Chapter 12

The following afternoon, Reese waited in Jade's living room. This was the second time he'd been by her house and she wasn't home. There had been no sign of Chris or Zack all day either. That morning he'd left, figuring that maybe she'd gone to school for a change, but this time he decided to let himself in and wait for her. The door was unlocked, as it usually was, and he knew that she had to come home eventually.

As he waited he took the opportunity to search the house for any drugs or cigarettes that they might have left behind. He hadn't smoked or had a fix since the previous afternoon before Jade kicked him out so he was becoming desperate. Frustrated, he decided to settle for something to eat when he wasn't able to find anything. Food was second on his list of priorities.

While Reese was in the kitchen, he heard the front door open. Thinking that it was Jade, he hurried out to the living room, preparing to beg for forgiveness. He stepped back in surprise when he found a large man in his mid-twenties standing by the couch. He looked tough, with a shaved head and a dangerous gleam in his cold, blue eyes. "Who are you?" Reese asked nervously.

"Where's those punks who're always here?" the man's snarled hatefully.

"Who? Chris and Zack?"

"Yeah. That's them. Where are they? I want my cash…and I want it now." The man said ominously.

"I-I don't know. I haven't seen them since yesterday." Reese stuttered. He realized that this was the dealer who Chris and Zack owed money to.

"They said they would have it last night and they weren't here. They're trying to fuck me out of my money!" The man started to get angry.

"No they're not! I was here yesterday. They said they were going to get it for you. I don't know what happened, but I'm sure they'll have it by tonight." Reese babbled uneasily.

"Who are you?" The man asked, eyeing Reese with suspicion.

"Just a friend of theirs."

"A friend, huh? Then why don't you be a good friend and pay up so I don't have to hurt anybody." The man threatened.

"I don't have any money to give you! I wasn't even in on the deal anyway! I'm sure if you come back tonight, they'll have it for you." Reese's heart hammered against his chest as he started to panic.

"I don't have time to keep playing these games. I think I need to leave a message so they'll get the hint."

"Ok." Reese squeaked. "Do you need something to write it on?"

The man pulled a gun from his coat and shot Reese in the stomach. It all happened so fast that he had no time to react. The deafening sound of the shot was already thundering through the room before he even realized that there was a gun in the man's hand. A look of shock washed over Reese's face as he staggered briefly, then fell to the floor clutching his midsection. His whole side felt like it was on fire. Warm blood soaked through his shirt and trickled over his fingers where he grasped the wound.

"Nah, I don't need no paper. They'll get the message." The man said and walked out the door.

Reese struggled to open his eyes that had instinctively clenched shut from his suffering. When he looked up, he noticed the phone on a table only a few feet from where he'd fallen. Groaning in agony with every move, he rolled onto his belly and managed to crawl over and pull it on the floor by the cord. He slowly punched in the number to his house and placed it to his ear.

"Hello?" Malcolm answered the phone.

"Malcolm…"

"Yeah, who's this?"

"Need...help...sh..shot…" Reese's whispered, his voice low and guttural as he struggled to form coherent words. He could barely focus with the excruciating pain that was surging through his body.

"What? I can't understand you. You have to talk louder. Who is this anyway?" Malcolm was becoming annoyed. As listened to the heavy breathing on the phone he became convinced that it was some kid from school playing a joke. "Is this some kind of stupid prank?"

"Hurry…3..8..5…Ce…Cedar…" Reese struggled to say the address.

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't have time for this. Get a life, jackass!" Malcolm shouted and hung up the phone.

Reese ended the call and started to dial again, but suddenly couldn't remember his own number. His mind was fuzzy and he felt lightheaded. Tears began to roll down his cheeks when he realized that no one was coming to help him. He knew he was losing blood fast because from the corner of his eye he could see the crimson pool that had already formed around him. Though he fought to hold onto his last threads of consciousness, his eyelids eventually became too heavy and darkness embraced him.

XXXXX

The Wilkerson's sat down to what they thought was going to be another boring dinner that evening, occupying only four of the six seats. Things had been really dull around their house since Reese had been gone. Malcolm and Dewey easily stayed out of trouble and hadn't been grounded for days without his influence. It was kind of nice to have a break from the normal daily screaming sessions that they were used to, but each one of them was deeply aware of the gaping hole in their lives. It was unnatural for their household to be so quiet and uneventful.

"Was your brother in school today, Malcolm?" Hal asked, finally breaking the silence with the one subject they were supposed to avoid talking about—especially during dinner.

"Hal, we're not discussing this now." Lois snapped.

"I just want to know. I have a right to know if my son was in school today." Hal shot back. They were all very edgy and quick to turn on each other these days. "Answer the question, Malcolm."

"I didn't see him." Malcolm replied, keeping his eyes focused on his food.

"Did you really expect him to be?" Lois asked with annoyance. Malcolm and Dewey sighed. They knew there was no turning back now that the subject had been brought up.

"I don't know, Lois. I think he's more responsible than you give him credit for sometimes." Hal said.

"Responsible? Responsible?" Lois threw up her hands in frustration. "He's on drugs, Hal. How is that responsible?"

"You're right, mom. Reese did something really stupid and irresponsible, but you shouldn't have kicked him out. He's never going to get better on his own." Malcolm argued.

"Reese needs to learn a lesson, Malcolm. He thinks he can do whatever he wants and we're just going to forgive him and move on. He'll come crawling back home soon and we'll probably let him stay, but I'm certainly not going out of my way to go find him and make life easy for him. I've had it with—"Lois was interrupted by the phone ringing.

She rose from her seat to answer it, responding to the caller with short phrases that didn't give her family any sign of what the conversation was about. "Oh my God!" Lois shrieked unexpectedly, her eyes instantly tearing up. Her family put down their forks and looked up with concern. The phone suddenly fell from her limp fingers and crashed to the floor. For a few seconds, she couldn't move. All she could do was stand there in shock as the tears began to stream down her pale face.

"Honey? What is it?" Hal asked apprehensively.

"Reese has been shot!" Lois sobbed.

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A/N: Hope you liked the twist!