Between Family

by Erin Trejo

  My body aches as I roll over and cough. Tears burn my eyes, but it’s the way my body shivers that hurts the most. Not long after Dante and Tucker left these fuckers stormed through the front door. I didn’t see their faces as they were all in ski masks. I knew right then and there that this was gang related or was in some way tied to my dad. Well, that’s what I thought at first.

  We were tossed into a dark, musty room that smells like sweat on a small cot. Tracey sits in the corner. Her eyes are swollen and bruised as tears stream down her cheeks. I feel terrible knowing that either way this goes down that it’s not connected to her or me. She doesn’t deserve any of this and now she has no choice but to deal with it too.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper.

  “It’s not your fault Bri. We’ll be okay.”

  She doesn’t sound so sure and I know that I’m not. If this has to do with my dad, well, he runs in circles with killers. If this has to do with the Kings, well, they’re just as bad as my dad. My chest tightens just thinking about it. I can’t believe that the last time I would ever get to see Dante or Tucker would be today. No one expects their death to be like this, but something deep inside of me can feel it. There is death lingering in the air around us. Whose death it will be is the question.

  “Listen Bri,” Tracey says scooting closer to the door.

  I do the same when I hear her voice. It’s that same bitch I should have snapped her neck when she was at my house. Fucking Kerry. I can hear her talking and telling someone all she’s learned about Dante and Tucker. I guess that answers my earlier question of how this happened.

  “We need to get out of here,” I whisper to her.

  She nods her head and we both stand up from the floor. I glance around the dimly lit room only to find nothing useful. I walk over, bend down, pull the pin out of the leg of the cot, and hold it up to Tracey.

  “We have to try,” she whispers back.

  I agree. I refuse to be beaten by them again without some kind of fight. I raise my fingers. One. Two. Three. On three we pull the unlocked door open and rush out of it. That’s when I see her. Tracey screams as she rushes a guy, but Kerry is the one blocking the exit. I move toward her with the pin in my hand. She smirks as if this is all funny to her until I raise my hand and bring it down to side of her neck. Blood immediately sprays from the wound as she brings her hands up to cover it. Tracey’s screams are the only thing that brings me away from the sight in front of me. The guy has his arms around her with an arm around her throat. Her eyes water as he squeezes tighter.

  “Don’t hurt her. Please,” I beg.

  That’s when I notice who it is. It’s the guys from that night. He’s one of the guys that tried to rape us. I bend over and vomit, spraying the floor at my feet as the guys laugh.

  “So you remember us?”

  I turn my head to see who is talking and see the other one. He’s the one that Dante said he couldn’t kill right away.

  “What do you want you bastard?” I ask spitting onto the floor to try to get rid of the taste in my mouth.

  Jenkins. His name is Jenkins. He walks toward me and grabs my hair in his hands to yank me upright. My scalp burns as pain is radiating through my head.

  “What do I want? Well, there are a few things. To start with since you killed my toy, seems now I have to find another one,” he says motioning toward Kerry’s now lifeless body on the floor.

  I gasp in horror. I killed someone. I actually took a life. My head begins to spin when I drag my gaze back to his.

  “Why are you doing this?” I plead with him as tears fall down my cheeks.

  He leans in and licks my tears away making me cringe.

  “You’ll get your answer soon enough. For now though? It’s a life for a life,” he hisses and nods to his friend.

  He forces my head around to watch as the man brings a knife to Tracey’s throat.

  “Kill me. I killed her. Don’t do this. Kill me,” I beg.

  Tracey closes her eyes as realization dawns on her. Please god, don’t let them do this to her. The knife slices through her flesh like it was nothing more than paper. Blood flows down her chest and her eyelids are fluttering. She didn’t even scream. She didn’t make a sound.

  The silence is haunting, as the guys drag her to the room and just toss her in, the thud of her body causes me to throw up again. Jenkins shoves me to the floor and I fall onto my own vomit, but I don’t care anymore. I don’t feel anything. I’m just numb. All I can feel is the hot tears as they drip down my cheeks.

