His legs pulled up to his chest, arms around them holding them in place, Four Way Shot felt very embarrassed and scared. His brother had ran out of his room screaming and yelling for his father when he had noticed that he had, what he thought, urinated on his bed. The magazine that he had been reading had fallen to the floor when he had slid from the bed, everything afterwards was a blur, he hardly remembered what happened next it had happened so fast. His father had ran in and had scooped him up and had carried down the hall to his bedroom and had taken him into his bathroom.
"That zeen ye done read," his father had said. "that ain't fer young un's alrighty."
He had done nothing but rest his head on his father's shoulder, all the while his father had been cleaning him. When his father had finished washing him he had wrapped him in a towel and had carried him into his room where he was now. His old clothes had been wrapped in a plastic bag and thrown in the laundry he was sure so his father dressed him in a red and blue striped long sleeve button up shirt, black and white jeans, a black belt and a brown hat, before he had left he had pulled out a pair of brown leather chaps from his lower dresser drawer and had slipped them over his pants, his boots were brown, the same color as the pair that was probably downstairs by the door, and the spurs behind them were gold with a silver wheel.
"A-heh heh heh a-heh heh heh a-heh heh heh," he heard outside his door. "aw did someone go wee on his brother's bed. Poor baby! A-heh heh heh a-heh heh heh!"
"Leave me alone!" he screamed. "I a-want to be alone!"
The door must not have been locked as she slowly pushed it open and ran in. Rolling his eyes and pulling his hands up to his face, hiding it, he did all he could to ignore her. She jumped on his bed and started jumping on it, he wished he could reach up and throw her out of his room, she was making him angry. The last straw was when she jumped up high and instead of landing on her feet, she landed on her knees, one of them kicked him between the legs.
"Will ye git out o' mah room!" he exclaimed. Doing something he had never done in his life, he shoved his half sister off of him and off of his bed with all four of his hands. When she landed on the floor she looked up at him, surprised. Not through with her, anger roaring through his body, he jumped off of his bed and slapped his top left hand against her head, hard! Her head smacked his dresser hard, he stood over her, all four of his hands balled up in fists. Pulling her head up, she started crying.
"You hit me!" she cried, she pulled her hand up to the side of her face that he had slapped a minute before, it was red and swollen and wet from her tears. "I'm telling my dad and my mom that you hit me!"
"Go ahead," he growled down at her. "I'll a-tell mah pa an' mah ma that ye knee'd me!"
His half sister looked at him coldly for a few minutes, fear and confusion clouding her eyes, her long copper and gray hair falling over her face and over her shoulders, it was all over the place, it looked like she had stuck her finger in the electrical sockets in his room. With an exasperated cry, she jumped up and pushed him away with her shoulder. He stood where he had been pushed and watched her run out of his room with her hands over her face, crying into them, Four Way Shot had a wicked smile on his face. It wasn't long before his brother, Arson, walked in his room, taking her place.
"What the hell did you do to her?" he asked, surprised. "Never knew her to run so fast!"
"She a-got whut she deserved!" Four Way Shot exclaimed. "She a-knee'd me!"
"Ouch," his brother said, sliding down on his bed. "she practically tore her father's door down trying to get in, probably in there right now spinning a wild, untrue yarn."
"Imma gittin' tired o' her chasin' me an' gittin' me in trouble fer thangs I ain't done!" Four Way Shot yelled.
"Four Way Shot!"
Turning towards the door, both boys saw their uncle, Slasha's father, run in. His spikes were out and his mouth was open, showing an evil, sinister smile, his hands were in fists, he had gotten hands a few years ago for use around the house. Their half sister was behind him, hugging him tightly and still crying, it looked like she had her head buried into his shirt. He was wearing a black and red hippy shirt, black jeans and black shoes, his hair was down, it was hanging over his shoulders.
"What is this I am hearing about you hitting your sister?" his uncle demanded.
