Page 50 of Venom's Sting
I kneel down beside him and for some reason I can’t quite grasp, I lean over and pull his shirt closed. Settling back down, I look over at the grim sight of my dead grandfather and the multitude of blood covered bandages lying around that spoke of Rage’s heroic attempts to keep the old buzzard alive.
The next thing I know, Ven reaches out and grabs me by one arm, hauling me to my feet before the blood starts to soak my clothing. He then does the same with Rage, who has been sitting staring at Rufus. Only Rage fights him, trying to shake Ven’s hands off him. Finally, Ven jerks him so hard that Rage comes staggering to his feet. His face is creased with several emotions that look like defeat, shame, and humiliation.
I step out and put my hand on his other arm. “Rage, stop. You can’t save everyone. You do know that, right?”
He pulls his head to the side, refusing to look at me.
I squeeze his arm, “My grandfather was older than dirt, meaner than a rattlesnake and the most stubborn man I’ve ever known. He hung in there long after all his friends passed. He lived free and proud, even though he didn’t believe others had that right. Good or bad, he’ll be remembered as a force to be reckoned with. Don’t let one old man’s death break you. I thought you were stronger than this?”
The moment the last sentence flew out of my mouth, I knew I’d hit a nerve. Rage’s head snaps around to look at me, his eyes haunted. No words are forthcoming to explain the transgression, but I get the worst feeling that he wasn’t able to save someone close to him, a father or grandfather maybe. Someone that my grandfather reminds him of. He’s fighting his own ghosts tonight.
Realizing this, I let go of his arm. “Let’s walk it off.” Glancing around, I see Rigs covering Rufus’ body with a blanket and the other brothers are rounding up all my grandfather’s ne’er-do-wells. “We’ve got a lot to take care of here tonight,” I tell him wryly.
Ven interjects, “Come on, brother. Let Rigs handle the body.” Glancing at me he states quietly, “We’ll see that your grandfather gets a decent burial.”
I nod. It never crossed my mind that he wouldn’t. When we turn, I see that Dan is standing beside my mom with his body bladed in a protective pose. He’s a little more diligent than Iwould expect him to be considering that Ven’s club brothers subdued all of Rufus’ men already.
As we walk forward to meet them, Dan tenses. I don’t understand his body language, but Ven does. He holds out both hands in a placating gesture and tells him, “Calm the fuck down, dude. The battle is over, Carol is free to return home with Amy and you’re considered an ally, not an enemy. All’s well that ends well.”
Dan glances over his shoulder at my mom, who speaks up, “Once we put this whole mess behind us, we need to gather up our brothers and decide how we’re moving forward from this.”
Ven responds, “Edmund, Big Joe, and Hal shot at members of our club tonight. The club will have to decide what to do with them.”
Dan’s voice turns angry, and he takes a step closer to us. “What the hell does that mean? Is the Savage Legion claiming the right of judge, jury, and executioner tonight?”
Ven tries to move forward but I grab his arm, forcing him to respond while out of striking distance. “It’s the savage part of the Savage Legion that we talked about back at the clubhouse. Most folks in this neck of the woods have enough common sense not to attack the Legion. Most of the men here attacked for money. Your half-brothers did it out of a sense of family obligation to their father. That will be taken into consideration.”
Dan’s expression blanks out. “Let me get this straight, you can’t share proof of their wrongdoings here tonight without exposing your own, so you’re going to go after vigilante justice, right?”
“Yeah, something like that,” Ven responds. Something about the tone of his voice tells me this is deadly serious business, and I should stay out of it. Unfortunately, I need to know for my own mental health if murdering them is on the table. “So, what are the possible outcomes?”
Ven’s head swivels around to look at me, disbelievingly. I quickly add, “I’m not judging, just curious.”
He answers, “It could be anything from a slap on the wrist, to working off damages, to something a little more permanent.”
My blood runs cold because, on top of everything that happened here today, he’s talking about murdering three of my family members. Whether I like to admit it or not, Edmund, Big Joe, and Hal are my uncles. Granted ones I detest for roughing me up all the time but they’re family, none-the-less.
My mom’s timid voice asks, “I would like to speak at the meeting that determines their fate. I don’t believe they’re bad men, they were just blinded by the thought of becoming rich.”
Ven sighs, “I’ll try to arrange it.”
Rage walks off and I tug Ven by the arm until he follows. Something dark and scary twists in my gut to realize the man I love is capable of murder. We go about seven or eight yards before we see Ven’s mother sitting on the ground with one of the brothers examining her ankle. We surge forward and Rage elbows the other man out of the way to look at it. She jumps when he touches it.
“I’m pretty sure it’s fractured,” he states grimly.
Ven motions Siege over. He looks down at her and asks, “What happened here.”
Meli uses her hands to pantomime a jumping gesture. “When I jump out of the way, I hear crunch and have much pain.”
Ven tells Siege, “We think it’s broken.”
He responds gruffly, “One of you can take her to the hospital. I can’t spare both of you.”
Rage speaks up, “You can take her, Ven. She’s your mother.”
This is the spot where the rubber hits the road. Ven responds, “We’re blood brothers. We took an oath. That means you’re just as much family as I am.”
Meli’s face lights up. I’m not entirely certain she truly understands blood oaths, but she appears to grasp that something positive happened for her son. It’s really sweet, but I think he needs to talk to her one-on-one.