  “Put her back into the room until our guests arrive.”

  “With the dead girl?” the other one asks.

  “Yes. With the fucking dead girl. You have another room?” he roars.

  The man moves quickly and lifts me off the floor, but I can’t force my feet to move. He doesn’t care. He just drags me back into the room and throws me on the floor next to Tracey’s unmoving body. I lay on my side and cry. I cry for the loss of my friend. I cry because I’m confused. I cry because I will never get to see Dante or Tucker again.

  I’m a failure just like my dad always told me I was. There’s an ache in my chest that feels like a thousand knives have punctured my heart. I wish that part was true. I’ve never wished for death before. I’d never really thought about it either, but now I want it more than anything.

  I don’t know how long I’ve been laying here. I keep watching Tracey’s chest and begging her to take a breath. I know she’s gone, but I can’t accept that. This is all my fault. If she wasn’t with me she wouldn’t be dead now. There’s an emptiness in me now, that I don’t think even time can heal. I can hear the thud of footsteps as they come closer to the room. When the door opens the bright light of the hallway burns my eyes. I blink to try to adjust, but I just don’t look up instead.

  “Jesus,” I hear him mutter.

  “Dad?”

  I lift my head with new hope in my heart. He’s here to save me; he has to be. He actually came for me. I start to shove myself up, but I’m weak so I grab the wall to help balance myself. In seconds I’m wrapping my arms around a man that has never cared for me. He’s never once said that he loves me or that he was glad that I was alive. Yet here he is, and I can’t let go of him.

  “We need to talk,” he says and his voice is just as dark as always.

  There’s an edge to it now that I’ve not heard before. I can feel the bile scratching the back of my throat and feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing to attention. Whatever it is he’s about to tell me, it isn’t going to be good. I try to hold onto him, but he pushes me off. I stumble and fall over Tracey’s body and land on the floor. I look up at him and see the true hatred and darkness in his eyes.

  “Dad?”

  “Enough. Look, I made a deal. There was a job that I didn’t want, so I made shit work out in another way.”

  I’m confused. What is he talking about?

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I made a trade. You were useless in the grand scheme of things Brianna. They had something I wanted and I had something they wanted. So, I traded you.”

  “What?” I blanch as acid coils in my stomach.

  “I wanted the cash and Kerry. I traded you to get that.”

  “You did what? How could you do that? I’m your daughter.”

  “I didn’t want kids. Fuck Brianna. I was stuck with you for so long. I tried to keep your ass happy, but you wanted to run around with those fuckers from next door. You always attracted too much attention.”

  “So you hand me over to them? Did you see what they did? They killed her. There was no reason.”

  Tears stream down my cheeks as I look up at the man that made me.

  “I’m not sorry Brianna. This is the way life is for me. You were never supposed to be a part of it.”

  He turns on his heel and heads for the door.

  “You’re just going to leave me here with them?”

  His head lowers slightly before he says, �
�You were never mine to begin with.”

  I scream at the top of my lungs as he leaves the room. I don’t understand anything that is happening right now. I don’t try to escape again. Instead, I just curl into a ball and accept my new fate.

  Chapter 18

  Dante

  I’m at a loss. I’m fucked in the head. There are far too many things going through my mind that shouldn’t be. I want blood. I can taste it. Someone out there has her, and when I find them…

  “You need to calm down,” Tucker says as I stalk up to the door in front of me and kick it in with my gun in my hand.

  Someone screams, but I don’t give a shit.

  “Where is she?” I thunder as I aim my gun at one of the guys sitting on the couch.

  His eyes are wide. His hands are up in the air.

  “What the hell?” he asks.

  “Where the fuck is she?” I roar louder.

  When I don’t get an answer I move. I slam the butt of my gun into the side of his head.

  “Jesus Christ,” Tucker mumbles next to me.

  Fuck him.

