As quickly as he could, he got onto his bike, twisted the throttle, and drove off. Laila shortly followed and was concerned as to why he just sped off like this. There needed to be a good amount of distance between him and his sister's house so that he wouldn't convince himself to go back. The sight of his daughter was just too much for him. Desperately, he wanted to pick her up and hold her in his arms. The temptation was strong but he knew better. Doing what he wanted would bring him nothing but grief and pain. All that was left was to do what was needed. The hotel came into view within a matter of minutes as he sped past the speed limit. He pulled into the parking lot and waited for Laila to show up. It wasn't long before he saw her car come inside and park into one of the many empty spaces. She got out of the car and quickly made her way to him to see what had gone wrong. When she reached him he was just blankly staring out onto the main street.
"Thomas?" she questioned. "What happened? Are you okay?" His eyes turned to hers and she could see the pain that lied within them.
"I saw my daughter," he said nonchalantly.
"Isn't that a good thing? Wasn't that what you wanted?"
"She's everything I want, Laila. That's the problem. It's taking every bit of restraint I have to let her go and continue what I'm supposed to do." She turned to her son, who was waiting by the car, then back to her friend. As a parent, she understood his pain so placed her hand on his shoulder. She had nothing but the deepest sympathy for this man who wanted nothing more than to be with his daughter.
"I'm sorry. You've done all that you can possibly do for her. Everything that has been within your grasp has been reached. I know you wouldn't leave her in the arms of someone who couldn't be capable of caring for her so I believe you have done the right thing." He looked down to the ground and absorbed her words into his head trying to feel better about his decision. "As her father you have succeeded in giving her a life that she will love. I know right now all you want to do is be selfish but as parents we aren't given that luxury. Take pride in the fact that you've done right by her and your wife, Thomas." Sadly, being with him would not make her life better. He wanted to stay with her and forget the entire world but it wouldn't be fair to her. Gloomily, he looked up at her.
"Thank you," he whispered.
"I'm here for you if you want to talk." Something had caught the corner of his eye. His vision turned to this something and he realized it was finally time.
"I'm fine, Laila. I'll be okay."
"You sure?" He nodded his head and looked over to their room.
"Why don't you and Mikey go up to the room? I think I need a little bit more air before joining you two."
"Okay. You come in when you're ready." She started to walk to her son when he quickly turned back to her.
"Laila," he said stopping her in her tracks. "Thank you for everything. I can honestly say that if it weren't for you, I'd be a completely different man right now." She smiled.
"We're both different because of each other, Thomas. Don't forget that you've changed my life as much as I've changed yours." Mikey looked over to him as they walked away and Thomas made him smile by giving him a thumbs up. Once they walked into their rooms he got off his bike and walked over to the something that caught his eye. It was a car parked on the side street of the hotel with one person inside. The window was lowered when he stopped in front of it. Inside the driver's seat was a large man with black hair on the sides of his head but none on the top. It looked like he fit snuggly into the seat of the car.
"How long have you been following me?" asked Thomas. The man eyed him and the stern look on his face never fazed.
"Since Haddon Ave," he replied in his profound voice.
"Dallas knows I'm here?" The stranger simply nodded his head. "Take me to him then. I'll follow you." He returned to his bike just as the stranger turned on the engine. The stranger led him all the way to the outskirts of town where all these warehouses were built. They were about fifteen miles away from the town which was all new to him. He never got to see where they did their business like this when he worked for them. After the third warehouse, the stranger stopped in front of this three story building. He parked in front of the car and the stranger escorted him to the door. Before walking him in, he patted the jacket then his legs and arms. A gun was pulled out from his boot when he reached the legs. The man held the gun as he walked Thomas through the door. The inside of the building was wide spaced but not much was inside. It looked to be abandoned for quite a long time until he saw a small group of people sitting at this table. The majority of them were well dressed men but the latter were the common thugs he always saw on the street. The man in the middle of them turned his seat around to see who was entering their place of business. He was a light skinned middle aged man with his black hair combed to the side neatly. His puzzled face formed into a wide smiled when he saw who walked in.
