Page 120 of Brew
I take the gun she’s still holding in her hand, turn the safety on, and shove it into the back of my jeans. I hold her face in my hands. “You’re okay, everythin’ is gonna be okay.”
“Is she….”
“She’s breathin’,” I mutter. “Nice shot.”
“I-I didn’t want to do it.”
“I know, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. You did good.”
“She’s crazy,” Erica whispers. “She’s out of her mind, she held Olive at gunpoint. I need to see Olive.”
“I’m here, Mom,” Olive says from behind her mom. She folds into Erica’s arms, both of them unable to hold back the tears.
I hate that I wasn’t here for this. That they could’ve been dead by the time I got back.
“Brew,” Bronco starts, but I wave him off.
“Later.”
“I’m sorry, man, she got the jump on Olive,” he continues.
“Don’t be mad at him,” Erica says to me. “Everything happened so fast. A gunshot went off, it woke me up… is… is Chains okay? Rodeo?”
“Rodeo went to get food, he’s fine. Chains will live, but he’s got a nice big hole in his stomach,” Haze says behind me. “The boys are seein’ to him now.”
“Fuck,” I mutter.
“Ambulance is on its way. So are the cops, had to call this one in,” Logan says from the doorway; my brothers were right behind me when Chains rang, bullet and all, to tell me what had happened.
That stupid fucking bitch. Here I was thinking that fuckface Steven was the one to look out for, but it was one of Erica’s ex-sister wives instead. The woman is clearly a lunatic.
Olive insists she’s okay, then folds herself into my arms as my eyes widen. “Thanks, Brew, for always being there for us.”
“Your mom just shot someone, savin’ your lives, and you’re thankin’ me?”
“The distraction worked, and Mom’s a pretty good shot.” Olive shrugs.
She pulls back, and I look her in the eye. “You did good, you’re a good kid.”
“Sometimes,” she says. “But if I hadn’t gotten up to get a glass of water?—”
“Don’t blame yourself,” I say. “This woman is gonna be goin’ away for a very long time. She was crazy.”If she actually lives.But I don’t want to say that part.
“Will Mom… will she get in trouble?” Olive stammers.
“It was self defense, nothin’s bad is gonna happen, I promise.”
“D-do you know that for sure?”
I pinch her chin. “Yes.”
She nods. “Okay.”
I look up, meeting Erica’s gaze. She has tears in her eyes, and I frown as she brushes them away.
“Let’s go upstairs,” I say. “Until the police and ambulance arrive, you don’t need to see this.”
Erica glances over at Jude, still on the floor, breathing but not conscious. She nods.
