After what feels like forever, the front door swings open. Harpoon looks up at me from the doorway and grins.
“About damn time! I’m starving!”
I chuckle and step inside, allowing the door to swing shut behind me.
Harpoon grabs one of the bags out of my arms and takes it into the kitchen, where Boom Boom is already hard at work slicing tomatoes and whatever else we had in our fridge. (We didn’t have much, hence the reason I went to the store.) I notice that her hair is back to its original fiery red color. She must have washed out the black dye she used on our mission. I can’t say that I’m not happy about it. I love Boom Boom’s red hair, and I hate when she has to dye it in order to cloak her famous identity.
I watch as Harpoon plops the bag of groceries onto the counter and skips back over to the couch to play one of her violent, holographic video games with Blade and Krystal. Harpoon is rapidly becoming a beautiful young woman, and she’s starting to attract horny boys like flowers attract bees. (Whenever I see a boy staring at her longingly, I discreetly flash a handgun. That usually sends the boys running for their lives.) I’m already dreading the day she goes on her first date. I’m going to have to have a long, threatening talk with whoever manages to catch her eye.
Blade is also starting to draw the attention of a lot of the young girls in our apartment complex. If you compare pictures of me when I was his age, we could pass as twins. He might as well be my son for all of our physical similarities. At least with Blade I won’t have to worry about who he dates. I’m more concerned about him drawing the ire and wrath of the fathers of the girls he goes out with. I seriously can’t believe I have to start dealing with this crap. Like I mentioned before, when all the adults in your life die, you’re forced to grow up incredibly fast.
I turn my attention back to Boom Boom, who has just finished slicing the tomatoes and has now moved on to the onions. Her knife is moving up and down so quickly that all I can make out is a blur. I know Boom Boom is still pissed about what went down with Blackbird’s daughter, so I make a mental note not to aggravate her too much. I definitely don’t want her hurling that dagger at my forehead.
“It’s starting to smell good in here,” I say in a feeble attempt at extending an olive branch.
Without looking up, Boom Boom snaps, “I haven’t even started cooking anything yet, dumbass. I’ve been waiting on you to bring home the groceries.”
I set down the bag I’m holding and scoot it across the counter. “Sorry for the delay. There was a long line. Here’s the stuff.”
Boom Boom glances at the bag, then ever-so-briefly looks up at me before glaring back down at her onion. The knife is moving faster than ever.
I sigh heavily and say, “Boom Boom, you’ve barely spoken two words to me since we got back from Sanctuary 41. Can we at least talk?”
Boom Boom’s cheeks flush red with anger. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
I reach out and grab Boom Boom’s wrist. She drops the knife and looks up at me, her eyes blazing with white-hot rage.
“Get the fuck off of me,” Boom Boom roars, tearing her wrist from my grasp.
Krystal and the kids stop talking and turn around.
“Is everything okay?” Harpoon asks.
Krystal flaps her wrist. “Don’t pay them any attention. They’re both uptight because neither of them have gotten laid in a while.”
“Why don’t you guys just have sex with each other, like you used to?” Blade suggests.
I spin around and say, “Krystal, you’re not helping. Please shut up. And you two…”
I point my finger at Blade and Harpoon in case there’s any confusion as to who I’m talking to.
“… if you don’t want to be grounded, go back to your game and pipe down!”
“What an asshole,” Blade mutters under his breath as he turns around. Krystal and Harpoon do their best not to burst out laughing. I have to admit, I sort of have trouble as well.
When I turn back to Boom Boom, however, all feelings of levity quickly dissipate. Boom Boom appears angrier than I’ve seen her in a long-ass time. Her entire face is bright red and the knife she dropped is back in her hand.
I hold up both of my hands and back away. “Whoa Boom Boom, put the knife down. No need to get violent.”
Boom Boom points the knife at me and shouts, “I’m not just pissed about your interrogation methods, Lance. I’m also pissed off about this!”
