(DEION)
James challenged himself while opening the metal doors to my apartment. He took off his hat throwing it on the couch the closer he got to towards the living room. He walked into the kitchen and grabbed himself a beer.
I walked in just a few moments behind him wondering why he moved in silence. He usually talks to me about almost anything he desires to speak. I guess he'll put all that sentimental thing behind him for now.
I put my gun on safe too, quietly laying it down on the kitchen counter.
"Aw Man, sweet sweet beer," James cried out in pleasure after just drinking one big gulp of Heineken. "What a great way to start off the new year folk." He gave me a pound on my hard chest. I can feel his fist rub on my chest as hit me with soft force.
"Yeah James. Happy New Year to you too" I said.
"Deion do you ever just look at the world and think why is it still the same after all these years? It's been the same bullshit since my mother pushed me out decades ago. It's the same damn thing every year. The only difference is people grow up and you know what that means?" He looked at me furrowing his brows. His lips were halfway apart as the beer almost slipped away from his fat fingers while he held on to the body of the bottle.
"Enlighten me Jamesy."
"Same old shit with new people. Same old buildings with new geniuses of this world to create some great fucking advanced technology. What am I saying? I'm just an old hag still trying to survive this broken world we live in." He turned around and tossed me a bottle of Heineken. I couldn't feel any emotion. After all, I did do the devil's work about an hour ago.
My mind was gone for just a second. My hands were feeling numb the tighter I held on to the neck of the bottle itself. My brain wasn't taking in any information as of this moment. James stood in front of me looking like a blurry x-ray vision. I never felt like this before. Why does my mind suddenly wants to turn my own internal thoughts against me.
I was still looking at James with no expression on my face. I was completely immovable standing in front of James like a dead body with opened eyes, except my heart was still feeding back blood throughout the rest of my body and all that adrenaline helped me stayed right side up. He kept drinking and drinking until he realize I was unresponsive.
"Something wrong boy?" he finally took his last sip and released the beer from his hand. The thud of the glass bottle echoed in thin air. It's the sound I kept hearing verbatim.
His voice traveled back in my ears. I can hear the vibration before his lips moved. I watched his lips suddenly, eyeing him, up, down, up, down, until he shouted my name and my eyes blinked.
"The fuck is up with you?"
"Nothing."
"The fuck you mean nothing. You look like you were heavens away from seeing God." He wiped his hands on his jeans and kept doing that until the cold water from the icy bottle dried off his hands.
"I wish."
"Did I say something I shouldn't have?"
"Naw you good." I opened the bottle of beer and drunk hopelessly willing to drown myself in alcohol.
"Boy have you lost your God forsaken mind?" He patted me on the back carefully while I was harrumphing. The solution of alcohol mix ran through my nose. I felt the sting in my eyes and the back of my throat burn. I can feel the pastel red color appear on my eyes. "Slow down with that thing. Deion what's up with you? Do you need help?"
"No!" I quickly replied before he can say anything else.
"This is not like you. You know, ever since that pretty babe stepped into your life you've been avoiding us lately. Mostly, not acting like yourself but shit whatever she did to you fucked you up."
"Shut the fuck up James."
"Okay." He said stepping away from me in defense. He held his two hands up and rubbed his right hand at the crook of his neck. He looked at me for a while. He stared for so long I think he knew how impatient I felt sitting there waiting for him to do something.
"Do you need me to crash here?"
"Naw."
"Deion don't fuck with me now. You almost died on a brother."
"One your not my brother you are my --- man James what the fuck are you?"
"What?" he looked so confused.
"No, what are you to me?"
"I'm your father Deion that's what I am." he slapped his hand on his chest.
"Your not my freaking dad James." I said in a calm tone. He stuttered for a while but then gathered his words together when the words he uses on certain occasions came out his mouth.
He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and slammed my back onto the wooden floor and spoke to me in a treacherous manner.
