irrevocable

{Twenty-Five}

Crazy // Gnarls Barkley

Jackson

"Are you about set?" I ask Holly as I carry one more shoebox of photos to the front door. As soon as I get the word, I'll start loading my truck.

"Just about," she says from the back bedroom. "I'm looking through the last one now."

"Let me know." Last time we had to pack and run, we grabbed essentials in a rush. Just enough to get by for a few days. But this time I've given Holly the green light to get it all. Anything she wants she should take because we don't know what's going on with the house or with Judge. Even if the deed to the house she found in the garage is forged, and a shitty one at that, who knows if he's improved since then and will try to evict her and her mom or lock them out and take possession of all their stuff. I'd rather not have to deal with him as a slum lord in addition to the other shit he's already done.

When is enough, enough, for God's sake?

Before I can contemplate the dastardly deeds of her sperm donor any longer, I hear Grinder's raised voice. I can't make out what he's saying but his tone puts my feet in motion toward him.

"Stay in here," I call out to Holly. "I'll be right back."

"Okay," she replies calmly. I must have shuttered my concern effectively if she isn't asking questions. I decide against moving out the front door on a gut feeling, instead rushing to the back door through the kitchen. It creaks as I pull it open causing me to slow down in case the sound can be heard from the driveway. Every nerve ending in me is on alert as I scan the grassy back yard next to the garage. I no longer hear Grinder's voice. The entire backyard is silent and still but there's an unmistakable tension I can't decide if it's coming from me or if I'm sensing it in general. The air is thick with it, so I decide I'm reading the room rather than exaggerating it in my mind.

The atmosphere is motionless as I take a step onto the grass. My heart pounds in my chest so hard it's all I can hear. I can smell the dirt and motor oil that surrounds the shed out here. Then Grinder shouts something else. This I can make out.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

My muscles tense to break into a sprint but the sound of a popping balloon stops me in my tracks. My mouth drops open as the engine of a motorcycle starts up and seconds later guns out of the garage and down the driveway. I watch completely dumbstruck as Judge drives away, his black leather vest unmistakable even from thirty feet away.

Oh fuck. Grinder was with him in there.

I shake myself back into the present and rush into the garage only to find Grinder on the ground, blood pouring from his thigh. Running to him, I kneel next to his waist and check for a pulse. At least, that's what I'm attempting to do. I have no fucking clue how to help him. My brain can't process what my eyes are seeing fast enough to decide on a plan of action. Holly's voice rings out from behind me.

"Oh my God! What happened? I heard the gunshot and then my dad's bike. Was he here?"

Gunshot? Holy fuck, was that what I heard? The popping balloon was a bullet.

"Yeah, he road away before I could stop him." I feel like an ass for letting him go.

"Thank goodness. He'd have shot you too." Holly is now kneeling opposite of me next to Grinder and doing a better job of assessing the situation. Her fingers gently pull at the hole in Grinder's pants.

"It looks like the outer thigh. There's a major vessel in the leg by the groin so it could be a serious injury. Do you have your phone on you? We need to call emergency."