Dobbins calls up his friend and explains the situation, saying we need his help as soon as possible. “Does he need to come down here?” he asks.

I shake my head. “I think we’re okay,” Dakota says. “We just have to wait it out, right? We’re safe here?”

“As far as I know,” I tell her. “He’s never seen Dobbins in his life. Unless I was followed, we’re okay.”

But I have no idea if I was followed or not. I’m forced to make a decision. Truth be told, after the one night spent in a jail cell, I don’t particularly trust the justice system, nor do I trust the people protecting and serving our citizens.

We sit and wait, playing cards and watching the news to pass the time. “If Danny’s body is found somewhere, we’ll see it first here,” Dobbins says. He’s done a lot for us so far and I’m grateful for him. Shit, he’s even supposed to work at the site today. If he doesn’t show, he could lose his job, which is practically everything to a guy like him.

When there’s nothing else to do, but sleep, I tuck Angela in bed with Dakota. Well, it’s not a bed technically, but the couch works about as well as a mattress. “Story,” she says to Dakota. “Momma, I want a story.”

“A story, huh?” she looks at me. “I usually read to her every night. All of her books are at home though.”

“Don’t worry,” I smile. “I’ll make something up.”

I lean over Angela and run my hand through her hair. Looking at her is like looking into my reflection. It’s the weirdest sensation and I never thought I would actually do this someday. I was always considered the crazy one out of the friend group, the one who was too tough to ever settle down.

I think back to that night with Drew and Carlos, the night I met Dakota. I remember how I used to act about them settling down and finding women to marry. I hated it. I thought it was a waste of time. Now look at me. I’m father of the fucking year.

Still, the way they talked about their wives wasn’t the best indicator of how things should be. They didn’t want to be married. They wanted girls on the side, or they would comment on the good old days, back when they used to score pussy. I laugh to myself, because that seems impossible as an idea to me. If you love someone, you surely don’t want anybody else. And I think when you find out you have a daughter who’s literally the embodiment of yourself, your whole cellular makeup changes in order to be there for your family.

This is the first story I will have told my daughter. Despite the whole day being a giant mess, this is a moment I want to remember forever. She smiles at me again and says, “Story!”

I laugh. “Okay. There once was a knight in shining armor. He was a brave warrior who traveled all over the world to fight the deadliest dragons,” I start.

Immediately, Angela raises her hand and interrupts the story. “Dragons?!”

“Yes, and they were ruthless and scary. They breathed fire and attacked many cities, taking all of their belongings. They lived in hidden caves at the very top of the oldest mountains. Well, this knight wasn’t scared of any of them. He was a better fighter than all of the dragons combined, and the Princess knew that,” I tell her. Her eyes are wide and she’s entranced by the story.

“After all the dragons were defeated, he promised himself he would retire. However, the Princess wanted to hire him to be her right hand man. For she knew that the King was mad,” I say. Angela makes a frightened noise and covers her mouth with the blanket. “Yes, he was starting to act unlike himself. So despite acting in his best interest, the knight made a deal with the Princess. She would stay by his side forever in marriage, as long as he kept his oath to protect her from the King.”

Dakota laughs slightly but, when I look over, she covers her mouth. “Sorry,” she whispers. “Go on. I want to hear the rest of the story.”

I smile and continue. “Well, the King found out about their plans and immediately had them both arrested. He took the Princess and put her in a tall tower in the middle of the forest, swearing that she would never be seen again. Meanwhile, the knight was in the dungeon, within the city gates,” I say, taking a moment to think of what happens next.

“But the knight was smart and he wasn’t about to give up without a fight. He brought a lock pick and hid it in his teeth. Using his mouth, he freed himself and the prisoners, and led a rebellion in the city. He took the King’s castle by storm, declaring war on the Aristocracy. He said, ‘there will be a new kingdom, led by the Princess and justice will be served,” I tell her. At this point, she’s already tuned me out and her eyes are half-closed. Still, I continue.

“The knight searched the forest, far and wide. Still, he couldn’t find the Princess anywhere. Maybe she was in a different forest, some thought. Or, maybe she wasn’t in a forest at all. Maybe she was taken across the ocean into the deserts halfway around the world. He, however, paid little attention to those stories. He knew he would find her if he just kept searching. Well, after enlisting the help of the Elves of the forest, he finally found a reliable guide—”

“Baby, she’s asleep,” Dakota whispers. “I think it’s okay to finish the story.”