"I a-didn't hit mah half sister," Four Way Shot growled. "I a-slapped her, she a-was gittin' on mah nerves!"
"A slap is the same thing as a hit young man!" his uncle exclaimed. "Look at her cheek young man! That will most definitely bruise up!"
"Good!" Four Way Shot screamed. "Imma glad it a-will bruise, she a-deserved it fer kneein' me!"
"Whut's a-goin' on in here?"
His father walked in slowly, the doorway was crowded now, three of his uncle's were trying to see what was going on and his mother was also trying to walk in. When his father saw his half sister's cheek he turned towards him with anger and frustration in his eyes. He could detect a whistle and some wheezing coming from his father, the room had grown very quiet. Before he knew it his father was rushing at him.
"She a-knee'd me!" he repeated when his father wrapped an arm around him.
"Leave him alone!" Arson screamed.
Arson jumped from the bed and grabbed his father from behind, his father swung around, trying to catch him and pull him off, Arson was too quick for him. He pushed his uncle towards the door and stood between his brother and his uncle. Four Way Shot's mother had, somehow, gotten into the room and was walking towards them.
"Arson," she said gently. "calm down."
"Leave my brother alone!" he repeated. "Slasha came in here and knee'd him and it got him angry."
"Ever'one out!" his uncle yelled. "Lemee talk to mah son fer a lil' while."
Everyone but Four Way Shot's mother and Arson left the room, Slasha's father gave Four Way Shot a warning look and pointed at him, saying that he was watching him closely. When Four Way Shot's father turned to Arson he half closed his eyes and made a motion with his hand for him to get out. Sighing hard, he hugged his brother tightly them walked out of the room, when the door was closed behind him he turned around and pressed his ear against it.
"Sit!" his father said, he was trying to calm down.
"Sit down Four Way," his mother said, she was more in control of herself than his father at the time. "Lets talk."
Letting his legs fall over the edge of his bed, Four Way Shot pulled his head towards his father. He knew his mother's anger well, having seen it a few times over the years when someone had gotten on her nerves, his father was another story. He did his fighting away from him, he hid it from him so he didn't know how bad it could get. Lacing the fingers on his lower hands, he waited.
"Why'd you hit your sister Four Way?" his mother asked.
"She a-knee'd me," he said, swallowing hard. "I a-was on mah bed, lyin' in it, an' she done come in an' started jumpin' on it. She a-fell an' her knee done hit me down thar."
His mother paused for a few minutes and looked at his father, who had his back turned to them, he was looking out the window so he didn't know if he had heard what he had said. A few minutes went past then his mother patted his shoulder and gave him a hug, it showed him that he had her support and that she was trying to comfort him.
"You know," she said. "I have two sisters and a brother myself, I know how aggravating it can be at times."
"Ye do?" Four Way Shot squeaked.
"Yes," she laughed. "my younger sister, at times, would drive me so far up a wall that I had to fight to keep from hurting her. She was very annoying!"
"Mah half sister is ver annoyin'!" Four Way Shot exclaimed. "She's always a-gittin' me an' Arson in trouble when we ain't done nothin'!"
"Yeeeeaaaaah, you know my younger sister did that a lot too," his mother said, smiling down at him. "nothing you can really about that except, of course, telling us about it."
"Darlin'," Four Way Shot's father sighed.
"Six Shooter?" his mother said, turning her head to the side.
"Can I a-talk to mah son in private please?" he asked.
His mother looked at his father's back for a long time, it felt like forever before she pulled herself up from the bed. Before she left his room she patted both of his shoulders and kissed his cheek. When his father heard the door close he turned around. Four Way Shot had never felt so much guilt in his life, there was still a flicker of anger in his father's eyes, what he saw most was confusion and curiosity. His father walked towards him slowly and sat down beside him, he took his hat off and placed it down on the bed beside him.
