Page 17 of Last Breath

As we plate the food, there’s not one piece of meat visible. Salem had skinned and gutted the small rabbit, but it was not nearly enough for four, so he placed it in the fridge. I want to kick and scream at the injustice of my plate devoid of a dead animal carcass, but the growl from my stomach tells me to eat anything at this point.

Anythingis better than nothing.

With the waft of a home cooked meal hitting my senses, I’m actually excited to enjoy the company of others. Do I think Salem can handle the sweet care? Probably not, but I’ll buffer the situation until the point I think sleeping here won’t be safe for them. I know Sal as well as I know myself, and when he can’t take more, we’ll leave before causing harm. I hope.

As Joy wheels in her grandmother, I find the old woman’s wizened face and clouded eyes shows her age. How Joy became her provider is still a mystery, but that alone shows she cares deeply. The older woman hasn’t been nice since we walked through the door and Joy has accepted it with grace. It’s grating on me.

Smiling, Joy makes introductions as she enters. “Gran, this is Malachi.” I smile and say hello. “And this is Salem.” He too smiles, but I know it’s for show, nothing more.

Her grandmother doesn’t smile as we’re introduced, she actually looks seriously pissed off. I leave it and remind myself we’re guests as I pull out a chair to sit. As it scrapes the floor, I hear a sound I recognize so well and Salem hits the floor. Gunshot.

“I told you what I’d do if that Jones boy came by! He killed my cat, Corrine! He killed my cat!”

That’s when everything blurs. Rushing to Salem where he’s laid out on the floor, I’m in a state of shock and nothing else matters.

“Holy shit! That hurt, man.” He laughs, holding his arm tight.

“Oh my God, Gran! You shot someone!” Joy shouts, scrambling to remove the gun from her patriarch.

Pulling a towel off the counter, hoping to stop the bleeding in his shoulder, I find that’s it’s thankfully just a graze. The old woman didn’t aim for his chest, but it’s bleeding quite a bit.

Listening to Joy and her grandmother heatedly converse, I laugh. It’s a nervous tick of mine. When something is utterly fucked up, I laugh. Sal gives me shit for it all the time, says it throws off our prey. Hearing me laugh, thinking I’m the psychotic one, everyone discounts Salem. No one fears him because they don’t understand.

Looking down at him, trying to gauge the situation, Salem smirks. With a devious wink, Salem runs his tongue along his teeth. “Hospitality is keen here,” Salem says with a sick sense of humor.

“You can say that again.” Talking over my shoulder, “Joy, get a handle on your grandmother, please.”

“I’ve got it. I’m so sorry.” She scrambles to the floor beside us to check on Salem.

“Are you okay?” She lays the gun on the floor beside her, freaking out. “I don’t know what to say to help. To do…to…oh my God, she’s just so—”

“It’s okay, Joy.” Laying a hand on hers, Salem tries to calm her. “I’m fine, trust me.”

With her eyes trained on the blood seeping out of the rag, Joy seems transfixed. Mesmerized. Snapping herself out of it, “I’ll go get the first aid kit.” Joy jumps up from the floor and heads off.

Starting to pull himself up off the floor, I’m working to keep the cloth in place. “Let me see it,” he says.

Shit. “No, Sal.”

“Yes, Mal. Let. Me. See it.”

“It’s a bad idea, Salem.” He knows if he pushes, I’ll fold. It’s normallycleanerto give in to his whims, but normally we’re alone and not in the company of others. Well, not those that are alive anyway.

“Mal,” he prods once more.

Fuck.

Scrunching up my face, the tight scars pull, but I relent. “Fine, Sal. Fine.”

Lifting my hand away, Salem peers at the hole in his arm.

“Don’t do it,” I say, thinking I can back him off. A light enters his eyes. We’re in for something awful unless his darkness can be appeased.

With a sinister grin, he asks, “Don’t do what, Malachi?”

Fuck. He only calls me Malachi when things are about to get messy.

Touching the edge of the hole, he pokes his finger in it. Any normal person would shy away or flinch, but Salem? His grin widens.

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