WHAT TIME AND CIRCUMSTANCE HAVE MADE
(standard disclaimers apply - I own nothing pertaining to Boardwalk Empire)
Two things he realizes as the door swings shut behind him.
That somebody is here, in his house, with his family.
And that he's been waiting for this, coming home, catching his wife in someone else's arms.
x
There's a knife on her. Hands on her. One splays over her right arm, pinning it to her side. The other angles nine inches of steel into the soft slab that is the underside of her jaw.
"Drop it," the guy says, "or—"
Jimmy puts a bullet in his head.
Ang and the knife stagger in separate directions, and she closes her eyes. It's the first time since he entered the kitchen that they aren't looking into his.
x
He crouches in front of her chair with an arm on the table, reaching up with his other hand to push her hair out of her face. She looks back at him, taking his measure, this man she's really only known for five minutes.
"I had this friend, out west," Jimmy says. What he means is this is my fault, and I'll kill anyone who touches you, but mostly, I'm sorry. "Name was Pearl."
AKC 10/2011