Boom Boom opens a drawer and pulls out a plastic bag filled with some of my discarded needles.
I gulp and say, “Er, you found those, huh?”
“Yes I found them, you idiot! They were in the trash can!”
I rub my head and mutter to myself, “Damn, I thought I took that bag of trash out to the dumpster.”
“Damn it, Lance, this isn’t a joke!” Boom Boom explodes, causing Krystal and the kids to turn around again. This time they’re smart enough not to interject.
Waving the bag of needles in front of my face, Boom Boom rattles on, “I tolerated your excessive use of marijuana and your propensity to drink booze at all hours of the night, but heroin? Cocaine? Why are you doing all this shit, Lance? Just a few months ago you were riding my ass because I was addicted to pain pills. I managed to get over my addiction, but yours has gotten worse!”
I throw up my hands and shout, “I told you I’m trying to wean myself off of the hard stuff! But I go into these crazy withdrawals when I try and quit cold turkey. I need a little kick every now and then in order to function. Otherwise I’m completely useless to you guys. We don’t have time for me to go to rehab, Boom Boom. We’re trying to find Klaxton and stop a damn war, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“No I haven’t forgotten!” Boom Boom shrieks, her entire body trembling in fury. “I’m reminded of it every goddamn day! It’s like our entire lives are now devoted to finding that lunatic! Even in sleep I can’t get a reprieve. Every night I dream about what went down in Alaska! I see Rasputin electrocuting Arrow. I see Klaxton blowing Dorothy out of a helicopter with a machine gun. I see Machete’s face, contorted in hate, as she blames us for Arrow’s death at his own funeral. And when I wake up every morning, I’m reminded of Klaxton… I’m reminded that we’re on the verge of a full-blown nuclear war… because that’s all they fucking talk about on the news. And I’m reminded when we go on our insane missions to track down scumbags who might have any sort of lead on Klaxton’s whereabouts. Every second of every single day and every second of every single night I’m reminded of this shit, Lance. I don’t need you constantly throwing it back into my face!”
I immediately feel like the world’s biggest jerk. Boom Boom’s struggling to deal with everything like I am. The last thing she needs is me compounding her issues.
I rub my throbbing temple with my fingers (it’s been a while since I shot up and I’m starting to feel the effects) and say, “Look Firecracker, I… I’m sorry. I know you’re going through some shit. We all are. What we’re trying to do… it’s crazy! Sometimes I wonder if it’s even worth it… if we shouldn’t just leave it up to someone else. Sometimes I’m… well, I’m afraid. And I lash out at the wrong people. I lash out at the ones I love.”
Boom Boom wipes away the tears building up in her eyes and says, “It’s okay, Lance, I get it. I feel the same way. I just… I wish you weren’t taking all these drugs. I know I used to give you hell for smoking pot, but to be honest I’d be thrilled if that was all you did nowadays. Why did you get into all this hard shit?”
Deciding to be completely honest, I reply, “For the same reason you got addicted to pain pills. To numb the pain… mental and physical. It’s a coping mechanism, to help me keep my sanity… especially after what went down a few months ago. That really messed me up. I think it messed all of us up.”
Boom Boom scoffs. “That’s understatement of the century.”
Boom Boom then does something she hasn’t done in a few weeks. She walks over and gives me a hug. I’m initially
surprised, but I quickly hug her back. Boom Boom and I have had our fair share of arguments and disagreements, but I love her dearly. I’m always at my happiest when we’re on the “on” part of our complicated “on-again, off-again” relationship.
Still hugging me tight, Boom Boom quietly says, “I managed to get through my addiction, Lance, and you can, too. I want you to at least try. You’re setting a bad example for the kids, injecting and ingesting those toxins every night.”
Blade clears his throat and says, “To be fair, Boom Boom, all three of you are setting a bad example. After all, we do see you guys on the news every night, shooting people in their foreheads.”
