Page 92 of Alpha Bait

My revenge was also about his sister. Even then, I couldn't bring myself to admit to him anything that happened between us. It was as if what had happened was a secret that I couldn't bear to share. If I did share how I felt about Indie, I would be exposing too much of myself. No, our relationship belonged in private.

"Your brother got what he deserved."

I cocked the gun.

"You could shoot me, or you could fight like a man."

He wouldn't taunt me by playing to my ego.

I kept the gun high. I walked closer to press the barrel into Jamal's forehead. He didn't flinch.

He taunted me, "go ahead. Do it."

My finger trembled over the trigger. I gritted my teeth, determined that I would find it within myself to shoot him.

As I was about to pull the trigger, the door that I shut behind me swung open. Against my will, my head jerked around to see who entered. That moment of distraction had been enough. Jamal hit the gun out of my hand and kicked it across the floor just as his mother entered the room.

"Put your hands up," her voice boomed throughout the studio apartment with unwavering strength.

The raspiness that had tinged her voice in her old age did nothing to diminish the terror that could be inflicted by her stern words.

I put my hands up. Gail Holloway stepped into the room, gun raised.

"Backs against the wall," she commanded.

I wasn't so foolish as to defy her. If her progeny were any indication, she'd shoot. I stepped in line with Jamal and placed my back against the wall just as she asked.

Jamal scowled, "what are you doing, mama?"

The vitriol in his voice surprised me. It was clear what she was doing. She had trusted us to put an end to the fighting and she had determined to do so herself.

"If either of you moves, I will shoot."

Jamal chuckled.

"You will shoot me?"

"I will do what I must to end this violence."

"And what will you do when your breadwinner is 6 feet under? If you shoot me, you'll be betraying your own husband."

"My husband is dead. And it is my responsibility to put an end to this nonsensical violence while I am still alive. If he wants to stop me, he can rise up from the dead and do it himself."

"I know you won't shoot me mother," Jamal said.

He still had not raised his hands in the air. I was too afraid to put mine down. I saw the look in Gail's eyes that I had seen in Indie's once before. She had that fierce determination, that stubbornness that could not be quelled. I would not have tempted her.

Apparently, Jamal did not know his mother as well as he thought he did.

"I am going to finish this once and for all," he said.

He lunged towards the gun which he had kicked far away from me. As soon as he moved, his mother fired. A piercing gunshot rang throughout the building. Jamal let out a scream that sounded like a desert jackal. His mother stared with an unflinching gaze as he clutched his shoulder and fell to his knees.

"Move one more muscle Jamal and I will finish this."

Blood gushed from Jamal's wounds. Gail didn't aim to kill, but I would not have taken my chances that if he moved again she wouldn't.

"You shot me!"

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