A man leans out of the bulldozer wearing an orange vest and a hard hat. He looks dumbfounded as Mark sprints past his mother, toward him. Mark hops on the stool of the truck and yanks the man off. He waves his arms wildly and crashes on the ground cluttered with debris.
Then Mark starts the bulldozer.
It’s a surreal moment. I watch as he narrowly misses crushing the construction worker, turning the bulldozer away from the wrecked house to plow into the one next to it. A huge chunk splinters off the corner of the house, jagged wood left in its place. I hear his laughter over the roar of the truck and his mother, pleading with him on the bullhorn, but my blood roars the loudest. I sprint at it as it sails down the road, faster than my legs can run.
The auto shop looms in sight. “No!”
Mark’s hair whips in the wind as he heads straight for my father’s legacy. Four walls and plaster. It’s held countless charity drives. It’s where my dad taught me all he knew. In that garage, I learned what it meant to be a man. And even though there are memories of my dad all around town, I can’t bear this being ripped away from me, too.
I reach the snarling wheels of the bulldozer as Mark glances at me with a quick laugh. The laughter is not quite gone from his eyes when I leap onto the ledge, scrambling for the door. He bashes his fist on my fingers. There’s only fifty feet. Fuck—I’ve gotta—
The door swings open, and I grab the scruff of his neck, hurling him out of the seat. I don’t bother to watch him fall. My hand grabs the shift, and the engine grinds as I slam on the brakes. The unearthly sound of steel grinding concrete grates for several seconds as the lip of the bulldozer slams into my parking lot. Finally, we grind to a halt. Staring out two feet in front of me, where the office door is.
I can hardly breathe.
My heart makes a fist-sized lump against my chest. I turn my head as the dust settles, looking out the window. A sprawled Mark lays on the concrete. He flops onto his back, his pained expression widening with panic when the crowd engulfs him.
The son of a bitch deserves it.
I swing the door open, my legs shaking as I climb out. Evelyn’s voice blasts into our ears.
“STOP! STOP THIS AT ONCE!”
I’m about ready to drop kick that fucking horn into the nearest river.
Policemen wrestle with the people beating the shit out of Mark. The shock wears off, my blood surging with vengeance. I elbow through the thick of them, hauling Mark up by his hair. He screams bloody murder, digging his nails into my hands. Then I knee him between his legs, grinding my kneecap into his cock as his eyes roll into his head.
A camera flash goes off as he crumples to the ground, moaning. Mark’s hair splays on the street as he clutches himself.
“That’s enough.”
Chris pulls my arms behind me. My brother parades me to a squad car. I smile at Chris as he loops zip-ties around my wrists, and I could swear that he smiles back.
Sixteen
Olivia
My hands flip over the envelope, running my fingers over its sharp edges as though it could keep me from tearing it open. They graze the name. Mrs. Carter. Mark hated that I had to write my legal name for the test. My heart skips a beat as I glance at the from address: Lawrence DNA Center.
It arrived days ago, but with all the chaos I hadn’t thought to open it. Or mention it to Gage. Mark was charged with resisting arrest and endangering the public. Jezebel ran with a series of photos of Mark throwing the construction worker out of the bulldozer and crashing through someone’s house. Shortly after that, real-estate mogul Matthew Cranbury issued a statement that Mark had been suspended without pay pending investigation of his actions.
Then George uploaded a YouTube video of the whole incident, and shit hit the fan. Every news station played the footage on loop for days, putting Fair Oaks on the map, and turning it into a permanent tourist attraction. The weekend after, Habitat of Humanity made a visit to help rebuild Brenda’s house. George made thousands of dollars off advertisements on his video, donating it all to her. And Gage’s charges of assault and battery were