was counting earlier and the hand that is picking it up. Before Wes can process what is happening, the audible sound of a zipper being zipped up is followed by the bedroom door opening.

Standing in the doorframe, the figure shines a light of its own onto the fanned-out cash in hand. Wes’s heart drops as the light also gives his first glimpse at the previously mysterious figure. She has short curly black hair with shaved sides, a sturdy build, and is about the same height as Wes which is about half a foot taller than Katrina. In addition to looking nothing like Katrina, she doesn’t sound like her either when the woman says “Hey, thanks for the tip.”

Wes’s response is to immediately turn onto his side and grasp the handle of the drawer to his nightstand. He yanks the handle so hard the drawer almost comes off its track. Wes’s hand finds its mark and, in a single motion, grabs the handgun inside the drawer with his thumb pushing against the holster so that it stays behind as the gun comes out. Leveling the pistol at the unknown woman, Wes clicks the undermounted flashlight’s button with his index finger. The white light that beams out from the small flashlight lights up the entire doorframe, imposter included.

“Ah dude the light!” The interloper protests as her arm swings in front of her face. The adrenaline surging through Wes feels as if his adrenal glands have dumped everything it had from over their entire lifespan into him. As Wes stands up and moves toward the door his objective is clear, get this trespasser away from his girlfriend and out of their home. The last step before reaching the intruder, Wes plants his feet and shoves her back towards the stairwell with the open palm of his unoccupied hand. Her light source, the money, and a small backpack fly from her hands to the floor. She begins falling backwards and bounces off the corner of the wall at the top of the stairs before continuing her painful journey down the rest. Tumbling ass over teakettle, she collides with several steps before coming to an abrupt stop at the bottom of the stairs.

Behind Wes a light flicks on and he turns to see the sleepy face of Katrina still lying on her side of the bed, somehow she slept throughout this entire ordeal until now. “Call the cops!” Wes barks as an order to his confused girlfriend. He is about to elaborate further until he remembers that Andre was on the 2nd floor napping where he just now sent a possibly armed burglar. A naked Wes stomps down the stairs, light and gun focused on the crumpled mess that is still groaning in pain at the same spot where she crashed into the floor moments ago. His eyes are wide but all he can see is the intruder as the tunnel vision from the adrenaline dump is in full effect.

Wes kicks the intruder over, so she is now face down, and presses his foot down in the middle of her back, pinning her to the floor. He scans the room for Andre, but he isn’t on the couch where Wes last saw him. “Where is my friend?!” Wes shouts at the dazed woman beneath him. “Ow! Fuck! I don’t know, we only agreed on one dude you crazy asshole!” is her reply. Not considering that as an acceptable answer, Wes punches with his hand that is holding the gun, front end down, into the prostrate loudmouth. The black metal crenellations encircling the lens of the underslung flashlight impact her right shoulder blade, causing the woman to scream in pain. Wes returns to his previous standing position as the woman writhes beneath him in agony.

“Oh shit, STOP! WAIT! Oh shit, oh shit!” can be heard, not from the woman below Wes, but from the stairwell behind him as Andre is rushing down it. Flipping on the stairwell lights, Katrina is now peeking over the bannister with phone in hand and yells “Who is that screaming? Wes why are you naked?” As Andre reaches the bottom step, he stammers another “oh shit” before reiterating for Wes to stop. “What the hell is going on? Should I still call the cops?” Katrina asks. “NO!” shouts Andre, “I can explain!”

Wes is still breathing hard and fuming as his foot unrelentingly digs down into the now crying woman. “Easy Wes, everything is alright.” Andre states, trying to reassure the still agitated Wes. “I invited her, this is my fault. I need you to stop pointing your gun at her and take your foot off her back. Ok?” Wes pauses for a moment and calms down enough to comply. He takes a couple steps back and swings his arm to the side, clicking off the flashlight.

Andre kneels to help the woman up and she begins coughing due to the prolonged compression of her chest. “I’m going to bring down some clothes for you Wes.” Katrina indicates, still perched over the bannister. Wes’s reply is immediate and commanding “Throw it down, do not come down here yourself. Oh, and throw down the shit she dropped as well, except for my money of course.” Wes snarled that last sentence dripping with menace.

“Chill Wes, chill.” Andre soothingly requests. “Let me walk her over to the couch and we can talk.”

Wes snaps back “Fuck that, she just **** me next to my sleeping girlfriend and tried to rob us. I want her in a jail cell, not on our couch.”

“She did what?!” Katrina yells from the top of the stairs, clothes in hand. “I’m calling the cops right now, you’re fucked bitch!”

Andre raises one hand up, palm and fingers splayed out in a “stop” gesture, while the other is still supporting the wobbly woman as she tries to remain standing. “Katrina stop, please. Give me a minute to explain and everyone can calm down. No need for cops, no need for anymore ****. Everyone just chill.”