In Her Mind (Mountain High Valley Low ) by Renee Daniel Flagler

enough! Brian! Shelly!”
“Lexie, wait!” I jumped in before she could say another word. Lexie said our names with such finality it cut right through me. “Shelly, let me go.”
“Listen to me, Brian!” Shelly pleaded.
“No, both of you listen to me!” Lexie asserted. “Brian, you can have this sick bitch. I can’t and won’t be a part of this.”
“Sick bitch?!” Shelly let me go. “Who are you calling a bitch? Bitch!”
I grabbed Lexie and marched her to the other side of the room before she could haul off and sock Shelly in the eye. Shelly was behind me, yelling and carrying on as I walked Lexie toward the kitchen. This whole scene was out of character for everyone involved. Emotions were running high, curse words muddied the air, and venom was shot from every mouth. When Brice began to cry, I realized that someone had to make an attempt to bring things down a little.
“Lexie, baby, calm down. This doesn’t have to be like this. I will take care of this situation. I don’t need you fighting and carrying on. I love you. You’re the one I want to spend my life with and nothing is going to stop me from having you with me for the remainder of my years. I don’t care what we have to go through. That’s it. This has to stop right here and now.”
Lexie tried to push me away from her but I wasn’t having it.
“It’s her that you need to talk to,” Lexie said, huffing and puffing.
“Her has a name, and don’t act like you don’t know what it is!” Shelly screamed. “I don’t care what he says, I still have his baby! Something you don’t have! Something you couldn’t do!”
Visions of a distraught Lexie in the doctor’s office after receiving the news of losing our baby flashed across my mind. I felt my heart go limp. Lexie released a sound akin to a wounded warrior and charged at Shelly. Lucky for Shelly, I was able to get a hold of Lexie before she could rip her face off. The fear that gripped Shelly showed in her eyes. Shelly jumped out of Lexie’s reach in the nick of time. Brice cried louder. Lexie’s wails mixed with the rest of the anxiety that hung in the air. I was exhausted.
“Shelly, you need to leave now!”
“But, Brian, what about us? What about Brice? We need you! What you don’t need is this savage of a woman. Did you see her? She tried to kill me. Tried to kill the mother of your only son!”
“Shelly, stop it and get out!”
Spitting out insults and bad names, Lexie continued her rage under the restraint of my arms.
“So it’s her over me and your child, huh? Is that what this is, Brian? Are you trying to make a point because she’s here now?” Shelly poked, still dodging Lexie’s attempts at getting her hands on her. “Do Brice and I mean anything to you anymore?”
“Brian, let me go so I can beat the shit out of this chick!” Lexie screamed while kicking and swinging around me, trying to hit Shelly.
It was beyond my understanding why Shelly was even still there.
“Shelly, Brice means the world to me. You, on the other hand, are a different story. If I could have Brice without you, things would be just fine. I love Brice, but sometimes I honestly wish it wasn’t Lexie who lost my baby!”
The next thing I knew, Shelly had climbed onto my back and was beating me in the top of my head with her legs wrapped around my waist. Lexie managed to get loose and started pulling Shelly by her hair from behind. I had one hand on Shelly, trying to get her off of me, and one hand covering my head in an effort to block her volley of punches. Lexie yanked Shelly’s hair hard, causing her to fall back on top of her. She then rolled over on top of Shelly and commenced to laying a full case of whip-ass on her, applying a good portion to her fair-skinned face. I tried to pull Lexie back and tripped over Shelly’s feet, giving Lexie the opportunity to land a few more tosses. Breathing hard and having had her fill, Lexie let up before I could make it back to my feet and began dragging