Thanks to everyone for reading!
Legal stuff still stands...
Chapter 11: The Rundown
Bobby's head turned to look at the boy, his expression unreadable. "Craig! Fuck, grab him! " He cried out as soon as realized the boy was at the door, moving away from them. Angel, Jeremiah and Jack all three turned instantly.
Craig hit the door at a run, and the fear that had been building up channeled to his legs, making him run as hard as he could. He heard Bobby's yells, and then he heard fast feet hitting the pavement behind him as he passed Jerry's car. He pushed his legs harder to pick up speed. He felt hot tears running down his cheeks, and realized that his vision was slightly blurred from tears. Halfway down the street he came to an empty lot, and swung into it, moving to the alley behind it and turning to his left. He could still hear feet running after him, and he heard his name being called. The alley came to a street, and Craig ran past several people on the sidewalk, into the traffic, right in front of a car, but he didn't stop. He could hear tires screeching, and someone was yelling some pretty colorful words after him mixed in with the sounds of Bobby and Jack's cursing. He crossed the street, and headed towards the railroad tracks. He didn't try to look back; he didn't want to know how closely he was being followed. He could still hear the footfalls of his pursuing brothers. He could tell there was more than one of them, but he didn't know if all four where running after him.
He made it to the tracks and turned to head north, towards the river. His feet hit the gravel next to the tracks, causing him to skid slightly. He thought for a moment that he was going to fall, but he re-gained his footing and ran harder than before, mentally cursing at his self for losing those few seconds.
"Craig!" Jack yelled behind him.
Craig felt as if the air was being sucked out him with no warning. He was going down, with a weight on him. He hit the ground, but he didn't feel it like he should have, it didn't hurt, though he was sure he would be bruised. He twisted around, breaking free of the arms that were trying to entrap him, and he took off running again.
"Damn Angel, you had him!" Bobby's yells filled the air. "What the fuck?"
Craig could still hear them running after him. He was getting tired, fast. The fear that had initially fueled his legs was still there, but exhaustion was winning out. He reached the next street that the tracks crossed and turned to his right, heading towards the bridge. He thought he heard the sounds of his brothers' pursuit growing fainter, and thought that maybe he was losing them. He couldn't face them. They now knew that he hadn't done anything to help his mother. He had let that man grab him and would have let him go on with the act if the other shooter hadn't stopped him and his brothers knew that now.
He turned into the small park just before the bridge, but he wasn't sure exactly where he was running to, he was just trying to get away from his brothers. He couldn't stand the thought of looking at them and knowing they hated him. At the end of the park was a footpath that had been roped off for the season. He hurtled over the rope easily, but slid slightly when he hit the undisturbed snow. It didn't slow him down though, he knew the footpath, and he knew it ran through the trees to the next street over. From there he wasn't sure where he would go. The end of the foot path had always been off limits to him, and he wasn't as familiar with what lay beyond. He only knew that he had to get away from his brothers.
He was still running when hands wrapped around his waist, and he was jerked back, hard, and pulled to the ground. This time he couldn't break free of the hold, this time the arms held on tight enough that it hurt. His eyes squeezed shut and he screamed out and kicked and hit at the person holding him.
"Craig!" Bobby rolled over with him, putting the boy's face in the snow, lying on top of him, his weight holding him down, making it impossible to struggle. "Stop fighting me!" He yelled loud.
"Jesus kid, what the fuck," Angel was hovering over them, panting hard.
Tears were pouring out and he couldn't stop them. He'd been fighting down crying for nearly a full week, forcing any tears back and fighting them down every time they started, and now it was pouring out and he couldn't stop it. He tried again to squirm free from Bobby, though he knew in his mind it was useless. The cold snow stung his face, and his body started shivering instantly. Whether it was from the cold or the pure fear that was taking over him didn't matter. He hoped it would hide the tears that were running full force.
"Boy, you ain't going anywhere." Bobby spoke quietly. "Stop fighting me." He was panting as hard as Angel. "Jack, Jerry was following in his car?" Bobby asked.
"Yeah," Jack gave a breathless answer.
"Go get him, bring him to this street." Bobby instructed.
Jack took off running.
"You thought it would be a good idea to put him through this?" Angel asked quietly.
"No, I didn't know this was going to happen." Bobby still didn't move off of the boy. He leaned right into the boy's right ear. "Craig, can you hear me?" He asked loud.
Craig was bawling like an infant and Bobby's words only seemed to increase his struggle and his tears.
"You are not going to run from it kid. You are not going to hide from it." Bobby spoke loud. "No one will ever try to shove their cock up your ass again, you got that? That sick motherfucker is gonna find out what happens when you mess with my brother. I will shoot his cock out from between his legs for that. But you are not going to let what he did screw you up! I won't let you!"
Craig still had his eyes squeezed shut. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"
"I told you once; you are not allowed to say those words." Bobby lifted off of him enough to turn him onto his back. "You better look at me when I'm talking to you." His hands pressed down on the boy's shoulders.
