“It’s too late! The time to do that was fourteen years ago.
You’ve been gone half my life!” I shouted, “We’ve moved on. It’s over! You’ve got to get out of town, Dad, and stay gone. For your own good, but especial y for ours.” He flinched like I’d hit him.
“You don’t mean that Princess Jet.”
I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean a word of it. I wanted him to come back, I wanted to live large with Mom and Lottie and Dad al together again.
But that was a dream and I knew dreams didn’t come true.
Dad taught me that.
I didn’t get time to go back on what I said, soften the blow or finish my point.
It was at that moment, I found out what war felt like.
* * * * *
Looking back, it was surprisingly clear, every bit of it. You would think that in the middle of bedlam you would lose track, but I remembered every moment in a way I knew I’d never forget.
There was the time when it was just me, Dad, Lottie and the gang standing in the smoky room, Shirleen had closed the door on us.
Then the door was opened and Slick was there, Slick and his friends. Slick had apparently gone to ground and gathered reinforcements; too many, too much for al of us.
He’d also decided that tactical y a knife was not the chosen weapon, he went with guns.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, Dad had decided to arm himself as well .
Eddie was right. The stun gun in my purse wasn’t shit when bul ets started flying. It wasn’t like the movies, there were no clever comments to give you the chance to prepare. Slick was done f**king around and that was that.
They fired upon entry and Dad yanked his gun out of his waistband and randomly returned fire shouting, “Girls, get down!”
I threw myself at Lottie and we both went down. I rol ed away from the legs charging in the door, taking her with me.
We ended faced down and started to crawl, low on our bel ies, Lottie moving underneath me. I held most of my body over her.
There was more gunfire, a lot of it, too much. It was so loud it rang in my ears and I could smel the gun powder up my nose.
Then I heard shouts, screams, running footsteps, thuds of flesh against flesh. I saw Lee, running low, snatching up Indy on the go as if she weighed no more than a feather. He turned and they vanished.
I saw Matt, crouched low with Daisy in a fireman’s hold over his shoulder. Then, quick as a flash, they disappeared around the corner of the door.
Then a hand wrapped around my ankle and I was pul ed back, my arms let go of Lottie and I rol ed, thinking Mace had got to me but it wasn’t Mace, it was Vince.
Just my f**king luck.
He pul ed me to my feet, an arm around my waist and started running, me tucked under his arm. I noticed he jumped over a prone Shirleen, lying on her side in the hal .
Fuck!
I didn’t let the surprise at seeing him get to me and I didn’t let my worry for Shirleen break my focus.
This was about life, death and rape. I wanted no part of the second two and the first one was just getting interesting and I wasn’t about to let it go.
I twisted, struggled and screamed at the top of my lungs.
That’s when Mace arrived.
I saw him, Vince saw him and Vince stopped. He jerked me upright and pul ed me back against his body, an arm around my rib cage.