Chapter 41—Raine

The man we are with, I am referring to in my mind as Scarface. He pulls me and Mom out of the boat and pushes us onto the shore. I feel the gun to my back as we start walking toward some abandoned buildings. Scarface grumbles into a walkie talkie that he has arrived. We wait while Ezekiel comes out of one of the buildings. He has a smug grin on his face. He looks worn out. Older, meaner, if that’s even possible. “I'm so glad you could join us. Your little girlfriend is inside. She’s quite beautiful Raine. I had a lot of fun getting to know her better.” It takes all my will power not to barrel full force into him. But the gun at my back is keeping me from doing anything stupid.

We go through a big metal door into an old dark building. I immediately see Jade tied to the chair, unconscious on her side. I think she’s breathing. But she is bleeding, not only from her head, but her mouth as well. Her face is swollen and turning purple. I'm going to kill him. Mom is crying. Ezekiel walks over to her and grabs her around the neck. “I have missed you Hope.” He says with a snarl. She turns her face from him. He slaps her hard. I flinch and start to raise my hand, then immediately hear the cock of the gun at my back. “I wouldn’t do that boy,” Scarface warns.

Ezekiel comes and stands right in front of me. He’s about 4 inches shorter than me now. But he has a gun in his hand and the other guy with one in my back. I stand down a bit to show I’m not going to lay into him, yet. “Good boy, you always were the best at following direction. At least I taught you something. Now, we have a situation,” he says motioning to Jade. “I know you want her back. But I’ve been thinking that I don’t want to give her back. Maybe I will keep her for myself.” I taste bile rise up in my throat. My jaw tightens and my shoulders raise instinctively. “Oh, come on boy, it’s only fair. You took what was mine, and I take what’s yours. That is, if she was yours at all. I heard that little conversation she had with her daddy. Sounds like you can’t have her anyway.” I want to pound the guy with my fists. Mom takes ahold of my arm to try and keep me focused. “What do you want?” I yell at Ezekiel. “So, you’re ready to bargain with me then? I thought you would be. I mean, who wouldn’t for this pretty little thing.” He walks over to Jade, leans down, and caresses the side of her face with his hand. I can’t even look at him.

“Two things. You and your Mom. I don’t want any trouble from you, or I will kill her right now. Your Mom will live with me again, and you…” he trails off. Then he turns to me suddenly. “You, I want to see suffer.” Mom clenches my arm tightly. She is terrified. I am too. But I can’t let Ezekiel see that. “Tell you what,” I say casually. “I can definitely give you one of those. You can take me and torture me all you want. But you let the ladies go.” He just laughs in my face. “Oh Raine, you always did seem to have all the answers. But not this time. I'm going to giving you a choice. I can take you and your Mom, or sweet little Jade and your Mom. I think that should torture you enough. Don’t you?” I can’t even see him clearly at this point. I am almost blinded with rage.

Ezekiel pulls Jade’s chair back up to a sitting position. He takes something out of his pocket and puts it under her nose. Smelling salts, I assume. She wakes up startled. Her eyes open wide and terrified when she sees me. Ezekiel kneels beside her and puts his face in her hair. “She smells so pretty doesn’t she Raine?” Jade scrunches up her face in disgust. He grabs her by the jaw, and I see the pain go through her. I can’t take much more of this. He pulls her face close to him and licks her cheek. I see the tears running down them. I start to move toward them, and Mom pulls my arm back. “Don’t Raine. Be careful.” She whispers. Ezekiel laughs. “I thought I was going to have to kill her in front of you to get this reaction. But I guess you love the girl. You don’t even want me close to her do you?” He quickly pulls a knife out of his back pocket that I hadn’t noticed before. He stands behind Jade and puts it under her throat. “Raine, this is just too good, watching your face as you suffer like this. How long do you think it would take her to bleed out if I slashed her neck right now?”

I don’t wait to find out. I kick Scarface behind me, spin around, and tackle him to the ground. I knock him out quickly and grab his gun. I then aim it at Ezekiel. He’s still laughing at me. But I detect a little fear in his eyes. “You’re still a quick one boy. But you don’t want to risk this beautiful face, do you? I could have it slashed up before you even get a shot off. And I know you won’t do it. You had your chance three years ago. I know you are nothing but a sissy Raine. You wouldn’t hurt a fly. Your Mama taught you that.” His words enrage me even more. Why didn’t I kill him when I had the chance? Because it would be wrong. Because I would become as bad as him. I know I couldn’t live with myself if I did it. He’s right, I’m a sissy.

I keep the gun trained at his head anyway. Jade looks more frightened now than she did before. Is she afraid of me, of what I am becoming? I put the gun in the back of my jeans and raise my hands. “Don’t hurt her anymore, please.” This takes him a little by surprise. He looks at me and laughs again. “I didn’t expect that boy. I guess I did get the better of you this time. So, which do you choose. Who’s coming with me? You and sweet Jade or you and Mommy.” Since I could never give him either option, I will just have to make another choice. I lunge at Ezekiel. First, I go for his hand with the knife at her throat. I'm wrestling with that when I hear the unmistakable sound of the gun going off.

My body tenses. I get the knife from his hand and look around for the damage. Blood is pouring out of Jades shoulder. He’s still holding the gun to her. She’s crying in pain. Mom is hysterical. I look in Ezekiel’s eyes. They are red and crazy. He must be on something. I have never seen him look like this before. Maybe its desperation. I can possibly distract him. “Ezekiel, you win, don’t hurt her anymore. I can’t take it. You can have me. But you pick which one you want. I can’t choose.” I lie to him. Now he must take a moment to think about this turn of events. He looks at Jade and then at Mom. Just as his eyes are sliding back over to Jade, I pounce. I grab his hand with the gun in it. We are struggling now. Jade’s chair gets knocked over again and I hear the muffled moan of agony from falling on her side with the bullet in it. Mom jumps to her immediately and I continue struggling. He has a grip on the gun, and I have a grip on his arm. He’s trying to pull the trigger. It’s pointed at my head. I duck out of the way, and I hear another bullet go off. This one toward the ceiling thankfully. We continue wrestling each other. He’s starting to tire out. But he pulls the trigger one final time, and it hits me in the right side of my chest. I finally rip the gun out of his hand and hit him in the head with it. Thankfully it knocks him out. Mom is at my side in an instant. She takes off my shirt and then uses it to press on the wound. I'm bleeding a lot. I think I'm going to pass out.