Craig opened his eyes and looked up at his oldest brother through the tears. "I'm sorry!" He cried out again, louder than before.
"That was not your fault, none of it!" Bobby sounded strange to the boy, and as the next flow of tears emptied from his eyes he could see that Bobby looked as if he were crying as well.
"Kid, is that why you wouldn't tell us about it?" Angel asked from behind Bobby. "Jesus." He was leaned over, hands supporting him on his knees, still panting hard. "You thought we'd be mad at you?"
Craig tried to slide out from under Bobby, tried to pull free from the hold the man had on his shoulders. "Let go of me!" He screamed out.
"Stop it!" Bobby's right hand moved long enough to smack the left side of the boy's head. "No one is mad at you Craig. Do you hear me? But you should have told us. You should have told us what that fucker did to you. Cause now when we get them, they are gonna pay for everything. No one touches you like that." Bobby sounded angry, but he had to pull his hands up to wipe his face. He looked down at the boy. "You are supposed to tell us if some one hurts you!" He yelled.
Craig tried to squirm out from under his brother again, but Bobby was straddling him across the stomach and the attempt was useless. He gave up and just cried. He couldn't stop the crying.
"Kid, what the hell has been going through your head?" Angel asked.
Craig closed his eyes and tried kicking his feet. He tried again to squirm his way out from under Bobby, who just sat there and let him struggle.
"Do you think any of that was your fault? Do you?" Angel kept going, his voice gaining strength with each word. "Did you think there was something that you could have done that would have changed anything? You are fourteen years old, and you had a gun pointed at you. There was nothing you could do. Don't you know that? Did you think we wouldn't know that?"
Bobby's head snapped around to look at Angel, then back to the boy. "You thought we would blame you?" He asked. "Is that it? Is that why you wouldn't talk about what happened? Son of Bitch! You don't know your brothers at all do you kid?"
"I couldn't stop them." Craig felt the words slipping out between his sobs and once the first words were out he couldn't seem to stop them. "They shot her and I couldn't stop them. I couldn't move. I didn't do anything to even try." He cried. "I wanted to but I couldn't move. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He couldn't look at either of his brothers; he kept his eyes squeezed closed and cried.
"Shit kid." Bobby cried out. "If you had tried to fight them they would have blown your head off. You are a kid; there was nothing you could have done. I thank God that you didn't do anything stupid and get yourself killed. Mom wouldn't have wanted anything to happen to you. You did exactly what you should have. There was nothing you could do!"
Craig continued bawling. "You would have." He squeezed his eyes shut. "I couldn't move! I couldn't even yell! Mom looked right at me just before they shot her and I couldn't do anything!"
"Maybe we would have been able to do something, but that's us, not you." Angel stood up straight. "We are adults, you aren't."
"He grabbed me." Craig's voice suddenly sounded weak. "I couldn't pull away from him, I couldn't move." He kept his eyes closed, not wanting to chance looking into his brothers' faces and seeing the repulsion he was sure was there.
"That wasn't your fault!" Bobby leaned down and spoke the words loud. "Look at me!"
Craig opened his eyes again, and shook his head slowly. "He said I was lucky, I wasn't supposed to be there. He laughed." Another series of choking sobs hit him. "The son of a bitch laughed and said that he'd wanted to do that for a long time. I knew him! I knew him!" He screamed out as a sudden surge of anger exploded from somewhere inside of him.
Bobby slid down enough to grab Craig up under the shoulders and sit him up, pulling him to him in a hard hug. "It's okay, it doesn't matter. He didn't get you and he won't. We'll find out who he was, and we'll get him for you." He spoke quickly. "You don't have to be afraid of him."
"But I knew him." Craig cried into Bobby's leather jacket. The crying didn't slack off, it seemed to increase, and the aching in his chest that he'd been fighting for so long seemed to break open. "I want MOM." He cried out. "I just want MOM." He suddenly pulled back from Bobby, the anger that he was feeling mixing with shame of being violated. He hit at the man's chest as hard as he could with both fists. "Damn him!" He screamed out.
The sudden movement took Bobby by surprise, and the boy was able to break free. He was on his feet and starting to run, but Bobby recovered quickly, and Angel seemed ready for it. Angel had him first, wrapping his arms around his stomach and lifting him off of his feet. Craig kicked and screamed and swung his arms in an attempt to hit at Angel and break free. Bobby reached to grab his arms and the boy's feet made contact with his torso, knocking him to the ground. Angel hung onto him tight, and was saying something to him, but his own screams were downing out his brother's voice. Bobby didn't try to approach him once he'd pulled himself out of the snow. Craig continued to kick and swing his arms and try to pull out of Angel's hold, screaming and crying during his effort.
"Bobby!" Jerry's voice made it through a short break in Craig's screams as he drew in a breath. Moments later more hands were grabbing at him and he fought even harder, hitting and kicking at whoever it was grabbing at him. He kicked back hard at Angel's shins and made contact.
