Page 26 of Sac-rifice (RBMC: Cleveland, Ohio Chapter #7)

MAKING DEALS THAT LAST A LIFETIME

SAC

Past

I didn’t think I had ever felt this much rage in my life!

I wanted to rip Davey’s heart out of his chest with my bare hands and then figure out what to do with their mom.

I’d lost respect for their mom years ago when she allowed Davey to move back into their house after the first time he hit Cor.

Every time after a night of taking care of Cor, when I saw him in their house, I couldn’t look their mom in the eye.

I couldn’t understand how someone willingly subjected their child to a life of hell just to avoid being alone.

I stood my ground, keeping Cor safely behind me.

That asshole wasn’t going to touch her ever again!

I’d make sure of it. “Don’t you fucking touch her,” I barked, staring straight at him.

If he thought he was walking away from this, he was so fucking wrong.

This time, I would make sure it was his body that suffered.

Not Cor’s. He would never hurt her again.

“I’ll knock the shit out of you, too. There’s plenty more bottles where that one came from.” Davey straightened from his usual shitty ass posture, attempting to appear more intimidating, and pushed the sweat off his forehead into his greaseball head of hair.

I glanced over my shoulder, making eye contact with Tate. He nodded in agreement. I knew with that small gesture he had my back, no matter what happened tonight.

“Make that three,” he said, his voice a deep rumble that I didn’t know he had in him.

“I hope you have enough to go around, old man, because you fuck with one of us, you fuck with all four of us.” He was quick on his feet and appeared at my flank in no time.

We exchanged another look as he squared his shoulders and brought his fists close enough to his face that he would be able to protect himself just like I had taught him whenever we sparred in the backyard.

Isaac took the unspoken signal, joining us to protect my little dove. We were all in this together, a flock of misfits banded together to protect one of our own.

As we stood face-to-face with a grown man so we could protect Cor, I wasn’t scared for my own life, but I was terrified for hers.

I had given her the name little dove when we were younger, not ever thinking what that made me.

I wasn’t gentle like her, none of us guys were; however, we happily stood between a predator and his prey, but we weren’t the bravest in the room. It was without a doubt Cor.

Most prey-like animals avoided areas where it’s predator might be lurking.

Not her. She defied nature every time she opened the door of her own household, knowingly reentering her own personal nightmare.

She endured so much pain and mental abuse to protect her brother and keep her family together.

She was fearless even though she didn’t realize it. One day, I planned to convince her.

Their mom screamed when she realized what the rest of us noticed as soon as it happened. Cor was bleeding. Of course, she was. That shit of a man chucked his bottle straight for Cor, and it had made contact.

“Get the fuck out of my house! Now!” Their mom yelled and dashed in front of Davey. She was probably there to protect him. I hated her for Cor.

They went back and forth for a few minutes and then their mom easily fell back into her usual routine, fetching a beer for Davey.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I blinked, more than confused how a parent was able to discard their child so easily, choosing an abusive dick over their own flesh and blood.

At that moment, I made my mind up. I was going to ask Mom if Cor and Isaac could move in with us. She wouldn’t be thrilled by the idea, but if it meant they were out of a bad situation, she’d eventually agree to it.

When their mom started humming, I ground teeth against each other with so much force that my jaw hurt.

I kept my eyes on both Davey and their mom.

I didn’t trust either of them right now.

Their mom’s eyes widened and then flickered to Davey’s stomach.

She hummed the same portion of the song again and looked at the same area.

That’s when it clicked what she was humming and why.

The song she kept repeating was Aerosmith’s Janey’s Got a Gun .

It was as if a light inside my brain finally had power.

My attention shifted from her and over to Davey’s stomach where their mom had indicated.

Sure enough, peeking just out of the edge of his jeans was a black handle.

I gave a little nod to their mom, silently acknowledging I got her message.

“I love you kids,” she uttered her truth, and my heart broke for her.

I had spent the majority of my life pretty much despising the woman, never realizing where Cor had learned to protect others and sacrifice herself.

Her mom. I didn’t understand until I stared into the exhausted eyes of a woman who was willing to risk her life to save her children that sometimes you didn’t know how to save yourself.

Sometimes, a person had been at the deep end, treading water for so long that they weren’t able to swim back to the shallows.

So, they chose to make their last breath worth it, screaming out a war cry to save others instead of wasting another minute on themselves.

Tears fell from their mom’s eyes as she stared at me. “Shane Poe, you protect my baby.” she demanded, passing her legacy onto me. This was her war cry.

“Ma’am, I always have and always will,” I promised as steadily as I was able, knowing what it was she was asking of me.

It wasn’t as simple as keeping Cor safe and making it out of the house alive tonight.

She was telling me to protect her daughter for the rest of our lives.

I had given myself that responsibility long before this moment, so agreeing with her didn’t require any thought on my part. I would protect Cor with my life.

“What are you talking about, Mom?” Cor asked, clearly more than confused by her mom’s actions and words.

I wanted to run away with Cor, shielding her from what was about to happen, but if I moved an inch before it was time, Cor could get hurt more than she already was.

If I stood as still as I had silently agreed, all of us, not only Cor, might never recover from what we were about to witness.

“I love you all,” their mom repeated, inching her fingers around the hammer she’d hidden behind her back when Davey wasn’t looking.

Davey jerked the beer bottle off the breakfast bar, focusing all of his attention and strength into removing the cap with the corner of the bar.

Their mom’s grasp tightened around the handle of the clawfoot hammer, aiming the curved claw between Davey’s shoulder blades.

I frantically shook my head but didn’t say a word so Davey wouldn’t be tipped off.

She needed to aim at his head. His eye. Some place to do lethal damage.

Landing the hammer in his back would hurt like a bitch and piss him off, might drop him to his knees, but that asshole would get back up.

Davey looked at the mirror across the kitchen, and his hand went for his gun. I cursed under my breath, shoving Cor into Tate’s arms and lunging toward the breakfast bar. He let out a guttural wail when the claw sank into his upper back, falling to his knees, his gun slipping out of his grasp.

Their mom’s arms wildly thrashed around his body, trying to reach the weapon before he could. Davey hauled his elbow back against her face, and he dove for his gun. My hands were seconds behind his as they snaked around the gun, and he shoved it into their mom’s bloody mouth.

“No!” Cor screamed as I jumped onto Davey’s back, locking my arms around his neck.

A deafening blast exploded, and my ears rang.

Blood rained around the two of us, and I pounded the side of Davey’s face with my fist. Isaac sank the butcher knife into Davey’s side, nearly getting me in the process.

This gave me the leverage I needed. I tugged the gun out of Davey’s hands, slammed it against his temple, and pulled the fucking trigger.