I start cracking up. Boom Boom slips out of our hug and admonishingly says to Blade, “We do not shoot people in their foreheads. At least, I don’t.”
I hold up my gloved hand and say, “I prefer to electrocute them.”
Krystal holds up her glock and blurts out, “I shoot em’ in their foreheads!”
Blade and Harpoon giggle. The laughter quickly dies down, however, and Blade gets all serious.
“I just don’t understand why you guys have to go off on another mission tomorrow. It’s going to be Christmas Eve! We always spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning together. No offense to Ms. Madison, but we don’t want to spend the holidays with her and her creepy old cat!”
Boom Boom rushes over and hugs Blade to her chest. I notice Blade smiling as he nestles his face into Boom Boom’s bosom. That sly dog.
Unaware that Blade is enjoying Boom Boom’s embrace a little too much, she rubs his back and soothingly says, “I’m sorry, Blade. Trust me, we wouldn’t be leaving you guys if we had a choice. But if we’re to have any chance of nabbing Geronimo Blackbird, we’ve got to do it tomorrow night.”
I plop down on the couch and wrap my arm around Harpoon, who seems just as distraught as her brother. “Blackbird is notorious for throwing extravagant, booze-filled Christmas Eve parties. It’s one of the things he’s most famous for. Well, besides being one of the richest people in the world.”
“We’re assuming Blackbird will be throwing another one of those ‘extravagant’ parties tomorrow night off the coast of Antarctica,” Boom Boom elaborates. “On any other night it would be a suicide mission to invade Blackbird’s ship. But if we do it during the wee hours of Christmas Morning, all of his bodyguards and criminal associates will be shit-faced drunk and passed out in their rooms. We should be able to sneak onto the ship and nab Blackbird without firing a single shot.”
“Then we can turn Blackbird over to President LeBeau’s security forces, they can interrogate him and hopefully find Klaxton’s location, then we can hunt her ass down and hand her carcass over to the Chinese, stopping Armageddon in its tracks,” I say casually. “Bada-boom, bada-bing!”
Harpoon looks up and says, “Then you guys will finally stop going on all these crazy bounty hunting missions?”
I grin and say, “Exactly! President LeBeau has already assured us that Klaxton’s $100 million bounty is ours for the taking. With that much money we’ll be able to afford a swank penthouse suite in Sanctuary 41. We’ll live the rest of our days like royalty.”
Harpoon’s eyes glaze over and her lips curl into a greedy smile. “I’ve always wanted to live like a queen.”
Blade finally lifts his head off of Boom Boom’s bosom (for a second I thought he was going to stay there all night) and says, “How come Harpoon and I can’t come with you guys? We can help you get Blackbird!”
Harpoon turns toward Krystal and excitedly says, “Ohh, that would be so much fun! Krystal and I can take turns flying the car!”
“Sounds good to me,” Krystal says with a mouthful of popcorn while she mindlessly continues playing Blade and Harpoon’s video game. I don’t think she has the slightest clue what we’re talking about.
Boom Boom snaps, “No, absolutely not! You guys are way too young to come on a bounty hunting mission, especially one this dangerous.
“But you just said it was going to be easy,” Blade says in a whiny voice. “You said all of Blackbird’s goons are going to be shit-faced drunk!”
“Blade, don’t say shit,” Boom Boom chastises. “I seriously have no idea where you learned to cuss like that.”
Blade looks at me and says, “Is she serious? Has she not heard how you guys talk to each other?”
I snort while Boom Boom crosses her arms and scowls.
In an attempt to keep the peace and make everyone happy, I theatrically wave my hands and say, “How about this? One of these days we’ll take you guys out on one of our bounty hunting runs. You know, against some small-time crook, someone who’s not all that dangerous. You kids are getting older now. Maybe it’ll do some good to show you guys the ‘family’ business.”
By the way Boom Boom freaks out you would think I proposed they join me on a drug binge.
