Thanks for the reviews! I've had people bugging me for this chapter for a few days now on the other site I post on. So here it is. The infamous shoot out scene. Enjoy! :)
BEG75 - First, I win 20 from you, now you wanna send me cookies and brownies, you reall know how to bargain, huh?! LOL I'm glad you liked it. And yes, you have been causing a few tears, well a lot of tears lately.
SexySadie88 - But you have to admit, Garrett did a good job dying in the movie...lol. But we'll see...Thanks for reviewing! :)
lemmonpie - I find it so gross to see that they do that but at the same time it shows how close they are and shows they really see each other as brothers. I think that is one of the best scenes like family wise even though it is weird...lol.
I was afraid of what was going to happen when we got to Jack's house. I tossed and turned all night, even though Jack was right there. Something about the way he told me he loved me last didn't settle. Something big was going down this morning and I was afraid.
Everyone was silent as we walked into the Mercer's living room. Sofi was sitting quietly in the kitchen and Angel was seated in the sofa. I wasn't sure why I was here but Jack said Bobby wanted all family here, and that included me. And seeing Sofi keeping out the way made me feel worse. Usually, she'd butt in about how she's part of the family too. But today she was distancing herself. Jack pulled me over to the couch and we sat in silence. I looked over when the door opened and we all watched Jerry walk in.
"What?" he asked pulling off his gloves.
"You know what you did." Angel said and threw a few wads of bills down. Jerry's face fell and he threw his arms in the air.
"No! You don't know who you fucking with!" he exclaimed. "Where's Bobby?" he asked and just as he turned around Bobby came up from behind him and planted a fist in his face. Sofi heard the commotion and ran to the doorway as Jerry fell down.
"What are you hiding, Jerry?" Bobby asked standing over him.
"What? What the fuck is wrong with you?" Jerry screamed looking up at Bobby. I felt Angel stand up and walked over to look down at Jerry. They were attacking him.
"If you had something to do with what happened, I swear to God, Jerry, I'm gonna kill you right here and now!" Bobby threatened. I jumped up, knowing full and well Bobby wasn't joking, but Jack pulled me down.
"No, Bobby, no!" Sofi yelled.
"He's your brother!" I screamed and Jack gripped my hand.
"Shut up, Emilie." he seethed. Bobby had never talked to me that way. Jack laid a comforting arm on my shoulder but I shrugged it off.
"Angel's gonna ask some questions. And, brother, I shit you not the time for lying is over." Bobby warned him.
"We know you're lying about your business." Angel pointed down at Jerry, as he tried to back away from them incase they decided to kick. "And we know you got mixed up with some gangsters."
"Hold on." Jerry told them softly and tried to get up. But Bobby wasn't having it.
"Stay down!" Bobby yelled and kicked him back to the floor. I tried to move again but Jack stopped me, again. I looked over at him about to curse but the look on his face stopped me. He was just as uncomfortable as I was.
"Y'all think I had something to do with Mom getting killed?" Jerry asked starting to sit up again.
"You got a check for 20,000 that you just so happened to forget to mention 400,000 from Mom's life insurance." Angel yelled. This was about the check? Did Jerry cash it? Now, I was really confused.
"She took out the policy for the girls. Man, I ain't have nothing to do with that. Come on." Jerry defended.
"You made the payments!" Jack yelled from next to me. Jerry sent him a hurt look, thinking Jack would be the only one not to attack him. He looked over at me next and all I could do was look away. I couldn't take sides now, I was more confused than ever.
"Good timing, Jerry. Just when it seems like all is lost for you, Mom gets shot by some gangsters and now you hit the fucking lottery!" Bobby yelled in his face.
"So y'all-? Y'all tripping because I made insurance payments? What!?" Jerry yelled and got back on his feet. He stood up and looked at Bobby and Angel.
"I paid all her bills!" he yelled then shoved Bobby and took a shot at Angel. I jumped when Angel fell into the wall, crushing a few shelves.
