She was awakened from her sleep by the dogs barking furiously because the doorbell was ringing. She looked at the time and registered that it was after two in the morning and grabbed her robe at the end of the bed along with the phone.

The doorbell kept ringing and she went to the bedroom facing the street and raised the window yelling down below:

"Who the fuck is ringing my doorbell? I'm calling the police!" she yelled with false bravado, scared shitless as she was.

"Please help me!"

"Step away from the door so I can see you!"

"I'm here, please help me, please!"

She looked down and saw one of her neighbors. The young Asian woman who was always jazzy and just had a baby recently. She was in a thin nightgown and it was below freezing outside.

"Okay...I'm coming."

And Jackie rushed downstairs, her dogs, Brutus and Remus following close on her heels.

When she opened the door, she pulled the woman in, her cold, frail arm like a stainless steel candlestick. She didn't have on any shoes and she'd obviously been beaten. Her eye had a cut over and under it, dried blood on the the cut under it, fresh blood on the cut over it and her jaw was obviously broken, swollen and bruised, pulsing from the pain.

Jackie turned off the lights and looked out the window to see if the woman's husband had followed her. Satisfied she didn't see anyone...left the window and re-engaged the alarm...and then led the woman into the family room where she gave her a blanket and put on some water for tea.

Brutus and Remus paced the floor agitated, whining.

"I have to call the police you know."

"Please don't call the police. Please."

'You can't ask that of me. Not in the middle of the night. This kind of violence could have followed you here to my home, and attacked me. I have to call the police."

"He has my baby."

"Are you married to him? That's yall house?"

"Yes."

"Then you and your baby will be fine. The police will arrest him and you and your baby can stay home until you have to leave. Do you have family here?"

"Yes."

"Okay." And she dialed 911 and told them where to come and why. "What's your name?"

"Thuy."

"I'm Jackie."

"I know, I heard you tell the police." She started to cry.

"Call your family Thuy. The police will be here any minute and you're going to need your family."

Jackie told Brutus and Remus to stay and she walked upstairs to get dressed. When she got to her bedroom, she picked up her cell and called her husband's cell. It rang three times before he picked up.

"Hello?" he said groggily. "Jackie? What's wrong?"

"Hey honey..." and she broke down into tears.

"JACKIE WHAT'S WRONG! JACKIE!"

"Nothing is wrong. You know the Asian couple that drive the matching BMW's?"

"Yes. What's wrong?"

"Well, he beat her up pretty bad and she ran here. She's downstairs and the police are on their way."

"What? She's in the house? You let her in the house? Where is her husband? This the lady that just had the baby right?"

"Yes, I let her in, don't worry...he didn't follow and...I couldn't let her stay out there...all I could think of was my mother running for her life." She broke down into tears. The doorbell rang. "That's the police honey."

"Stay on the phone. Don't get off the phone. Shit...I hate I'm traveling. I don't like you opening the door to strangers. Are you okay?"

"Okay Yeah...I'm okay." she put on her bluetooth earpiece and engaged it and then went downstairs. She could see the police lights through the window and disengaged the alarm. She opened the door to let in the police motioning to Thuy to come to the door.

The first shot hit her in the shoulder so quickly she didn't have a chance to scream and just let out an "oomph" sound. Brutus jumped past her barking a bark she'd never heard before, Remus' body flew over her immediately after.

"Jackie, Jackie!" her husband screamed into the phone.

Thuy screamed.

The second shot went into her side. Hot...solid, SEARING... she felt her blood pouring out of her. She heard the screams of Thuy's husband as the dogs attacked him.

"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!"

"JACKIE, JACKIE!" Her husband was in her ear. "JACKIE BABY ARE YOU THERE? JACKIE! JACKIE! OHMYGOD JACKIE! JACKIE! GOD PLEASE HELP ME! JAAAAAAACKKKKKIIIIIEEEEEEEE!"

"I love you baby...please don't be mad at me...I had to help her..." She whimpered and then succumbed to the darkness beckoning her.

- See more at: http://creoleindc.typepad.com/rantings_of_a_creole_prin/author_monica_mingo/page/2/#sthash.1NtxonDa.dpuf