"Son of a bitch," Angel cried out, and nearly lost his hold on the boy.
"He needs to get it out, we need to let him fight!" Bobby was the one who spoke up and the hands retreated. Bobby stepped up to him. "You want to hit me? Hit me! Go ahead, hit me all you want!" He yelled. "Right here, take your best shot kid!" He slapped at his own chest.
Angel still held him, "What the fuck?" He looked at Bobby.
"Let go of him!" Bobby yelled. "He ain't goin' nowhere."
Angel let go of the boy, and Craig instantly started punching on Bobby, screaming as he landed punches to his brother's stomach and chest.
Bobby seemed unfazed by the blows, but he blocked anything that came near his face. "Get it out! Come on; hit me as hard as you can!" He yelled. "Come on Craig, put some effort into it! You hit like a fuckin' girl!"
The words only fuelled the anger and made it over ride the fear the boy had been feeling. He hit Bobby as hard as he could, as fast as he could, ignoring the pain his hands were feeling. He couldn't stop, he felt the anger and the fear pouring out of his body with every strike.
After what seemed an eternity the energy seemed to drain from Craig's blows. He was crying just as hard as when Bobby first caught him, and his throat and head were hurting and throbbing. The aching in his chest felt a little less intense. He backed a few steps back from Bobby, letting his hands fall to his side. He stepped back until he stepped into Angel.
Jerry and Jack were standing on either side of Bobby, Angel directly behind him; any attempt at running again was blocked. Not that he could have run at that moment, his legs were shaky and he felt as if he couldn't breathe from crying so hard. He waited for one of them to start yelling at him.
Bobby stepped up to him. "Okay?" He looked at the boy. "Are you done?" His voice was quiet, and it seemed calm.
Craig looked at Bobby and suddenly realized the man truly wasn't angry with him. None of his brothers seemed to be angry with him. They didn't blame him for his mother dying. They didn't look at him with disgust after knowing what that man had tried to do with him. All he could think was that his brothers were really being brothers at that moment. He grabbed hold of Bobby and pulled himself into him and away from Angel, grabbing hold hard and burying his face in his coat again, still sobbing as hard as before. He felt Bobby's arms wrap around him and for the first time that whole week he felt like things could be okay. He felt hands on his back and knew his brothers were trying to comfort him and it felt right to let them. He didn't try to speak now, he just cried.
"He's freezing." Jerry spoke after a long while. "Come on; let's get him to the car." He sounded calm.
Bobby pulled his arms down. "Craig, put your arms around my neck and hang on." He instructed. Craig did what Bobby told him without thinking as to why. "I'm gonna pick you up, okay? Don't freak out me." Bobby eased his hands under Craig's arms, lifting him up and then wrapped his arms around him to hold him off the ground.
When they got to Jerry's car Jerry opened the back driver's side door and Bobby eased the boy into the seat. "Slide over kid." He climbed in next to Craig and let the boy grab hold again. Jack got in on the other side, while Angel and Jerry got into the front. Bobby kept his arms around Craig without saying a word.
Jerry looked at Bobby in the rearview mirror. "We need to go back to that fucking store and ask about that damn witness."
Bobby nodded his head. "Yeah, I know." He agreed. He looked down at the boy clinging to him, "We have to go back Craig. That means you have to go with us. You can do that, can't you?"
Craig didn't answer, he just held onto Bobby tighter. His crying was finally slacking off, but his throat felt raw and tight. He sniffed a bit at the left over tears that tried to make their way out.
"You are gonna be fine. You are with us. We aren't gonna let anything happen to you. You tell me though; can you do this with us? I'll be holding onto you the whole time." Bobby spoke with a calm, cautious voice.
Craig nodded his head slightly. Yeah, he could do it. He didn't want to have to let go of Bobby yet, or lose that safe feeling that he had at the moment. If Bobby went to the store without him, he'd have to let go of his brother, and he didn't think he could do that yet.
"Good boy." Bobby gave him a squeeze.
Jerry parked the car in the same spot it had been before the chase. He turned and looked at Bobby. "Is he okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, he's gonna be fine." Bobby gave the boy a quick rub on the back. "You ready?" He asked.
Jerry dug in his pocket and thrust a clean handkerchief back to Bobby. "Let him blow his nose and get himself calm." He spoke quietly.
Bobby took the handkerchief from Jerry and moved Craig enough that he could hand it over to him. "You heard your big brother, blow your nose."
"And you can keep that." Jerry added as Craig started blowing.
"What Jerr', you too good to carry your little brother's snot rag in your pocket?" Jack joked.
Craig laughed a little at the joke, and it seemed most of the tension that had built up inside of him was gone.
Bobby laughed too, and gave Craig a few more minutes to blow his nose and get rid of the last of the tears.
"Okay, come on." Bobby finally opened his door. "You just stay with me." He held Craig's hand as he had earlier and pulled him from the car.