"Where the fuck were y'all? How many years did I have to take care of her my goddamn self? Hell, even Emilie had to fork out money to help her. Y'all were around doing nothing! Bullshitting! you gonna tell me I killed her? Come on, man!" Jerry yelled. He had a point. After they all left Jerry was the one taking care of Evelyn and I had to take some money out from my trust from Abigail to help at one point.
"So why would you pay off a killer like Sweet?" Angel asked him. "And what the fuck did he do for you, Jerry?"
"What did he do for me? He killed my fucking life! I put everything in that project! I bet it all trying to make something of myself! Trying to make the shit work! Then Vic's goons gonna come try to take a piece." Jerry explained. I settled seeing the looks on Bobby and Angel's faces. It was the looks that said, 'Oh shit, maybe we should have talked this out beforehand. And not jumped to stupid conclusion, like our brother paying to kill our mother.'
"You paid him, Jerry. You got in bed with him, didn't you?" Bobby asked.
"No, no, no. I didn't pay them! That's how they fucking shut me down!" Jerry yelled at Bobby.
"Wait, I thought the city cut you off, Jerry?" Jack asked leaning up. Jerry turned to face us and waved his arm around.
"Douglas? Come on, man. This is Detroit! Sweet owns Douglas!" he told us. As turned back to Bobby and Angel someone knocked on the door. I went to stand up but Jack set me back down.
"I got it." he whispered.
"He ain't nothing but a gangster in a suit! I don't pay him, and now he shuts my loans off! End of story, end of project." Jerry kept ranting.
"So, what about the 20 grand?" Angel asked. Now this was all making sense but it didn't make me feel better.
"I just told you." Jerry hissed. "You wanna cross the bridge, you gotta pay the toll. I took the money. I was gonna pay the bribe until y'all fucked it up." he explained. I shook my head and looked over to the foyer when I heard Jack open the door. I heard a muffled voice but didn't hear what they said.
"Hey, fuck you, man!" I heard Jack start to yell out the door. "I will kick your-" he started. I furrowed my brow and started to stand up. I walk into the foyer and didn't see Jack at the door, but it was wide open.
"Jack?" I called out. I heard the voices stop in the living room and knew Bobby heard me.
"Jack." Bobby yelled and walked behind me in the foyer. I kept walking to the front door and looked out. I saw Jack running after some kid and my heart fell when the kid turned around.
"Jack!" I screamed as the man pointed the gun at Jack and fired.
The shot echoed through the empty streets and through my whole body. It was all in slow motion as I watched Jack fall to his knees, clutching his shoulder. Every tiny memory I had of him flashed through my eyes. The first time I saw him, the first time I melted when I saw his smile, our first kiss, our first fight, our first time together and the words he said to me last night.
'I promise I'll never leave you. But I also promise that I will love you forever. Even after death.'
"Even after death." I whispered shaking my head. I started to bolt out the door but an arm snuck around my waist and pulled me inside. I turned to see who dared grabbed me and it was Bobby.
"Jack!" he yelled over my shoulder and he passed me to Angel, kicking and screaming.
"Jack! No, let me go!" I wailed as Angel tried to pull me into the house.
I grabbed onto the door frame and watched Bobby run out the door, gun in hand. My whole body froze when I looked around him and saw the same man that shot Jack now holding the gun to Jack's head. But before he could pull the trigger Bobby had taken his shot and I watched as he fell limp to the ground. My eyes drifted to a van screeching to a halt behind them and then to Jack as he scurried to get to his feet and run to the house.
"Jack!" I yelled and started fighting against Angel again.
He held me firmly and was about to drag me inside when about four men piled out of the van and started firing, with Jack in their path. I let out a bloodcurdling scream when the shots hit Jack's legs and he fell to the ground once again. The shots came right after one another and I felt Angel and Jerry flinch as Jack's screams shared the air with the shots. Angel finally pushed me to the side and I peek over his shoulder to see firing at the men. He gets one as he was running but there were just too many.
