Truth Comes Second (Revised)

Chapter 1: JIMMY

Tommy screamed and howled in agony while Lindsay attempted to remove the bullet from his leg, and I found it a bit amusing. She had a pair of tweezers and a wad of paper towels in her hand. Sweat was shining off of Tommy's forehead as she dug into his wound to retrieve the metal. His screams echoed through the room.

"I'm sorry!" Lindsay repeated for what felt like the millionth time.

"I thought you knew how to do this," I said.

Lindsay looked over at me. Her pale face was splattered with blood.

"I dropped out of nursing school after my first year," she said. "No one has ever shown me how to remove a bullet."

"Why'd you even shoot him?" I heard Gabe say behind me.

I turned to see he had Theo balanced on his hip. My heart ached when I looked at the little boy's chubby face and thought of Hunter. I wanted to bring him with us when I heard his screams coming upstairs from Tommy's room. He needed Julie to raise him though.

That is if she ever woke up.

There was so much blood in the kitchen when I left her.

I shook my head. I could not think like that. She had to be alive.

"Maybe Tommy should tell you that," I said.

"I already told you," he said through his teeth as he was seething in pain. "She attacked me first!"

"She weighs like a hundred pounds! You had to stab her?"

Tommy screamed even louder and there was click against the hardwood floor. Theo covered his ears before shoving his thumb in his mouth.

"I got it," Lindsay told Tommy.

Tommy let out a deep breath and fell back on the bed. He was panting for breath and wiping the sweat off of his forehead. Lindsay lifted a bottle of rubbing alcohol from the ground.

"This is going to sting a bit," she said.

"Just do it quick," Tommy said.

Tommy tried to hold back his cries, but he struggled. He gripped handfuls of the sheets and thrashed his head from side-to-side. I fought back the smile that wanted to appear on my lips. I wanted to kill him, but I could not. This was the next best thing.

"Jim, can I talk to you?" Gabe asked.

"Yeah," I said.

My eyes lingered on Tommy writhing around in pain before I left the room. Gabe was across the hall putting Theo down in his crib. He closed the door, went down the hall, and I followed him into the kitchen. Gabe pulled a bottle out of the fridge and popped off the top. I saw when he brought it up to his lips that it was beer. We were always told never to drink alcohol.

"You two cannot stay here," Gabe said. "I cannot believe that you called an ambulance to your house."

"I could not let Julie die," I said.

"You let Charles die without calling an ambulance."

I bit down on my lip. He was right. Dad had a heart attack and we did nothing.

"You were supposed to be protecting her," Gabe said.

"I was," I said. "I had to go into town and I had a bad feeling. I went back to check on Julie and Tommy was trying to kill her."

Gabe shook his head as he took another swig of his beer. I pushed up the sleeves of my shirt. Tommy's whines from upstairs had stopped.

"You're my cousin," Gabe said. "We need to look out for each other, but I have my own family to protect. You know that the police would have searched your house by now. When was the last time you cleaned the basement?"

"It's been a while," I said.

There was definitely going to be a search for us once they looked in the basement. There was piles of bones, blood splattered walls, and a table with straps that we used to hold people down. I hated cleaning and I did not want Julie going down and seeing all of that.

The police must be questioning her, but I trust her. She would never tell them about the meat or the killings. She would be protecting this family.

Carrie I did not trust though.

"Was I supposed to let her die?" I asked.

"No, but you should have not let them come into the house," he said. "You should have dropped her off on the hospital steps."

"I was afraid to move her. Imagine being me. Imagine that was Lindsay."

Gabe lowered his gaze and nodded. He drained the rest of his beer before setting the bottle down in the sink.

"Where's Hunter?" he asked.

"He's with Julie," I said.

"You know that you will never see them again, right?"

There was a pang in my chest as the reality of the situation hit me.

"We'll head out early in the morning," I said. "If we get caught we won't say anything about the family. Don't worry."

"I trust you Jim," he said. "I hope I can see you again."

"Tommy and I will get another house and start again."

Lindsay came down the steps wiping her hands on a towel. Blood was splattered up her arms and across her face.

"I cleaned his wound," she said.

"How is he doing?" I asked.

"He's in a lot of pain."

"Good."

Lindsay wrapped her arms around Gabe's waist and rested her head against his chest. He rubbed her back. My chest asched even more as I realized I was never going to have a tender moment like that with Julie again.

"I'll go up and talk to him," I said. "We will try not to wake you in the morning."

"We will be up when you leave," Gabe said.

"Good night, Jimmy," Lindsay said. "And good luck."

"Thanks for taking care of Tommy," I said. "Have a nice night."

I headed up the stairs. Tommy was sprawled out across the bed. His calf was bandaged and he was still panting for breath. He opened his eyes and looked at me when he heard the door click shut.

"I hope you're happy," I said.

"I am having the time of my life," he said sarcastically.

I sat down on the bed next to Tommy's. I pulled my shirt off over my head. I lied down, not bothering to get changed. An alarm clock sat on the nightstand separating our beds. I picked it up and set an alarm to go off in four hours. I turned off the lamp and flooded our room with darkness.

"I'll be okay after a few days," Tommy said.

"You better heal fast," I said. "We're heading out in four hours."

"What? No! Why are we leaving?"

"We can't stay. We're risking Gabe's family."

"Where do you plan on going?"

"Not sure yet."

Tommy collapsed back onto the bed. I pushed the small collection of pillows off of the bed and lied down. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind.

Tommy and I needed to leave, but to where? We needed a place to live, but I had no idea where to find one. Hopefully, I could find one abandoned somewhere.

It wouldn't be the same though. It would not be full of the delicious smell of Julie's cooking. Her soft voice and singing would not ring throughout the halls. I would never be able to climb into bed with my family again. I would never be able to kiss Julie's soft lips again.

"Tommy," I said, breaking the silence. "If Julie is dead, I am going to kill you."