Page 86 of Karma

“Yeah, I know that,” Joker says. “The plan is still on. We fight to the death. But I’m gonna take this chance to kill the guy who brought us all here. And you’re gonna get to watch it happen.”

I nod, accepting this gift from him. It could be the last one he ever gives me. “OK, I got your back. Good luck.”

We grip hands, a silent goodbye passing between us. There’s no words for saying goodbye to your best friend in the whole world, so I won’t even try to find them. Just like there were no words to ever say goodbye to Karma and Grim. Goodbyes are overrated anyway. I never got to say goodbye to my father orbrothers, or to Honey, she was just dead one day when I came home from school.

I watch Joker descend the hill, watch him approach Ice who is standing in the middle of Main Street, wanting to think about anything other than the gunshot I know I’m gonna hear any second now. Everything else is as silent as a graveyard. Even the moaning and wheezing of the wounded has died down. The only sound I hear is the beating of my heart.

Until a woman’s scream rents the silence.

Eden is running down the hill from the house, dressed in white, her dark hair streaming behind her.

“No!” she screams at Joker and her father. “Don’t do this!”

She might as well be taking the words right out of my mind. She reaches them and I can’t hear what she says to them next, but the pleading look on her face as she speaks is loud enough. They’re both staring at her like they can’t believe she’s really there. We all can’t believe she’s here. All the Devils, all the Lost Sons, Karma and Grim, and especially Joker.

I feel for the guy right now. How is he gonna get out of this one? Is he gonna kill her father right in front of her? All he does is plan and re-plan all day and night long, but I’m certain he has no plan for this. I can read it plainly off his face. He also can’t stop this battle. And I can tell he knows it just as well as I do. But I can also see in his face that he’d give Eden anything she asked for. I know that look well. Used to be I got it from him often.

She keeps talking and at one point he glances at me over his shoulder, looking for an answer. I don’t have one. But of the two choices he’s facing—Eden or the war—I think he should choose love. So I shrug and nod, grinning at him. Hopefully he knows what I’m trying to say. He probably does. He knows me just as well as I know him.

Ice looks about as confused as Joker. Neither of them knows what to do or say. Nor do any of the rest of us. Over a hundredmen and women are just standing here, so silent I can hear the wind blowing.

“Let’s talk!” Cross yells from somewhere and the silence deepens even further.

But Joker visibly relaxes, his shoulders dropping and the tightness draining off his face. He faces our men, some of which looks shell-shocked, many of which are grumbling and cursing now.

“The way I see it, we can either talk or die,” Joker says, his voice carrying. “But I can’t make that choice for you. I can only make it for myself.”

And with that, he tosses his gun into the dirt. It lands with a thud that echoes over the hills. I know what time this is. This is like that drop of a pin that could either lead to total destruction. Or the end of the war. Seconds pass by long like hours and the silence drags and drags. I’m glad he made this choice. But it doesn’t mean we get to live. He needs my backup, like always.

I toss my gun on the ground too and face our men. “As much as I’d like to go down in a hail of bullets to get my revenge, I don’t think today’s the day. Doesn’t feel right.”

I wish I had better words to say. But I spoke the truth and that’s as good as it gets. Karma smiles at me as she tosses her knife and gun to the ground. Grim does the same. And pretty soon, almost everyone starts getting rid of their weapons.

I still can’t believe no one’s shooting as I jog down to Joker. Ice and Eden are getting reacquainted a couple of feet away and Ice still looks like he might faint.

“I’m sorry,” he says as I reach him. “I had to do it. I had to try and stop the war. For her.”

He glances at Eden and I’d be lying if the look of devotion and love on his face didn’t make me a little bit jealous.

“I’m happy you did,” I say. “I just can’t believe it worked.”

I look around. A lot of our brothers look mad as hell, but they’ve ditched their weapons too and no one’s fighting.

“Yeah, I can’t either,” Joker says following my gaze, but then he fixes his searching eyes on me. “Are you OK with this? I know you needed this revenge.”

I clap his shoulder. “Like I said. It’s not our day to die. And maybe I didn’t need revenge after all. Maybe all we needed was to forget.”

His eyes narrow in doubt, but then he grins. “Maybe you’re right. We have been working real hard to keep our hate alive.”

“Yeah, we were pretty consumed by it,” I say. “But maybe it’s time to get consumed by something better.”

I look in Eden’s direction, but really, I’m looking at Karma and Grim who are slowly approaching from behind her.

“You were right,” Joker says, looking at Eden too. She and her father are huddled beside my house, talking on the phone. “I did fall in love with her. Long before I was willing to admit it to myself.”

“At least you’re admitting it now,” I say.

“But can this peace even hold?” Joker asks.

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