"Shit." Bobby yelled and started to run back into the house. My eyes widen as I look from him to Jack. He was leaving Jack. Why was he leaving Jack? That was his brother, his flesh and blood. And he's leaving him there to die.
"Jack, what about Jack!?" I screamed and tried to push pass Angel. I got passed him but Bobby pushed me back inside when he came barreling through the door.
"Shit!" he yelled. "Get down! Get the fuck down!" he yelled as he ducks behind the bricks on the front porch.
Angel grabbed my wrist and pushed me and Sofi into the living room. I start to get up but Angel pushes me to Sofi, who drags me into the hallway. I fight with her and try to duck as bullets crash through the house.
"Let me go! He needs me." I cried and tried to move from her grip on my wrist. She yanked me back as a bullet came through the doorway. She held me to her chest.
"Get down!" Angel yelled at me.
"You can't be there for him if you're dead." she screamed.
I fell into her arms as she covered her head and mine from the flying debris. We jumped when a picture fell on our heads and scooted closer to a cabinet. I peeked out between mine and Sofi's arms and saw Jerry cowering behind a desk covering his head as the record player blew up.
"Jack!" Bobby yelled from the porch. "Shit!"
"Bobby!" came the muffled scream of my boyfriend. Sofi pulled me tighter as they yelled back and forth.
"Jack!" Jerry screamed trying to hold back tears.
I heard Bobby let out a frustrated scream and then heard a shot fired. I looked around the corner and saw Angel looking around. I looked over by the other doorway and spotted two guns.
"Emilie, give me the guns!" he yelled to me when he saw I spotted them.
I moved from Sofi's grip and scurried across the threshold and behind the tiny wall. I grab the guns and turn around to slide them to Angel. The gun shots were getting louder as the masked men got closer. Now my concern was not only for Jack but for Bobby. He was in the line of fire now.
Angel grabbed the guns and jumped up and fired out the front window. I got a better view of what was happening at my new spot but still looked over to make sure Sofi was okay. I peeked around the other side of the wall and saw straight out the door. I saw that Bobby was okay but froze when a man ran into the porch.
"Bobby!" I screamed when the man got into the door way.
Bobby heard me and fired at the intruder, hitting him in the knee. He lost his balance and fell backwards out the doorway. Bobby's face came into view as he gave me a quick nod and then looked out the door. The man was trying to get back up and Bobby shot him again.
"Bobby!" I heard Jack yell again. I saw Bobby look out toward the road and yell back.
"Jack, hold on!" he called out to his injured brother.
I buried my face in my hands as the continuous gun shots flew by me and crashed into the walls and furniture. Pictures, pieces of wood, glasses and all were breaking second after second. And the longer the shots lasted the long Jack was bleeding out and the more danger Bobby and Angel were in. I looked around and the house was already covered in holes and I hoped that the men would give up and just leave.
For a moment I thought I got my wish. The shots stopped and everyone grew quiet. Sofi was holding her hands over her mouth and Jerry was trying to stay as still as possible. I couldn't see Angel or Bobby and hoped they were okay. I slowly started to look around the wall when they started again. I only got to see the men firing at Bobby behind the bricks.
I saw a movement behind me and turned to see Jerry bolting by me to the side door.
"Jeremiah, where are you going?" Sofi yelled as he stopped in the doorway and gazed out the window. I turned to look at Sofi and then back at Jerry but he was gone. I watched bullets fly through the side door and then a man kick it down. I froze as he looked down at me and out of no where Jerry jumped behind him and stabbed him.
"I got kids! A wife. A family." he mumbled as he let the man fall.
