Chapter 17: Collaborative Justice
POV: Shelby
I wish I knew what he was thinking. That weight is not gone from my shoulders. Marta will be rescued and it's collaboration between the Sons and Mayans; that's the first step in the right direction. Happy's going to let me speak with her when Juice gets her. What I don't get is him. Why is he helping me? Does he plan on killing me? He barely looked at me. It was as if I disgusted him. Too many thoughts rush through my head and I even feel guilty for not heading out with the guys to get Marta. Drowning them and the screams of Rafa from the trunk is a quick solution. The radio blasts at full volume. Skipping over the pop, rap, and ballads, is the alternative. Lukas Rossi belts out Headspin, and I get stuck in the last lines because it's what I want to ask Happy. "I'm not perfect. Did I ever mean something to you?"
POV: Happy
I can't even look at her. My rage is overwhelming. I want her but I don't. I need to kill something to get this out of my system. Enlisting myself in the ending of her cousin is just the ticket. The animal in me will exit my body. My savagery will be ever present. Her new image of me might keep her far away from this day forth. I need her to forget me. I need to forget her and remember who I am. The soulless creature my mom and aunt pray for at night is alive and impermeable. I truly am the Reaper in every sense of the word and essence of its spirit. A new happy face will be etched in my skin tonight along with the rosary. My permanent reminders tell a tale of my twisted self and past. They will not be removed or covered up in shame but displayed as the tokens of my success. When I walk down the street, I am aware of the looks I get; I am the boogey man who walks among them. Fear the Reaper. Fear me more.
POV: Shelby
Happy takes me down the Route 13 down to Interstate 80. He takes a normal speed to avoid suspicion. I start to recognize the area around as we get closer to Charming. I follow him down a beaten path. The sign on the side of the entrance says Oswald Properties. The bike stops short of the entrance of a down trodden warehouse. Close by behind it a pond or maybe even a lake made the backdrop. Exiting the vehicle, I grab Gordo's gun and shove it behind my pants. Happy dismounts and heads towards the door. He turns for second and signals me to stay. He appears of few seconds later and utters one word to me before heading to the car trunk, "Clear."
His disconnect causes the hair on my arms to stand. He grunts when he can't open the trunk. Before he can utter another grunt or one word response, I pop it open. Rafa is screaming one profanity after another mostly aimed at me. In his desperate anger he yells his ill willed plan to have us killed by the Calavares on the collection run so he could have proven my ascension in the ranks after Esai's death was a mistake. He was determined to bring his own father to the for front by eliminating Tio Marcos.
My fist balls up and delivers a right hook to the face to quiet down the bastard. My heel digs into his wounded foot and he yelps in pain. Happy is struggling with him because my attacks are filling Rafa with new adrenaline. He's lost a lot of blood already but not enough to weaken him completely. He is incapacitated by the bullet wounds in his feet. Happy remains wordless and drags the son of a bitch into the warehouse. He drops him on a table and binds him spread eagle to the corners. I watch mystified at his precision and calculated moves. It appears natural. I am more convinced that my Tio was right. Happy is the Sons' Tito. He looks up momentarily admiring his victim and utters "stay" to me before going through a side door.
With great stealth he enters the room unbeknownst to me and catches me poking one of the bullet wounds with a knife while Rafa whimpers. In his tattooed sleeved arms, he holds a worn leather bag. He motions with his head to a small table on my left. I bring it over and he places the bag on top. The bag rolls open to reveal a barrage of sharp instruments- medieval. A smile creeps on my face with delight at the idea of Rafa squirming under my anxious hands.
"Nice kit." I say gingerly.
"A gift from the Irish kings." I nod my head approvingly. It's a start.
"May I?" I ask pointing at a small curved knife. For a second, I thought he smiled.