"Who the fuck you think your talking to? Who the fuck you think you are? Have I not taken good care of your body hm? What the fuck shit you think this is? I raised you boy! Ain't no other man or woman was ever thinking about taking care of this thick skull of yours. You're just like your fucking father, always biting at the hands that feed you. I won't stand here and let you speak to me like that. Don't fucking play with me. The only reason your even alive is because I save your fucking ass. They would've killed you too but i kept my fucking mouth shut. If I knew you'd be the person you are today, I'd let them cut all your little itty bitty guts out since you were a fucking baby, but just because I kept my mouth shut I decided to take care of you. I always felt like a father figure to you and that's how I'm gonna keep it till I die. My fuckin' son died because while I was too busy puttin' a mother fuckin' hatchet through a fuckin' wood piece my son ran into the streets and got hit by a car. You reminded me of him so much that I raised you the same. Till this day I feel very guilty that I didn't look back at him and tell him don't run. But I didn't and now I have to suffer. Don't make me suffer because I left that behind years ago. Don't fuck with me now Deion. Don't you fucking go there with me."
His grip on the collar of my shirt tightened even more. I heard the rip of thread as his face came closer to mine "You get it through that little twisted brain of yours Deion. Know who the fuck your talking to. Know your positon! Know who the fuck you are! This ain't no mother fuckin' game."
I looked at him with teary eyes. Everything he said was starting to hit me hard. It was too emotional. I said something I shouldn't have and it caused him to overreact. He's never acted like this towards me before so I'm lucky enough he didn't point the barrel of his gun at my temple. I felt pain right below my throat. He was fuming with anger with the meaning of death in his eyes. The way he would look at the victims he's killed over the past few years.
"You never told me you had a son!" I cried out before he can threaten me with any more memories his has buried in his past.
"I don't want to talk about it." He let go of me and and sat me up fixing my stretched out shirt.
"Why you never told me about him?"
"I don't like remembering that part of my life anymore," He walks away from me rubbing his hands on his head. He walked around like that thinking. Maybe he's trying to forget his son."I never told you about him because you reminded me of him. I thought, what was the point of telling you that. I didn't know why I kept it from you at the time. The more I spoke about him the more I hated myself. The only way I felt happy was by not speaking about him at all. Till this very day I feel like an ass. A traitor. I don't know what I feel. But what I know is that it made me the man I am today."
He turned around to face me. "My wife passed away from Cancer so the only person I had was Niall. A cute young child anybody would be blessed to have. He had grey eyes just like you and pitched black hair just like you. He had an aura like you too and the more I looked after you, I saw him in you. I didn't want to scare you so I kept it to myself. I've been a mad man ever since and look where I am today. A fucking Hitman walking around killing mother fuckers. I met people like Dan and Money through the same connections and we just clicked. They may be the people I work with sometimes but I don't fuck with them. They don't fuck with me and I don't fuck with them so the way our friendship may seem all jovial is all an act. We are all trying to kill each other."
Everything was quiet until he turned on the television and watched the Ball Drop. People all over New York City cheered for joy kissing there partners.
"Twenty-fifteen here we come!" Said the announcer jumping up and down with a stranger holding up a New Years Eve sign behind the grille." 29, 28, 27, 26, 25." James looked at me with sorrow in his eyes.
'"I ain't mean to scare you like that. I don't know what they put in that beer but it sure got me hyped up." He laughed softly. I wasn't laughing at all. I continued to listen to whatever he had to say. My mind is far gone now. The television captured my attention.
"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4."
"I'll always love you and that's been the best part of my life Deion. Coming from a father figure you'll never understand that. Physically you do, but mentally you don't." He looks back at the television and sucked his teeth.
"3, 2, 1! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The crowd from the television screamed out loud into the dark skies above their drunken heads.
"So much for a New Year eh? Happy New Year Deion. I wish you plenty more to come." He bowed his head down and walked out lightly slamming the metal doors behind him.
"Happy New Year to you too." I said after hearing him close the door .