“Lance, are you out of your fucking mind?! I thought we came to an agreement years ago! Blade and Harpoon are NOT going to follow in our footsteps and become bounty hunters! They are going to stay in school and make something of themselves. They’re going to become doctors or lawyers or, hell, they can live out on the streets and be panhandlers for all I care. But I refuse to stand by and watch them risk their lives just to pay the rent like we’ve been doing.”
I wave Boom Boom off. “Why are you freaking out on me? We can’t shield Blade and Harpoon forever. They need to learn to defend themselves. It wouldn’t hurt for them to tag along on one our missions, learn how we take care of business.”
Blade and Harpoon exchange excited grins.
“Yeah Boom Boom, you should let us come with you guys one day,” Blade interjects. “I want to follow in my dad’s footsteps. I want to go after bad guys like he did.”
“Your father would roll over in his grave if he heard you talking like that,” Boom Boom says, starting to get as angry as she was moments ago, when she was shouting my ear off about my drug use. “Dagger went on all those bounty hunting missions over the years so he could give you guys a safe, comfortable place to live, and so you could get an education. He never wanted you to have to do what he did… what Lance and I are doing. Bounty hunting may sound glamorous, but it’s not. It’s nothing but complete and utter hell. And if you let your guard down, it’ll get you killed.”
Boom Boom doesn’t come right out and say it, but it’s implied. If you let your guard down, you’ll get killed like Dagger did.
Boom Boom goes back to wagging her finger in Blade and Harpoon’s faces, like an overprotective mother who’s afraid to let her kids experience the outside world. “You two are going to keep on going to school and make something of yourselves. And that’s final.”
Normally I would side with Boom Boom when it comes to the kids’ education, but something inside me doesn’t appreciate the way she keeps demeaning our profession. It also doesn’t help that I’m dying to snort a line of coke.
Unable to bite my tongue any longer, I derisively say, “It’s going to be awfully hard for the kids to make something of themselves if they get burnt to a radioactive crisp. We’re on the verge of a world war for Christ sake, and you’re worried about them doing their homework?”
Boom Boom grits her teeth, marches over to me, and punches me in my nose… hard.
I slide off the couch and clutch my nose as blood pours from my nostrils.
“Son of a bitch!” I shout in a nasally voice.
Blade and Harpoon gasp. Krystal looks up from her video game and blurts out, “Holy shit, did Boom Boom just sucker-punch you??”
Boom Boom glares down at me and snarls, “If I hear you utter one more word about how the kids should follow in our footsteps, I’m sending you to the hospital.”
Boom Boom storms off to her room, slamming the door so hard that the pictures on the wall rattle.
Blade and Harpoon stare at me in stunned silence, their mouths agape and their faces as white as linen sheets. I stagger to my feet and lower my hand from my buste
d nose. My fingers are covered in blood.
Harpoon jumps up and quietly says, “Do you want an ice pack, Lance?”
I shake my head and mutter, “No, I’m fine, kiddo. I’m, uh, gonna go up on the roof for some fresh air. Stay in here and finish your game.”
Before the kids can say another word, I pull down the foldaway stairs hanging from the ceiling, climb up to the skylight, push open the glass window, and hop out onto the roof. A gust of wind slams into me, nearly sending me tumbling back into the apartment, but I manage to force my way through Mother Nature’s version of a block and make my way to the ledge overlooking the city. I pull out a joint and light up while I gaze down at the city street nearly 2,000 feet below. I’m so high up that all the people walking around on the streets look like itty bitty ants. Off in the distance thousands of flying cars whiz past one another, honking their horns and flashing their lights. Hundreds of brightly lit sky-rise apartments and office buildings spread out before me, stretching all the way up to the giant, heavily fortified concrete wall encircling our sanctuary. I look up at the few visible stars twinkling in the heavens. I prefer the night sky out in the country, away from the city lights, where the sky becomes ablaze with starlight, but this will have to do. A handful of stars is better than no stars at all.
World War Forever (Highway To Armageddon Book 2) Page 6