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1
Knight
The sun beats down on me through the open curtain. I should have taken my drunken ass over and closed it last night, but that’s not what wakes me up. It’s the sound of yelling kids. I close my eyes and roll over, pressing the pillow to my head to try and block them out, but it’s no use. The noise just gets louder.
I throw my legs over the side of the bed and climb out, walking to the window. I shove it open and see the kids playing loudly outside.
“Hey, shut the hell up! Some people are sleepin’,” I yell at them.
“Hey, fuck you, old man!” One of the older ones yells back at me. I’m not shocked by his words, more so by their sudden appearance. There hasn’t been anyone living in the house next door to me for a year now. Fuck, I hope they aren’t my new neighbors. That would be fucking great.
“Old man? Fuck you, kid!” I’m not even that old. I’m twenty-eight. What the hell?
“Fuck your mom,” he calls back, his little friends laughing along with him. Okay, that’s enough of that shit. I slam thewindow shut and walk out of my room and down the hall. He wants to see an old man; I’ll show him one.
I’m out the door and around the side of the house in no time. The smaller kids keep laughing and playing with a football, but it’s the older one I’m eyeing. He doesn’t notice me coming until one of his friends slaps at his arm. Then he turns his head and smirks at me. The little shit actually smirks at me. I want to slap the fucking smirk off his face, but I don’t want to catch a case for child abuse, either.
“Who you callin’ old man?” I ask as I get closer. He doesn’t raise an eyebrow or even blink, for that matter. This little shit has been in this position before.
“I called you an old man. What the fuck do you think you’re gonna do?” the kid asks me. I’m a little caught off guard by his mouth, but that doesn’t stop me from stepping up into his face.
“You keep fuckin’ with the devil, and he’s bound to answer, kid.” I see his throat bob as he swallows. He isn’t as big and bad as he thought he was.
“Seen the devil and lived to tell about it,” he responds. Fuck, he’s good.
“You’ve seen a demon, not the devil. Keep pushin’ me, and you will,” I warn him. He doesn’t respond. As I step back, ready to leave, another kid rushes up to me. He slams into me, but I don’t move.
“You can’t talk to him like that!” He snaps at me. When I look down, I see the spitting image of the older kid. Great, there are more than one of them.
“Yeah, I can when he thinks he’s a badass. Now run along and be quiet,” I tell this one.
“You can’t tell us what to do. We’re in our yard,” he states. He has a point there, but I can’t sleep when they’re being this loud.
“Where’s your parents?”
“Mom’s asleep. She has to work later,” the kid says before the bigger one steps in.
“I’m in charge of him. He isn’t doing anything wrong, so grab your cane and walk back home,” he tells me as he pulls a cigarette from his pocket and lights it up. I tilt my head and study the little shit. He isn’t old enough to smoke, that much I’m sure of. So when he goes to inhale, I snatch the cigarette from his lips and bring it to mine. I make it a point to blow the smoke right at his face as I smile.
“All I’m askin’ is you be a little quieter, that’s it.”
“And no one over here cares what you’re asking. We’re not hurting anyone,” he reminds me. He’s hurting me when I don’t get enough sleep. Now I feel like God put this little shit next door just to torture me. That has to be what this is.
“You’re botherin’ me.”
“And?”
“And some of us need sleep,” I tell him once more.
“And some of us don’t care,” he taunts. I run my hand over my face before taking another drag from my cigarette when the front door opens, and a woman walks out.
“Cam, Billy. What are you doing?” she snaps as soon as she sees me standing here in nothing but a pair of sweatpants and sandals. She eyes me up and down before turning her attention to the boys and snaps, “Answer me!”
“We were just playing, and this guy got all butt hurt,” the smaller one explains. I move toward the woman as she moves toward us.
“Listen, I don’t want any trouble. I’m tryin’ to sleep, and they’re bein’ loud as fuck,” I tell her.
“And who the hell are you?”
