Loyal Vengeance ✔️

Part 1

I opened my front door and instantly felt the usual dread of being home as I stepped inside.

"Hey Garrett!" My little brother Anthony eagerly greeted me, only taking his eyes off the T.V for a second to glace over at me.

"Hey buddy." I greeted him back as I scanned the area for our mom.

I easily found her at the kitchen table, flipping through a small stack of papers. I could tell she was worried by the way she kept rubbing her forehead, a nervous gesture of hers, and I wanted nothing more than to never see her like that again. I wished I could take all of her worries away.

"What's wrong?" I asked as a sat down in the chair beside her, careful to keep my voice quiet so I wouldn't worry Anthony. Six years old was way too young to worry about anything other than who to play with at recess.

Her eyes were dimmed with sadness as she contemplated telling me what was troubling her. She wanted to keep me out of adult problems as much as possible but I was old enough to handle it, in a year I'd be 18 and graduated, and then I could really take care of her and Anthony.

"Your father took most of the money to the casino today, we don't have enough to pay our electric bill and the landlord is threatening to turn off our power." She finally admitted.

I balled my hands into fists under the table in an attempt to keep my anger at bay. Dad had a serious gambling problem and no job to support it, so it wasn't out of the ordinary for him to steal mom's hard earned money and burn it at the closest casino.

I reached into my pocket to retrieve the money I made after school with Liam. I was always surprised by how many people at our school had a drug habit, but it gave me a chance to help out with the bills so I wasn't judging them.

"Does this help?" I asked, handing her the fifty dollar bill I had.

She gave me a sad smile that broke my heart. I knew she never wanted to take money from me but there was no other choice, and we both knew it.

"This helps a lot sweetie." She told me, hesitantly taking the money before writing something down in the notebook she used to keep track of our finances.

"I'll do more to help out with the bills, I promise." I told her, racking my brain for any way I could make extra money.

I could try to get into a higher rank in my gang so I made more money selling drugs, it was the easiest and fastest way to get cash since a regular job didn't pay as well and took up too much time. I needed all the time I could get to focus on school so I could get a good scholarship to college. I needed to have a proper career one day to take care of my family.

Before either of us had a chance to say anything more the front door swung open, crashing against the already dented wall, and dad came waltzing into the house.

"Hey Anthony, I think it's time for bed." I told my brother, hoping to get him away from our dad as soon as possible. I could already tell that he was drunk and no kid should witness what our dad was capable of when he wasn't sober.

Anthony quickly left without any complaint, knowing I had his best interest at heart, and by the time he was in his room dad had settled down in the kitchen chair across from mom and I.

"I won big tonight, five hundred bucks." He slurred, pulling the cash out of his pocket to show us with a sloppy grin on his face, exposing his rotting teeth.

Mom gave him a fake smile, "That's great honey. Can we use some of that to pay for the electric bill? The power is about to be turned off."

I held my breath as I waited for his reply. We never knew what to expect from him when he was drunk. Sometimes he gave her the money needed to pay the bills, and other times he was a selfish prick.

Dad angrily stood from his chair, causing it to fall back and crash against the ground, and his mood changed as if a switch had been flipped in his head.

"I earned this money so I'll spend it how I want to." He bellowed, slamming his fists onto the table angrily.

I winced at the loud noise and hoped that Anthony didn't hear it. It would scare him and I couldn't go comfort him because I had to protect mom. When dad got this angry he got violent.

"I know you earned it, we just don't have any money left and we need power." Mom tried to reason with him, sinking lower in her chair out of fear as she spoke.

Dad began taking dangerous strides towards us, "You should work harder to make more money then. Stop being lazy and get off your ass so we can afford to pay the bills."

By the time he was finished speaking he was only a couple feet away from us, and I was shaking with anger. I wanted to stay quiet so I wouldn't make the situation even worse, but I just couldn't. He had no right to talk to her like that.

"Maybe you should get a job and stop stealing all the money she makes. You're the only lazy one here." I shot back, standing up so I was face to face with him, and shielding mom from his view.

He looked taken aback by my outburst, but shock quickly turned to rage and I didn't have a chance to react before he swung at my face.

I barely moved when his fist connected with my cheek, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing me hurt or weak, and that only angered him further. But this time I was prepared when he tried to hit me again. I ducked to avoid his fist, and then shoved him as hard as I could to get some distance between us.

"Son of a bitch!" He yelled as he fell to the ground with a loud thud.

He was a big sturdy man usually, but under the influence of alcohol his balance was compromised giving me the edge I needed to get the situation under control.

I wanted to laugh at how pathetic he looked trying to stand back up, but I kept quiet so I didn't anger him further. Instead I just watched as he rolled onto his side and pushed himself up into a sitting position, and then rested his back against the wall, looking exhausted.

I knew the fight was done for tonight when his eyes closed and his body relaxed, telling me that he had fallen asleep. We wouldn't have to deal with him until morning when he was sporting a wicked hangover.

I turned to mom who had stayed quiet during the whole scene, and she was staring at me with tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry life is like this." She whispered, guilt dripping from every word.

I leaned down and wrapped my arms around her, "Don't be sorry, you're doing the best you can for us."

Mom loved us and that was enough for me. I knew she wasn't strong enough to leave dad, he'd drilled it into her head that she would fail without him and never find anyone else to love her. I just wished she could see herself through my eyes.

"I'm gonna go out for a bit, don't wait up for me okay?" I told her when I pulled out of our embrace.

She nodded but her eyes were worried. She didn't know exactly how I earned money, but I knew she suspected that it had something to do with drugs.

"Stay safe." She called out when I was walking out the front door.

"I always am." I called back over my shoulder before closing the door behind me.

I wasn't so sure I was going to be safe this time though.

I needed to make more money, fast, and there was only one way I could think to do that. Even if it put my life at risk.