  I ignore him as I move through the house and check every room. I come up empty. This isn’t the first house either. I will keep going until I find her. As I stalk back out the front door Tucker follows. He’s silent for a few minutes as I storm down the block.

  “This isn’t helping Dante,” he snaps.

  I spin to face him. I’m ready for a fight. I honestly don’t care in this moment if I have to take down my own brother.

  “Who the fuck are you? Huh? Don’t you dare try to tell me what to do.”

  “You aren’t helping anything by running around town kicking fucking doors down and shit. She isn’t in there man.”

  I move toward him. I’m about to grab him by the throat when he whispers, “You love her.” I take a step back and feel the air leave my lungs. I run my hand through my hair and sigh.

  “I love her Tucker. I don’t love her like a friend either man. I love her.”

  “I know. I didn’t want to see it, but shit bro I see it. I can see it in your eyes. It’s in the way you look at her.”

  “I didn’t plan this Tucker. I didn’t mean to step in your way, but fuck.”

  I really didn’t mean to either. I didn’t plan on loving her even though I’ve always loved her in some way or another. But now? Now my love is so much more than I originally thought it could ever be. I need her.

  “I get it Dante. Don’t stress it. I had her once and I fucked it up. I know that. She moved on and as much as I hate to admit it, I’m glad she’s with you. You’ve been good to her from day one. Even when I didn’t think you would be, you’ve been right with her.”

  We both stand in silence for a long minute. Neither of us is sure of what to say to the other. I appreciate his words more than he knows.

  “She loves you too for what it’s worth.”

  I look over my shoulder at my brother. He’s the one constant in my life.

  “How do you know that?”

  He chuckles.

  “Come on man. I’ve seen you two together.”

  I shake my head and huff out a breath when I hear a horn blaring. I look over my shoulder and see one of our guys barreling toward us. Tucker and I share a glance before he puts the car in park.

  “Why the fuck aren’t you two answering your phones?” Jorge snaps as storms toward us.

  “We’ve been busy.”

  “Yeah, kicking in the wrong doors. Fuck Dante. Jenkins has her. Her dad was in on it man.”

  I shake my head slowly because there is no fucking way he would do that to her. Would he? I know they didn’t always get along, but she’s his kid.

  “What do you mean he was in on it?”

  “That girl? The creepy bitch that was at Bri’s house? She was in on it too. I don’t know all of the details, but word going around is that daddy and that bitch were together. Bri was some sort of trade off with Jenkins.”

  “Shit,” I curse and pull my hair.

  What am I going to do now? I’ll have to go to war with Jenkins. Am I ready for that? I’m ready for that. I’m ready to take that motherfucker down at a moment’s notice.

  “I heard he’s back at his house,” he adds.

  Tucker and I share a look. Anger is vibrating between us. We both turn and head to the car and jump in quickly. As I peel off toward the house Tucker curses under his breath. He pulls his gun out, checks the clip, and puts it back up. You can feel the weight of what’s about to happen in the air. There’s a silent tension. Someone isn’t going to make it out of this alive.

  I know who Mac is. I’ve never liked him, but I made it a point to know him because of her. I know exactly what he’s capable of.

  “You got a plan?” Tucker asks.

  “Yep. Kill him.”

  Tucker chuckles under his breath as I drive. The house comes into view. I hit the curb. I don’t care anymore as I dive out of the driver’s side and stalk to the house. I don’t stop to knock; I don’t stop to think. As so as I step inside a fist collides with my face. I stumble back and try to get my bearings when Mac moves in.

  “You little fuck,” he hisses before throwing another punch.

  “Where is she?” I hiss as we circle each other.

  He smirks and I want to snap his goddamn neck.

  “She’s where she belongs.”

  I move in, lean down, and shove my shoulder into his stomach. He falls back and we both hit the floor. Our fight goes on for quite some time. We both throw blows. We both take hits. When we rise, we separate. My gun rests heavily in my hand as I aim it at him.

