“I am!”
“That’s bullshit, Henry. You killed me the worst. You know that? You have a child with Ellen, you sneak off and marry her and then, then I asked you, I asked you to be honest with me. I asked you to tell me if you stood behind Ellen and I. I asked if you supported us being together. YOU said yes. You said you would make sure of it and the whole time you lied!”
“What are you talking about, Frank?”
“Don’t!” Frank held his hand out pointing. “Knock it off! Answer me honestly, Henry. Do you have an understanding with Dean?”
Henry waited before answering, “It’s not an understanding.”
“Really.”
“No, it’s not. It’s not supposed to be a understanding.”
“Then you tell me why I had to walk in his house and see both of them half naked. Why?”
“He ... he needs her, Frank.” Again, Henry wiped the blood that poured down his face.
“So, it’s true. You married Ellen so they could be together. The whole you and me working together thing is bullshit. You did it so she could be with Dean.”
“He needs her. It was temporary. That’s why I didn’t say anything to you.”
“Temporary? He needs her?” Frank’s words held so much of an angry edge. “So you loan her out because he needs her? She’s not a fuckin lawn mower, Henry. She’s a person. You don’t loan her out until the next person needs to borrow her. You married her like a pimp. She’s not a fuckin whore and that is exactly what you’re making her.”
Stupid or not, weak or not, Frank had crossed Henry’s line. Stepping to him with all of his strength, Henry swung out his tightly closed fist, connecting hard with Frank’s jaw.
A sideways toss of Frank’s head then it snapped right back up. When it did, Frank grabbed hold of Henry’s shirt, tossing him back-first, hard into the wall.
Henry bounced forward, falling to the floor. He saw Frank coming. What did he start? Hurrying to his feet and grabbing the lamp that laid there, Henry stood. In a turning spin, in his best defense, he smashed that lamp into the side of Frank’s head, trying to stop the maddening force of Frank he saw rippling his way.
It was a blow that Frank felt. The pain of it knocked him off his balance and onto the floor. Losing his perception for only a second, Frank shook his head and felt his anger build even more. Facing the front door, Frank, with a growl, stood up ready to charge Henry. As he turned to face him, he saw Henry racing at him, but what Henry did not expect was for Frank to be so ready for him.
Leaping his thin body at Frank, Henry felt himself being lifted farther than his physical capabilities allowed him to jump. Frank had hold of him and Henry’s charged-run only fed a strengthening fuel to Frank’s fire. Feeling himself going, Henry wasn’t going to go alone. With every bit of strength he had, he held on to Frank and in that instant both men crashed with a vengeance through the porch screen door, bouncing once off the steps and rolling out into the grassy area before them. So enthralled in their emotional battle, they failed to hear Ellen’s scream when they nearly knocked her over as she made her approach.
Ellen, shaking, knew she was at a loss. Watching Frank stand up first and literally lifting Henry to his feet by his neck, told her Frank was out of control and Ellen raced off to go get help.
“Robbie!” Ellen burst through Joe’s front door. “Joe!”
Robbie sprang up from the couch. “El, hey did you come to get the kids or did you come to get me?” The smiled dropped from his face. “What’s wrong?”
“Frank.” She caught her breath and then saw Joe walk in the room. “Joe!” She ran to him. “Frank ... Frank and Henry are fighting. They’re fighting bad, Joe. You have to stop them. Frank will kill him.”
Joe barreled by Ellen without saying anything, following Robbie, who was already out the door.
Robbie ran, bare feet and all, toward the vision of Frank and Henry not far down the street. From what Robbie could see, Henry was losing any fighting chance he ever had.
Slam! Frank pummeled his fist into Henry, and Henry stepped back, leg over leg, catching himself before he fell. In a weakened run toward Frank, Henry swung out hitting Frank in the corner of his mouth. It was in that after-hit instant, with Frank blurry, and everything spinning around him, that Henry felt the tight grip to his throat. One huge hand of Frank’s had reached out snatched him forward. Henry couldn’t breathe. He felt the choke of Frank’s palm pressing with firmness against his neck. In a gasp for air, eyes somehow losing their steadiness, Henry found himself face to face with Frank, under Frank’s control. “Frank.” Henry tried to speak, his hands trying to free himself. “Frank, stop this.”
