knew it would hurt the most. Grant wailed and folded over on himself, groaning insults at her.
Penny had expected him to plummet to the ground, gasping like some poisonous insect, but Grant didn’t fall – on the contrary, he remained on his feet and shuffled awkwardly backwards. That’s when Penny saw Marcus appear behind Grant; he was too tall and imposing not to notice. He grabbed Grant by the shoulder, bent his arm behind his back and slammed him against the wall with such violence that she thought he would break something.
‘What the . . . ?’ muttered Grant, nose and mouth squashed against the wall as if he were about to kiss it. Blood dripped from his nose as tears of pain streamed down his cheeks.
Marcus held him firmly in that position. ‘You total piece of shit,’ Marcus said in his ear. Even without his monstrous hold on the other man, his tone alone would have been frightening. ‘First I’m gonna cut your throat, then I’m gonna tear you limb from limb and burn your body. They won’t even find your teeth when I’m done with you.’
Grant continued to whimper like the coward that he was, with his broken nose and bruised balls. Penny grabbed Marcus’s arm and gave it a squeeze.
In his eyes, she saw an armed murderer, the same boy who had wanted to kill the man attacking his mom, only bigger – so much bigger – and way more lethal.
Penny couldn’t allow him to kill again. She would do what Sherrie had done long ago. She would take the scissors away. ‘Please, let him go,’ she said.
Marcus loosened his grip on Grant’s arm. He stared at Penny, who stared back in a silent plea for him not to go any further, not to destroy himself in the process of destroying Grant. Penny’s eyes were bright, clear and tender. Grant, meanwhile, took advantage of the moment to wriggle free and make a run for it. He escaped without even looking back at his aggressor, holding one hand over his nose and limping conspicuously.
Marcus lunged in Grant’s direction, as if he wanted to catch him, and Penny had to use both hands to hold him back.
‘If you hurt him, it’ll hurt you more. He’s a piece of shit but he didn’t hurt me.’
‘Not yet! Fuck, Penny, with some people there’s only one solution. They have to die. If he doesn’t die, then sooner or later he will hurt you – you or someone else.’
‘Then let’s hope he does die, but not by your hand. Please go to work now. Something tells me he won’t be back in a hurry.’
Marcus shook his head.
‘I’ve already called the Maraja to tell them I’m not going in tonight. I’m gonna stay here, and if he does come back I’ll take him to the alley and smash his head against the wall. I’m not kidding, Penny.’
‘I know you’re not kidding but . . . I’m not going to let you ruin your life. In three weeks Francisca will be out and you can leave all this behind. I’ll manage like I’ve always done. Now let me get to work, or Debbie is going to start making my life even harder.’
Penny moved towards the bar. She realised she was shaking and only had one shoe on. She found the other one and felt tired – so tired that she seemed to be carrying the weight of the whole building, including all the people and their hearts, their thoughts, and the vast amounts of alcohol they were busy drinking. Including Marcus, who was staring at her and not looking away; Marcus, with his murderous eyes, who whispered to her a moment before leaving the room, ‘If he touches you, he dies – and that’s a promise.’
Just like he said, Marcus did not go to work that night. He stayed at the bar – ever present, watchful and seething – until the end of Penny’s shift. Penny, who was already upset for rather more serious reasons, had to stand by and watch a million women hit on Marcus, although all of them eventually gave up, resigned.
Suddenly, two of the women approached the bar to order a drink.
‘So how did you do it?’ one of them asked, after requesting a gin and tonic.
‘Excuse me?’ Penny asked right back.
‘Get with that stud,’ she said, nodding towards Marcus. ‘And he must love you right back. He didn’t even want to give me his phone number. He said he’s with