Page 461 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

Then another.

A door slams.

Then another.

“You been here five minutes.” Ben mouths off. “I been here three years. Who the fuck are you?”

Their shouts move further away.

“Right. Three years, and this is how you leave her? You’re a coward. You ever gave a damn about her at all?”

“You don’t know shit about what this is,” Ben spits, glass shattering right behind it, making me flinch. “You don’t know a goddamn thing!”

Glass shatters again, piercing, echoing.

“Yo—two seconds,” Andrew fires back. “You got two seconds to get in that elevator. Swear t’God, you’re fuckin’ trash. You put your hands on her, now you’re wreckin’ her shit? If you’re not gone in two seconds, you’ll be leavin’ dead or in cuffs—I’m not playin’. I’m really, really not playin’ with you.”

Ben’s laugh slithers around the corner.

Andrew’s voice turns to ice⁠—

“Wipe that goddamn smile off your face.

“You’re not comin’ back here.

“I’ll pack your shit.

“You can pick it up from the lobby.”

The elevator dings as it arrives.

Then dings as it leaves.

Then Ben’s gone.

A calm slides into the penthouse.

Andrew breathes out heavy,

feeling it too.

“Mickey, it’s Andrew. Listen. Ben’s comin’ down now—just put his fist through glass in Allison’s hallway. Broke her shit.

“She’s safe, she’s safe.

“She’s in shock, but she’s safe…

“Nah. I’m really tryin’ not to get cops involved tonight.

“She can’t go through that right now.

“I know how it works.

“I’m not askin’ you to break the law.

“I’m askin’ for twenty-four hours.”

Andrew’s voice drops. “Mick, he put his fuckin’ hands on her a week ago. I’m not takin’ chances⁠—