The things I do for people…

Well, this is one of the first steps in righting my wrongs. A selfless man helps those in need. I can’t be a husband to Emma knowing I could have done more in this situation. I want to give life my all, and Mary sure has given me a lot this life. It’s time to give back.

“Hey!” I scream, kicking the door in. “You lookin’ for me?”

Out of the hallway, come three guys, dressed in black suits, and they look dumbfounded when they see my M16 pointed straight at them. “Sixty bullets per minute,” I warn them. “Don’t hurt her anymore. Let her go.”

The men laugh, but they don’t advance. They’re waiting for their turn to turn their pistols on me. “Soren?” I hear Mary call out to me. “You shouldn’t have come back, you idiot!”

Great. I do the right thing and she calls me an idiot. Typical Mary behavior. “Well, I’m here,” I say.

“Run, dammit. Run!” she screams.

I hear the clicking of boots coming from the room. “Who’s with you?” I ask her. “Who is that?”

A man walks out, holding a pistol in his hand, but he doesn’t take aim. He simply smiles at me and nods. “So, we’ve finally found you,” he says. “Do you remember me?”

I grit my teeth and stare at him with fury. “I know exactly who you are. You killed my friend,” I say.

“Yes, well. Something had to be done.” He smiles. “Something like this.”

He aims his gun swiftly at the room he just exited, and fires. All it takes is one pull on the trigger. “Mary!” I scream. I her the dull thud of her body hit the floor. “NO!”

“Don’t you dare move,” he says, aiming the pistol at me now. The rest of the men do the same. “That’s for setting our businesses on fire. We’ve had a lot of attention on us in the last few days.”

“Someone had to do something. You can’t keep terrorizing people forever,” I mutter, still aiming my own weapon. The question is, will I be able to shoot them faster than they can shoot me? It’s definitely possible, but I’m not one hundred percent certain.

“Your little girlfriend will be next,” he says. “Don’t you worry. In fact, we have plans for everyone you know.”

“Fuck you.” I spit onto the floor.

He laughs. “But I’ll give you a choice. It’s a fucking good one too.”

“I don’t give a shit about your little deal,” I say. “Go to hell.”

“Listen, fool,” he says. “You disappear tonight. You don’t say your goodbyes to that woman, nor do you say goodbye to your brother. They’ll never see you again. You’re good at that, right? You disappear a lot, from what I gather.”

“Once,” I tell him. “I left town once and that was twelve years ago. I ain’t doing it again.”

“It’s your life,” he says. “You can choose whatever path you want. But if you don’t leave, you won’t have any path to stand on.”

I look over at the doorway to Mary’s room. There’s still no sound from inside. Mary. She’s dead. Michael. He’s dead. Will I be next?

“And if you decide that you’re too big a man to accept this offer, it won’t just be you that fades into oblivion. It’ll be your cute little girlfriend too. The one with the perfect ass and delicious tits. Of course, I think my friends here might want a turn with her first. You understand, right? I’m only saying this because you’ll be out of the picture.”

“Bastard!” I scream. I place my M16 up to my eye and everyone cocks his gun into the armed position. We’re all stuck in a dead halt. Who’s going to budge first?

The man waves his finger at me. I’ll never know his name. I’ll never give him that satisfaction. He’s just another cockroach that needs stomping on. “Tsk, tsk.” He smiles. “I’m going to give you the count of ten to decide what to do. After that, my friends here are going to take care of everything.”

“Ten,” he counts down.

“Fuck you,” I snarl.

“Nine.”

“You’re trash,” I say.

“Eight.”

I remain silent.

“Seven,” he says. “This is getting fun! Six! Five! Four!”

Sweat from my forehead drops onto my gun. Everything slows down in front of my eyes. I feel my finger grip the trigger. I’m right on the edge. I could end it all now, but it could mean my life. Fuck, it could mean Emma’s too.

“Three,” he says, bearing his sharp teeth. “Two. Getting down to the wire now.”

I close my eyes as if it’s the day of my execution. Everything floods back into my mind. The first time I met Emma. The first time we fucked. The first time she spent the night and noticing that the feeling of emptiness I once had was starting to drift away. Everything floods back.

When I open my eyes, all of them are on the floor, lying in a pool of their own blood. “What the fuck?” I whisper.

Out of the room, comes Mary. She’s holding two pistols in her hand, smiling like a crazy person. She’s limping, but she’s still alive. “You dumb bastard,” she says, before falling to the floor. I throw my gun behind me and run to her aid.

“Mary!” I yell, ripping my shirt off. To my surprise, there’s only one bullet hole in the side of her arm, but it’s enough damage on an old woman. “Don’t you die on me,” I plead, tying my shirt around the wound. I apply pressure and hold her in an upright position.

She’s still with me. She’s still alive. “Mary,” I start to tear up. “You can’t die on me. Not yet, dammit.”

“Yesterday,” she groans. “I was diagnosed with lung cancer. Had about ten days to live they told me. What else was I to do? I’m proud I could help out a little bit.”

Her eyes are rolling back and forth, as if she can barely see me. “I’m sorry, Mary,” I whisper. “I’m so fucking sorry. For everything. For running out on this town. For not coming back sooner. I’m trying to make it all okay again, but it’s hard.”

“You idiot. It’s okay. Life happens to each and every one of us. You ain’t so special,” she says. “You’ve served your penance. Don’t go overboard.”

“What am I supposed to do now?” Another friend is dying in my arms and it’s all because I didn’t do things the right way. It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.

“What you do is stop blaming yourself, kid. Live your life. Grab Emma and give her the hardest romping of your life,” she says.

“I will,” I laugh, but tears are now pourin’ down my stupid face. This isn’t how I thought things would go.

“Here,” she points back at her room. “I meant to give you something. It’s in my closet. Code is 37, 33, 29. Open it.”

I run over to her closet and find a safe. “Oh, Mary,” I whisper.

“Just open it, dammit,” she says.

I twist the lock in place and it opens up. Inside is a briefcase. I open it to find it lined with bills. “What is this? You can’t give this to me,” I say. “I don’t deserve it. Give it to your nephews.”

“You know full well that I don’t have any nephews,” she says. “And it’s not my money. It’s yours and Gabe’s.”

“What do you mean?” I ask her.

“It’s from your father,” she says. “He sent me checks every single month, ever since you two were little boys. There’s 800,000 dollars in there.”

“Checks? 800,000?! This doesn’t add up. He never had a dime in his life,” I say. “How the hell was he sending you money?”

“He had his problems, the gambling being one of many. But even with his limitations, he loved you boys and knew he had to do right by you. I wanted to give this to you a long time ago, but you were gone. I promised I’d give it to both of you and now you’re here.”

“Mary,” I sigh and grab the briefcase. “I know they told you that you have ten days to live, but that doesn’t matter to me. You’re not dying yet. We’re going to the hospital.”

She protests, but she can hardly even move. I pick her up and walk out the front door, holding the briefcase alongside of her. “This is going to be a long walk,” I laugh. “But they’re going to fix your arm. And after you’re fixed, we’ll have the best eight days of your life.”

“You always were stubborn,” she says.

“That’s right.”