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“I didn’t misunderstand shit . You two were laughing, havin’ a good ol’ time.

Yuckin’ it up all at my dead father’s expense.

My heart dropped to my damn feet… And then you said, ‘I wish I’d had the heart to kill Kane myself, but I couldn’t ’cause of a promise that I’d made to Sarah.

I swore to ’er that I wouldn’t interfere.

She knew I hated Kane with a passion. I’m raising his boy now.

Lord knows he wouldn’t have taken care of Kage the proper way.

Thankfully, God took care of the problem for me, through you…

Now, we can become friends!’ And then you laughed again…

and again… Your laughter haunted me for days on end.

All that time, for years, you knew all along who killed my daddy.

Naw, you ain’t tell that man to do it, whoever he was.

You probably didn’t even know him all that well based on the other things I heard you say on the call, but from what I recollect overhearing, he had beef with my father and shot him dead, and you found that so amazing, so spectacular, so absolutely wonderful! ”

A dark rage welled inside of Kage.

“Kage, let me explain. See, I—”

“By keeping his killer secret, you deprived me of justice for my father! You deprived my mama justice for her first and only true love! You deprived his friends and family of closure. You should have killed my daddy’s murderer, but instead, you were rejoicing with him and for as long as I live, I will NEVER, ever forgive you for that. ”

Grandpa’s lips parted, but no sound or words escaped. The notes of ‘Brave Awakening,’ by Terry Reid slipped around close to his ear, pulling at his heart and soul as he looked hell in the eyes.

“I didn’t kill yo’ daddy, Kage. That’s true. I’m glad you understand that. I didn’t set it up, either. I had found out who did it by mistake, you see, and it would have hurt your mama somethin’ awful, so actually I—”

“Shhhh… don’t get to lyin’, Grandpa. I know you’re about to spin a tale.

I ran away from that door, and somehow dropped the drawing I had wanted to show you.

I know you found that drawing, and you put two and two together as to why I was suddenly acting funny around you.

It was at that point that I felt I had no choice.

I realized that you were an evil man, and I decided I was going to kill you—avenge my daddy’s death.

I was going to get rid of the cancer in this family! ”

A tear fell down Kage’s cheek as his grip tightened on the old man’s neck.

He plunged Grandpa back down into the water, cutting off his pleas and cries for mercy.

Grandpa’s hair sprawled out like a silver octopus, the tentacles flowing and glistening beneath the current.

Bubbles erupted from his nostrils and his wide open mouth.

He jerked the fucker’s head up by the hair, tugging it hard from the scalp.

Grandpa gasped for air, struggling to breathe, his chest rising and falling fast and hard.

“Then, one day when you came up to the hospital to see me, I asked you to tell me who killed my daddy. You told me that I was crazy, and you didn’t know who was responsible.

But I could tell you were lying then, just like you’re lyin’ now.

I heard it loud and clear. Whoever it was, my daddy trusted him.

You didn’t want the truth gettin’ back to my mama.

You KNEW and said nothing. You didn’t want her to believe me!

So, you used the excuse of me tryna attack you to prove I was off my rocker, to have me locked up.

Me trying to kill you was the least of your concerns.

You were more worried about what I’d overheard. ”

A strange darkness entered Grandpa’s eyes.

“Because of you and that hospital, I pulled away from the world. Because of you, I didn’t trust anyone anymore.

Because of you, I sheltered myself away from the planet, and became sloth-like.

You became a sloth, too! You never put in the work to find out what was going on in your head to make you think and behave like you do.

It was too heavy a burden, too heavy to lift!

You were lazy and indifferent to your own brand of evil.

My sloth-like behavior was born of indifference.

I tried to cocoon myself away from the world because I was done with this ol’ wicked place, but this ol’ wicked place wasn’t quite done with ME!

I had more to do in this world. God literally dropped her off in my backyard.

Like a present! I met someone… someone a lot like me, someone who saw me for me, and loved me all the more for it. ”

Kage pushed his grandfather flat on his back and placed a gun squarely against his forehead. His entire body shook as he tried with everything in him to resist pulling the trigger! Grandpa lay there, exhausted and empty, and yet, his eyes were full of terror.