Jerry gave me one last look before he bolted out the door. Was he leaving? Where was he going? I was about to move but I saw Angle run past me upstairs. I quickly followed him, crawling as close as I could to the stairs to avoid the bullets. I reached the top floor and saw him fire a few shots into Jack's room and then walked to Evelyn's room. I was about to pass when the bullets' flew from Jack's room and Angel fired our of Evelyn's window. I smirked realizing he had tricked them. They started shooting at Jack's room and he got a few good shots in from the next room, military taught him well. Though my smirk faded when Angle saw me.
"Diddle get down! And go back downstairs." he yelled at me.
I dropped back to the floor and crawled back over to the staircase. I looked down the hall and clearly saw Bobby hiding behind the bricks. He went to pump the shot gun but it was empty.
"Oh, shit." he cursed.
I saw him look through a hole and look for a gun as a man was walking back to the house. I slowly made my way down as he grabbed a brick and launched himself out the door, smacking the man's face in with the new weapon of choice. I saw Bobby fall on top of the man and start hitting him. I instinctively ran out for him. He was outside, unarmed, not paying attention to what's around him, in the middle of a shoot out in Detroit city. Maybe someone should have stayed long enough to hold his hand.
"Motherfucker! You fucking-" Bobby yelled while punching him. I ducked behind the front door and peeked out, trying to look out for Bobby. I saw a guy across the street grab his gun and I was about to scream when Angel jumped from Evelyn's window and tackled the guy, kicking the gun from his hand. As soon s the gun skidded across the street, I heard the squealing of tires. I looked over and saw the van speeding towards Bobby. I bolted from the house and ran to Bobby. Angel yelling for me to go back the whole time.
"Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!" I screamed running over to him and grabbing his jacket. "The van! Watch out!"
The van was just a few feet away when Bobby finally looked up. Before we knew it Angle was tackling us back and Jerry slammed into the front of the van. We all looked at the two cars shocked and watched the airbags blow up in Jerry's face. . But reality set in and I bolted from Angel and Bobby's grasp.
I ran over to Jack and nearly fainted when I saw the blood soaked snow around his body. I dropped to my knees nest to his head as Bobby and Angel made their way over.
"Jackie." I whispered setting his head in my lap and caressing his forehead. "Oh Jackie, please." I cried.
"Jack, look at me! Jack, you all right?" Bobby urged holding his hand and crying.
"Hold on, baby." I whispered.
"We need an ambulance!" Bobby screamed into the now silent street. I heard a door slam and saw Jerry stumble out and rush over to us.
"Somebody help! Call 911!" I screamed into the still air. Jack was dying, he was loosing blood by the second. I kept rubbing his head and whispering in his ear as Bobby and Angel held hands on his wounds.
"Jack." Jerry cried falling next to me by the light pole.
"Jack. Jack!" Bobby cried holding his hands. I cried harder when Jack tried to talk but blood came out instead of words. I let out a sob and leaned my head down to his. His hand quickly reached the back of my neck and held me to him.
"Jack, please. Don't leave me. You promised." I cried.
"Come on, man." Bobby pleaded. I looked over at Sofi and saw her opening her cell.
"Hurry, Sofi. Hurry, he's dying!" I sobbed.
"I'm calling, I'm calling." she rushed and held the phone to her ear.
"Come on, Jack, you gotta breathe!" Bobby begged holding onto his brother. "Don't you die on me, you little fairy. Come on, Jack. Please!" he cried. Sofi hung up with 911 and crawled over to Angel, enveloping the crying man into her arms.
"You gotta fucking breathe! Come on! Jack! Jack." Bobby urged as Jack started to sputter. I heard a sob behind me and knew it was Jerry. He was curled up to the phone pole trying to look away. It took one day and one simple shot to break these men down, to let everyone's true colors show. If I lost Jack, I'd loose them. And it'd be bad enough loosing one. You lost one brother, you lost all four.
I barely noticed Bobby getting up and walking over to the van. I didn't hear all of what was said but I did hear this…
"Thank God? He killed my mother and maybe my little brother, you motherfucker!" Bobby growled.