"I kind o' understand why ye hit yer sister," his father told him. "I a-see ye is tellin' me the truth an' I believe that she a-knee'd ye."
"Ye do?" Four Way Shot exclaimed, he felt like jumping up from his bed and hugging his father.
"Yes," his father said. "son ye an' I both a-know it ain't right hittin' gals, even if they a-hurt us."
"But..."Four Way Shot sputtered. "she a-knee'd me an' I ain't a-gonna take that sittin' down."
"Shur ye can!" his father said, patting him on the shoulder. "Jus' grab yerself an' look up at her meanly, that will a-git yer point across."
"Ye shur?" Four Way Shot asked, pulling away a little.
"Shur will, I done did it to yer ma a few times." his father laughed.
His father pulled his head up and started laughing a little, Four Way Shot couldn't help himself, he pulled one of his arms up and punched his father in the stomach. He father looked at him from the side, still laughing a little inside. Not being able to control himself anymore, Four Way Shot jumped on his father and flattened him to the floor. His father allowed him to sit on him for only a minute before he pushed him off.
"Ye know," he said. "yer ma an' I a-was jus' talkin' 'bout me takin' ye to rope an' cut an' brand the cows."
"Ye was!" Four Way Shot jumped up excitedly and started clapping his hands. "Kin I come?"
"It's a-fine with me," his father said. "yer ma on the other hand may be a lil' problem though."
"I kin git her to say yes." Four Way Shot said.
"I bet ye can." his father replied, laughing a little. "Yer ma can be a lil' hard headed at times but she's a-got a good lil' heart in her."
Four Way Shot's eyes were bright and he was jumping higher than a jack rabbit when his father stood up. He rushed at his father and grabbed him in a big hug that made him step back a few. His father smiled warmly and smoothed his hand over his head, his hat had fallen off and was lying on the floor behind him, his grayish brown hair with some yellow mixed in shined in the light from the lamp. His father's hair had less yellow in it, but he definitely had a lot of him in him.
"Well, I guess I can see that ye got both yer ol' ma an' me in ye," his father was saying. "ye didn't git yer temper from me that's fer shur."
"Ye don't know that," Four Way Shot giggled.
"Shur I do," his father said, scratching his ear. "now lemee talk to ye 'bout that zeen ye done read a few hours ago."
Arson looked up from the floor and frowned, when Four Way Shot's mother had walked out of his room she had walked into him and had knocked him down. She had picked him up and had carried him downstairs, and in an event that had never happened before she had plopped him down on his father's lap. He had stayed still in his father's lap for a few seconds, stunned to death, then he had tried jumping down, and he found that very difficult to do. His father had wrapped his flamethrower around his waist and had held him tightly to him, at first he had thought he was being suffocated. When he had gotten off of his father's lap he had raced upstairs to his room and had gotten one of his CDs, since his portable wasn't working he was playing it on his system.
"Let's watch it burn. Let's watch it burn. Let's watch this city burn the world. Let's watch this city burn, from the sky lines on top of the world. Till there's nothing left of her. Let's watch this city burn the world. Watch things turn to ash, with two empty cans of gass. The only evidence they have is a sketch of my mask. And it's hard at times to ask if you can save my heart for last."
The CD was new, it had only been released a few weeks prior, since he had been afraid that his father would have said no he had asked one of the caretakers to go buy it for him. When the caretaker, a man by the name if Jeff, had handed him the CD he had rushed up to his room without thanking him. He was so enthused in the music that he didn't hear his father knock on his door, when his father opened his door he still didn't hear him.
"What the hell is that you are listening to?" his father growled.
"Dad!" Arson screamed.
"What's the band you are listening to?" his father asked again.
"Hollywood Undead," Arson said, swallowing a little. "it's a good band dad, loud!"
His father had changed his bedsheets after his brother had been carried off, he now had sheets with windblown fire stitched on them. His father knew a human that knew how to stitch fire and other things on sheets, the human's price was steep but he still had gotten the man to make four sheets for both of them. He was sitting on his bed, looking down at his son questionably.
