Page 11 of Tormented in Silence: Part One

I grab the mask from my back pocket and put it on over my head to cover my identity. None of us wear our cuts just in case someone sees us. We aren’t too worried because one good thing about the cops being corrupt is we have a few in our pocket. But it’s still better to lie low when possible.

The door swings open, and before he can even react, I shove him back into the house. The kid screams, but I don’t pay attention to him as I see Stone and Blade come in right after me and go to the boy.

“Who the fuck are you? Hey! Get away from my boy!”

I laugh. The most sinister laugh I can manage. “What the fuck do you care about him? Were you not just hitting him a few moments ago?”

I slap his face hard a few times. He winces and tries to stand to come after me, but I kick him in the gut and he falls back, letting out a pained cry.

“What’s the problem?” I taunt. “Can’t take what you dish out?” I look over and make sure the kid is out of sight. Blade is standing next to me and nods his head. I grab the douchebag by the shirt collar and start pummeling his face. “Pick.”Punch. “On.”Punch. “Someone.”Punch. “Your own goddamn size!” I slam his head into the floor as hard as I can and stand up and take a step back.

I look down at him and see the pathetic bastard crying.

I sneer, “I will never understand how a man can beat on a kid, but you can’t take a few hits yourself. Oh, that’s right, you’re not actually a man. You’re a piece of shit who gets off hurting those who you see as below you and are weaker than you.”

“Hmm, maybe we should take his manhood, since he’s not a real man. What do you think, brother?” Blade says with a gleam in his eyes.

I shrug. “He’s yours. But you can’t kill him, Blade. Do whatever else you want to him.”

Blade cackles like a maniac. The man may be an amazing guardian to those boys and be able to run businesses, but when he unleashes the enforcer in him, he’s insane. He goes right for the man’s pants, and I decide this is something I don’t want to see. I’ll get my hands dirty, but Blade takes it even farther.

I head further into the house and find Stone and the boy in his room, and the boy is packing a bag. “Hey buddy, I’m Axe. You’re Lucas, right?” He nods. “You ready to go see your mom, big man? She’s waiting for you.”

His eyes that looked defeated and broken down before light up, and he gives us a huge smile. “My mama?”

I nod. “Yep. Give me your bag, and we’ll go.” We lead him out through the back door, and I whisper to Stone, “How the fuck did you get him so calm and fine with being near us?”

Stone just blinks at me and then shrugs, hurrying to catch up with the boy. Stone is a broody silent bastard, but somehow, he got this little boy who is probably seven at most to calm down and be okay with strangers taking him right after his dad beat on him. Honestly, it doesn’t surprise me.

Blade comes out a few minutes later covered in blood with a huge smile on his face. “You done?” He nods and takes off towards where our bikes are, making sure the boy doesn’t see him.

We walk around the block to where his mom is waiting and this? This is why we do what we do. I may not be the biggest fan of doing things illegally, but this takes away any guilt or worry I have. Lucas runs to his mom, and she drops to her knees and sobs as they hug. Lucas starts crying too, but seeing them together, knowing we had a hand in helping them, makes everything worth it.

She gets Lucas into the car and situated before shutting the door and walking back to us where we stand behind the trunk.

“I can’t thank you enough.” She sniffles and wipes under her eyes. “Did everything go okay?”

“When we got to the house and were able to peek in through the window, we found him hitting Lucas and screaming at him.” Before Blade continues, she lets out a loud sob and wraps her arms tightly around herself.

Not being able to just stand by and watch her suffer without support, I step forward and cautiously open my arms.

After only a few seconds of hesitation, she steps forward, and I hug her, allowing her to sob into my chest. Blade sneakily pulls out a switch blade and keeps it down by his side so he can fiddle with it. His eyes are shadowed with his own demons.

“Axe immediately intervened,” Blade continues. “Stone got Lucas to his room so he could get his stuff while Axe and I took care of him.”

A moment later she steps back again, wiping under her eyes and straightening her shoulders, finding her strength again. “Thank you for your help. I can never express how much it means to Lucas and I.”

We all nod our heads, and I say, “If you ever need anything don’t hesitate to reach out. We will always help when we can.”

She gives us a tired smile, and we all say goodbye and watch her and Lucas drive off.

“Are you sure we can’t go back and finish the job?” Blade grumbles.

I let out a humorless chuckle, “As satisfying as that would be, he wasn’t our end goal tonight. They were.” I nod towards the retreating car.

“Don’t be fucking logical, Axe,” Blade grunts as we walk back to our bikes.

We ride back towards the clubhouse, taking a scenic route so it looks like we just went for a long ride. I let the crisp, cool air calm me.

---