Page 90 of Tempt Me

“Is he breathing still?”

I laughed without humor. “For now.”

Goliath sighed. “Okay. Pharaoh, I know you want to do something stupid, but keep in mind who you are. Bring him to me. I can take care of him for you, my brother. Don’t stain your hands with blood. That shit doesn’t wash away. You don’t want any reason to be taken away from Fallon and thrown back in this shit hole with us.”

His words made sense, and I knew deep down he was right. I still couldn’t get myself to give a fuck about reasonable solutions.

“No. He touched what’s fucking mine. I failed to be the man I needed to be when it came to Ariah and Xenia.” I said. “I won’t fail this baby and Fallon like that. I will be what they need. Even if it means I go back to the place I belonged to all along.”

“No, Pharaoh!” Goliath protested. “You don’t belong here. You are a good man. You are not broken. You have had the shittiest things happen to you, and you deserve a happily ever after with that baby and the woman. You don’t throw that away for some martyr bullshit or petty retaliation.”

I was seething. My brother was not being fair. I needed to kill this man. I had to take it from him because he took it from her. He took what’s fucking mine. I wouldn’t sleep at night knowing I didn’t turn this man into ashes.

“Goliath…I can’t. I am not going to survive when I find Xenia’s killer anyway,” I said. “You and I both know that. Staining your hands with more blood that isn’t yours to spill isn’t worth it. A man can wash his hands. A dead man…can’t. Don’t waste your soul on me. You owe Ezello that.”

Goliath was cursing, his internal battle audible.

Finally, he said, “I will never stop you from freeing your soul, brother. I just want to believe you can do that without destroying it in the process.”

“Goliath. I have made up my mind. Now, I only have one question.”

My brother was silent for a long moment.

“Anything, my man,” Hesitation was thick in his tone.

“Can I bring this piece of shit home to our hell? Give him a taste of what’s to come for eternity.”

Silence stretched, and I thought he hung up, but then I heard laughter. My brother would be there for me. He may disagree with my choices, but he wouldn’t shut me out.

“You are always welcome back home, brother. Just remember that before you shut that door onus.”

Thirty Four

Return: To come back to.

What was left?

I kissed Fallon’s head and promised her I would return. She was still shaking in her sleep, and the blood wasn’t letting up between her thighs. After some quick thinking, I opened the window and found the dumpster below.

“Hmm. Trash service delivery, you fucking pig,” I said to the piece of shit in the corner.

His scrawny body was light, and I had him picked up and hung out the window in no time. He started to come-to, and he tried to meet my eyes. I stared at him, letting him see the man who would end his life—one monster to another.

“Wha...where am I?”

His dick was still hanging out of his pants, and I ground my teeth to the point of breaking, remembering how he used that thing on Fallon.

“Hell,” I said to him. “And you’ve just pissed off the fucking devil.”

He didn’t have a chance to respond. I dropped his body, and he crashed into the trash below with a plume of dust and a puff of trash bags. I hope a diseased needle stabbed his ass on his landing.

Walking back over to Fallon, I pressed the call button and sent a prayer to ‘Sky Daddy’ to give a fuck for once and take care of her while I took care of one of his demons. He and I could have an arrangement. He protected Fallon in exchange for a free deletion of his rough drafts shit copies.

“I swear to…well, swear to you,” I said on unsteady feet, looking at the ceiling like some cosmic floating asshole was listening. “If you take her from me, I will make it my mission to crawl out of hell to destroy you.”

Threatening God—smart Roe.

I cleared my throat and let myself calm down a little.