Page 39 of We're All Liars
“When I was tied up, that was the worst feeling. I wasn’t scared of my captors. I was petrified of being defenseless, not in control.” I stand and walk over to him. “Are you scared?”
His furious eyes glare up at me as he says, “No. You don’t have the balls to kill me.” He lets out a sinister laugh. “I’m surprised you even had the guts to turn on me at all; you’ve always begged for my approval.” Another snicker. “I never loved you. You were always a tool to use against your mother, and a means to keep her around. I knew she would’ve left me years ago if not for you bastards.”
“We’re not the bastards. That would be Madison. But I’d rather you not speak of my sister that way.”
His breath hitches as his face morphs into disbelief. “How the fuck do you know about that little bloodsucking leech?”
He’s going to make this so much easier. The more he speaks, the more I want him to stop. “Bloodsucking leech, huh? Not sure how that works since you never gave her a thing in her life. Lucky her, she didn’t even have to deal with you at all.” I grab the cigar cutter on the medical tray nearby. “But please remember that I will make sure she has all the wealth and fortune she could ever want. The same money you will never touch.”
Dad spits at me, spraying his saliva all over my face.
“They said this hurts.” I slide his finger in the hole. “I really didn’t think I would enjoy any of this. It was more a means to an end. But you’re making this very delightful.”
“You’re crazy. And will never get away with another murder.”
“Oh, I’m not going to kill you.” I squeeze the cigar cutter, the blade slicing completely through his bone as his finger falls to the floor. “I’m going to make sure you never speak to anyone ever again and make sure you never lay a finger on me or Ryder again.”
After he stops screaming, he manages to say, “You really think I’ll keep my mouth shut after all this? No. I’m going to tell them everything. And I can’t wait for you to pay the price.”
“I know you would squeal on us if you could. It won’t matter though. No one will be able to understand you. But keep one thing in mind, if you try to say anything about this or what happened with Lenny, I’ll come for you. And no one will hear you scream.”
“I never did anything to you. Why are this doing this? I tried being a good father, but you’re a miserable person.”
“Scared, huh. Begging for your life. For mercy.” I study the bloody cigar cutter in my hand. “I knew I was stronger than you. Mentally and emotionally. I never begged. I never showed fear. Because I knew my weakness would be used against me. And I finally found your weakness. Money. Only it wasn’t how you’d think. You did win some today. But that little money was all it took to put an end to the almighty famous quarterback Coach King, who is nothing but a washed up, pathetic failure, undeserving to live.”
“Just kill me then.” He squirms, screams louder.
“Nope, you gotta stay alive. Because I want you to remember every time you hurt my brother and every time you thought a fucking sport or money was worth more than us. But most of all. I want you to live with the fact that you’re only alive and miserable because ofme, the child whose very existence you hate. And you’re going to regret bringing me into this world even more after this over.”
I wipe the metal against a rag. “Oh, and for your little allegiance with Paul too.” I point to the asshole who’s still passed out. “He helped all this work out seamlessly. And will learnnotto plot to kill my family.”
I snap another finger off and go for the next while I tell him. “It’s such a shame that Randall hated you so much for double-crossing him with that shady bet. Losing the game so you could win while he didn’t sent him over the edge. And this is the state he left you in as punishment. Unable to speak, barely clinging to life. A medically induced coma for the remainder of your life. But don’t worry, you’ll be awake just enough to hear and feel everything happening to you and around you. And no matter what you do, or how loud you scream inside your head, no one will help. No one is coming to your rescue. It’s the worst feeling ever. I know. It’s how I felt when I ran around that damn hospital. I never thought you were coming to help me, but I also never imagined you knew I was taken and allowed it to happen. How could you?”
“I just thought he’d rough you up a bit, maybe fuck some of that resolve out of you. But I prayed he’d end you and save me the trouble.”
“Thanks for not helping me. I don’t need you or your approval. And by the way, Ryder is a fucking awesome football player. He just didn’t want you to use him.”
“Yeah. Whatever.” Dad laughs. “Both of you are useless.”
“Useless but efficient.”
“If you go through with this, I will make sure Crawford never sees the light of day. He’ll go down for murdering Lenny and I will walk free. No one will believe you over me.”
“You won’t have the opportunity to tell your story. Ever. Because I’m silencing you now.”
“Go ahead and cauterize the wounds so he doesn’t bleed out,” the man they call Doc says. He’s here to make sure I don’t take it too far. He passes me a blowtorch, and I turn on the propane and light it.
“Yeah. We wouldn’t want that.”
Dad yells, his full attention on the flame in my hand. “Don’t do this. We can still walk out of here. I’ll leave. I swear. I don’t need your money. I won some on the game.”
“About that…” I move closer but stop before the flame touches his skin. “I made my own bet. Only it wasn’t under my name.” I nod over to the corner where Randall is lying unconscious. “Your buddy over there placed a bet on the game. One that will show you promised him a win that would make him a fortune. Instead, it looks like you lost the game on purpose and screwed him out of his big payday for your own gain. So needless to say, he’s pissed and out for revenge. At least, that’s how it’llappearto the authorities.”
“What the hell are you even talking about? I never made a deal with him.”
“Yeah, ya did. His prints will be all over this. All over you. His mind will be reconstructed, that’s the beauty about good drugs. Sometimes, you don’t know what’s a hallucination and what’s reality.”
Dad lets out a string of curses directed towards me. Nothing he says registers. I shut off every emotion and feeling I have except malice and hatred. “But you remember reality, don’t you?” I laugh, moving the flame over his skin.