“I’ll stop it.” Frank clenched his free hand into a fist, raising it in a torturous suspense to Henry. “For every lie you ever told me, Henry. For all the pain you caused me ...” Frank gripped tighter to a defenseless Henry. “Right here and now, I’m gonna finish this. It’s over!” Just as he was about to deliver what would have been his final devastating blow, Frank heard his brother call out.
“Frank, no!” Robbie raced forward leaping at them and diving on Frank’s back. “Get off of him!”
Frank struggled with his brother who held tightly to his fist. His choke hold on Henry slipped and Frank’s fingers reached out, grabbing Henry’s shirt. “No!” he growled, struggling more when Joe pulled at Henry trying to free him from his son’s grip. His emotions had built so strongly that all it took was one hard jolt of his body and he knocked Robbie off of him, jerked Henry towards him from Joe, and with both hands, he hurled Henry hard to the ground another five feet away. Frank then assailed forth at him, grabbing him, lifting him, and readying to hit him again.
Joe saw it. Robbie saw it too. Frank wasn’t going to stop. He had reached his out-of-control point and it was going to take everything they had to bring him down. Both of them, Robbie and Joe, could not give up. They dove back into Frank’s battle trying to separate Frank and a now powerless Henry.
Robbie was pulling at Frank, and Joe was pulling at Henry. Frank was grunting out a call of frustration, trying to swing his arm forward at Henry, trying to stand on his feet against the powers that fought to bring him down. Robbie and Joe, despite their best efforts, were losing. How much more could Henry take?
Suddenly, in the madness of the fight, a lone, single shot rang out, closely and loudly. One shot. In that one shot, Frank fell to the ground, bringing with him, not only Henry but also Robbie and Joe, who were holding on so tightly they had no choice but to fall right along with him.
Like a commercial break at the height of an action scene, everything stopped and all movement ceased.
Breathing heavily, Frank released Henry and swung his arm out to push off his brother. In doing so, Frank had cleared a visual path for himself. He saw the reason for the gunshot and the person who fired it. Ellen, holding a revolver out, walked toward the four men on the ground who all stared up at her. The gun shook from her trembling hand that embraced it.
“I had to stop you,” she spoke coldly, pointing the gun at Frank the closer she stepped. “I had to.” Her words were emotional and the gun closed in on him. “If you touch him again, Frank, I swear to God, I won’t shoot you in the leg again. The next time I’ll kill you.”
Frank took a long breath to slow his hyper breathing. He looked at Robbie, then Joe, and then at Henry. Then Frank found himself staring at the barrel of the revolver that was inches from his face. “Sounds good, El, but you see, there’s only one problem.” Frank huffed, shook his head in disbelief then raised his voice to a high level as he screamed in annoyance at her, “You didn’t shoot me!” He reached up, snatching the gun from her hand. “Gimme that! You aimed? You fuckin aimed at us? What the fuck is wrong with you shooting into a group of men? A shot in the air wouldn’t cut it. You had to fuckin aim! Your aim isn’t that good! What the hell, El?”
Ellen’s hands covered her ears. “Stop it, Frank! Stop it! You could have killed Henry. You could ha
ve killed him.”
“I could have killed Henry? No, El, you stood more of a chance of killing Henry.” Frank twitched his head to Henry. “I was fighting with him, holding on to him. And you shot at me? Where the hell are your brains?”
“Fighting. You were fighting?” Ellen asked. “You two weren’t fighting. No offense, Henry, but it was a slaughter.”
A reality check hit Henry and then fear plastered his bleeding face. Henry shuddered some, shaking his head, and he rolled with a painful grunt onto his back. “El, I know what you were trying to do.” He coughed and grabbed his side. “But ... but.” Henry’s eyes widened and he stared out in shock. “Oh my God.” He took a second to wipe the blood from his face.
Frank tossed his hand up in the air then looked at the revolver. “Is this yours, Henry?”
“Yeah.” Henry took it from Frank. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Frank looked up at Ellen who surprised him when he saw a tear roll down her cheek. “What are you doing, El? Shut up, Robbie. This isn’t funny” He elbowed his brother who laughed. “Huh? Why are you crying?”
