23. Psalm #2
“Man, I don’t know who Simone is, but that”—I pointed at Lucky—“but that is Juliet. We can talk about all that other stuff you mentioned, just you and I. You’re my family and I wouldn’t hurt you, but you can’t hurt her either.”
For a brief second, he looked like he understood. The gun lowered and some of the tension left Juliet’s shoulders.
Then his face twisted.
“No. No. No. No.”
Drool slid down his chin and a disturbed smile spread across his face.
“She fooled you too. That’s what her slutty ass does.”
Juliet shrank back.
“The reason I put bullets in her years ago is the same reason I got to put bullets in her now.”
One second, he was listening, the next he was gone again, lost somewhere inside his own madness.
Juliet's eyes widened as the barrel settled on her, and that was all it took.
There wasn't another conversation to have.
No magical combination of words was going to bring him back.
My cousin was about to shoot the woman I loved.
Everything after that happened fast.
The moment his attention shifted completely to her, I moved. Launching myself at him with everything I had, I aimed low and drove my shoulder into his ribs. The gun fired before I could fully reach him.
Plaster exploded from the ceiling as we crashed through the glass coffee table. We hit the floor delivering blow after blow. Alonse fought like a rabid animal. No rhythm. No technique. Just pure fucking insanity.
A fist caught my jaw.
I answered with two shots to his ribs.
The sick bastard bit my shoulder.
“Ahhh!”
Slamming his head into the hardwood, I watched the gun slide across the room.
For a second, I thought I had him. I thought this shit was over and all I had to do was get to my baby.
A cold freeze rushed through my body and seemed to pull me to my feet quicker than I should have been able to move. My legs immediately carried me toward Juliet.
Then the lamp hit me.
The world flashed white.
My knees buckled.
Another shot of pain exploded through my skull and the room tilted. Hitting the floor almost felt comforting because my body simply gave out. Sleep called to me and no matter how hard I fought it, my body was succumbing.
A feeling of cold water suddenly rushed behind my eyes, steadying my vision.
That’s when I saw Alonse had the gun again.
“No,” I groaned.
“You all thought you could beat Sloane.” He laughed.
Sloane?
“Please,” Juliet sobbed. “I’m not who you think I am.”
“It doesn’t matter what you call yourself, Simone.”
He stepped closer.
“Look around. Once again you’re alone and at my mercy.”
“Psalm!” Juliet screamed. “Please get up!”
God knows I tried.
Ignoring the pain exploding through my skull, I planted my hands against the floor and fought to get up. The room spun and my stomach churned, but none of that mattered. Lucky was still tied to that chair.
The sound of me scrambling caught Alonse's attention.
His eyes cut in my direction and for a brief second he looked annoyed that I was still conscious.
Then he smiled.
Before I could make it to my feet, the coward stepped in and drove his boot into my side so hard I folded in half, sending the contents of my pockets scattering across the floor.
“Stay down,” he ordered.
The ice returned.
It spread through my body as if it were healing the damage my cousin had done. My scalp chilled and it felt like invisible fingers were tangled in my hair, forcing me to look toward my phone.
I grabbed it.
“You were trouble since the day you entered my life, but I never saw you as unworthy. You know who always helped you?” Alonse ranted somewhere in the background.
My phone was open to the home security app.
More specifically, the front door controls.
“Open it.” The voice whispered.
“Answer me, bitch!” Alonse screamed.
The crack of his hand against Juliet’s face echoed through the room and her cries intensified.
Open it now! The voice no longer whispered.
Pain exploded through my hands so violently that I screamed, but still placed my fingers on the keypad and entered the code.
The phone chimed.
For a second, nothing happened. Then I watched the front door slowly open a few inches and it was as if whatever had been inside me finally got what it wanted.
The cold left my body instantly.
Every strange sensation, every unnatural feeling, gone.
Unfortunately, the pain returned just as fast. My stomach twisted, my head throbbed, and every injury Alonse had blessed me with reminded me it was still there.
I collapsed back to the floor, not unconscious this time, just trapped inside my own body and forced to watch as my cousin prepared to kill the woman I loved.
And all I could do was lie there.
Another slap sent her and the chair crashing to the floor. Her cries came softer now, fading into a defeated rhythm that sounded entirely too much like acceptance.
I squinted my eyes.
Preparing myself for the inevitable.
Alonse stood over her, gun aimed down, and asked one final question.
“You know who loves you best?”
I looked at her and all I could think about was everything we hadn't done yet. Summer break. More dates. More arguments. More kisses in hallways. Watching her roll her eyes at me when I learned how to sign combatively on purpose just to get her attention.
I hadn’t loved her enough, yet.
Hadn't had enough time.
Juliet's eyes drifted toward me and whatever she saw on my face made her cry harder.
Alonse followed her gaze and laughed. Again he turned to her and asked.
“Who loves you best?”
Then a voice thundered through the house with so much authority that even I felt it in my chest.
"Her father, motherfucker!"
The room immediately erupted in loud, relentless, deafening gunfire.
The sound was so violent it had to have swallowed every other noise in the world.
Alonse's body jerked backward again and again as bullets tore through him, blood spraying across the room while the look of victory on his face transformed into pure shock.
Then everything dimmed.
Alonse included.
Silence slowly cleared the smoke from the room as I watched my cousin stagger, still trying to remain standing. When his body finally collapsed beside me, I looked into his eyes.
I saw anger become regret.
Regret become sorrow.
And sorrow become death.
A second set of footsteps thundered through the house toward Juliet.
Optimus Grind.
Turning toward the doorway, I found Echo standing there, an assault rifle still hot in his hands.