by JIrwin
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As usual, Martha Grace had dinner on the table at 5:30 on the dot, but still no Joshua. He had been gone all afternoon now with no word from him. The three remaining family members ate in silence picking at their food waiting and listening for the slightest movement or noise coming from the outside, but nothing. None of them really ate. Adam fixed his brother a plate and sat it in the microwave for when he got home. The house was somberly silent as he helped his mom clean the kitchen after dinner. He had to do something to keep himself busy. His other choice was to sit in his room worrying about his older brother and where he could be.
His parents had gone to his dad's office. Adam was standing at the kitchen sink drying the last dish when he heard the back gate slam shut. He nearly dropped the plate in his hand when he looked out the window over the sink and saw his brother leaning against the heavy wooden post covered in blood. His clothes tattered and torn, his face badly bruised, bloody and swollen, clearly he had been beaten. He was stumbling as he tried to walk the distance from the wooden gate to the back of the house. Adam had already made it to the door and opened it before he called out to his parents.
“Mom, Dad! Help! It’s Joshua!” Adam ran to his brother and slid Joshua's left arm around his neck and his own arm around his waist for support. Their parents met them at the back door. Joshua looked up at their father and fell into his arms. Edom Grace reached out catching his oldest son, the two slid to the tile floor together. Joshua’s right eye was so swollen so bad that it had completely shut and his left eye was nearly as bad, but he was able to see through a small slit in it. His bottom lip had been busted and had bled so badly that it had sealed and now formed an ugly scab. His head was bleeding from wounds to his scalp leaving his hair matted and sticky. His torso showed signs of cuts and abrasions with great bruising already starting to turn his skin dark. He was a horrific mess from head to toe.
Edom Grace barked out an order to his wife. “Call 911!” Martha grabbed the house phone, but fumbled with it a few times before she was able to start dialing.
Joshua started shaking his head then used his father’s shoulder for leverage to push himself up and spoke. “No, don’t call the police......” He turned so that he could then look at his father in the face and spoke. “No Dad, don't call the police. It's finished. It’s done.” With that being said Joshua Grace held up a bloody and battered right hand holding the very keys that he had gone after. Chills ran over Adam's body and tears erupted. His brother had done it. He had gone through what looked like the very pits of hell and came out with what he had gone in for the safety, peace of mind and sanctity of his loved ones.
It was finished, and he had done what his father had needed him to do in order for them to have ownership back to their home, vehicles and business. He had gotten the keys back from Lucian Black and freed them all from living a life filled with fear.
