Date Night Gone Wrong

The following is an excerpt from my work in progress, Lost and Found. This scene takes place during Michaela and Adam’s first date. They’ve had a lovely dinner and a stroll by the waterfront. Romance is in the air, until they sit down on a park bench.

The night was getting cooler. I wished I had brought a jacket to slip around Michaela’s shoulders. I wasn’t ready to leave but she was shivering beneath her light sweater. I put my arm over her shoulder, “Are you cold?”

            “A little,” she said.

            “Do you want to get going?” I asked.

            “Not really,” she said as she snuggled closer.

            “Good.”

            I barely heard the approaching footsteps when Michaela gasped.  A man in a black hooded sweatshirt snatched her purse from behind. The strap was wound around her arm. When he grabbed the purse she was lifted halfway off the bench. Before I realized what was happening, she was on the other side of the bench, still hanging onto the purse. She stomped on his foot with the heel of her sandal and he let go of the bag. He howled in pain and grabbed at his foot.

            “Fucking cunt! I’m gonna kill you.”

            I reached out to grab him but she kicked him in the face. He fell backwards into my arms. She was standing ready for another attack when I pushed him to the ground and held his hands behind his back. I didn’t have to work too hard to hold him there. He was already dazed from Michaela’s kick.

            “You’ve got him?” she asked.

            “Yeah, you really clocked him. He isn’t going anywhere.”

            “I’ll call the police,” she said reaching into the bag for her phone.

            “Where did you learn to do that?” I asked. I was impressed at how well she handled herself and not a little embarrassed at how little she needed my help.

            “Peter and I took a mixed martial arts class together before the kids were born. I can’t believe I remembered what to do.” 

            The thief started to stir.

            “I’m gonna get that bitch,” he muttered.

            “Mind your manners or I’ll hand you over to her,” I said.

He struggled harder.

“And, I’ll make sure it gets around that you got your ass handed to you by a girl.”

He didn’t say another word.

This week’s Write on Edge prompt was to stir up some conflict, using the following quote as inspiration.

    “It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.”

    Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948)