“And they lived happily ever after,” I quickly finish. We walk out to his small backyard and sit on the plastic chairs. All around his house are faint lights from the skyscrapers. The sounds of the city resound throughout the neighborhood.

“You’re good with her,” she says.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I admit. “But she’s really fucking cute. She’s probably the most precious thing I’ve ever laid eyes on. Well, besides you of course.”

“It’s not as hard as it seems,” she says. “It was always easier raising her than being with Danny.” She laughs to herself and looks down at the AstroTurf that lines Dobbins’ backyard.

“Do you really think I’ll be able to do this?” I ask her, feeling at my most vulnerable. I got stabbed twice, again, and I’m not too sure about what life has in store for me at this point.

“I didn’t want to tell you about her because, deep down, I knew you’d be the perfect father to her. I just didn’t think Danny would let it happen. I was sort of right,” she laughs. “But I also feared that maybe you wouldn’t want to raise her, that maybe you’d rather leave me where I was.”

I grab her hand and squeeze. “There’s no more just honor than raising our daughter together,” I say. “I mean that. From the bottom of my heart. All I wanted was to get you back. Now I have you and I find out we have a daughter. It’s sad to think about all of the memories I might have missed. But I’m excited to think of all the memories we’ll create together.”

She places her hand against my thigh and looks over me. “Since you’ve been so good to me,” she says, “I thought I’d return the favor, but it looks like you’re too hurt right now.”

Her hand jumps to my shorts. I look down at my wounds and then back up at her. I raise my eyebrows and say, “Are you kidding me? I’ve had worse days.”

“Can I...” she looks down at the growing piece of flesh beneath my shorts. She pulls them down and wraps her hand around it, smiling. “Can I sit on it?”

I bite her ear and kiss her neck gently. “It’s all yours, baby,” I whisper. “But first, I want to see you dance for me.”

“Like this?” she smiles and takes off her flower-covered dress. The more she wears frilly things, the more I want to claw them off her. It falls to the floor and I’m practically drooling. She rocks her hips back and forth, gyrating against the air. She lowers her body and pushes her ass into my face, and I lean forward, grabbing a taste.

She stuffs her pussy into my face, suffocating me, and I’m in heaven. “More,” I tell her with a mouthful of flesh.

This time, I pick her up and hold her above me. She spins around and her legs wrap against my shoulders. I kiss at her navel, down to her dark-pink lips. She’s all mine now. I can’t believe she’s mine. After all this settles down, I’m going to fuck her senseless for days, months, years.

Jesus Christ, I’m about to explode. I set her down, against my lap and suckle on her tits. They’re full, perky, and absolutely amazing. Tonight, I feast on them. Despite it all, I’m not going hungry tonight.

“Baby, you’re going to make me explode without even touching it,” I tell her.

“Good,” she says. “I want you to feel what it’s going to be like for the rest of your life.”

“Oh, God…” I moan, tilting my head back and glancing at the city lights in the distance.

She sits down on my cock, facing the other way. Slowly, she arches her back and pouts, spreading her lips wide open for me. She starts to move a bit faster now, placing her hands against my thighs. She moans my name. “Payton.”

I’m fucking done for.

She gyrates her hips and slides every last ridge of my cock inside. When her ass is full against my thighs, she lets go and turns to me. “Cum.”

She knows the magic words. I feel that impenetrable feeling. It’s the feeling of love, lust, loss, gain, and every god damn emotion I’ve ever felt, all rolled up into one thing. It shoots from the bottom to the top, spilling from my cock. My seed fills her to the brim and she just starts riding away.

She rides me until she herself loses it. I see her skin start to prickle and the hairs begin to rise. “Fuck!” she suddenly screams. I cover her mouth in case Dobbins can hear. Her legs start to shake and she’s gone, blasting off into her own personal pleasure center.

We lose ourselves, yet again, and even though we’re still prisoners to this shitty situation, we’ve managed to find a certain peace within ourselves. We’ve found love in a different place and, for that, we are all the better for it.

We laugh, kiss, and play, discovering new quirks we have yet to realize. Everything about her gives me this mystical experience. It’s so unlike everything I’ve ever experienced before, but I know that it’s something I’ve been searching for a long time for. When we finally get dressed again, we awkwardly walk inside and find our way to the floor.

