Gun Point

Chapter 1

All I dream about nowadays is my Mom's death. The loud bang of the gun, the scream of the kids. It all happened so fast. I wasn't even looking at her when it happened. When I did, all I saw was her cold lifeless body. It took 2 whole years of therapy just for me to feel remotely normal. Even then, I felt... different. In a bad way. I had barely any friends. Kids found  out about what happened, and whispered behind my back. I've always had anger issues. I guess I got those from Ken, my stepdad. Him and my mom had only been dating for a month when she died, so I went to him. Worst thing to ever happen to me. He never went to her funeral, and didn't let me go. Instead, he made me get beers for him while him and his friends watched football and got drunk. 

Life was the same boring crap every day. Just listening to Ken get drunk and talk about how much I suck. I tried to sneak out as much as I could, even though I knew it would get me in trouble. I only ever had one friend, and that was Jake. He was one of the boys at the playground when my mom died. Only one who stuck with me. The others thought I was a quiet kid who would shoot them all. Stupid kids. Anyways, I'd normally just go to Jake's house when I snuck out. He's always talking about him and his grandma adopting me, but we both know it's never gonna happen. He and his Grandma barely had enough money to support themselves, much less adopt and support another kid. 

I was in the middle of waking up from another dream when I heard the banging on my door. I knew it was Ken. I looked at my clock, and groaned. It was 10:47. I was supposed to wake up and go to the store down the street at 9:00. Stupid alarm barely ever decides to work. I composed myself and got up, humming the beat to that song I can't remember the name of. I took a quick look at myself in the mirror. I had long, uncut black hair. I was white, and sort of muscular. Nothing to be proud of but hey, I only occasionally hit the gym. Before I even reached the door, I could smell him. Ken smelled like alcohol 24/7, and rarely ever showered. I opened the door and saw him. He was 44, bald, and muscular. Don't know how, seeing as I never see him go to the gym. 

I tried to slip past him, but he grabbed my arm. "Why were you still in bed?" He said in his rough voice. 

"Alarm didn't go off," I told him calmly, knowing what was gonna happen next. He stared at me for 5 seconds, then shoved me into the wall. 

"Get outta here," He said before turning back to the living room. I didn't waste no time, and started heading to the door. I opened it and saw that two of the kids from my school, Dave and Michael. They were waiting for me. I remembered what I did. Me and Jake "accidently" knocked their food off their plates at lunch. I mean, hey, it seemed like a good idea. Still, weird how they found out where I live. Probably saw me come in here on the way back from school. 

I slowly started to walk down the stairs, looking strait at them. Michael looked up at me, and whispered something to Dave. They both looked at me, waiting. I got to the bottom of the stairs and tried to get past them, but got shoved back. "Not so tough without Jake," Dave said, walking towards me. 

I didn't respond still trying to walk away. "What's wrong, Han? Mommy ain't here to protect you?" That was when I lost it. I was sick of these guys, and they finally pulled the pin on the grenade. I grabbed Dave's head and smashed it into the brick wall, hearing the crack of his nose breaking. Michael hit the back of my head. I felt the quick jolt of pain before turning around and grabbing his arm as he swung to hit me. I pushed it away and elbowed his face. He held his nose, but swung again. I dodged that and grabbed his head, bringing it down and introducing it to my knee. 

As he fell down, I wiped the blood of my pants. I grunted as I walked away, leaving them there. I told you I had anger issues, and learned to fight from this dude from a place called the Alley a few blocks away. Some underground boxing arena. Big dude, too. Only reason I know how to fight is cause of him. Apparently he was an "unbeatable" underground boxer, but I don't know if that's true. 

I started walking away and put my hood on. Didn't need to get caught up in a mess with the police. I took a short few seconds to decide what I'd do. Ken had a few beer's in the fridge, so I'd save the store for later. I decided to go to Jake's place for a bit, grab a bite, then go to the Alley with him. I've been working on my boxing lately, so I figured I'd try and make a few bucks there. 

I called Jake to tell him I was on my way. When he picked up I said "Yo Jake, mind if I head over for a bit?"

"Sure, I'll get ready. Gram's makin' burgers again," he said in his loud but energetic voice. See, me and him are exact opposites. He's loud, funny, and get's all the girls. I was quiet, serious, and didn't get girls. (Not that I care about that.)

I hung up, and started walking towards his place. It was only 7 minutes away, so it was quick. After I passed all the homeless and drunk people, I took a shortcut through the alley between the gas station and the dentist's office. I was walking minding my business when I heard a slam. Sounded like a dumpster. I knew where it was, just around the corner. Probably nothing.

After a few more minutes, I found myself at Jake's house. I saw his Allen, Jake's grandpa, outside just sitting on his chair. He likes to do that. Jake's mom died during child birth, and his dad got sentenced to life in prison for murder. That left him with his grandparents (mom's side.) I mean, their basically my grandparents at this point. They said it themselves, if they could adopt me, they would.

"Oh, Hey Han, how have ya been?" Allen asked. I visited pretty often, and this is what he normally said to me when I showed up. 

"Fine, you?" I said, walking up.

"Well, you know, sprinkler stopped working, damn thing. Other than that though, pretty good," He said. They didn't have to worry. Allen had been the owner of a popular business before selling it for a lot of money, more than enough to retire without worrying about cash. "Jakes in his room, if your wondering."

I nodded, opening the door before getting tackled by Duncan, their German Shephard. He was pretty big, covered in black fur. "Hey, boy" I said squatting down to pet him. I looked up and saw Jake standing at the top of the staircase, waiting for me. I stood up and made my way up the stairs, making sure to say hi to Bella, his grandma. 

"Sup, bitch" He said when I got up there. I lightly punched him in the gut in response, causing him to laugh. He was weird like that, I guess. I don't know what's funny about being punched. He led me to his room, although I already knew the layout of the house like the back of my hand.

He was a big fan of just about anything. Football, Soccer, Basketball, you name it. He was also good at them. I didn't care much for them, though. More of a hockey guy. His wall was filled with posters and framed jersey's from teams like the Steelers and the Nets. The only thing without anything on it was the floor.

I laid on his bed, grabbing the book he was reading before putting it down. Already got bored. "It's a good book, you know," He said, looking at me with an eyebrow raised. 

"I'm sure it is," I sighed. He was into big, long books you could get lost in. I couldn't. Always got bored a few minutes after starting. I mean, I guess I could see the interest in them. Today's world, I would give just about anything to get lost in.

He turned on the TV while I looked through his movie collection. Those, I was more into than books. I could hear the news in the background while I looked through, looking for a movie to watch. "Hey...Han?" I heard him say.

"Ya?" I said, not paying much attention. He didn't respond, which wasn't like him. He normally had something to say. I turned around in concern, seeing what was causing he silence. I stared at the TV in shock.

I finally understood why he couldn't say anything. I watched as the hot reporter said "46 year old man Ken Drew has been found dead inside his apartment."