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“Mom,” Charlie speaks for the first time since all this happened. I was starting to wonder if he’d ever speak again.
“Yes, baby?” I kiss the top of his head and try not to think about what could have happened if Tommy hadn't come when he did.
“Are you gonna have a baby?”
“Yes, sweetheart. We’re gonna have a baby.” I manage a tiny laugh when the words that come out aren’t at all what I expected.
“I’ll be braver when it gets here. Big brothers have to be brave.”
“Hey.” I pull my head back and lift up his chin.
“You were brave today. You were so brave, Charlie.”
“I thought he was gonna kill us,” he says, his bottom lip starting to wobble.
“So did I,” I admit, letting him know that it’s okay to be scared. “But he didn’t. We had our very own superhero come to save us, and somebody very special watching over us.” I wipe away my tears and hug my little boy back into my chest, gripping my sister’s hand and suddenly feeling very grateful to be here.
“What's the hold up, Skid? Why ain’t I dead yet?” Chop laughs at me, though I fail to see what he finds amusing. He’s got his arms tied above his head, and his ankles shackled to the floor. There’s no way for him to escape.
I don’t answer his question, just stare at him blankly the same way I have been for the past two hours that I’ve been down here.
I don’t care that he can see how broken I am, I don’t give two fucks if he’s feeding off my weakness. All I care about are the people who have suffered because of him. I rest my head against the breeze block wall that I’m sitting against and glare right at the cunt.
“You aren’t gonna kill me, you would have done it by now if you were. Let’s just face it, Skid, you just ain’t got it in ya.” He shakes his head and laughs again.
“And what didyouhave in youthat allowed youtokill,Tommy?” My voice comes out scratchy. My body feels heavy and my head is pounding. It feels like it’s been a year since I woke up in that motel bed this morning with just the intention of killing Abraham.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen… I would never…” The smug look drops off his face and he almost looks a little broken himself.
“He came at me from behind me. I reacted. Anyone would have done the same.”
“No, Chop.” I shake my head at him. “You were waving a knife in a little boy’s face.” My voice gets progressively louder as my cool starts to slip when I remember what Addison told me back at the hospital.
My weak body draws strength from my anger when I think about the lengths this man will go to just to hurt me. “Your son died provin’ he was nothin’ like you. Guess that'ssomethin’you can take to the grave with you,” I hiss at him.
“Don’t see me headin’ to no grave yet, not if you’ve got anything to do with it.” He smirks and I know what he’s doin’. Chop’s not a fool. He knows this is the end of the road for him and he wants it over quickly.
“You really think that I don’t want you dead?”
“Oh, you want me dead, Skid, you just don’t got the balls to do it yourself,” he taunts.
“You're so wrong.” I shake my head.
“Then why am I still alive? I killed your wife, Skid. I raped her, remember?” He narrows his eyes like he’s getting a sick, little kick from the memory, and I stand up on my feet and storm toward him, pressing my forehead up against his and breathing through my nose.
“You ain’t dead yet, because not everyone’s here.” I let him in on a little secret before I throw a left hook at one of his already swollen-shut eyes.
“This has been a long time comin’, not just for me, but for everyone. You didn’t just take Carly from me, you took her away from this club. And even after that you couldn’t just back off and leave. You had to keep on fuckin’ with us,” I snarl. “You ain’t dead yet,brother,because you still have to endure the longest couple hours of your sorry fuckin’ life before I end you.” I grab the front of his hair in my hand and take the pocket knife outta my back pocket, slicing its blade carefully through the swell on his eyelid to release the pressure so he can open it again, then when the blood starts to seep, I spit at the wound.
“You are gonna experience unthinkable pain, and you are gonna beg me to fuckin’ kill you just to make it stop.”
“Bring it,” he dares me, looking unfazed. It makes me question if maybe everyone is right, and he really is just a fuckin’ psychopath.
“Just tell me why. Why did you take her from me? You knew how much I loved her.” I’m prepared to trade some of my weakness for his honesty.
“Because I loved her too.” I swear I see a trace of sincerity in his cold, black eyes.
“What?” I take a step back and shake my head.
