Johnny rode his skateboard back from Shady Palms late on Saturday night and entered his house with the key his father had given him. After making certain that Frank was gone, he started searching for the gun that his dad took from his grandma.
He was flat on the carpet, peering underneath his father’s bed, when he heard the rumble of the garage door opening. Footsteps climbed the staircase to the second floor, so he ducked into the closet and watched for his father through the slats.
His father froze at the sound of a knock on the front door. From behind the closet door, Johnny saw his father stop suddenly and backtrack slowly through the hall, until he was in front of an old family photo on the wall. He saw him reach into the recess behind the frame and pull something heavy out. At first, Johnny couldn’t make out what was in his father’s grasp, but soon he realized that it was his grandmother’s revolver.
Clutching the pistol, Johnny’s father returned downstairs toward the dim light coming from the first floor. Johnny edged closer to the stairs and peered down into the living room. He saw his father at the base of the stairs, tucking the gun in his belt, under his shirt. Then Frank opened the door and allowed a hulking man to enter.
“I thought you might be a robber,” Frank said.
“On the contrary,” Lester said, “I am here to recover my money. If anyone is the thief, it’s you. You’re the one who took my money and made a promise that you couldn’t deliver.”
“What else do you want, Lester? I’ve been making the payments for what I owe you,” Frank said. “You have my mother in escrow, for Christ’s sake.”
“I need quicker action on your outstanding payment,” Cummings replied. “I can’t sell these bum houses. I can’t even rent them. I need you to produce some cash flow. I’ll settle for three thousand dollars for now.”
“Lester, you have the houses. This wasn’t part of the deal, that I’d have to pay you extra on top.”
“I decide what’s part of the deal. Heaven forbid anything should happen to your mother in Shady Palms,” Lester said.
Johnny saw his father take his checkbook from the kitchen counter.
“There better not be any problem with this,” Lester growled as he took Frank’s payment.
“There won’t be. OK,” Frank said with a sigh. “I’ll have the rest later, but that’s all I’ve got for now. I hope you’re happy, now that you’ve ruined my life.”
Lester grabbed Frank by the neck. Lester’s face purpled with anger and disgust as he sneered, “What are you complaining about? You think I am the bad guy and you are the victim? Don’t kid yourself. You were the one who was willing to take any risk to get into Tuscan Paradise. You were the one who didn’t have a backup plan if things went south. And worst of all, you were the one who sold out your own mother and cashed in her house to pay your obligation to me. So the way I see it, I am not the bad guy. I am doing what any businessman would do: protecting my investment by any means at my disposal. But you’re worse than I could ever be. Selling out your own mother, Frank. What kind of lowlife does something like that?”
Lester let Frank go and he fell to the ground with a thud.
Johnny heard the front door shut and guessed that Lester had left. He retreated to his room as his father slowly climbed the stairs. With his bedroom door open a crack, he watched Frank replace the gun behind the picture. Johnny waited for his father to go to sleep.
An hour later, Johnny made his move. Removing the gun from its hiding spot, he thrust it into his coat pocket, flung a backpack full of clothes over his shoulder, and left the house.
Johnny had made a decision that he was leaving home, forever.
It was finally time to break away and change his life, once and for all.
It was time to become a hero.