Chapter 10 #3
The knock at her door had her being cautious about answering.
Her brothers would knock, but it was more of a pounding than anything else.
Opening the door just enough so she could see who it was, she was surprised to find Tommy there holding onto Sherman.
He was bleeding from something wrong with his chest, and she moved so that Tommy could lay him on the couch.
“What’s happened? Do you want me to call an ambulance?” They both said no, and she had to worry if Sherman was going to die right here in her place. “What’s happened to him?”
They worked on getting his shirt off, and she stood by. Just what she needed, a dead man in her place after getting her rent squared away. Once she was able to see the bullet hole in Sherman’s chest, she hissed at the amount of blood he was losing. She asked again what had happened.
“You don’t need to know.” She started to point out that they were in her place, but didn’t. Sherman had that look in his eyes like he was on the verge of murder. She’d seen it before. “Get me some towels so that I can wipe myself off.”
“I only have three. I know you don’t want to hear this, but my landlord isn’t going to be happy if you’ve brought guns to my place. I told you before that this is a good place for me, and I don’t bother anyone.” He told her again to get the towels. “You can have one.”
She got the towel for Sherman and decided that she was going to have to replace them soon.
They were threadbare and not in good shape.
She wondered if she could get them into her place without anyone noticing.
Then she looked at her brothers. She couldn’t believe she was worried about towels when her brother might be dying on her sofa.
Something else occurred to her, and that she was a millionaire and didn’t need to put up with shitty towels or brothers bleeding all over her only good piece of furniture.
She stomped her foot, and that had them both looking at her.
“If the police are going to be coming by, I have a right to know. I told you last week that I worked enough overtime to get my rent caught up, and now you’re messing things up with me.
Tell me what’s happened, or leave. I’ve enough on my mind without you two here making a mess.
” Sherman swatted at her, but she was too far away for him to touch her.
Just as well, he was getting weaker by the moment. “What’s happened?”
“I got shot, dumbass.” She didn’t get hurt that he was calling her names, but she did tisk at him.
“I was trying to set something up so that I’d have some money when this guy pulls out a gun and shoots me.
I’m sorry that I’m bleeding on your piece of shit couch.
Next time I’m hurt, I’ll just lie on the road and let people run over me. ”
“Why did you think to come here?” He said she was closest. “So the police are going to be involved. Great. Just what I need.”
“You’re uppity all of a sudden. What’s got you being lippy with me?” She just pointed to the mess he’d made on her couch. “It’s just a bit of blood. You can clean it up. I’m doing all right in the event you were going to ask.”
“I can see that you are. You’re talking, aren’t you?” She wanted to kick them both out, but went to the kitchen instead. “I’m making myself some dinner. If you want something, you’re going to have to order out. I only have enough food for myself.”
As she made herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, she thought about what was going on in the other room.
If she wasn’t careful, she was going to get caught with the winnings, and they’d never find her body.
She had no doubt that with all the things going on with them, they’d knock her around until she was dead, and that would be the end of her money.
She was glad now that she’d put it in a safety deposit box in the bank so that no one would find it here in her place.
Tommy came into the kitchen and slapped her hard. If she had not been sitting down, she would have fallen to the floor and hurt herself badly. Instead of crying like she wanted to do, she just stared at him.
“You keep your mouth shut, and I won’t have to kill you, too.
” She wanted to ask him who he’d killed, but thought that she’d live longer if she didn’t.
“I’m going out for a while, and when I return, he’d better be alive.
I’m not shitting you right now. I have enough shit on my mind without you being a bitch.
Shut up and do as you’re told. Do you understand? ”
“Yes.” She didn’t bother wiping the blood she could feel on her lips.
Even the taste of it was something that she tried to ignore.
There were plenty of things that she wanted to say, but she kept her mouth shut.
Things would go from bad to worse if she were to tell him what she thought of them being here.
When Tommy left, she stayed in the kitchen.
She wasn’t hungry anymore, so she pushed her plate away and thought about how she could get out of this mess she was in.
The only thing that she could think about was just leaving them to her place.
She had enough money now that she could afford to get herself a new identity and hide from them the rest of her life.
Not having any idea how that was to work, she sat in the kitchen and cried.
All the good things that had happened to her were going her way, then her brothers showed up.
They were forever fucking up her life, and she hated them both.
After feeling sorry for herself for a little while longer, she decided to clean up the mess she’d made.
It wasn’t much, just a plate and a knife, but she liked things tidy and cleaned up.
She didn’t have much, but what she had was hers, and she was going to take care of it.
Going into her living room, she sat in the chair and watched her brother sleep.
He was either sleeping it off or unconscious, and she found that she didn’t care.
Lying back on the chair, she thought more of her plan to get away from them.
She must have dozed off because when she woke up, Tommy was back, and he didn’t seem happy. But then he rarely seemed happy about things, and she just laid there listening to them talk.
“He’s been picked up by the police. I’m thinking that with his record, they’ll just write it off as a robbery gone wrong.
He won’t be missed, that’s for sure.” Sherman said that he was glad that he was dead.
“I am as well. One less prick we have to deal with on this job coming up. Are you going to be able to go? You seemed to have lost a great deal of blood.”
“I’ll be fine. Just make sure that I have a gun with me, and things will go according to plan.” He said that he’d make sure that he had the best. “Good. It’s what I deserve after all the shit that’s been going on lately.”
She didn’t know what they were talking about, but continued to listen.
Maybe she could turn them in to the police, and that would be the end of their life around her.
The more she thought about them being out of her life, the more she liked it.
They’d been nothing but trouble since she’d been born, and they were only getting worse.
She wanted to cry again when she was kicked in the leg by Tommy.
“Get up and fix me something to eat.” She told him again that she didn’t have enough for herself, much less him, too. “I don’t give a shit, Raven. I said to get up and fix me something to eat, and I don’t want that shit you were eating either. I want something good.”
“It’s all I have. I told you that when you were here before.” He pulled out a wad of cash and handed her a fifty. There was blood all over the money, and she didn’t want to touch it. “What am I supposed to do with that?”
“Order something for me. And it had better be enough for just me. You can go on having your own meal.” She decided that she was going to wash the money off before she called anyone. There was no telling what sort of trouble she’d cause if she were to hand it over to someone who came to the door.