Alpha Female

As he trekked up the stairs of the apartment building, Bart Kenny stuffed his hands in his leather jacket pockets and replayed those negative messages in his head over and over again. “Women don’t rape men!” “You got raped by a fat chick!” “You just want attention!” “You WISH you were raped by her!” These hurtful slogans came from multiple sources, among them his own friends, his own family members, and even law enforcement. Bart’s eyebrows furrowed and his crooked frown was leaking a little bit of foam. It didn’t make him any safer to be around knowing he had a pistol in his jeans pocket.

In the week that had gone by since this moment, Bart allowed his blond hair to become dirty and disheveled. The stubble on his cheeks and chin as well as the smell of his bad breath gave away the fact that something was wrong with him. The dark circles underneath his eyes suggested that he didn’t sleep or pay attention to his personal hygiene. How could he sleep with the image of that horrible woman on top of him? How could he focus on his job when that sick pudgy-faced smile was haunting his imagination twenty-four hours a day?

Just a few more steps and this was about to be over once and for all. If the police wouldn’t help Bart, maybe he could help himself. Once he got to the apartment of his alleged female rapist, he took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. His blood still ran cold through his veins and his stomach was boiling with anxiety. It didn’t matter how many breaths he took, because no amount of oxygen could prepare him for this. He considered turning and running away, but then reminded himself that his was his only opportunity to make things right.

Bart Kenny cleared his throat and knocked on the apartment door. “Maxine! I know you’re in there! Open the goddamn door!”

“Relax sweetheart, the door’s unlocked. Come on in and take a seat,” said the woman known as Maxine Tiago. Her name was known all throughout Paulson City since she was a high demand plus-size model. Who would ever believe that she was a sexual predator? Bart believed it and that was why he opened the door to confront her.

There she was, all 250 lbs. of Brazilian hot mama laying seductively on her leather sofa watching TV. She dressed for the job she wanted with her black cocktail dress and fluffy pink slippers. Her chocolaty skin, sassy curves, coffee eyes, and curly blue-dyed locks were definitely her moneymakers.

Maxine clicked off the TV with her remote and sat up in her sofa with her legs crossed. “Hello there, Bart. That was quite the party we went to last week. I was beginning to think you weren’t going to call me again.”

“Cut the crap, Maxine, you know why I’m here,” said Bart Kenny, who stepped inside the apartment and slammed the door shut with all of his angry strength. “I certainly didn’t come here for hot sex on a platter. But apparently, you wanted it so badly that you were willing to do…” Bart wiped his eye to suppress his tears. “…those things to me.”

“Honey Bear, I know the accusations you’ve leveled against me. I’m truly sorry that nobody believes you. You’ve probably heard the women don’t rape men spiel hundreds of times. Well guess what, sweetheart: it’s true. Look at me. Just take one good look at me. Do I look like the kind of woman who needs to rape men? I’m a model, for Christ’s sake,” said Maxine, who waved her hands over her body to show off her good looks and to further her debating strategy.

Bart couldn’t suppress his tears any longer. No matter how many times he wiped his eyes with his jacket sleeve, they wouldn’t stop coming. He soldiered on anyways. “That’s all I’ve ever heard for one whole week. Women don’t rape men, women don’t rape men! Whatever happened to never blaming the victim? Whatever happened to rape isn’t defined by who the people involved are? Did we suddenly forget that shit a long time ago? For fuck’s sake, when did rape become normal?!”

Maxine stood up defensively and snapped, “I don’t know, Bart, you tell me! Or better yet, maybe you should ask that question to someone who actually has the time to fritter and waste away with you! You know what I should do right now? I should sue you for slander! I could use a cool million dollars right now! Maybe I can move out of this apartment and get me a mansion or some shit like that!”

“So that’s what this is about? You’re strapped for cash, so you rape me and file a lawsuit against me for complaining? How sick do you have to be to do something like that?” The shaky voice was replaced with a fiery tone when Bart said, “What kind of sick disgusting piece of shit are you?!”

“Alright, that’s it!” Maxine reached under her sofa cushion and brandished a machete that she supposedly kept for security purposes as opposed to a gun. She waved the blade in the air and shouted, “I’ve had just about all I can take of this bullshit! Either you get out of my apartment or I’ll stick this fucking blade right through your chest! And don’t worry about me going to jail over it, because if the cops didn’t believe you then, they’re not going to believe you now!”

Bart Kenny didn’t want this confrontation to come to this, but Maxine Tiago forced his hand and it was time for business. He pulled the gun out of his pocket and clicked it to get it ready to fire at any moment. With nine millimeters of steel pointed at her, the hefty lady slowly put down her machete and raised her hands to the sky.

Despite the change of events, Maxine’s brows remained furrowed and her angry voice was still blasting like a bazooka. “Okay, tough guy! Go ahead! Shoot me! I’ll be a hero in the eyes of the public while you’re just another con man! The entire city will be at my funeral while you’re just going to burn to ashes without a second thought! Shoot me, you son of a bitch! Shoot me!”

Bart’s scratchy and low voice gave away no signs of intimidation. He had the gun, therefore he had the power. “Before I put a bullet in that oversized watermelon head of yours, I just have one thing to ask you. Be honest with me. When you put that Xanax and Viagra in my drink, did you really think I was going to forget everything? You can deny it all you want, Maxine. But I know what you did. The whole world knows what you did. They won’t do anything about it because of your celebrity status. If you were just an average woman, you’d be in prison right now. Go ahead, deny it. You’re well-guarded and that’s why you’re free. Rich assholes never go to jail. That’s the law of the land.”

The seductive and charming smile returned to Maxine’s face and was accompanied by a giggle or two. “Okay, Bart, you got me red-handed. Now I have a question to ask of you, my dear. Was your first time with me everything you wanted it to be? Did you have wet dreams the next night? Put the gun down and let’s talk some more. Let’s talk about how awesome you would look in a red rubber ball gag.”

“I’d love nothing more than to pop you in the head right now. There’s just one problem…” Bart trudged over to Maxine’s stereo and waved his gun around it. As he did, the sounds of radio feedback and interference filled the apartment.

Maxine’s eyes widened when she said, “What the hell…?”

Her worst fears were confirmed when Bart put the “gun” to his face, clicked it, and said, “You can come on up now. I got her confession.” Bart Kenny hadn’t smiled in over a week, but in this moment, he finally did when he said, “Word of advice, you psycho bitch: don’t bring a knife to a gunfight. You’ll lose!”

Three black uniformed police officers entered the apartment with zip ties and proceeded to lash the supermodel’s arms behind her back. One of them said, “Maxine Tiago? You’re being placed under arrest for the sexual assault of Bartholomew Kenny.”

Maxine’s eyes bulged out in shock as she left out a few soft “No’s” before unleashing a loud storm of them while being dragged away by the cops. One of the cops stayed behind and patted Bart on the shoulder while saying, “Nice work, kid. This plan couldn’t have worked out any better.”

As Maxine was being dragged down the hall, she yelled a firestorm of obscenities at Bart, who was standing in the doorway sarcastically waving goodbye at her. The model screamed, “I will kill you!” and Bart responded with, “You’re gonna have to!”

The cop from earlier patted him on the back and said, “Easy there, tiger. You’ll have all the time in the world to rage when you see your therapy bill.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” said Bart.