“You weak piece of shit,” growls Dad at the sound of my crying. “What have I done to deserve such a weak fucking son? If I could go back in time, I’d keep my sperm out of my wife’s cunt. She was the only good thing that happened to me, and I lost her, because of you.”
Josh’s eyes widen at hearing the casual cruelty, but I’m used to it. I sag onto the ground, helpless to do anything but internalize it.
Weak. Weak. Weak.
“And that filthy slut of yours—”
Those words make me tense. He can’t tell, he’s facing away from me, his gun pointed at Josh’s head, with that smug confidence that tells me he thinks he knows me.
And I guess he does. I guess he knows exactly what I’m capable of. And what I’m not capable of.
“That worthless whore.”
He knows I’m in a prison of his making. But what he doesn’t realize is that he’s breaking its bars with every word he speaks.
“Pure fucking garbage.”
It feels like I’m lifting my arm with the last particle of strength I have. Like every drop of energy I have goes toward pointing the gun at his head.
“If I had one regret, you know what it would be, Quill? Huh?”
Another shudder of effort as I find the trigger with my finger, sweat dripping down my forehead.
“I’d fucking go back and tell Liam tomake it hurt.”
He turns around to savor my reaction. He sees the gun pointed at him, and smiles, clearly convinced I’ll never pull the trigger. He’s still smiling a moment later as he careens backward, my shot having blown off the top of his head.
“Holy fucking shit,” stammers Josh. “Holy fucking shit!”
Chapter 34
Quill
Avery long silence follows the shot. But its aftermath is still ringing in my ears when Josh finally speaks.
“Quill… I’m pretty sure… I’m pretty sure you just killed your dad.”
I snort. “You think?”
Well, at least I try to snort. But what comes out is a weird strangled noise that sounds a bit too much like a sob.
Before I’ve even realized what he’s doing, Josh scrambles over to me. His arms spring out and the next thing I know, he’s enveloping me in a bear hug.
I tense, trying automatically to inch away. But he doesn’t let up, and a moment later, I’m actually sinking into his arms, the tears I’d been doing my best to contain wetting his shirt.
“It’s okay, man. It’s okay.”
When he lets go, we sit for a while on the muddy grass in silence. Then I whip my gun out and point it at him.
“Uhm, okay,” he coughs uncomfortably, raising his hands in a peaceful gesture.
“If you ever tell anyone… what just happened between us…”
The cough turns into a strangled giggle. He doesn’t look half as scared as I would have expected with a gun pointed at his face.
“Don’t worry, Quill. It’ll be like it never happened. But, you know, it’s not the fucking 90s anymore. You’re allowed to hug another guy.”
I don’t answer, putting the gun in my back pocket then leaning over to pocket the other gun that my dad’s still holding. I take a moment to stare at the remnants of his face. Fuck, it feels good.Not a single part of me regrets what happened. I don’t know what led to the tears. Some sort of nervous reaction to breaking the bonds of childhood. It’s all I can do not to stomp on the lower half of his face, the still intact part with its ugly smile plastered on for all eternity.