Nicademus: The Wild Ones by Sienna Mynx

was certain the trigger had been pulled in her place. Her place! Before her mind could register her actions she was up and running fast. She nearly collided with Joshua who bounded up the stairs. The customers were at their tables and barstools with perplexed and curious frowns on their faces.
    “No she didn’t. She had better not!” Cora said and hurried after Joshua, grabbing the sides of her dress to keep from tripping on the hem. Only one person was bold enough, crazy enough, and reckless enough to dare to fire a gun at a customer in her place.
    “Honey!” Cora said through clenched teeth as she surveyed the scene. Jacob held Honey by the arms. Ezekiel looked on dazed as he struggled to draw his pants up and grab his hat.
    “Let her go!” Cora said.
    Joshua looked reluctant but did as he was told. Cora tried to temper her rage and put a sweetness to her smile and her voice out of respect. “Ezekiel? What’s going on in here suga?” she asked. The man was one of her best customers and he had a personal thing for Honey. She walked over to her patron as he fastened his belt and mumbled curse words under his breath. “Have a drink on me. Got a pie we just pulled out of the oven downstairs.”
    “She’s fucking crazy, Ms. Kitty!” he said. “I’m done with this shit. Fucking crazy!”
    “I’ll show you crazy!” Honey hissed like a viper and leapt. Joshua caught her by the waist, swinging her around. The girl kicked and clawed at Joshua’s face to be free. He had to bodily restrain her on the floor.
    “Go!” Cora ordered Ezekiel. She then turned on a squirming Honey underneath Joshua’s big frame. “You want to follow him? ‘cause I can easily throw you out after him!” she said. “Stop it! Now!”
    Joshua rose off her. Honey huffed and puffed with her caged rage, and got to her feet. Joshua removed his handkerchief and wiped the blood from his jaw thanks to the three scratches she had given him.
    “Out! I’ll deal with her,” Cora said.
    “Here,” Joshua handed over Honey’s Smith & Wesson. “When I come inside Ms. Kitty, this gal here got the gun leveled at Ezekiel’s dick. Poor man looked pale from fright. He said all he tried to do was kiss her, Ms. Kitty. That’s all he done. And she went crazy.” Joshua cast Honey a look of disgust. “More trouble than she worth, Ms. Kitty.”
    “That’s for me to say now isn’t it?” Cora corrected him.
    “Yes ma’am,” he nodded, forgetting his place.
    “Get out. Like I said, I’ll deal with her.” Cora put the gun into the front of her dress.
    “Yes, ma’am,” Joshua said and left, but not before casting Honey another look of distrust. And then they were alone. Cora paced. Honey fixed her tattered dress she often wore and dropped her head.
    “I knows your problem. You broken. We all are, Honey. But if you stay here, if you works for me, you got to set it all aside.”
    “He tried to kiss me. He know the rules,” she said with a pout.
    “So you were gonna kill him?” Cora cocked her head to the right.
    “No ma’am, Ms. Kitty. Just teach him not to break the rules.” She wiped a tear.
    Cora sighed. She pulled a chair in front of Honey and sat down. She waited until Honey was calm enough to be reasoned with. It took several minutes.
    “You been wired tight for several weeks now. More than your usual. What is it?” Cora asked.
    Honey amber brown eyes lifted under the coils of hair that covered her brow. “Next week is the day. Day I lost my babies.”
    Cora could kick herself. She had all but forgotten the date. She should have known better. Honey was once a mother, a wife; her children had been slaughtered and her husband lynched in front of her before the nasty buzzards went after her. Some wounds never heal. And when the date grew near every year Honey struggled. Cora reached for her hands and took them into hers. Honey was wanted by the law because, unlike the rest of them, she was the only woman brave enough to seek revenge