Quiet Enlightenment

Part 2, Chapter 18 - Burning

Friday, December 25, 2015

"What's up?" Butch asked as Lucas hastily walked into the kitchen holding his phone and the framed picture. Lucas hesitated for a second before letting the anger take control. Instead of using words, Lucas let his fist do the talking.

As blood started to run from his nose, Butch could only look at his son in shock.

"That was for Elias."

Butch's heart dropped as it was clear that Lucas knew the truth.

"This... isn't a rental house. This is where you had a criminal empire. This is where my brother died! The brother that you never told me about!"

"I can explain! Please hear me out!"

"Shut up. Shut the hell up. You're done. I met his friends. I met his ex-girlfriend. Did he know about me? Or did you keep me a secret, too?"

Butch had no response to that.

"But it's over. Your reign of terror is over. You're going back to jail and I hope someone kills you. Burn in hell, Butch."

At this, Butch realized that the situation was beyond repair. In a flash, he grabbed Lucas's wrist and twisted it. The sound of a bone breaking was almost masked by the sound of Lucas' phone hitting the ground. Butch put his foot down on the device, causing the screen to shatter.

The framed picture fell to the ground and shattered as Butch threw the skinny boy to the ground with ease. Keeping his son pinned to the ground under his knee, Butch took off his belt and used it to tie his hands behind him. Looking around, he found an extension cord on the ground. Lucas groaned in pain as Butch turned around to grab the cord with the intent of tying his legs together.

Meanwhile, at Kenton's house, Charmaine met the group outside.

"Did you get a hold of him?" Kenton asked.

"Only got his voice mail. It's Christmas, so he's probably occupied." Charmaine replied. Kenton nodded.

"We're gonna take off. Merry Christmas to you." Mia said as Cameron nodded.

"Alright. I take off tomorrow morning. I'll see you two before then, right?" Olivia asked. Mia smiled and nodded.

"So, what now?" Kenton asked.

"Why I don't I take you two out for dinner? My treat." Charmaine said. Who wouldn't say "no" to free food? Kenton and Olivia quickly nodded.

"It's nice to have you two together, one more time." Charmaine said as they went inside the house to decide on a restaurant.

Back at the Conner residence, Butch dropped his son in Elias' old room and wiped the sweat from his brow. Thinking forward, Butch grabbed an old sock and had it stuffed in Lucas' mouth and secured by a t-shirt tied around his head.

"I'm so sorry, Lucas. I love you and I love your brother. I know that you want to do the right thing, and I respect you for that. But I can't let you do that, and I know that you can't sit back and let the wrong thing happen. Goodbye." Butch sadly said before taking one last look at his son and walking out of the room.

He silently walked downstairs and took some newspapers that were sitting in the house from his days as a "chef". He found tears coming out of his eyes as he scattered the papers around the living room. When finished, he took the crummy metal space heater that was keeping them warm at night and placed it on the pile of paper. He picked up the cord and walked it over to the outlet closest to the door. He contemplated reconsidering and let out a sob when he realized that none of the alternatives would end well for him. Without giving it much more thought, he plugged in the heater and walked out of the house for the last time.