"Thank Victor Sweet."
And the last shot was fired. I felt his presence near me again as the ambulance sirens filled the air. The were almost here. I pressed my hand to his shoulder as we waited for the EMT's to get there.
"Jack, come on, Jack, please! Please... Jack. Just a few more minutes and you'll be okay. I'll even sing for you, remember you asking me to sing? I'll sing, you just gotta breath and be okay." I cried looking in his eyes.
The ambulance pulled up with a few cops cars and people swarmed the house, this time no guns. Bobby, Angel and Jerry moved away as the EMT rushed over to Jack. The immediately put him on a stretcher and put a oxygen mask on his face. They picked him up and moved the stretcher onto the gurney and moved him over to the back of the ambulance. The whole time I held his hand. I only let go when the pulled him into the back. I went to get in and the EMT stopped me.
"You family?" he asked. Green walked form around the side and nodded.
"That's his wife." he told him. "Stay there at the hospital." he warned me. I nodded and the EMT helped me into the back of the van. He closed the door and I watched Green walk over to Jack's brothers, slowly they disappeared and I looked back at Jack.
They had cut his shirt from him and cut a slit up his pants to get a better look at his wounds. One was patching up the shoulder wound while the other covered the shots to his leg, there looked to be about five. I covered my face and watched them. I wanted to hold him but I wanted him to be taken care of first. They must have sensed this and one looked at me.
"Talk to him, it might help. Hold his hand, let him no he's not alone." the man smiled. I nodded and scooted to the end of the gurney. I grabbed his hand and laid my other on his forehead. I saw him look over at me and I smiled.
"Hey, Jackie boy. I'm right here. I won't go anywhere." I whispered. The sudden beeps from the machines made me jump and I watched the two men scurry and push me back. I started to panic and looked at Jack.
He looked back and through all the pain I saw in those slowly fading eyes, I saw a smile. I saw him smiling, telling me it'll be okay. I closed my eyes and I saw him more vividly. The sun was shining on his face as he smiled and walked over to me. I sucked in a deep breath when he touched my cheek, it felt so real. I looked up at him and although I couldn't hear it, I saw it. I saw his lips move to say the words that broke through everything else.
I love you, even after death.
But death couldn't be now. I can't take death right now. Not anymore, not Jack. I'm not ready yet. I'm not ready to do it by myself. I'm not ready to live and love without him. Who would catch me when I fall or keep me from feeling alone when the it feels like the work has turned against me. I got used to doing it all with him, I don't know if could. He became a part of me, if I loose him, I loose me. I loose everything all over again. I fall back into the shadow that my life had been before him. I fall back into the role of yet another grieving girl. The girl who looses everyone she cares for. The girl who seems to be cursed.
The girl who crashes and burns.
Time is gonna take my mind and carry it far away where I can fly
The depth of life will dim my temptation to live for you
If I were to be alone silence would rock my tears
'cause it's all about love and I know better
How life is a waving feather
So I put my arms around you around you
And I know that I'll be leaving soon
My eyes are on you they're on you
And you see that I can't stop shaking
No, I won't step back but I'll look down to hide from your eyes
'cause what I feel is so sweet and I'm scared that even my own breath
Oh could burst it if it were a bubble
And I'd better dream if I have to struggle
So I put my arms around you around you
And I hope that I will do no wrong
My eyes are on you they're on you
And I hope that you won't hurt me
I'm dancing in the room as if I was in the woods with you
No need for anything but music
Music's the reason why I know time still exists
Time still exists
Time still exists
Time still exists
So I just put my arms around you around you
And I hope that I will do no wrong
My eyes are on you they're on you
And I hope that you won't hurt me
My arms around you they're around you
and I hope that I will do no wrong
My eyes are on you they're on you
They're on you
My eyes...
Dancing by Elisa