As Luck Would Have It

35) Engraving the Tombstone

NOW

"Lonnie, you f*cking son of a bitch!" J-Mac cried out, recovering from the hard hit he had just taken from his friend. His knelt on the pavement of the alleyway, summoning enough strength to stand. When he did, he saw Lonnie looking him dead in the eye with a ghostly expression of calming anger. "You ain't got nothing to do with this!" J-Mac continued shouting, lunging at his attacker. Some of the detergent covering his shoes made contact with the ground, causing him to slip and lose balance. Though he was able to throw a punch, the slipping redirected his swing, completely missing his target. Lonnie didn't spare anytime in throwing his own punch right in J-Mac's stomach. The force made J-Mac slip again, this time falling onto his back. He groaned at the impact of the punch, as well as hitting the pavement.

"Doesn't matter man," Lonnie barked at him. "Why is she here." He pointed down to where  J-Mac had been choking out Michelle and Felicia, the two girls still recovering from the violent act. Lonnie stood over his friend, waiting for him to respond.

"She was here to stop us, man. Like she did with Spidey earlier" he lied, making it seem like Lonnie had been pointing at Felicia.

"Don't f*cking play with me" Lonnie scolded fiercely. "You know who I was talking about."

"Man, F*CK YOU! You know why, why you need me to say it?"

Lonnie paused for a moment, completely dumbfounded that J-Mac pursued Michelle despite his attempts to hold him back. In despair, his turned around and looked upon the two girls on the ground. Michelle had lifted Felicia's head into her lap, trying to keep her awake until the moment was over. To Lonnie, Michelle looked so scared for the blonde's life, yet so calm that she could provide aide. Lonnie turned back to his partner.

"No... " J-Mac's head perks up at Lonnie's disturbed voice. "No...," a little more disturbed, "I can't have you doin that."

"Ha," J-Mac teased, "And whatcha gonna do about it." He crunched his body up until he sat up, his arms and hand on the ground supporting him up. "You and I are thick as thieves, cool as ice. Tighter than any family we've ever had. You'd never hurt me." And in a hesitant, soft voice, Lonnie responded back with a hint of regret that he must do what he knows he is capable of.

"You'd be surprised what I can do to those closest to me."

PAST

It should have been the best day of Lonnie's life. An "A" on his Algebra Test and he had just made the varsity basketball team as a Freshman. So logically he would expect that his parents would be proud of his achievements, shower down endless helpings of appreciation for his perseverance. It only made sense that this was undoubtedly the outcome when he got home. Sadly, life isn't always as happy as one thinks.

Young Lonnie came home to his father charging toward him, grabbing him by the throat and dragging him to the living room. He was so confused as to what was going on, especially after all the good that had happened in the day. His father dragged him until they reached the couch, where he violently threw Lonnie like a rag-doll. Lonnie composed himself, preparing to ask why this was happening. He looked up at his angry father as he struggled to unbuckle his belt. The figure of his mother stood in the background in front of the window. Her face seemed wet, probably from the tears of whatever hell her husband had put upon her before Lonnie entered the house. She frowned painfully, as if she couldn't stand to watch everything unfolding.

"You always have to ruin things for us, don't you boy!" his father growled, slapping the butt-end of his belt against Lonnie's side. Lonnie jolted from the sharp pain. His father not wasting another second striking him a second time.

"I didn't do anything, I swear..." he pleaded.

"No f*ckin' kidding," his father said, "you never had done anything. You never will do anything. You've never committed yourself to anything." Lonnie was even more confused; his father was being very vague about his motives.