“Leave me alone, Frank. You’re an asshole!” Ellen held her hand to Henry. “Come on, Henry, let’s get you to the clinic. Look ... look what he did to you.” Hard she swung her leg out to Frank.
“Ow!” Frank grabbed his shin and stood up. “You fucking kicked me.”
“You’re yelling at me! You beat up Henry!” Another kick at Frank.
“OW!” Frank hopped then grabbed his leg. “You shot at me!”
Ellen sniffled, holding tightly to Henry and trying to back up, crying as she did. “I was only trying to help. Joe ... Joe and Rob ... Robbie. They couldn’t stop you. I was scared. Henry, I’m sorry. I was only sacred.”
Frank rolled his eyes. “But you shot into a group of men. You don’t fuckin shoot into a group of men. It’s a good thing your aim just sucks. It’s a good thing you didn’t hit anyone.”
Joe cleared his throat and grunted as he picked himself up a little from the ground. “I wouldn’t exactly say that, Frank,” he spoke with such an agitated tone. “Because!” Joe yelled as he gave scolding eyes at Ellen, “she shot me in my goddamn ass!”
<><><><>
“So you understand?” Joe asked Robbie, who stood in the examining room with his father. “You know what needs to be done.”
“Yes.” Robbie nodded once, looking at his father who lay on his stomach on the table.
“Assess the damage over at Henry’s and give me a report. Those two are going to be the ones to clean up the mess.”
“Got it.” Robbie looked at Andrea who gathered her supplies on a tray near the table. She whistled while she worked. “Will my dad be OK?”
Andrea snickered. “Oh just fine. May have limp for a week or so.” She smiled widely and pulled down the sheet some from Joe. “Ready, Joe Slagel?”
“Christ.” He ran his hand down his face. “Go on. And, Robbie.” He pointed at his son who was leaving. “Make it dramatic. You know what you have to do.”
“Yes. I know just who to get to do it too.”
“Good.” Joe’s head plopped down when Robbie left and he felt the chill of the air against his burning backside. His head sprang back up when he heard Robbie say, ‘hey, El’ and then heard the examining room open. “No.” He looked at Ellen who walked in. “Andrea, make her leave. Get her out of here.”
“Oh hold still, Joe.” Andrea tapped his rear-end with a snicker and worked some more.
“Joe.” Ellen walked closer slowly.
“Out!”
“Joe ...” Ellen ignored his dismay. “I’m sorry I shot you in the butt, Joe. I didn’t mean to do it.”
“You never mean to do anything that you ... Ow! Goddamn it, Andrea, use something to numb the area. Ellen, get out.”
“No.” Ellen shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry ... Andrea?” Ellen smiled. “Is that the ‘Silly’ song you’re humming? Nice rendition.”
“Thank you.” Andrea’s hands kept busy. “I like it. I also found if I slow it down just a tad it’s so emotional.”
“You should see if Robbie would let you sing that with his band,” Ellen told her. “It would be such a change of pace to hear a woman ...”
“Hello!” Joe called out. “I’m lying here with my ass exposed and you are the last person I want to see right now, Ellen. I’m pissed at you. Really pissed. You shouldn’t have grabbed that gun and you shouldn’t have fired at us. You understand me?”
“Yes, Joe,” Ellen said with fright. “But I ...”
“No ‘but I’. Getting Henry’s gun was one thing. Firing it into the air was another. Shooting at one of us ... that’s, that’s a whole other ball game, Ellen. And you hit one of us. What in Christ’s name would make you shoot Frank?”
“He was killing Henry. He was beating him up.”
“Do you really think Frank would have killed Henry?” Joe asked her, so upset. “Son of a bitch bastard, Andrea, take it easy!”
Ellen fiddled with her hands, “Yes, Joe, I think he would have. Frank is strong. I know what Frank can do. Henry, Henry isn’t as strong as Frank. No one is and Frank being as upset as he was ...”
“Stop!” Joe held up his hand. “First of all, Ellen, I was there. Robbie was there. We wouldn’t have let Frank kill Henry.”
“Not meaning any disrespect, Joe,” Ellen spoke, “but you guys weren’t doing a very good job.”
