“Why do you want me to talk to you?” Jeremy asked warily.
“I’m your father. I’m older. Wiser. Maybe I can help,” Mr. Stahl replied.
Jeremy’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “Seriously?”
Mr. Stahl cleared his throat. “Well, come on then and let’s have a beer. Nothing like a beer to set things right.”
Jeremy stared.
“You hear me?” his father asked.
“I split your eye open this morning,” Jeremy reminded him.
“I know that,” his father said. “You think I forgot?”
“So you plan to get me drunk and then beat the shit out of me,” Jeremy said. “I’m not stupid.”
“You got that all wrong,” his father replied. “I’m sitting down with my son to share a beer, man-to-man.”
Jeremy snorted. “I’m a man now ’cause I struck you?”
“That’s right,” Mr. Stahl replied. “You stood up for yourself, and that’s what men do.”
Jeremy thought of the guns in the back room. If he shot all his enemies, would that make him a man, too? He’d be sticking up for himself, after all.
“Let’s go,” Mr. Stahl said. “I’ll grab ’em. You just go on in the living room.”
Jeremy watched his father disappear to the kitchen. He had a choice. He could stay or walk out for good. Seemed like an easy decision and yet, in that moment, he found his feet cemented to his spot. He couldn’t move. Or didn’t want to.
He realized he was just as lonely, broken, bitter, and angry as his father. Who better to commiserate with? And it only had to be for tonight. Perhaps the alcohol would drown him if he drank enough. And then his missing journal wouldn’t mean a thing anymore.
He headed for the couch.
***
I have a radical idea. Well, maybe it’s not so radical because it’s been done before—done to death, if I may make a really tasteless joke. But I plan to do it a little different. See, I’m not interested in blowing through the building and shooting people left and right. I don’t want to be responsible for a meaningless bloodbath. I want it executed right. I want it executed in a way that shows justice and mercy. I’m only interested in killing those people who’ve wronged me. That’s where the justice comes in. I’m leaving alone all the others. That’s mercy. And I’m not just doing it for me. I’m doing it for every single person those assholes have abused. Every single person they’ve belittled, tormented, passed over.
Why am I taking up this cross? It’s simple. No one else has the guts to do it. No one has the balls to say, “Hey, you know what? These are just really bad people. They’re not changing. They’re not getting better. They’re getting worse. And guess what? They don’t get to live in a civilized society with good people when they’re fucking assholes. Aren’t we trying to make the world a better place?” So, I guess I have to be the person to do that. With my semi-automatic.
“Jesus Christ,” Regan breathed.
She stared at her reflection in the mirror on the opposite wall. She felt the notebook slide down her thighs, and reflex urged her to grab it. But she let it slip slip slip to her knees, teetering perilously, giving her one last chance to rescue it. She wouldn’t, and it fell to the floor like it meant nothing to her. But that wasn’t right because those words, that boy, meant everything.
Curiosity killed the cat, Regan. Oh God, was he going to kill her? Was she one of his targets? Surely not! He practically confessed his love for her throughout the pages of his journal.
“So what?” she said. “So what that he did? People kill people they love! Happens all the time!”
She spoke to her reflection, waiting for a response. It came in the form of uncontrollable shaking. She lifted her hands in front of her face, thought for certain she could see the perspiration push its way out of every pore. So much sweat.
“What’s happening to me?” she whispered, crying softly so that her family wouldn’t hear. She fisted the quilt on either side of her, trying to wipe away the perspiration.
She had no business opening that journal. This is exactly what happens when you meddle where you don’t belong! her brain screamed. You discover things you wish you never knew, and now, whether you like it or not, you’re responsible! You’re a dumb bitch, Regan!
“What do I do?”
Her face leaked—tears streaming in fast succession. Snot seeped, threatening to crawl into her open mouth. Anxiety flipped the switch, closing the valve, and she couldn’t breathe, every inhalation of air caught in her chest, collecting in a pile of racking sobs. They would choke her to death. The panic strummed her nerves like an electric guitar, and her whole body submitted to its piercing tune—a heavy metal dirge screeching through her veins.
“Mom,” she mouthed.
She stumbled about the room, trying for one long breath. She just needed one. But her chest closed in each time, severing it, and her heart screamed, begging for life. Face numb. Arms numb. Legs numb. She tried to open the bedroom door. Locked. She fumbled with the knob. Her fingers slipped.
“Dad,” she croaked.
She lurched toward her bathroom and threw up the toilet lid. Tell. Don’t tell. Live with the fear, the guilt, the anger. Ruin a life. Don’t ruin a life. Lock him up. Save dozens. Don’t lock him up. Kill those people. No! Talk him down, instead. Yes, yes! Talk him down. But wait. That doesn’t work. That never works. Tell an adult. Tell an adult. Tell an adult . . .
“Get it out!” she screamed, and she vomited violently, purging the yellow bile sobs. Purging her racing thoughts. Purging the terror.
Banging on her bedroom door.
“Regan!” her father shouted. “Open the door!”
She vomited again. This wave hurt worse, her stomach constricting in painful you-haven’t-fed-me-for-days cramps.
But I did feed you, she thought absurdly. I did.