"I had heard you were back in town but I honestly could not believe that you would ever set foot here ever again," he said with a silvery tone of voice.
"Nice to see you too, Dallas," Thomas replied cockily. Calmly, he walked over to his new visitor. The stranger handed him the gun he found.
"What were you planning to do with this?"
"You're very familiar with guns why don't you take a guess?"
"You still have that smart mouth, Tommy," he laughed. "I kind of missed that. What're you doing back here?"
"I just came here to say goodbye to family."
"So you thought you could just waltz back into your hometown after what you did the last time you were here? I'm sure you didn't forget what happened. You stole a lot of money from us and ran like a coward. The only reason you still have family here is because of me! I was under the impression that you were in hiding and I knew you would come back eventually because of them. Do you really want to drag them back into this?"
"I didn't come here to start anything, Dallas. You leave them out of this." Dallas eyed him up and down. All of Thomas' different features almost made him unrecognizable. He remembered him much younger than this. The potential he saw in him was long gone now but it didn't matter to Dallas.
"These years haven't been kind to you, my friend. I don't know what happened to you, Tommy. You were really good at what you did. You're a killer just like the rest of us. You should've known better than to think you could go straight."
"Don't compare yourself to me. You knew I wanted out for the longest time. I had Emilia then we had Laurie and you just couldn't leave things be. You couldn't leave me be. You knew I knew too much and that was why you didn't want me to go on my own. You don't trust anyone." He chuckled softly and walked up closer to him to look him in the eyes.
"You still don't get it do you, Tommy? After all these years you still haven't realized it. We've ran our drugs through this town and we've been swimming in money. You could've been a big part of this; you and John. We're all murderers here, even you. You can't deny that since you've killed much more than you'd like to admit. You should have accepted that a long time ago because then maybe," he paused and grinned, "maybe I wouldn't have had to kill that wife of yours." Thomas rammed his forehead right down onto the bridge of Dallas' nose, breaking it. He stumbled backwards while holding his nose and yelling out in anger. "You stupid son of a bitch! You have no idea how badly I have wanted to kill you and now that you were stupid enough to come back I finally have the chance." He pointed the gun at Thomas' head but before he could pull the trigger, another gunshot was heard from outside. Before anyone could follow the sound, the gun was shot out of Dallas' hand when the pulled went straight through his palm. He cried out in pain and looked at the large man who brought Thomas to the warehouse. "You idiot! You were followed!" Thomas quickly shoved his elbow into the large man's gut then punched Dallas on his injured nose, knocking him down to the ground. The doors to the warehouse were opened by the police, led by Bruce. The large man grabbed Thomas again and the two struggled to throw the other down. Thomas used his leg to kick the man's thigh then while he was in pain shove his elbow into his cheek. The men behind Dallas took out their guns and started shooting outside where the gunshot came from. The big man received a knee in his face that finally knocked him on his back.
With the big man out of the way, Thomas could see his best friend running towards him. Before they could reach one another, he felt a sharp pain in his back. There was another sharp pain in his left arm and one more in his chest. Dallas was still on the ground but with the gun pointed straight at Thomas' back. The first bullet pierced his spine, the second shot through his arm, and the last one punctured his heart.
Shayla and Diana were watching the news in their private homes at the same time. The two of them were watching because of what Thomas had said. They were afraid that they were going to see a news report about his death. They watched diligently and waited for this news report that they hoped wouldn't show. Laurie was playing with her toys in the living room while Shayla watched her. Diana was eating some small dinner she had made while keeping her eyes on the TV. In the living room sat the leather bag her brother had left her earlier except it was open now. Inside of it were bundles of hundred dollar bills. She had suspected it would be money but not around five hundred thousand. She had decided to leave it for his daughter and add to it as the years went by. Finally there was word of gunfire on the outskirts of town with a group of police on the scene. Shayla looked up at the TV while Diana put her fork down. The two of them grew anxious as they waited to hear what had happened. There was mention of Bruce who had led the police there to find Thomas. Diana covered her mouth and sobbed as she watched the story unfold before her eyes. Shayla merely watched the screen and held little Laurie close to her chest.
