I looked deep into her eyes so she could see all the anger and fury I was about to unleash on that son of a bitch. I wanted her to know that she was safe. Even if the old bastard unloaded a bullet into me, I wasn’t going to die until he drew his last breath and she was out of harm’s way. I stared into her and fucking made that promise.
“Well. That was fucking easy,” the old man said, as he pulled the trigger of his trusty six shooter. I braced for the unmistakable pop of the shot and the white hot pain of a bullet digging into my flesh, but neither came. The gun just clicked and I saw the bastard’s eyes go wide in disbelief. Then he burst into laughter.
“Well, I’ll be goddamned. Ain’t that just the way, hey Hunter?” he was laughing maniacally.
“Let the girl go, you fucking cocksucker,” I said flatly as I brought the barrel of my gun back up and aimed it straight at his head.
He tightened his grip around Kelly and moved himself behind her.
Fucking coward. What kind of a man would use a woman for cover?
“No, no, I think I won’t, Hunter.” He pulled out his blade and placed it to Kelly’s throat. “I think your little lady and I are going to stay just like this until you drop that fucking weapon.”
I stared back at him and kept the gun zeroed in on his fucking skull.
“Not a goddamn chance. Let her go and I’ll put you out of your misery quick.”
His eyes went wide and he started to cackle again. I hated that fucking sound. He had the loudest, most disgusting laugh in the world, and I took pleasure in knowing this would be the last goddamn time I ever heard it.
He stopped his laughing and looked back at me as he stuck the tip of the knife into Kelly’s throat, ever so slightly, just to scare her. She squirmed. Tears were beginning to stream down her cheeks. She couldn’t hold them in any longer. I tightened my grip on the gun and eased onto the trigger.
Just give me one clear shot, motherfucker. Stick that ugly fucking face out for one goddamn second and I’ll blow it clean off.
“Let her go,” I said, as he bobbed his head back and forth behind Kelly’s.
“Hunter. What the fuck is wrong with you, my boy? This * really has you spun doesn’t it? What happened to the man I raised? You know a bitch isn’t worth it. The old you would have blasted a shot through those perky tits just in hopes of hitting me. What happened, Hunter? She’s made you weak.”
He kept laughing, taunting me, like I was some fucking kid. He knew what I was capable of, he just wanted to see me suffer. That was all he ever wanted.
“Does she taste as good as she looks, Hunter? I bet she fucking does.”
Don’t you fucking dare, cocksucker.
I looked on in pure, uncontrollable rage as the motherfucker stuck out his tongue and ran it up the side of Kelly’s face. She pulled away, but he held her there, tasting the tears that rolled down her cheeks.
I roared as I fired three shots just missing his head and smashing the glass of the door behind him. He cowered back behind her and chuckled to himself.
“Good lord, Hunter, I see what you mean? She’s like a fucking delicious peach.”
That’s when I fucking lost it. There was no more. This ended here and now and it ended with my fist going through that fucker’s skull. I threw my gun to the floor.
“Fucking fight me like a man,” I said.
The old man just laughed as he stared back. He was going to fucking die. Now.
My jaw tensed as I got ready to pounce and tear the motherfucker, limb from limb. I was about to jump, but right at that moment, Lucas came flying out of the pantry and started pounding his fists into the old man’s side.
“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” the old man sneered as he stared down at Lucas and knocked him to the ground with the back of his hand.
Kelly shook herself free and threw herself to the ground on top of Lucas. They both lay there terrified as my fucking puke of an adoptive father stared down at them with murder in his eyes.
There they were, my family, and that cocksucker was going to hurt them? Fuck no.
Suddenly, everything stilled, the room fell silent, and time seemed to slow down.
No one, no fucking one, threatened my family.
As I stood there, looking at him tower over them with all his false power and arrogance, it was like my entire life flashed before my eyes. Thoughts of him beating me as a kid, standing over his sweet wife after knocking her to the ground, the image of the mother and son I saved on the night I left Boston, I realized I had witnessed this scene too many times in my life. Bad motherfuckers get bad things done to them, that was the law of the game, but I would be goddamned if one more innocent civilian got swallowed up by his evil and greed.
He was bringing the knife down as my body plowed into his. I drove him through the back door and onto the lawn. I heard the wind leave his lungs as we crashed to the ground. I saw the fear in the motherfucker’s eyes as I stared down at him. I knew what he was seeing. He was seeing what real power looked like. What a real man looked like. My vision was black except for his bloated, sweaty face and I could feel my chest heaving as I balled my hands and gritted my teeth.