Dobbins suddenly walks in again. “Sorry guys, I can’t keep my eyes closed. I just keep thinking about your situation.”

“It’s okay,” Dakota whispers. “I’m sorry if we woke you.”

“No, you’re fine,” he smiles. “I just want to go out into the darkness you know? I want to find this guy and wring his damn neck.”

“Spare yourself the effort,” a voice says in the other corner of the room. We immediately turn. I nearly fall out of my fucking chair. Danny is in front of us, clutching at his gut. He’s got Angela in his arms and when he takes a step back, I can tell he’s limping.

“Dakota, you’re coming with me,” he mutters. His speech is slow and pained. He doesn’t look good at all.

“Let her go,” I tell him, stepping forward. He reveals a pistol in his hand and he aims it right against Angela’s head. I take a step back and put both of my hands out, to tell him I’m unarmed and willing to listen.

“No one is fucking leaving here with her,” he says, spitting a glob of blood out onto the floor. “She’s my daughter, god dammit. She’s my legacy.”

“Danny,” Dakota steps forward. “Baby…”

“No!” He screams. “Don’t you dare call me that, whore.”

“Please,” she says, “let her go. We can make this work.”

“By turning me in? By slandering my name? Is that how you’ll make this work?” he asks, with a bent smile on his face. I look at Dobbins who has grabbed a photo set from the wall. He holds it behind his back as a possible weapon. He lightly shrugs at me, as if to say, “It’s something.”

“That’s not what we want to do,” I tell Danny. “We just want to be free to leave. If you let us do that, we’ll leave you alone forever.”

“You thought you killed me, didn’t you?” he laughs. The gun is getting looser in his hand by the minute. I figure he’s lost a lot of blood and this is a last-ditch effort to gain some control over his life. If he was smart, he’d be in a hospital getting treatment.

“Look at me now,” he smiles, showing his blood stained teeth, and lifts up his shirt. Someone, possibly himself, has sewn his stomach up and it looks horrible. Out of the cut is a yellowish, oozing substance.

“Oh, Jesus,” Dakota says. “Danny, you need to listen to me. We’re leaving. You need to let us leave and then you need to get to a hospital. I think you’re dying. I honestly—”

“If I’m dying,” he says, pushing Angela out of the way, aiming at Dakota. “I’m taking you with me.” I grab Angela in my arms, force her behind me, and look at Dobbins. I nod at him slowly and he knows what to do.

“I’m sorry I have to do this,” Danny says. “But it’s for your own good.”

Everything happens in slow-motion. His finger presses against the trigger until it clicks against the metal. A spark goes off inside the gun. Dobbins takes the framed photoset and throws it at Danny. It crashes against his face and his arm moves wildly to the side.

Before I know it, I’m charging at the guy. A bullet goes off and hits the ceiling. I connect against his body and the gun goes flying. I punch down against his jaw, twice, until he stops struggling. Dobbins grabs the gun and aims it at him.

“It’s fucking over,” I tell him. “Just end this.”

Danny looks at me and smiles. “I always knew you’d come back to ruin all the fun,” he says. “I guess it’s over, huh?”

I turn to Dakota. “Take Angela outside. I don’t want her around him. I don’t want her seeing all this violence.”

She nods and takes her out of the room. I’ve got the gun and he’s restrained. “I give up,” he says. “I’m done.”

“You could’ve just let her go,” I tell him. “Why’d you have to lose your head?” I let him go, now that he’s not struggling. He’s weak and barely breathing.

Dobbins says “I’m calling the cops.” I nod back at him.

“Because, I want control. Is that what you want to hear?” Danny asks. “Because I wanted to watch the whole world burn, right before my eyes.” He winks at me and I turn a pale white. I know the feeling. I take a step back and inhale deep.

When I turn to look out the window, Danny quickly reaches into his pocket. I turn back towards him, but he’s already got another pistol in his hands. “No!” I scream.

He raises it up at me, falters, and then puts it against his skull. “It’s been fun,” he says, pulling the trigger. “Tell Angela I say goodbye.” The bullet comes barreling out and I’m forced to witness his death. I fall to the floor, scrambling to make things right. I quickly jump back, crawling against the wall.

Dobbins nearly drops the phone. He speaks into the receiver “Uh, yeah, you need to hurry down here. The guy just shot himself.”

I run out of the house. This is not how I wanted things to end.