14 Chapter 14

John was working on the new brick BBQ, for his back yard. At least marking it out, from his plan. Benny had joked he wanted to learn to lay bricks, even gave a semi-valid reason So the two were going to learn, besides, it was character-building work. A new skill, the kind, the two could use.

He glanced up at the sad, sad, man, now he was just a thing now. It had over the last few days apparently had something it was working up the courage to say. It had moved to drinking it's beer while leaning across the fence into John's yard, but only when John was out in his yard. The man thing was a coward, a man, would have thought in private, and spoke his mind to John. the sound of glass hitting rocks clinked, and rattled. John glanced to where the sound had come from, he saw the bottle, laying on the rocks. He continued his work.

"What? You such a Fag, you can't say nutin? Did that ol fag of your take your manhood when he died?" The sad thing slurred. Hurling insults blindly and into the wind. Most of what he said, the winds of soberly blew right back on him. He had been an 'ok' man, but that was another lifetime ago when he still had his wife.

John stood, putting the twine he was using on a stack of bricks. "Your son is more of a man than you'll ever be." John shook his head. "He thinks, is honest, dependable, and has a heart still." John paused and watched as pure evil filled the thing, John felt glad there was a fence now. "Why would I waste my time with you?" Rage burnt in the eyes, of the Sad thing, That reeked of Stole. "Son... Stop drinking, I know its hard, I've been there."

"You're not my father!" The thing slurred. "He died ten years ago, should have taken that shit stain of a son with him." He chuckled. and looked in his hand for a beer. disappointed he glanced at the empty bottle he had tossed. " Better yet, I just should have used a condom, neither of us expected it to happen once..."

Anger blasted over John, the thing, was just looking for an excuse, to get rid of his burden, he just discarded his son. He never wanted kids, but he knocked up his wife. "There is no hope for you." John shook his head. "Your already dead, you just don't know it."

"I outta kill you!" It shouted.

John walked to the fence, leaned in. "I don't lock my front door, till 11 at night." He whispered. "A man like your son would act on that." He sighed.

"Fucking pervert!" It shouted sulring. "I'll fucking end you!"

Loud enough that people heard, John mused to himself. Cheap ignorance plays east of the drunk mind of already feeble men. Pleased with the two very public threats on his life, he got ready.

John sat alone in the dark, a few hours later. His father's WWI knife, carefully maintained every day since his father got it, lay exposed, bare under a pillow. There wasn't much time before he should lock his door, and he would too. It would only be easier to goad him over next time. The familiar click, of his front door, but not the creek, he wanted him to feel safe, he had greased right before he cleaned his kife

John's house was modest, He and his partner came here to die, not wanting to take care of the 3,000 square foot mansion they lived it. It was open, the living room, down stairs and a clear view from both the front door and into the kitchen. John sat in the corner wearing black, ready to get in the drunk things mind, make him think he was where he wasnt, so when the time came, he would be to desperate to find John, and not hear him behind it.

"I am upstairs!" John through his voices so it sounded like it was coming from upstairs. The drunk ass knocked something over, which only made John's story more believable. The jealous father, who lost it when he realized his neighbors were more of a father to his son than he was. John was always cautious, everyone knew, he looked harmless, but he wasn't.

John felt the weight of what he was about to do. He was going to kill a man, who had done him no personal harm. He had hurt Jayden, and will again.... The law would surely get him, in the end, he took the first swing, at injustice. Jayden could never know, what he was keeping from the world.

There was a crash and the sound of something expensive breaking from upstairs. "I'm downstairs now idiot." He threw his voice to the front door. Stomping the man barreled back downstairs. John could barely control his excitement now, he was having fun. He calmed himself, and sobered himself, telling himself, the thing was a father, and... John sighed it almost couldn't bare to make himself think it. "My son." He whispered to himself, pain seeping from his mouth like blood from a gushing wound.

"Leave my house, or I'll use lethal force," He warned, again throwing his voice. John pushed all thoughts out of his mind, including the ones he just had, especially those. He focused on what he knew the thing would do and whispered. "For Benny and Jayden.". There was time, but not enough, he wanted Jayden never to have to worry about what he knew, that no one else knew about this thing, he was to kill. He Wared throwing his voice to the kitchen. The thing staggered into the kitchen. John stood, took steps, that made him once again feel like a hunter, again, stalking prey. It felt good, the sad-sack stood no chance of living past the next few minutes.

He raised his arm to his waist. "A fag is going to kill you." He whispered and thrashed the knife into the lower back and savagely plunging into the shadow of the sad thing. The thing tried to grunt but fell to what was once its knees. He fell back avoiding an arm then stumbled ontop of the thing, merely now the pile of Stole soaked clothes, the gun went off as it hit the ground. He knew it would be 'reasonable' to hear a gunshot in a fight, and assumed you're being shot at. he thrust the knifed widely downward into the mess under him, just trying to inflict pain, he realized that blindly stabbing was not a guarantee that he would be successful. He somehow focused his mind, which was screaming three or four different thoughts. He started to aim his blows the thing stopped breathing. He rolled over and grabbed his chest. "Thank you, God, It had a purpose." He welcomed his death, at least it wasn't in a strange bed. He closed his eyes and waited for its release.

"Mr. Winters!" Tom shouted banging on the door only to have it open. He slowly entered.

"Tom!" John. screamed out, but only whimpered.

Tom felt fear, a loud bang, and a neighbor who was drunk all the time, and he had a reason to hate. He should have seen it. He ran into the kitchen. He saw John, There was blood on his hand, and he was holding his chest, but his shirt wasn't red. "Are you hurt?" He asked, pretty sure he wasn't.

"H-Heart" John choked.

He saw a bullet hole in the fridge, now leaking milk, and Jayden's father, hopefully dead. He took out his phone and shivered when he thought the best thing for Jayden was for his father to be dead. "911" the operator said. Tom suspected the gun misfired and startled john into having a heart attack. Emt was there 10 minutes later. Jayden's father was dead.

"Is he dead?" John whispered. John noded. "And he let me keep my life." He said just before he wheeled into the 'bus' as Benny insisted on calling it. He froze for a second, had John planed this, John was a man of faith, by looking in his house, could the someone be Go?. A deal of a desperate man, with nothing to lose. He shook his head and prepared for perhaps the most devastating task he would ever do, to tell Jayden.