Twenty-One
Erin
Once a week I take Charlie with me to have lunch with Oscar. Today I decided to take him to the park afterwards hoping to wear him out for an afternoon nap. He has been fighting them more and more recently.
“Having fun, baby?”
“Up.”
“You are up high in the swing, huh?”
He gives me his big smile as he goes higher.
“Whee!”
I can’t help but smile but being a toddler, after a few minutes, he wants to get down. We spend the next hour playing at the park. He plays on the slide, runs around, and plays in the sand. By the time we are driving home, he is fast asleep.
“Mrs. O’Sullivan, we need to stop for gas.”
The driver tells me.
“Okay.”
I answer him but go back to staring at Charlie.”
We pull up to the gas station and I watch as the driver gets out and starts to pump gas. I get distracted on my phone that I don’t realize we have been swarmed until I hear a thump against the car. I look up and gasp when I see four men surrounding us. Two are fighting the guard, and the other two are trying to get into the SUV. Panicking, I look around and see no one else to help,
“Fuck, fuck. What do I do?”
I need to protect Charlie.
The diaper bag.
I reach in and grab the gun that Oscar had put in there after he took me to the gun range and taught me how to shoot. I climb over into the driver’s seat and carefully open the door. I make sure to lock it behind me. The moment I step out, a man spots me.
I don’t hesitate to shoot him and it hits his arm.
“You fucking bitch,”
he snarls, grabbing his arm but still coming for me. I close my eyes and squeeze the trigger three times. I squint my eyes open and see him lying on the ground his chest has blood flowing from it.
I killed a man.
I don’t have time to think because another one is coming up to me. I do the same thing but this time I shoot him in the neck. He grabs his throat as he starts to fall, and he tries to talk but it comes out mumbled as he chokes on his blood. I look up and see the guard has dealt with the other two.
I killed two men.
Oh my god. I’m going to go to jail.
“Mrs. O’Sullivan, I called Mr. O’Sullivan,”
I hear the guard tell me, but I can barely hear over the blood pumping in my ears.
I have no idea how long I have been standing there staring at the dead bodies when I hear screeching tires come tearing through the gas station parking lot. I look up and see Oscar running for us. Without wasting a second he wraps me up in his arms. I immediately started to sob in his arms.
“Fuair mé tú, aingeal.”
(I got you. Angel)
“I-I-”
“Shh, I know. Come on, let’s get you home.”
“Charlie!”
I say and push out of his arms. I run over to the SUV only to see Keegan holding a sleepy Charlie in his arms.
“Oh my god. I’m such a shitty mom. I forgot about him.”
Keegan shakes his head, “No, you just killed two men to keep him safe. Pretty sure that is the opposite of a shitty mom. I got him, I will take him home. Let Oscar take care of you.”
I go to argue, but Oscar picks me up and takes me to his car. I watch Keegan pull out of the parking lot. Oscar holds my hand the whole drive, and after a minute. I spot three SUVs I hadn’t noticed before where following us. I start to panic, and Oscar says. “They are with us.”
“What?”
“They are our backup.”
“Oh, but why so many?”
“You and Charlie were just attacked. I wasn’t taking any chances.”
“Oh, okay.”
“When it comes to my family, especially you and Charlie, I will move heaven and earth to make sure you are safe,”
he says, pressing his lips to the top of my head. I keep my head on his shoulder as we drive in silence the rest of the ride home.
The moment we walk through the doors, I see the whole family is there waiting for us. Peter moves to the front and pulls me out of Oscar’s hold, giving me a hug.
“So glad you’re safe,”
he says, as he squeezes me tighter, I wrap my arms around him and hug him back. He pulls away, cupping my face with his hands, “Are you okay, my daughter?”
“I-I. Yeah.”
“It’s okay not to be.”
“I killed two men; but I don’t want to go to jail.”
He chuckles. “Erin, you are an O’Sullivan. Nothing will happen to you.”
“But the cameras saw me do it.”
“The cameras also saw you defending your son. Plus I dare one of the cops to come sniffing around you. The law enforcement is fully aware the consequences of going after an O’Sullivan.”
he says darkly, and holy shit. Now I know why everyone is afraid of Peter.
“Go upstairs and have Oscar take care of you. Don’t worry about Charlie.”
Oscar takes that opportunity to whisk me upstairs, where he turns the shower on and helps me undress. He helps me into the shower, and he stands us in the water as he just holding me. I’m not sure who needs this more, him or me.
“I thought I lost you,”
he whispers in my hair. I pull back and see the fear all over his face.
“But you didn’t. I’m right here.”
“I know, and I’m so fucking thankful. The caveman in me wants to keep you both here until I can kill off those Ukrainian fuckers, but I also know it’s not fair to you.”
“I don’t really want to leave right now anyway.”
“Good. I feel better with you both here.”