“At least we didn’t shoot anyone! I’m shot, Ellen. You shot your father for crying out loud.”
“I’m sorry.”
Andrea’s excited ‘oh’ caught Joe and Ellen’s attention. Andrea held up the bullet with the tweezers. “Got it! Buried nicely just in the flesh.” The bullet clanked when it dropped in the basin.
After giving a thumbs-up to Andrea, Ellen resumed looking at Joe. “You are the last person I would shoot, Joe. I feel really bad. I do.”
“Tell me something, Ellen. Tell me what started this whole thing,” Joe said. “Why was my son going after Henry with such a vengeance? I know no one is going to tell me any differently. It had to do with you. Ninety-nine percent of the fights in this community are over our women. What the hell happened?”
“It did have to do with me, Joe.” Ellen hung her head down. “But it was Frank’s fault. He shouldn’t have gotten so out of control. He had no right.”
“What did you do?” Joe asked.
“Some things have been going on with Dean in his life. He’s ... he’s having problems, bad problems and I’ve been helping him. Well Frank, he, he walked in on something tonight that he probably didn’t want to walk in on. And he got mad. I told him that I was allowed and that Henry knew about me and Dean.”
Andrea let out a sweet ‘ah’. “That’s nice, Ellen, you and Dean are back together. That is really ...”
“Andrea!” Joe scolded in his yell. “Finish, Ellen.”
Ellen took a breath. “Anyhow, Frank immediately got mad at Henry at that point. He stormed out of Dean’s house and beat up Henry.”
“Tell me, Ellen, if I’m getting this right. If Frank walked in on you and Dean, how in the world did Dean get off so easy?”
“Well, Joe, that’s kind of personal don’t you think?”
“That’s not what I’m talking about!” Joe yelled. “I would think that Frank would have given his wrath to Dean as well.”
“No, Joe.” Ellen waved her finger about. “Frank shouldn’t have given his wrath to anyone. Dean and I are together. We’re allowed to be together. I’m sorry that Frank doesn’t like it.”
“There’s a little more to it than that, Ellen. Do you have any idea why Frank got so mad about it?”
“He was jealous.”
Joe imitated Ellen. “He was Jealous ... No! Granted my son would get jealous, but do you honestly believe, in his jealousy over you and Dean, he would have beaten up his best friend?”
“Come to think of it.” Ellen tapped her finger on her lips. “No. So
why did Frank beat up poor Henry?”
“You don’t know? You really don’t know?”
“No, I don’t. What did Frank tell you?” Ellen asked.
“Frank didn’t tell me anything.”
“Then how do you know why he beat up Henry?”
“I’m gonna make a pretty good guess here, Ellen. Now I’m not defending my son’s actions. I’m defending his reasons for his anger, understand?” He waited for Ellen to nod. “Frank went after ‘poor’ Henry because Henry has been lying to him for quite some time.”
“What?” Ellen was shocked. “Henry doesn’t lie.”
“Not intentionally and I truly believe Henry believed every word of it. You said you are with Dean. Henry knows?”
“Of course he knows, Joe.”
“Well I didn’t know. Frank didn’t know. If Henry knew, why on earth would he set up an understanding arrangement with my son? And he did.” Despite Ellen’s shocked expression, Joe continued, “I even thought at first that you and Dean were gonna have that understanding or whatever you want to call it. But I was quickly corrected by your poor Henry about that one. Ellen, not once in any of the conversations that I had with Henry or Frank was it mentioned to me about you and Dean.”
“But, Joe, I never ... I never told Henry that.”
“He thinks you did. From what I gathered, it happened or you said something during your quarantine time. I don’t know. Whatever the case was, Henry believed that you were going to be with Frank. Your poor Henry rolled with that. Here my son is be-bopping along Beginnings thinking he’s getting the love of his life back, when all along you’re with Dean and his best friend, the same one who was stringing him along like a puppet, knew about it the whole time. Pissed? I’d sure as hell be pissed at Henry if he led me on like that too. Maybe he just didn’t want to hurt Frank, but he hurt him more by not telling him the truth. Frank hurt back the best way he knew how. If I were Frank, right now I’d be mad at Henry, you, and though he’s an innocent in this, Dean ... just because he has attitude.”
The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series Page 287