"Is that so," his father said, thinking hard. "lets hear 'em, turn the CD off and start it over so that I can hear it."
Turned out to be the wrong thing to do, turning the CD off and letting his father hear it. His father's eyes flashed on and off a few times through the first few songs, they stayed on after the fifth song. Making a sound deep inside his chest, he stood up and walked towards his system and turned the CD off. The CD case was beside the system and he grabbed it, thinking his father was just putting the CD away, Arson didn't think nothing of it, that was until his father turned around with the CD held in between his thumb and index finger.
"This music," he said. "isn't for you."
"Huh?" Arson said, shocked. "What do you mean? It's loud isn't it?"
"Yeah and it has a lot of words in it that I don't want you to use." his father said, he was putting the CD in his jacket. "Ever!"
"I won't say them!" Arson yelled. "I promise, I won't say any of the words that they use on the CD!"
His father must not have heard him as he turned around and walked out of the room, his CD still in his jacket. Chasing his father down the hall and down the stairs, Arson tried tripping him up a few times. When that didn't work he tried jumping him. His father hunched his shoulders, he slipped right off. When his father reached the living room where his half siblings were, he stopped and turned around.
"I am sorry son," he said, trying to keep his cool. "I cannot let you have this CD. When you get older maybe, but now now."
"Dad!" Arson screamed. "I've listened to stuff...you've let me listen to songs with almost the exact same words in them before."
"Not anymore young man!" his father yelled. "Tunneler!"
His uncle slid off of the couch and threw his magazine on the table, he was wearing a green army shirt and green pants, a pair of dog tags around his neck and black shoes on his feet, on top of his head was an upside down cone, very sharp, coated in diamond dust. He walked forward slowly, his black eyes motionless, when he got to his father he turned towards him and patted him on the back.
"Take this and put it in Six Shooter's safe will ya," his father said, eying his son. "you know the combination?"
"Everyone but the kids knows the combination." his uncle said.
His uncle had a deep, gravely voice, when he grabbed the CD from his father's hand he winked at him and walked off. His uncle, Six Shooter, had a medium sized safe in his cellar that housed a lot of things that had been confiscated over the years. Everyone thought that he, his half siblings and Four Way Shot didn't know the combination to it, but his brother was a sneaky guy and had figured it out one day. A few of the things that had been in the safe were no longer in it.
"You..." he said angrily, almost not able to get the word out. "You are imposible!"
With an exasperated cry he ran up the stairs and into his brother, of whom had just gotten through talking to his father about the magazine that he had been reading before. Grabbing his arm he dragged him to his room and slammed the door. Four Way Shot's eyes grew wide when he turned, his red eyes with the yellow and orange star burst in the middle as bright as can be.
"He took my damn CD!" Arson screamed.
"Whut CD?" Four Way Shot asked.
"Hollywood Undead's Swan Songs," Arson replied, almost crying. "I was just listening to it for the first time."
"A-why did yer pa take it?" Four Way Shot asked.
"He said I'd say every word that was on the CD," Arson said.
"That's a-funny!" his brother laughed. "Ye listen to songs with cussin' in the leerics plenty o' times."
"That's what I said to him," Arson cried. "he still didn't believe me, he took the CD and he got uncle Tunny to put it in your father's safe."
"Mah pa an' I done got through a-talkin'." Four Way Shot exclaimed. "I kin git yer CD, an' a few other thangs."