  “You going to kill me?” he taunts.

  “Why not?”

  “You actually give a shit about that girl?” he chuckles as he wipes blood from his lip.

  “I love that girl. I’d do anything for her.”

  “Does that include killing her dad?” he asks.

  My fingers tighten around the gun. I’m willing myself to just pull the fucking trigger.

  “I’d do anything for her, unlike you. I have a sense of respect and love for my family. That’s something you seem to be lacking.”

  “You’d do anything?”

  “Damn right. That’s exactly what I’d do for my family,” I tell him just as a shot is fired.

  The shot didn’t come from me even though Mac falls dead in front of me. I look up to see Tucker with his gun smoking in his hand.

  “The same goes for me,” he says looking at the now dead Mac.

  He slowly brings his eyes up to meet mine. I nod my head before I smirk at him.

  “You’ve always got my back,” I tell him.

  “Hell yeah. That’s what family does isn’t it? Now, let’s go get our girl. I’ve got the guys heading that way now.”

  I nod my head and step over Mac’s body. I follow Tucker out of the house and back to the car. He drives this time as I take a minute to breathe and try to calm myself. My head’s still a mess. If they hurt her I will lose it. I won’t know how to handle the darkness in me if it comes out to play.

  “We’re going to get her back,” Tucker says.

  I nod my head and glance over at him.

  “I know. How much of her are we going to get back though? You saw what happened when the dog was killed. What if she breaks Tucker? What if she isn’t her? Her own fucking dad sent her to that monster man. What if they…? What if they hurt her? If they hurt her I’m going to lose it Tucker.”

  “We will lose it. We’ve got this brother. We’ve got this.”

  Chapter 19

  Brianna

  My chest is tight as I lay here and look at her. She’s gone. She’s never coming back. There is nothing I can do to bring her back. My heart aches in my chest, but I can’t cry. The tears have stopped and refuse to come again. I don’t know how long I’ve been laying here just wishing that her chest would just rise and fall, but it doesn’t. It’s still. It’s so still.

  I can hear Jenkins out ther
e, but I don’t try to stand up or even move. I don’t try to run. What’s the point? I think I’ve finally accepted that I’m not leaving this room alive. That was a tough one. I thought about what Dante would feel if he ever saw me again. How would Tucker move on? I know that he was mad about Dante and I, but I held out hope that we could still be friends. Now that’s just another dream I have to let go.

  The worst part of this all? My dad. How could he hate me so much? What kind of person does this to their own child for money and a whore? I always knew he didn’t want me, but I never once thought he’d serve me up on a platter for death, but he did.

  “What the fuck?” I hear Jenkins roar.

  I don’t care what’s happening out there. I’m too weak and dazed to even lift my head right now. Shots are fired right outside the door, and people begin to scream. Maybe this is it? Maybe this is when they’ll come in and end me? I would relish the feeling. When the door is kicked open, I close my eyes not wanting to see who it is that’s going to end me. I clench my eyes shut and just pray that they do it quickly.

  “Fuck,” I hear the mutter, but I still can’t make myself look.

  God. I’ve never wanted to open my eyes and see him so much before.

  “It’s okay. I’m getting you out of here.”

  I open my mouth to say something, but I can’t speak. I just want to curl up into him and let the rest of the world fade away. He carries me out of the room as I lay huddled into his chest. He’s here.

  “It was Jenkins and my dad,” I sob into his chest.

  “I know. I know.”

  “You got her?” I hear Dante’s voice and my heart leaps into my throat.

  I open my eyes and turn my head to look for him. I can’t see him. Where is he? I wiggle out of Tucker’s and he sets me on my feet. I spin around and there he is. His back is to me. The air seems to thicken and time stands still. Everything happens in slow motion.

  “Dante,” I scream his name and he turns to face me.

  His eyes land on mine and mine widen. A shot blasts through the air. Dante’s eyes widen as blood explodes through his chest.

  “No,” I scream as I race toward him.