Damned (on hold)

Chapter 4: Quandry

Kingston

Problem fucking solved.

We ambled into the liquor store and Andrew, our store manager was shocked to see us.

Maybe even too shocked? 

"Oh, h-hi Kingston, Wyatt, Joleen...what brings you in today?"

I ignored Andrew and ambled straight to the back office and sat down; I didn't have time for small talk.

We took our time going through the stores books thoroughly. On one end, everything looked legit. But on the other hand, it was frustrating to know that we weren't any closer in solving the mystery of why our money kept coming up short. We needed to audit every last one of these motherfuckers because at this point, someone was making me out to be a fool. And the longer this went on, the worse it looked for me as the MC's President.

As we were about to leave, I approached Andrew and gave him a few words of encouragement before leaving.

I towered over his 5'8 frame with my 6'5 height.

"You're one of the few people that work for me and I can actually tolerate. I've got a shitload of blood on my hands but I'm always willing to add more. You're doing good, don't fuck this up like the fucking mole in our brotherhood. I'm about to flood their ass out and gut them like a fucking animal."

I rarely smiled but my lips quivered ever so slightly into a slight upturn.

Obviously frightened at my words of encouragement, Andrew nodded hastily.

"I-I completely understand boss..."

Turning towards the door, I snatched the liquor bottle out of Joleen's hands and placed it on the counter.

"How many times I got to tell you to cut back on the damn alcohol?"

"You're such a party pooper." Joleen furrowed her brows. "Your always so serious and no fun."

I walked past her while mumbling under my breath. "that's why your ass should've stayed at home." 

Me and my men headed back outside, ready to head to the laundry mat we owned on Maple Avenue.

I was the last person to exit the building.

With one foot out the door, my heart instantly dropped when the sickening yet familiar sound of gunfire rang out.

POP! POP! POP!

Reflexively, I ducked down right before pulling my own hand gun out and firing off a few rounds. Seconds that felt like hours ticked by as the culprit unloaded every clip in his gun, aiming to kill us all.

As the smoke cleared, I watched as Wyatt's 220 pound body crumpled, in slow motion, to the ground in the middle of the road.

Instantly, my eyes widened until the whites fully showed all around my iris. My fucking stomach dropped to the ground as realization of what was happening washed over me like a cold frigid shower. Moments passed and goosebumps prickled my arms as I watched Joleen scream out in share horror.

Usually I was quick to action but seeing my brother taken down so easily had me frozen. I wasn't scared for my own safety since I wasn't scared to die. But seeing Wyatt laying helplessly in the road reminded me of the last time I found someone I loved dead. That someone was my mother and I found her laying in her own pool of blood after being brutally molested.

Since then, I've seen countless of murders over the years, some by my own hands. But none of that compared to seeing my brother, the guy who was supposed to be just as invincible as Superman, helplessly fall to the ground like dead weight. It truly put it into perspective how fragile human life was despite how powerful we might feel.