"Yes." He quickly turned his back and walked away. He returned moments later with a hammer as I cut a "T" on Rafa's forehead. Traitor! He screamed, cursed, and taunted me. He dared me to kill him. He mocked me saying my hell bent lover would have to finish him. The anger rained on my like the sunlight outside. It took me in, covered, and filled me a comforting familiarity. I thought about his initial plan to have us raped. He is relentlessness and yelled how he was going to join in at the patch over. Sick bastard! I began to unbuckle his pants. Looking at his pathetic small dick, I plunged the knife in his balls. He screamed like a little bitch. I pulled out the knife and looked up to see Happy armed as well. He ran the knife along Rafa's arm and slit his arm at his patch. The sweat and tears muffled Rafa's voice as he shrieked in pain. Happy pulled his patch off like dead skin after a sun burn.
My hand twitched for more retribution. The knife found itself carving a "c" on his right cheek. The "c" was for coward. It was mechanical. My movements were control by blind anger. He hid behind his plan of mutiny until his machismo got the best of him. His zeal for power destroyed his family. Rafa had no kids and his legacy would end tonight as surely as Uncle Chino's. I felt bad for my uncle. My father was a faithful soldier to Tio Marcos. Tio Chino's envy led him and his treacherous son astray.
Happy tore open his shirt and craved "SOA" on his chest. His head tilted towards his contribution and I followed with my own carving- "MAYAN". Rafa passed out probably from the bleeding and pain. No worries because Happy awaken him by splashing rubbing alcohol on him and proceeded to bash his fingers in with his hammer. Rafa began to beg for death. I was satisfied. I pulled my gun out and pushed it against his skull. I was about to pull the trigger.
"I am not done!" growled Happy. He bashed all his fingers and moved on to his knee caps. The room began to smell of salt, blood, alcohol, piss, and shit. Happy worked vigorously on him. More than I could have at this time. I began to wonder if I was next. Why hadn't we heard back from the Sons? Happy was the only one with the pre-pay. I sat and I watched. He was emotionless. He showed no remorse to his actions. He even appeared to gaze upon his victim with a sense of pride. I'd be bullshitting if I'd say he didn't scare me.
"OK." Happy dropped the hammer as he released these words and I pointed my gun to his face so that I could look into his eyes. "Amor y familia. You don't know shit about that primo. " Bang. The blood splattered all over me. Happy nodded his head approvingly and gave me a tiny short lived smile. He proceeded to push the table out through a back entrance. Outside, he dropped a match on the body. black smoke filled the air. A breath of relief escaped my lips as the body lost its shape in the flames.
"Thank you, Happy. You didn't have to do this. I'm glad you're with me." Timidly, I stepped closer to him only to be met with a hand indicating for me to stop before getting any further. He passed me a fire extinguisher from the ground and I proceeded to kill the clear out the fire. I turned to see him enter the meadow with a shovel. Half hour passed before he would be back. The remains were not smoldering but still hot. He shoved the tattered table into a ditch he had dug. He handed me a second shovel and we both silently buried Rafa.
POV: Happy
I let her see the monster within me. I can sense fear and apprehension. She never looked away though. She didn't tell me to stop either. I know she savored her part. The fury in me became uncontrollable when that bastard said he would have loved to have joined a gang rape starring Shelby. No one was going to fucking touch her. It's a promise I made her and despite her fucking lies I would keep it. It would be the only honest thing between us. Sick, I know, but I started getting hard watching her working on him. Her rage almost matched mine. Did she carry a dark passenger in her soul too? We were both broken beyond repair. I could see her as my kryptonite. She's as lethal as I am. We're toxic together. The silence between us keeps her at bay. The more we talk the more I believe I'll lose my resolve. Distance is the only way.
I tell her to go to the bathroom and wash off the blood. I toss her a pair of overalls from the closet and set myself up with a pair. She rushes past the bathroom and head out back. I watch her peer at the water in the lake as she sits Indian style. My pre-pay rings and I hear Chibs on the other line sounding winded.
"She still with you, brother?"
"Yes."
"Keep her busy a little while longer then bring her to the Clubhouse."
"Did Juice get his Old Lady?"
"It's complicated. Juice doesn't want her to see her like this."
"Ok."
I hang up and head to the back. She's gone. Where the fuck did she go? As I approach I see the bloody clothes on the ground. She's still nowhere to be seen. Then panic ensues and I run towards the water where air bubbles are popping up. I drop my cut and pull off my boots and jump in. I pull her up and drag her as she fights me and demands to be put down. Crazy bitch!