CHAPTER

Alice was getting really angry.

“You know, I’d better dress in hijab from head to feet and stay alone forever then be a whore like you! A brothel would be a perfect place for you!”

Saying this, Alice laughed. Gina clenched her teeth and hissed:

“You better shut your filthy mouth, you bitch! Better don’t arouse my anger! You have no idea who you’re dealing with!”

“Oh yeah? Are you checking me?” Alice laughed again.

“Such a schmuck like you anyway isn’t capable of anything!” Gina laughed back.

“Schmuck, you say?” Alice grinned. “You know where you can see a schmuck? Just stand in front of a mirror and you’ll see a schmuck in all its beauty!”

“That’s enough!” Gina yelled and jumped on Alice, trying to slap her on face. But Alice reacted quickly and grabbed her hand, clenching it firmly. Lucky for her, she has learned several martial tricks from her brother.

“Well, well, you decided to start a fight, didn’t you? Alice said, smirking. “That makes you even lower than you already are.”

“You ugly, filthy toad…” Gina hissed through her teeth.

“Hey, stop offending Gina! You’re bad!” Mina suddenly screamed. After Alice released her hand, Gina bent her knees a bit, turning attention to Mina.

“And you don’t interfere, you little beast!”

This was too much. Those words were very offensive to Mina. She pressed her lips together and did something that Alice didn’t expect her to do. While Gina’s face was close, the little girl stretched out her left hand abruptly, the one that was holding the white ice cone, and nearly all her ice cream was on Gina’s face. She squealed in surprise and recoiled.

Alice covered her mouth with her right palm, trying not to burst into laughing. Several people who surrounded them, began laughing at this scene. Alice then decided not to hold her laugh and joined them, and so did Mina. Gina took the napkin from her handbag and wiped the ice cream from her face which was now red from rage.

“Why you little b…” she wanted to attack Mina, but Alice didn’t allow it.

“Don’t touch the child, you ugly toad!” she yelled.

“What’s going on here?” a policeman interfered just in time.

“Nothing, sir,” Alice replied with a kind smile. “This lady just decided to clarify the relationship right now and here. Don’t worry, everything is under control.”

“This is not over, Alice, this is not over…” Gina hissed. She felt terribly humiliated. Now she was determined to get revenge on Alice. But at this moment all she could do was leaving.

After all was clear, Alice crouched before Mina and hugged her.

“You did the right thing, sweetheart,” she said, smirking. “That woman needed some refreshment.”

“I just wanted to protect you,” Mina replied. “She was so bad to you.”

“I know, dear. You’re very brave,” Alice smiled to her. “Come, let’s go. Soon your mom will return, so we’ll slowly go home.”

The time passed fast and soon enough it was six. After a fifteen minutes Alice’s cell phone rang. It was Mina’s mother, asking where they were at the moment. Alice said they were on their way home. Mrs. Park was home already and Alice told her she would take Mina there herself. Her house was a bit out of center, but not far out. It took approximately thirty minutes to walk till center, maybe forty as maximum, if you walk slower.

Soon they both were at Mina’s house where her mother met them. Mina ran into mother’s arms, telling about the good marks she got at school and how she tried to protect her best friend.

“It’s true, Mrs. Park,” Alice said, a bit embarrassed. “One lady that actually hates me, really tried to insult me right in the street, and Mina smeared her face with ice cream when she said offensive words to Mina after she interfered in our talk.”

“And I don’t regret it!” Mina said proudly. “She was bad.”

“The only bad thing is that Mina lost half of her ice cream,” Alice laughed. “I shared mine with her though.”

“I see,” Mrs. Park smiled gently. “I knew that Mina wouldn’t let anyone insult the ones she loves. I’m proud of you, my little angel,” she said, kissing her daughter on her forehead.

“So am I,” Alice added.

“Would you like something, dear?” Mrs. Park asked, referring to Alice.

“No, thank you very much, I’m not hungry,” Alice replied.

“Well, you’re not leaving at least without a cup of tea. I have a few brownies in the fridge that I baked yesterday. Mina loves them and I’m sure you would, too.”

“Ok then, thank you once more,” Alice smiled to her.

Mrs. Park made aromatic black tea that tasted really good, and put out the brownies from fridge. The three of them spent their time, chatting cheerfully while having tea. Mina’s father was not yet home, he finished work at nine. When it was half past seven, Alice thanked Mrs. Park for her hospitality and left their house.

Somehow the young woman was nervous. Her feelings told her that something bad could happen to her. She knew that Gina couldn’t harm her, as Alice could protect herself, but that damned wretch was smart enough to instigate someone to do it. She might persuade Fred and someone of their company to do something. Alice could only hope for the best because she wants to protect the child against Gina.

It was beginning to get dark already, she was already feeling scared because it was dark all around. But he resisted the fear and just kept walking so Alice increased her walking speed, wishing to reach home as fast as possible. She didn’t manage to walk even fifteen minutes when suddenly a cloth was pressed to her nose and mouth. A pungent smell hit her nose, but it didn’t last long. Her vision started to blur and soon everything went dark and she was no longer aware of what was going on around her because she was drowsy and her eyes were completely closed, she could not resist it because she was gradually losing strength until she completely lost consciousness.