Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 74875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
“You will put that down,” Grams ordered tightly.
My father’s eyes flicked to hers, and widened. He then lowered his weapon to his side, surprised to find himself threatened enough to momentarily drop his attention from the two of us.
Tate still stayed solid in front of me, unable to move because it would then cause me to become exposed.
How did I know this?
Each time I started to poke my head around him, he countered my move with one of his own, making me get nothing more than a great up close and personal view of his broad back.
“I’m tired of you lot bullying my grandson.” Grams held her gun up like it was an extension of her hand. “I’ve sat by while you spewed your nonsense because it seemed like the easier thing to do, but after dealing with it for so long, I must’ve gotten immune. Now that my eyes have been opened, I’ve decided I’m not taking any more of your shit.”
My father went to raise the weapon, but he didn’t so much as pull it up to rest in against his inner arm before Grams cocked the revolver.
She aimed it straight at my father’s chest, and I could barely breathe.
I was about to see one of two things. My father shot, or the man I’d fallen in love with shot.
Neither option was good.
“Let’s see who can shoot fastest.” My father tensed.
Before he could so much as put his finger on the trigger, Grams proved that being in her late eighties didn’t affect her speed in the slightest.
Grams shot my father in the foot, and my father went down like a stack of stones.
“I’m old, and I’ve had more practice,” Grams said, lowering her arm. “Though, I have to admit, I’ve never once thought that I’d actually have to shoot a living being for being stupid.”
Chapter 24
Kids up in this bitch.
-Bumper sticker
Tate
At first, I was worried that she was going to take her own life.
But then, as I sat there and observed her, I realized that the thing that I once thought was a handful of pills, was actually a handful of glittery looking beads.
“What is that?” I asked, walking up to Ariya.
Ariya looked over at me and shrugged. “She loved glitter.”
The pain in her voice physically hurt to hear.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Ariya.”
Ariya shrugged. “I heard what went down at church a few days ago.”
I grimaced.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “By that point, my baby wasn’t able to do anything but feel the pain. We kept her sedated and comfortable, so she didn’t hear anything that she wasn’t supposed to hear.”
“Ariya…”
She smiled then.
“For two years I watched her battle that beast,” she said.
My gut clenched.
If there was anything in it at this point, I was sure that it’d be a roiling ball of despair just waiting for the right time to come out.
But I hadn’t eaten before I’d come to the funeral, coming straight from a repossession job for the bank to make it in time.
I didn’t know what to say to her. Words wouldn’t make what she was feeling go away.
So, I stayed silent and listened to her speak.
“I tried for two years to get him to talk to her. To acknowledge her existence.” She angrily wiped away tears. “I’m kind of happy that your grandmother shot him in the foot. It wasn’t anything less than what I wished upon him.”
“He contracted a secondary infection,” I said. “They don’t expect him to make it out of this without his foot being amputated.”
She started to laugh.
“He deserves it to be more than his foot,” she told me, then turned to stare. “I know that Hennessy didn’t come to the funeral because she didn’t want to make me uncomfortable, but tell her that she’s welcome to come over and look at photos anytime she wants.” She paused. “Her father threatened to make our lives a living hell if I told her about my baby. I hate that she never got to know her sister. So, if Hennessy wants, I’d be more than willing to share photos with her…anything she wants.”
I dropped my head and looked at the brilliant green grass at our feet.
“She’d like that,” I told her. “Is there anything I can do?”
And she would. Hennessy had a thirst for life that really left me feeling humbled sometimes. She didn’t have a hateful bone in her body, though that’s not to say that she couldn’t get mad.
Ariya shook her head. “No.”
***
Six hours later, I arrived at home to find my Grams’ car in my driveway, right alongside Hennessy’s.
Yesterday Hennessy had gotten word that a young woman, just moving to the area, was interested in her house and had already signed the lease. The landlord had asked Hennessy to forgo the usual four-week notice because the woman sounded like she was in dire straights.