Page 64 of Savior
“Here. Use this.” Viking says, suddenly beside me and holding a child sized aluminum bat.
“Where’d you find this?” I ask, taking it from him.
“Neighbors front yard. Must have a kid in little league or some shit.” He shrugs with indifference.
Adjusting my grip on the bat, I go to town on Lucinda’s Lexus, smashing out her tail lights, all of her windows, and knocking off her mirrors. I’m working on denting the fuck out of her doors when she finally comes running out of the house, screaming at me to stop, but Viking cuts her off before she makes it to me.
“Dean, man, maybe we should get the fuck out of here?” Axel says nervously, jogging up to me. “They’re gonna call the cops.”
I stop wailing on the SUV to turn and glare at Lucinda. “No, she won’t.” I say loud enough for her to hear me. “She’s an accessory to attempted kidnapping and murder. And I’ve got the letter written in her own hand, to fucking prove it.”
Her eyes widen as she starts to wildly shake her head. “You’ve got it all wrong!”
“Do I? That jar of hearts stationary paints a pretty clear fucking picture!” I roar, storming in her direction. “But I was never meant to see that, was I? You fucking bitch!”
Behind me, I hear the distinct sound of fist hitting flesh. Axel is on his hands and knees in the driveway, and my fucking brother is swinging at me next with a prybar. I jump back, out of range by the skin of my teeth. I drop the little bat, grabbing the prybar before he can swing on me again.
We wrestle for control of the weapon, and he uses his weight advantage to slam me against Lucinda’s busted up SUV, bringing the prybar closer to my throat. Over his shoulder, I see Axel getting up and grabbing the little bat, an angry look in his eyes at getting sucker punched by Daniel.
“No Axel! He’s mine!” I shout, halting Axel’s attack. I shift my angry gaze back to my so-called brother.
Lucinda is screaming at us, but she runs back to the house. I hope to keep Maddie inside, and to maybe turn this fucking alarm off that’s blaring in my ears, while I try to prevent my brother from crushing my windpipe.
“You fucking prick!” I snarl at him. “I should have expected you to sneak out the back door, that’s your fucking style! Always sneaking out the back door!”
“Jesus Christ, are you ever going to get over me and Lucinda?” Daniel grunts, “Aren’t you content with that Vanna chick?”
I jerk my knee up into his fuckin’ gut at the mention of her name. Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in strength, I grip the prybar tighter in both fists and kick off the side of the SUV, using my weight and momentum to rock Daniel off balance and take him to the ground.
Landing solidly on top of him in the driveway, he loses his grip on the prybar and I’m able to toss it aside. It clatters loudly and slides across the driveway, somewhere under Lucinda’s Lexus a few feet from us. There’s shouting all around us, but I don’t care enough to hear what’s going on in the moment. I just want to slug the shit out of him for leaving Vanna defenseless in that pit of filth. I grab him by the collar of his shirt and unleash on him, again and again, until someone is pulling me off of him.
“You just left her in there!” I shout at him, struggling against who could only be Viking, as he drags me a few feet back from Daniel. He’s sitting with his back up against Lucinda’s SUV now, wiping at the blood pooling at the corner of his mouth as he tries to catch his breath.
“I didn’t have a choice.” He has the gall to say.
“No, you’re just a bitch. A real man wouldn’t have left her defenseless.” I growl at him, shoving away from Viking. I’m aware he’s staying close enough to grab me again. “Just sent her off with a warning not to drink anything… You make me sick… The fuck are you even doing running with a crew like that?”
He lets out a remorseful sigh. “I didn’t know what I was getting involved with when…”
A door slams.
We both turn to look towards the house as Maddie bounds down the front steps. Lucinda grabs her and holds her back, frantically telling her that Daddy and Uncle Dean are just talking. I can see on the kids panicked face that she knows it’s more than just talking. I never show up to their house banging on the door. At least not since Maddie’s been old enough to remember. I’m sure she heard the car alarm and Lucinda screaming at me. She can see the SUV smashed to Hell. My bloody knuckles. Her father’s bleeding mouth. Maddie isn’t stupid. She’s a bright, observant child. She’s never seen me angry. Never seen the side of me I’m fighting to keep at bay, for her sake, and mine.
I turn my focus back to Daniel as I take a few steps backwards towards my bike. “Next time, it won’t be Lucinda’s Lexus that I cave in.”
“Just like that, huh?” He wipes his mouth again. “Just gonna walk away and not even hear what I’ve got to tell you?”
“After last night… what could have happened… There’s nothing you can say that would ever make me see you as anything more, than a wife poaching, spineless, little bitch!”
He glares back at me. “You want to kick my ass, Dean? Is that what you really want? Will that solve everything between us?”
“No.” I mutter. “It won’t. But it sure felt good to sock you in that lying fucking mouth!”
“Fine. Come kick my ass.” Daniel says, getting up. “Just don’t kick me in the balls. Vanna is a lovely young woman. Sweet. Good natured. She’d make a great mother and might want a kid someday. She’s too good for you. And you might need me to do you that favor, if you want to keep her. If you ever want to give mom a real grand-”
All I see is red, and suddenly Daniel’s nose is crunching against my fist. I slam him up against Lucinda’s Lexus, landing body shots into him left and right as he tries to curl and block. The alarm on the SUV is blaring again from the impact, Lucinda is screaming for us to stop. I drive my knee up into his side once more, before I let him crumble back down to the driveway. I’m about to haul back and hit him again, when I hear a little voice shrieking for me to stop hitting her Daddy,little hands pulling back on my cut…
Fuck…