“Kage… please…” The bastard’s voice trembled.

“You’re afraid of dyin’ alone, old man. But I know what it’s like to be alone.

I know what it’s like to be left for dead.

Forgotten. Dirt thrown on you! You’re afraid of dyin’ alone, too, but you’re not alone right now, are you?

” Kage sneered. “I’m here with you… and I WANNA BLOW YOU AWAY!

I was set to kill you today, but then… then I found out not too long ago that I’m gonna be a daddy! ”

Hot tears streamed down his face.

Grandpa’s eyes widened. His expression somewhat softened. “A baby?”

“Yes, one that you can’t claim, or taint! There’s a baby comin’ into this world, and she or he is mine. ALL MINE, YA HEAR ME?!” He pressed the gun harder into Grandpa’s forehead. The man swallowed hard and slowly closed his eyes. Then, he began to mumble the Lord’s Prayer.

“That’s right, you son of a bitch. Pray.

You better ask God, the angels and the saints to save you!

Just like our Heavenly Father, dads protect their children.

They don’t rejoice from their pain. The mother of my baby is my whole fuckin’ world, and I can’t leave her to raise no baby on ’er own.

” He fought hot, furious tears. “My mother struggled raisin’ me.

It’s hard for single mothers. I don’t want to ever intentionally cause that for my baby, or my woman.

Children need their daddies. Oh, and that trick you pulled with Lorna?

She’ll be handled too, but for right now, both of y’all can kiss my ass! ”

“I don’t know anything about any trick Lorna may have pulled on you.”

“You liar. You’re behind the entire bullshit.

She would’ve never found me or come snoopin’ around, with a document to take my shit, without your help.

But it don’t even matter.” Kage giggled.

“Y’all are too late.” Grandpa gave him a confused look.

“Y’all can’t touch shit over this way now.

You wanna know why? My land has been declared an official animal sanctuary for wild animals!

It’s a natural preserve, and can’t nobody fight over it or claim it now, ’cept for me . Tax exemption. OFF LIMITS!

“All we had to do was prove that there are at least six types of animals here in their natural habitat, including bobcats. I had to show that there’s a natural water source, which clearly your lungs now know that there is, and a few other stipulations, and boom!

It was all set. My sweetheart knew just what to do!

All I got to do from this moment forward is let them folks in the county come twice a year to make sure I’m preserving the environment well, you know, not buildin’ a bunch of condos and shit, and helpin’ to keep the animals safe, which I do naturally.

“This contract nullifies your plans to have my land, or my home that is built on the land, taken away from me. You can’t get a quarter of it, a half of it, or three-fourths of it, either.

You can’t promise it to that worthless whore, the city, or your own malicious ass!

I already filled out paperwork, via my attorney and Roman, to show that those so-called unpaid taxes were false, and it was a clerical error regarding the alimony, which I in fact tried to pay, but something got screwed up.

Once she got married, she wasn’t due no alimony anyway.

You found a loophole, but you ended up fallin’ in it! Surprise, motherfucker!”

Grandpa’s facial expression was priceless. Kage wished he could take a picture of him, frame it, and place it on a wall.

“…How… how did…” Grandpa stumbled over his words.

“Oh, how did we do it? Simple really. My fiancée had some connections at work, ya see, and she just so happens to be neighbors with a crazy lady that used to work in the administrative department of some fuckin’ bird sanctuary years ago.

That bird lady, who hates cats, but that’s neither here nor there, provided her old contacts to my fiancée about how to get the paperwork going and who to call, and my lady got her folks to talk to those other animal folks, and expedite the situation.

So now, here you lie, ON PROTECTED LAND, you goat-faced bastard.

Small world, huh? Everything came together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Sometimes it ain’t what you know, it’s who you know.

That put a monkey wrench in your plan to control me, didn’t it?

Ain’t no monkeys here in this animal preserve though. Maybe some other time.” Kage shrugged.

Grandpa moaned and sighed as if in pain. It seemed that nothing else, up until that point, got to him as much as those words that Kage was home free. The golden carrot he’d been dangling had been ripped down from the tree and tossed into the river.