Mikey walked into the hotel room and right away ran to the bed with the remote in his hand. Laila slowly walked in with this bad feeling brewing inside of her. Her bad feeling passed for a moment when she saw the black bag on their bed. Mikey had paid no attention to it but his mother found it odd since Thomas never rode out on his bike without those bags. She quickly looked out the window and saw that his bike was no longer in the parking lot. The bad feeling returned as she stared out there, hoping he would come back in that second. She turned back to the bag and pulled it over to his bed. When she opened it there a note folded on top of bundles of hundred dollar bills. She couldn't help but gasp when she saw the money. Beside the money were the two pistols he had kept inside. She moved the money around and saw that underneath it were the rest of his tools for his bike.
The bag was put to the side but the note was still in her hand. She wasn't sure what to expect from this note but she hoped that it wasn't a goodbye letter. So many thoughts ran through her head as she contemplating opening it or just throwing it inside of the bag so she could spare herself some heartache. The only thing that recurred back into her head was that this was his last goodbye to them. She wasn't sure if she could handle reading that especially after all they had been through. Finally with a deep breath she opened the note and it read:
Dear Laila,
I know you're probably really upset or hurt right now but I couldn't bare to tell you what my plan was because I knew how you would react. If you're reading this then hopefully it means that my plan succeeded and Bruce and I managed to put away the people who took my best friend and wife from me. If it has really come true then I'm sorry to say this but it means that I'm dead. I know that's the last thing you want to read but this was my plan all along, Laila. It wouldn't have mattered if I had taken down those men the right way and sent them to jail. My crimes are still my crimes and I would've been taken to prison with them. I managed to accomplish all of this because I found the right way for it to end. The moment you explained to me why I shouldn't have killed your husband I understood what needed to happen. I would have killed myself if I had gone to prison. I've been in my own prison since that horrible night. I prefer it this way, Laila. I've left you this money so you and your son can live in a house all your own where you two can live in peace. The guns are so you can keep the peace should anything happen but I know you and I know you're strong enough to take on whatever comes at you. Thank you for believing that a person as damaged as I am could still be a good man. Thank you for showing me that there's always another way.
With love always, Thomas
"Mom, are you okay?" asked Mikey as he stared at his mom who had tears crawling down her cheeks. She sat with him on the bed and hugged him.
"I'm fine and we're going to be fine," she said gently.
"Is Thomas okay?" She rubbed her cheek against his soft hair.
"He's better now, sweetie. He's better."
Bruce watched as each bullet connected with his best friend, forcing him to fall to the ground. Bruce cried out and kicked Dallas in the face when he finally reached them. He was knocked out immediately and for good measure, the gun was kicked out of his hand. The rest of the group surrendered once they saw they were outnumbered and were arrested. Bruce knelt down beside his best friend and held him in his arms.
"No," he said in disbelief as he watched the blood leave his wounds. "No don't you die on me, Tommy. Don't you fucking die!" He pushed his hand against the wound to put some pressure but it wasn't working. "I need an ambulance now!"
"It worked," he choked out with a smile. "Our plan worked."
"Yeah it worked man," he said trying to stay strong.
"You're gonna need the wire you put on me."
"Don't worry about that right now. Just stay with me okay? You're not gonna die, Tommy." Bruce could feel his eyes getting watery.
"Bruce," he said weakly.
"Yeah?"
"It's okay."
"What do you mean it's okay? This isn't okay. You have a sister and a mom who love you. A daughter waiting for you back home."
"This was the plan all along." Bruce said something else but the words never reached his brothers ears. His head felt so heavy so he stopped trying to hold it up and just let it fall. Everything looked so bright now and he could feel it all slipping away. The stress, the troubles, the pain, and the heartache were all gone now. The only thing left was this glowing image in front of him. He recognized it instantly but not as a memory because he knew they never shared this moment before. It shined so bright in front of him and it was so beautiful. Laurie was running with her long hair flowing in the wind. She wrapped her arms around Emilia and him right beside her. They held their daughter together and looked into each other's eyes with their gleaming smiles. Thomas leaned in and they shared one final kiss. This dream was all that he ever needed to pass on by and here it was again so he could continue on.
