warn.
The tweaker smiles wider and reaches for the woman
next to him. He’s dead before his fingers touch her.
Turning my gun towards the women, I order them to
stay put in my manliest voice. They stare, too horrified to respond. I ease out
of the room without turning my back on the women. They’re victims, but so was
the sex slave in Guatemala who took a shot at me years earlier. No one is safe
in my world.
The pale fucker in front of me has shitty tweaker
teeth. He smiles at me as if I’m about to die, but he’s only biding his time.
“On the floor,” I order the asshole. When he
doesn’t react quickly enough, I crack the butt of my rifle against his head. He
goes down with a thud. “I said on the floor.”
My focus returns to the women behind me. They
remain very still even when Dino fires on someone in the kitchen. Glancing in
his direction, I see a tweaker gushing blood on the ground. The remaining
assholes know their time’s short. Most of them go for their weapons, but one
lunges past me to where the women wait.
Careful with my shots, I kill the one looking to
take hostages. Dino shoots the guy heading for the door. He kills another
asshole in the kitchen. When the guy falls towards a table, Dino grabs his body
to keep it from making a racket.
“Clear,” he says, tapping me on the shoulder.
“Stay quiet,” I tell the women before gesturing for
them to get up. “Untie that one.”
Beaten down too many times to fight back, the woman
on the bed only nods. The women think we’ll kill them next. Or we’ll sell them
off to the next pervert. Even wanting them to worry enough to remain docile, I
still feel like shit. Their lives weren’t easy before our weapons pointed at
them.
Dino leans over and whispers, “You want them or the
fire?”
“I’ll do the fire.”
Call me a wuss, but these women and their horrible
lives make me uneasy. I could have turned out like them so easily. One bad
decision here or there and I’d be someone’s bitch. I can almost see myself in
their terrified eyes.
Speaking in a quiet yet authoritative voice, Dino
leads the women out of the room. “You will walk into the woods and keep walking
until you reach the other side. When you speak to the police, you will tell
them Dick Richey saved you. Do you understand?”
The women follow Dino out of the already burning
trailer. I hurry outside after dumping as much accelerant as possible. I want
only ashes left for Black.
We watch the women shivering in the autumn morning.
None of them are wearing shoes. One is only in a tee and panties. They look
like survivors of a natural disaster, and I wonder what’ll happen to them next.
“Go and don’t look back,” Dino says. “If you do,
we’ll put you down too.”
The women walk into the dark woods, and I wish they
had shoes at least. With less than an hour before the sun rises, it's too late
to do anything for them.
Dino and I run in the opposite direction as the
women. We ditch the trailer park long before a single siren rings out in the
quiet morning.
12
~ Minka ~
Handing Out Chill Pills
M y cell rings just after eleven, and I’m barely able
to understand what an angry Hayes is yelling. I tell him he woke me up and to
call back later. He hollers into the phone that I better get my scrawny ass
over to his office. If I were more awake, I’d be offended about him dismissing
my fine butt. Instead, I tell him we’ll be right over. Once I hang up, I turn
off my phone, roll over against Dino’s warm body, and return to sleep.
Many hours later, we show up at Hayes’s office
where we find Donna gone along with her knickknacks and family photos. A new
woman sits at the desk. She’s wearing the same panicky look as the former
receptionist. I smile at her, but she can barely return it. I do notice she
gives Dino a quick and approving once over.
“Can I help you?” she nearly whispers.
“What happened to Donna?”
“She quit. I’m from the temp
The tweaker smiles wider and reaches for the woman
next to him. He’s dead before his fingers touch her.
Turning my gun towards the women, I order them to
stay put in my manliest voice. They stare, too horrified to respond. I ease out
of the room without turning my back on the women. They’re victims, but so was
the sex slave in Guatemala who took a shot at me years earlier. No one is safe
in my world.
The pale fucker in front of me has shitty tweaker
teeth. He smiles at me as if I’m about to die, but he’s only biding his time.
“On the floor,” I order the asshole. When he
doesn’t react quickly enough, I crack the butt of my rifle against his head. He
goes down with a thud. “I said on the floor.”
My focus returns to the women behind me. They
remain very still even when Dino fires on someone in the kitchen. Glancing in
his direction, I see a tweaker gushing blood on the ground. The remaining
assholes know their time’s short. Most of them go for their weapons, but one
lunges past me to where the women wait.
Careful with my shots, I kill the one looking to
take hostages. Dino shoots the guy heading for the door. He kills another
asshole in the kitchen. When the guy falls towards a table, Dino grabs his body
to keep it from making a racket.
“Clear,” he says, tapping me on the shoulder.
“Stay quiet,” I tell the women before gesturing for
them to get up. “Untie that one.”
Beaten down too many times to fight back, the woman
on the bed only nods. The women think we’ll kill them next. Or we’ll sell them
off to the next pervert. Even wanting them to worry enough to remain docile, I
still feel like shit. Their lives weren’t easy before our weapons pointed at
them.
Dino leans over and whispers, “You want them or the
fire?”
“I’ll do the fire.”
Call me a wuss, but these women and their horrible
lives make me uneasy. I could have turned out like them so easily. One bad
decision here or there and I’d be someone’s bitch. I can almost see myself in
their terrified eyes.
Speaking in a quiet yet authoritative voice, Dino
leads the women out of the room. “You will walk into the woods and keep walking
until you reach the other side. When you speak to the police, you will tell
them Dick Richey saved you. Do you understand?”
The women follow Dino out of the already burning
trailer. I hurry outside after dumping as much accelerant as possible. I want
only ashes left for Black.
We watch the women shivering in the autumn morning.
None of them are wearing shoes. One is only in a tee and panties. They look
like survivors of a natural disaster, and I wonder what’ll happen to them next.
“Go and don’t look back,” Dino says. “If you do,
we’ll put you down too.”
The women walk into the dark woods, and I wish they
had shoes at least. With less than an hour before the sun rises, it's too late
to do anything for them.
Dino and I run in the opposite direction as the
women. We ditch the trailer park long before a single siren rings out in the
quiet morning.
12
~ Minka ~
Handing Out Chill Pills
M y cell rings just after eleven, and I’m barely able
to understand what an angry Hayes is yelling. I tell him he woke me up and to
call back later. He hollers into the phone that I better get my scrawny ass
over to his office. If I were more awake, I’d be offended about him dismissing
my fine butt. Instead, I tell him we’ll be right over. Once I hang up, I turn
off my phone, roll over against Dino’s warm body, and return to sleep.
Many hours later, we show up at Hayes’s office
where we find Donna gone along with her knickknacks and family photos. A new
woman sits at the desk. She’s wearing the same panicky look as the former
receptionist. I smile at her, but she can barely return it. I do notice she
gives Dino a quick and approving once over.
“Can I help you?” she nearly whispers.
“What happened to Donna?”
“She quit. I’m from the temp
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