Page 141 of Wrench
¡°If you¡¯re living under my roof, I deserve to know what¡¯s going on.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t need to tell you every detail of my life, Dad,¡± I shot back at him, harsher than I
intended. Pain struck his eyes and I filled with guilt, but I was cornered and scared with a
bag of medical supplies on my back. ¡°Just go to bed. I¡¯m an adult. I¡¯ll be fine.¡±
¡°Sammy, don¡¯t be¡ª¡±
Before he finished, I had already shut the door. Driving out of the driveway and down
the street, I listened to the sad song on the radio and realized that after hurting my dad, I
felt worse than I had all day.
Chapter Nineteen
Wrench
Ammonia and ether polluted the air, reeking of rotten eggs or cat piss, outside of the
meth lab at the end of Argyle Road. It was a nice neighborhood and the house was in
unusually good condition for its use, though that only meant it hadn¡¯t had an explosion
yet. There was an empty lot to the right of the house and the house on the left appeared
vacant.
The seven of us lingered in the alley behind the empty house, dressed in everyday
clothing to blend in with the neighborhood. Huddling around Tank as he delivered the
final instructions, he whispered, ¡°Wrench, Archer, Ripper¡ªyou three take the front.¡± We
could hardly hear him over his hushed voice, but he was a good mime, and we nodded
obediently. ¡°Crow, Maverick, Rooster, and me are gonna go around the back here,¡± said
Tank. ¡°We¡¯re all armed this time, right?¡± All six of us, seemingly unconscious, patted
where our weapons were hidden. Crow tapped his belt and revealed two revolvers then
pulled out a steel karambit knife that was taped to his ankle.
¡°I¡¯m gonna rip out their jugulars¡¡± Crow said, pressing the point of the curved knife
against his thumb and blood pooled before spilling down. Archer covered his mouth to
stop his laugh.
¡°Okay, Rambo,¡± Tank said. ¡°We don¡¯t want this to be a bloodfest. I know we¡¯re mad,
but our goal isn¡¯t to kill. It¡¯s to end this. We do not make the first move.¡±
Ripper piped up, ¡°But¡ª¡±
¡°I don¡¯t wanna hear it,¡± Tank grunted. ¡°This is a nice neighborhood. The police will be