Four Way Shot left his brother's room quickly, racing down the hall and taking each step on the stairs two at a time, he tripped on the last step and fell to his knees. Picking himself up, trying to not look suspicious, he walked into the living room. His half sister was the first member of his family he looked at, her cheek was still red and swollen, he could detect some purple blending in with the red. She had changed from her black dress with the purple on the top into a purple and red shirt and black pants, she wasn't wearing shoes. Turning his head away, he looked at his half brother, Loui. He was dressed in a green and light purple shirt, a pair of black pants and he wasn't wearing any shoes, his green blanket was tied around him like a cape. When he saw his older brother looking at him he smiled. His other half brother, Slash, was the next member of his family he looked at. Slash was wearing all black, black shirt with purple and red blood marks, black pants with red paint splotches and black shoes. He wasn't wearing his jacket with the red spider stitched in the back. His hair was combed back, the front and top spiked forward. He saw his uncle's, all of them, and his aunt, Slash's mother, Slasha and Loui's mother and his mother in the kitchen. He didn't see his father though, looking both way he walked slowly across the living room towards the door that led to his father's cellar.
"Someone's a-been drinkin' mah whiskey agin!" he heard.
He had been wrong, he had thought that all of his uncle's were in the kitchen, his father was walking up the stairs, in one of his hands was a bottle of Pendleton, behind him a few steps was Arson's father, it looked like he had a bottle of whine, or rum, in his hand. Pushing himself against the wall, he slowed his breathing and made not a sound. His father and uncle walked past, they hadn't seen him. When he knew they were far enough away he walked down the stairs into the cold and wet four wall room, in the far off wall, where no bottles hung, was a black safe. Smiling evilly he walked over to it. He had found the safe's combination by chance one day after breakfast, his father had picked three easy numbers. Smiling from ear to ear, he turned the dial right, to the first number.
"It's about time!" Arson exclaimed. "Was beginning to wonder if you had gotten caught."
"Nah, jus' grabbin' a few other thangs." Four Way Shot said.
unbuttoning his shirt, he pulled out the CD and gave it to his brother, he had had to hide the things he had gotten from his father's safe in his shirt and had ran upstairs. His brother quickly hid the CD, placing it in his pillow case. When he turned around he saw his brother take the magazine that he had been reading ealier out of his shirt, he also pulled out a knife and a lighter.
"I gots to git ready fer mah trip." he said.
"What trip?" Arson asked, surprised.
"Mah pa is a-takin' me with him to rope an' cut an' brand cows." his brother replied. "Mah ma done said it was okie dokie with her."
"When are you going?" Arson asked.
"In a few days." his brother said.
Arson was fighting tears, he felt like he couldn't be away from his brother for a day, he was that close to him. Rushing forward he grabbed his brother in a deep hug. His brother hugged him back and gently rubbed his head against his, comforting him. He handed his brother the lighter and winked, Arson turned his head from side to side, he knew his brother would need it more.
"No, you keep it." he said. "I'll miss you when you go."
"I'll a-miss ye." his brother said, smiling warmly.
"Please promise me," Arson sniffled. "that you'll come back in one piece."
"I a-promise." Four Way Shot laughed.
"Good," Arson whispered into his brother's shirt.
"Mah ma done made mah pa an' me promise to do the same." Four Way Shot said. "I a-promise that when I a-come back I'll have all o' mah arms an' legs intact."
"You better!" Arson exclaimed. "If you don't, I'll be out of a wrestling buddy."
His brother smiled warmly at him and squeezed his shoulder a little. When he left his room he felt tears well in his eyes. He didn't want his brother to go away, he wanted him to stay here. He was sure he'd be very bored without him, surely Slash and Loui wouldn't want to play games or mess around or put up with him like Four Way Shot did. Sitting down on his bed he pulled his hands up and covered his face.
"Get a grip," he said to himself. "it'll only be for a few weeks, he won't be gone long."
With that in mind, he reached in his dresser and pulled out a piece of paper. He intended to write to his father and apologise for what he had said and for stomping off, he also intended to apologise for pushing him. He was sure his father wasn't in the mood to talk to him. Looking out the window, looking at the full moon and the stars, he smiled. He and his father had had some hard times but he was trying. They weren't fighting all that much anymore. Turning to the paper, he started writing.