3.100 - The Last Mother That Shall Be Destroyed
“Where are
we going,” I ask as Sampson drives slowly down a street full of nice houses.
“We’re
going to meet Horse,” Sampson responds with all the vagueness I’ve come to
expect on this trip.
He pulls
into the driveway of a nice home and stops the car. The three of us get out and
follow him to the front door. He knocks gently and puts on a big smile. An old
lady answers the door in her nightgown. Before she can ask who we are, or I can
ask what’s going on Sampson has rushed her. He covers her mouth and pushes her
inside. I follow, not because I support this or what to see where it’s going. I
just don’t want her to get hurt. He orders Isaac to find something to tie her
up with.
“What are
we doing,” I ask as Sampson barks orders to Isaac and the old lady. “What are
we doing,” I ask louder. When he ignores me I grab his arm and turn him towards
me. “Why are we kidnapping senior citizens?”
“Because
the easiest way to find someone is to grab their mother, and let them look for
you,” he smiles.
“Are you
out of your mind,” I ask him.
“Please let
me go,” the old woman begs on the verge of tears.
“I’ll get
you out of here,” I promise as Isaac starts to tie her up.
Sampson
demands that she calls Horse, but she’s refusing. She knows that he’ll just end
up dead. I don’t know what kind of trash gangster movies he’s been watching but
kidnapping a man’s mother is the worst way to get him to show up. We probably
could have gotten Horse’s phone number from Percy or any of the other people
that Sampson executed. Every time I speak to Isaac he’s strong willed and determined,
but he just does whatever Sampson says. That means he won’t be any help in
brining this to an end.
The phone
rings, and I rush to answer it before Isaac. Things have already gotten out of
control, but I refuse to let this old woman be a victim because Sampson wants
to be more aggressive than necessary. Isaac tries to wrestle the phone from my
hand as if he had any chance. I flash my fangs, something I’ve hardly ever
done, and but he gets the point.
“Hello,” I
answer.
“Mom, I
gotta leave town for a little while,” Horse is speaking, hurried.
“Hey, it’s
the guy from the Lafon School,” I respond calmly.
“Where the
hell is my mom,” he shouts.
“My partner
has taken her hostage. I won’t let anything happen to her. I just need you to
come to her house.”
“Put her on
the phone,” Horse demands again.
“I need you
to promise, you’re going to come here.”
“I’ll be
there in thirty minutes,” he sounds sincere.
I attempt
to pass the phone to his mother, but realize she’s been tied up with some
extension cords. I rip the cords apart and hand her the phones. The please of a
mother for her son to save her, it’s heartbreaking. I know Horse is going to
die when he gets here, and Percy is probably dead already. Knowing that I’m
partly responsible for this woman losing both her sons, is going to be with me
forever. I wish there was another way to do this, but the train is coming full
speed, and all I can do now is slow it down, soften the crash.
I choose to
wait outside for Horse, alongside his mother. If I can do anything, I’ll make
sure they get a final goodbye. She lights up a cigarette in the driveway as I
watch from the steps leading up to her home.
She exhales
a puff of smoke into the night air and turns to me, “I told them boys to leave
the drugs alone. I knew somebody was going to kill them.”
“I’m sorry,
I wish it didn’t have to be like this,” I find myself wiping my face as if
tears are falling, but the only moisture on my face is from the sweat.
“Then don’t
let it be like this,” she turns to face me.
“I wish it
was that simple,” I turn to avoid her eyes.
Horse comes
flying up the street in a white BMW with a lot of chrome on it. He immediately
jumps out of the car and rushes to his mother. I don’t move to break them
apart. I don’t even tell Sampson and Isaac that that he’s here. I watch as they
hug and kiss, she strokes his face with her hand. I wonder how my mother would
react after not seeing me in so long. I haven’t called her lately; would she
greet me the same way? What about my father, my sisters, my brothers? Hell,
does House Marson greet each other with this kind of love? What about Sampson
and Isaac’s parents? The people I’ve killed? It’s not a lot, but I’m sure the
had families. I hear Sampson and Isaac inside moving around, they realize Horse
is here. I take it as my cue to joint them in the driveway.
“Hey, I’m
really sorry about your mother being brought into this,” I apologize.
Horse spits
in my face, I deserve it, but his mother slaps him, “what is wrong with you,”
she asks him. “You never had any respect for anyone. Spitting on someone is the
most disrespectful thing you can do. I never said anything when you bought me
all this fancy stuff. I never cared when you would get arrested. I’d get you
out because that’s what a mother is supposed to do. If I had hit you more,
maybe we wouldn’t be here now,” she wipes tears from her own eyes.
I use my
shirt to wipe the spit from my face, “you should run,” I tell Horse as Sampson
and Isaac open the front door.
“Momma, I
love you,” Harold says, giving her one last hug, “I’m so sorry. I let you down
again, but I love you.”
Harold
takes off running down the street. I’m not sure why he didn’t take his still
running car. Sampson and Isaac take off after him, running past us. It would
have been faster, he could have gotten further. When he’s out of his mother’s
view I watch as he starts to shift into a wolf, running on all fours. He’s
fast, Isaac is out. Sampson is keeping up. It isn’t long before the two of them
are out of my view. A wolf’s howl cuts through the night air, and I know
they’re locked in a fight now.
“You should
take his car and leave for a little while,” I reach into my wallet and pull out
$67. “It’s all I’ve got for now but it should get you some gas and a cheap
motel room,” I offer it to her.
“As much as
I hate those two, I just feel sorry for you,” she pushes my hand away. “You’re
probably a good man, but nobody will ever know if you just keep doing what
you’re told.”
“Yes
ma’am.”
The two of
us sit in the driveway for a while, strangers connected by a single traumatic
event. Both us afraid to show the other just how terrible we think this is. It
takes a while before Sampson and Isaac come back, and I’m tired of waiting. I
refuse to let Sampson do anything to this old lady tonight. I’ll kill him
myself if he comes back and tries her. Long after she’s gone inside, I stand in
her driveway and wait. They come back, all smiles and get in the car as if
nothing happened. I take my spot in the back. As we pull out of the driveway, I
spot her in the window, and our eyes meet. It takes everything I have to fight
back tears.
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