Solar

Chapter 5

   It took me a second to realize that I myself was crying, shivers lingering around my legs and shoulders. Leroy was bent over his father's dead body, praying to God that it wasn't real, pleading Him to trade Mr. MacQuoid's life for his own. He repeated himself over and over again in a voice that I'd never heard him use before. Suddenly the strongest person I'd ever known was just a scared little boy wishing to see his father's eyes open, pleading God for mercy.

     Silence split through the air like lightning as Leroy caught his breath and stared at his father's face. I took a shaky breath in and wiped my own tears away and followed his gaze. A sharp gasp escaped my lips and my hands flew up to my mouth.

     "Oh my God," I whispered shakily. "Leroy... What is that?"

      Carved deep into Mr. MacQuoid's forehead was the head of a Lynx. Leroy's eyebrows drew together and the color returned to his cheeks, his clenched jaw moving back and forth slightly with the grit of his teeth. 

     "I should have known those good for nothing cowards would be behind this. They've gone too far this time. They killed my father. I will kill them." His breath grew heavy and he rose to his feet, fists clenched. "I will kill every last one of those damn Lynx!"

     He looked around frantically, eyes ablaze and thirsty for revenge. He didn't even glance at me or his father as he took off down the hallway, his footsteps loud and heavy.

     "Leroy!" I shouted in surprise and jumped to my feet. "Leroy, what are you doing?" 

     I followed the sound of rustling and clanking into a room- his father's room. Leroy was rummaging through the closet, throwing belts, shoes, and packages of ammo aside. He yanked a shotgun from the top shelf and started struggling to load it. At first, his movements were strong, fueled with rage. But after a couple of seconds, his movements slowed and he dropped the gun. Tears streamed down his face and he fell onto the floor, pulling his knees to his chest. He dug his nails into his legs, sobbing and repeating the same thing over and over again.

     "Why, why, why?" Leroy sobbed, his voice growing weak and soft as he lifted his head and put it back on his knees repeatedly. I said nothing, just slowly walked over and sat next to him. I wrapped my arms around his knees and back and hugged him as tightly as I could, digging my face into his neck and stroking his arm gently.

     I wasn't going to tell him it was going to be okay, or that he was in a better place now. We both knew he wasn't. As good of a man as he might have been to us, Mr. MacQuoid had an addiction to drugs and alcohol and had huge financial issues because of it. He had been to jail twice, once for armed robbery and the other for a DUI. He was never cruel to Leroy and his daughter, but his addictions didn't make life easy for any of them. But no matter what he put them through, they both still loved him more than anything. He was their role model, their lamp on a dark night, their everything. And now everything had been stripped away from them by debt collectors from the drug-dealing gang, Lynx. I wasn't going to lie to him. It wasn't okay.

      "You're the strongest person I know," I whispered, feeling every tremble and shake in his body. "I know you and Teddy ca-"

     "Teddy," Leroy snapped his head up. He jumped up to his feet, the motion pushing me back into the wall. The windowsill stabbed into my shoulder and instinct jerked my head up to bark at him but he was already gone. I launched myself up, now filled with fear as thoughts of Lynx taking Teddy leaked into my brain.

     "Shoot," I whispered and took off after him. I followed the sounds of his footsteps to a bedroom three doors down the hallway, in which the footsteps ceased. After hearing a soft rummaging and whispers, I stopped at the doorframe and peeked inside. Leroy was hugging Theodora, his little sister, who was in the closet with her knees pulled up to her chest. Thank God she was safe.

     They sat and hugged for a while, Leroy whispering frequently with a slight nod or whimper as Teddy's response. I waited in the hallway, simply leaning against the wall and praying. What fr, I'll keep to myself. Eventually, Leroy came out and sniffed, quickly wiping the tears sliding down his cheeks with the back of his sleeve. He looked at me and took a deep, shaking breath in.

     "You're right, Bridgette," he said quietly, yet his voice was stronger than before. "I'm strong. At least, I've gotta be. I've got to be strong. For Teddy."

     I lifted my hand to grip his shoulder reassuringly, but he grabbed my wrist and shook his head sternly.

     "Which means," he continued with a firm gaze and voice. "I don't need to be comforted, especially not in front of her and especially not by you. What I need is for your family to take us with you to your pastor's house. Teddy's already packing up her bags. As for my dad, we can't just leave him there. He deserves a proper burial, but for obvious reasons, I'm assuming no funeral services are being provided. We'll bury him in the backyard and clean the carpet. You said the water still works at your house, right?"

     "Yeah," I replied in shock at his quick jump back to stability.

     "Good, that means ours will too," he released my wrist finally and lead me to his father. We shared a quick glance and lifted the dead body of Howard MacQuoid.