Page 165 of Preacher Man

"You gotta know this one thing, Dwayne, mind if I call you dickwad? Good." With a grip around his scrawny neck, slick with nervous sweat, Preacher dragged him around the corner, and rammed his head into the brick wall, blood oozing like a river. Both Grinder and Snake had come back to form a wall.Nothing going on here, folks, walk the fuck on by.Again, he was relying on their murky reputation of putting the fear of God into sticky beaks. They saw the cut and bikes and instantly walked a little faster. For once he played on it.

“Cops are three minutes away, bro,” offered Grinder, “get it done quick.”

Dwayne screamed as bodily fluids that were not meant to leave the body flowed out of his nose and split forehead. "Motherfucker! I'll kill you," he could barely stand on his own two feet, if not for Preacher handling him he would have gone down like a hooker and the promise of a ten-dollar bill. The threat was worthless, any other time Preacher would have laughed his ass off, maybe poked fun, even tweeted that shit.

Two minutes before the law arrived.

"Wrong damn mistake today, dickwad. I mean, killing your lady, I’d say that ranked up there as big mistakes go, what were you going for, the insurance money? But even that I could give a fuck about, but taking the boy and trying to sell him? Trying to lay a hand on my wife? That’s where you tripped up, big time, fucking huge.” He considered using the taser on him again just for shits and giggles, but he wanted the guy conscious for this world of hurt coming at him at a speed of one hundred knuckles, besides that, Preacher was already in danger of stepping in a puddle of piss. “I'll do anything for that girl, you wouldn’t know what that’s like would you, since you killed yours.”

“Please, man…”

“Ruby loves that kid, she wants the kid. She’ll be a better parent than the two unfortunately given to him.”

“I didn’t mean…”wah wah wah. Fingers tightened around his neck, squeezing the anger.

The blubbering meant nothing to Preacher. He felt no sympathy for this kind of man. “And more importantly you're upsetting her, so I say again, I'll do anything for her," he used the flat of his boot to slam down on the back of the guy’s leg, breaking it in one sharp snap, the crunch was terrible, he emphasized the pain for a second by kicking that same area as Dwayne screamed, quickly muffled by Preacher's hand, not wanting do-gooders to run to his aid.

Preacher held him up with two large hands caught around his throat, eyes wild and high blinking furious, turning bloodshot from lack of oxygen, how easy it would be to end him, he’d only need to think of how the guy looked ready to land a heavy fist into Ruby’s face and it would be enough motive. Calling on patience, he grit his teeth, slammed Dwayne’s head to the wall again. “Oops. You really have to stop headbutting this wall, man, I mean, really, it can’t be good for you, you're gonna have one wicked headache,” behind him Snake snickered and said, “one minute, P-man.”

He knew already, he could hear the sirens. Sheriff-do-right would be here any second and Preacher caught with blood on his hands, not good. It’s why he kept the hurt to bones.

It was only then, dickwad had the grace to beg. Was this his first beatdown? Didn’t he know begging was meant to start instantly soon as the whistle blew? Amateurs, really. He was working with amateurs. "Please, please, stop! Stop,STOP! please! I didn't mean…come on, man, we can work this out."

Like he thought Preacher had an ounce of compassion in him. Funny. The junkie was just a little bit stupid.

"You are way too late for that, you called my woman a bitch, you were going to hit her. You’re lucky I’m leaving you breathing, instead, you’ll spend a very long time being someone’s bitch in jail, I hope you get the fattest sweatiest piece of shit in there and he’s a sex addict. She wants the kid, and now she’ll get him, now tell me thank you.”

With a small encouragement, Preacher used his thumb digging into that soft part of his shoulder that caused untold pain like being stabbed with fire, an old army trick, Dwayne screamed and fell to the ground. “Waiting,” he told him, bored.

“Thank you. Fuck! Thank you, you, crazy shit.”

Preacher smiled and stepped away, leaving him slumped against the wall, he dusted off his hands and went to stand with his boys.

“He’s right, you, crazy fuck, now what do we tell the cops?” Asked a smiling Grinder.

“We found him like this.”

“I can back that up.” Offered Snake, a slick grin growing on his face as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette box, he offered one to Preacher who really wanted the nicotine hit but refused with a shake of his head, he caught Ruby’s deep-set gaze on him and he felt his guts churn over.

She’d watched him do all that.

All of it.

Fuck.

As that, two cop cars pulled up, sirens and lights, he was already in the process of stepping up to his own truck. “You alright, beautiful?” She nodded. “How’s the kid?” He was silent, cuddled on Ruby’s lap. “Hey, champ.” He smiled at him. The kid burrowed into his aunt.

“He’s okay, better, I think. I didn’t let him see anything.”

Preacher frowned. Fuck. What kind of stepfather would that make him? He hadn’t even given it a thought the kid seeing him beat the shit out of his father. Yeah, way to go, Priest. Goddamn.

Luck would have it, and the first time for everything, when he chose to speak to the cops of his own free will, he was busy for the next twenty minutes giving a fast verbal statement to Charlie Timmons and his deputy who cuffed Dwayne but called for an ambulance when he saw the state he was in. “You found him like this? Exactly like this?” Charlie-boy didn’t sound convinced.

Preacher told him again what had happened with a shrug. “He’s high as a shitbag can be, just look at him, he probably had a fight with the wall, these bath bombs these days, dangerous, Sheriff.”

“Probably been on the spice.” Piped in Snake, puffing on his smoke gesturing with the tattooed hand that held it. “Have you seen it on the news? That nasty crap makes you act like a goddamn zombie, what kinda crazy high is that? Kids these days.” Preacher had to bite back a grin.

Whatever Charlie thought, he had caught a suspected killer, score one for the sheriff and no thanks for Preacher. What killed Preacher was thirty minutes later a blue Ford pulled up and the same social worker from the hospital climbed out. Ruby stiffened, her eyes filling up. Fuck.Fuck. She’d come for the boy. It wasn’t as simple as taking Seb home with them.