Page 24 of Genesis

He lifts his brow.

“I mean, what can we entice him with to get him out of the house?”

My boy nods in understanding. “He likes girls. Let’s see if he wants to go to a strip club.”

“Think he’ll be down for that?”

“He’s a fucking pervert, Danny. He’ll be down for it.” Johnny twists the doorknob and we step inside. The smell of dank weed and booze hits me in the face so hard I have to cover my nose. “Goddamn.” I cough. “Smells like a distillery in this place.”

Johnny laughs and it’s a sound you don’t hear too often. “Yo, David,” he calls out. We hear grunting and the sound of something breaking. Both of us take off upstairs.

We hit the hall. “It’s coming from Carson’s room,” Johnny says.

I have no idea who Carson is, but when we step into the doorway, I instantly like the boy. He’s on top of David, wailing on his face with a gun.

“Jesus,” Johnny says, walking over and pulling Carson off the man. But Carson goes back in for another hit, splattering blood on his clothes.

“That’s enough,” I say.

Carson looks over at me. “Who the fuck are you?”

I lift my chin. “You don’t wanna talk to me like that.”

Carson smirks, looking back at Johnny. “Who the hell is this guy?”

I step up, quickly grabbing the boy by his throat and shoving him against the wall. I snatch the gun from his hand, putting it against his throat. “I’m Danny. And I’ll break every little bone in your face if you disrespect me again.”

Carson holds his hands up in surrender.

I let go of his throat. He coughs. “Jesus.”

“What happened here?” Johnny asks.

“Motherfucker came in my room without my permission,” Carson says, rubbing his neck and giving me a sideways glance.

“So you beat him with a gun?” Johnny asks. “Where did you even get that thing?”

“It pissed me off.” Carson shrugs. “And easy— bought it from a guy down the street.”

I laugh, looking down at the unconscious man.

“Well, we won’t have to convince him to leave the house now. Come on, get him up.”

I walk into the hall, looking for a bathroom while they pick the man up and haul him downstairs. I grab a towel and wipe my fingerprints from the gun before wrapping it in the towel and following the boys out.

______________

Ice floats in patches on the river as we three stand under the bridge with this sick fuck wrapped in a sheet. I look over at Carson, studying him for a moment. He looks back at me and I narrow my eyes as I hit my cigarette.

“Here,” I say, giving him his gun back. He looks a little surprised as he takes the wrapped-up gun, flipping the ends of the towel away from it. David moans from inside the sheet. He starts to move, and before any of us can blink, Carson shoots him three times.

Three times.

Twice in the back and once in the head.

The head would have been enough.

“Jesus. Did you even think about it before you pulled the trigger?” Johnny asks.

---