METANOIA

ACES

Barry was trying to process what Seth had said to him before he went off to the barbecue.

"You will have your revenge on Silas, but right now, you have to wait for my sign. If he gets away, it will only cause more trouble. We want him off guard. Just keep your gun close by."

Barry was grabbing his gun from his car as these words echoed over the ever prevalent ding inside his head.

He wanted to go back and flatten the entire household, but with only six bullets in the chamber, there were just too many people there. He would have to wait.

He was surprised even Taylor didn't want him around. He felt repulsive. Barry often forgot he hardly knew her, but Taylor had become a projection of Melinda for him. Although they looked nothing like one another, Barry's feelings for them were similar. In his current state, his testicles had more functional nerve cells than his brain; he could hardly differentiate between the two.

He wandered the streets aimlessly, his half-drunk six-pack dangling from his hand. He had the gun tucked under his shirt, so he carefully avoided the busy streets. His avoidance led him to more and more isolated parts of the town. He was making an uphill climb when he heard loud laughter. It was the only occupied house on the street, just a couple of houses in front of him.

He walked up to the house and saw a small group of men playing cards. There were three of them, and Barry was tired of carrying the beers in his hand. There were three left.

"You guys want free beer?" He lifted the bottles in his hand.

"Sure, dude," one of them called.

He walked down the porch and introduced himself. He was a Mike, or a Jake maybe, perhaps Josh. A four letter name Barry didn't think he would have to remember. Nor could he really, given how intoxicated he was.

The four letter guy took the three Coronas from Barry and asked, "Hey dude, we are playing poker if you wanna come join for a bit. Try your luck?"

Barry was initially hesitant. But the long meandering had started to bore him, and he had nowhere to go.

Lucy tapped on his shoulder as he passed by to direct him towards the house. He winked at Barry as he said, "Let's test that 'chosen one' fortune of yours." Buddy also had already climbed halfway up the stairs when another pink and blue cloud gathered behind him. Yeah, he was definitely farting. Unaware his imaginary friends were leading him, he stumbled on after them.

Barry looked around at the rest of the kids playing. Mike, or whatever his name was, was an amalgamation of averages; average height, average weight, average face, and average whatever. There was also Billy, a hick who looked like he was putting effort into looking like a stereotype and a guy named Maurice, who everyone referred to as Hamburger. All three were college students no doubt, and they were definitely high as a kite.

"We're playing Hold 'Em," Billy said as he opened the beer with his arm.

Hamburger was the dealer.

"Sheeit" he said. In fact, that was all he ever said.

The buy-in was twenty bucks, which Barry pulled out of his wallet. Billy pointed to his shorts legs, to the oozing circle of blood. "Maan, you spilt sumthin' on your shorts."

Barry looked at the splotch of blood on his thigh and smiled.

After dealing, Hamburger glanced at his hand and exclaimed. "Sheeit". Four letter guy checked, and Billy folded right away.

Barry looked at his hand right off the bat and had a pair of aces. Spades and hearts. The flop was two queens and a two. He raised. Both guys matched his bet. With his pocket aces, Barry was confident when the flop was an ace, two, and four.

Each time he raised, the other two matched.

Buddy was next to him and rubbed his hands together. As they turned their cards, Lucy smiled, "Here comes the money shot!"

Barry had lost.

Both he and his minions were distraught. They were sure he'd win. Yet he lost the first hand to Hamburger, who had a straight.

It was Billy's deal, and he took his sweet time dealing the hand, to let the loss of the previous hand sink in.

Lucy was egging him on, "They are cheating, Barry; they have to be."

The two guys tried making light conversation with Barry, who clearly looked out of it. The guys themselves were also inebriated, so it didn't matter a great deal.

Barry had the ace of hearts, and the ace of spades was the flop. Buddy was passing by each player and calling out their hands to Barry. The names of the suits were a little off, as he called them out: black butt for spades, mutant testicles for clubs, crystal for diamonds, and red butt for hearts. Clearly unreliable, but Barry chose to trust him. Obviously, his guesses were way off; in fact, he didn't get a single one right. This time, he lost to Jake or Mike or whatever the hell his name was, who had a full house.

Barry could feel the ringing in his ears intensifying. It was almost painful. He shoved his pinky inside his ear, and shook it violently, which just made it more painful.

Billy looked at him, "You okay, man?"

Barry brushed it off, but his antagonism was palpable.

Billy was slightly apologetic, "Sorry man, didn't..."

Barry was surprised at how angry he howled, "Just play the damn game."

Hamburger made a face. He opened his mouth to protest, but a glance from Barry shut him up. They were really starting to regret accepting those beers.

Barry had another pocket of aces. He felt he had intimidated the other three enough to stop them from cheating.

Barry was the dealer now. The blinds were placed. Before he dealt the last card, Hamburger had already folded. "Sheeit," Barry had another pocket of aces. The flop was jack, two and a seven. Billy and Joe Average were still in the game.

He ended up losing to a seven and two.

Barry stared at the table for a really long time. He felt like a volcano about to burst. He looked at his hands trembling. He felt like a werewolf or a vampire afraid of the transformation he was about to go through. The rage was surging as Lucy leaned in closer to his face.

"Let it loose Barry."

The thundering roar climbed his chest. Mike or whatever his name is was collecting the chips from the table as Barry tossed his cards at him. It was the final straw.

The man shouted back, "What the fuck, man; quit being a bitch!"

Lucy smiled, the trigger word was uttered.

The word resonated with the ringing inside his head. A thunderous roar clapped the patio as he screamed, "No one calls me a bitch!"

Hamburger said "sheeit" one last time before a single bullet from Barry's gun shattered his skull into pieces. The point blank shot exploded his head. The way his face folded seemed like two halves were kissing each other.

Mike, who was standing up, got a crotch shot first and rolled over wincing in pain. Billy got a merciful shot to the chest. His death was quick as the shot shattered his lungs and heart simultaneously. Barry was already standing up. As he walked past Mike, he unloaded the rest of the bullets on the bleeding man.

Within seconds, he was far away from the scene.

He walked with his head bowed down. His shorts peeled at his leg with each step. His warm gun scorched his back as it was tucked between his shorts and back.

He had killed yet again, but this time, there was a lot less guilt.

You see, this was problematic since Barry was a loose cannon off his script. Someone had intended to use him to get rid of Silas; yet, he was becoming an even greater problem as his actions were more dramatic than Silas' ever were. Seth had his hands full.

Barry wanted to talk to Melinda, to apologize at least.

He let his feet guide him home.