Page 8 of Law Maker

He never possessed a conscience as normal people did.

Until he did.

He could see it now. In nine hundred and seventy-four days’, when one of his boys rocked up outside with his Harley for the long ride home. Declaring.Hi, honey, your monster is home.

It’s what all innocents dreamed of.

It’s what catastrophes tasted like.

He laughed a hollow fucking sound.

The noise scared poor Bennie, as he entered with Lawless’ food.

For a cell so small, the other man retreated to the farthest corner and left Lawless with a mouthful of steak and an envelope to address, to a girl who ought to know better than to engage a degenerate.

He swiveled on the metal chair cemented to the floor. Meeting the wary eyes on his dark-haired southern cellmate. Straight as an arrow, he was caught stealing cattle like he was in the old west. Bennie’s four years of rehabilitation to being a good boy was almost up.

“You want to hear a story, Bennie?”

He had a few minutes to kill before he went to play poker with the men in charge. Then tonight he’d fuck one of those officers and be granted a wish.

Dominoes collided and house of cards fell.

Wars started because men fell in love.

And one day very soon a fella would lose his life at Lawless’ hand and then he could finally breathe easily knowing he’d fulfilled his promise.

Bennie stammered, “Eh, yeah, sure, whatever you want, boss.”

“FTS. You know what that means?” A quick shake of the other man’s head. Lawless wouldn’t hold it against him. “Fuck this shit. A tween told me. How about them apples huh?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah....” the kid was so jumpy all the time.

“Anyway. Where was I?”

Lawless smiled to himself.

And went back to the mid-west to the hell-hole he called home in Cleveland, Ohio.

All freaks had their beginning.

ACT I

TWO

“The boy who was no one.” - Penn

Growing up with no name messed with a kid’s head.

Being calledboyandkidandheyyou, didn’t fill him with the sense he was actually wanted around at all.

All the other trailer park kids had first names, sometimes two names plus a surname. Some days he made one up, to make him feel important.

One time he was Han Solo.

Until uncle Sheamus laughed his ass off about it.

He learned to tell the time very young. It meant he knew to be out of the trailer when his momma and uncle Sheamus came home.

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