The Black Chip

by Gary Land

“Shut her up,” Finnegan yelled.

  Rider grabbed Kacy and told her to be quiet, but she just ignored him. She yelled again.

  “I told you to shut her up!” whispered Finnegan. The men were knocking on the door now.

  Rider held Kacy from behind, a hand covered her mouth. Kacy struggled in his arms, screaming for help. The noise was muffled but still loud enough that someone might hear.

  “Hey, what’s going on in there?” one of the men yelled.

  Finnegan opened the door a crack, and smiled at the men. “Just auditioning a new girl--we’re doing a scene.”

  “In the basement?”

  “You have a problem with it, go see Wagner. He’s upstairs.”

  Finnegan closed and locked the door. He hurried down the stairs and stopped in front of Kacy. He pointed his finger at her.

  “Shut the fuck up, or you...will...be...sorry,” Finnegan said.

  Kacy stopped struggling. She stopped screaming as fear momentarily gripped her. Rider relaxed his grip on Kacy, as Finnegan turned back towards the stairs. Kacy immediately kicked back at Rider and connected with his shin. She twisted away and started to scream as Rider fell down and yelled. Finnegan ran to her and backhanded her across the face. She staggered sideways and went down on one knee.

  Kacy had never hated anyone in her life, but she hated Finnegan. When Noly would tell her stories about his private investigator cases and he would talk about the bad guys and what they had done, she couldn’t relate to it. She was just a kid who thought her mom was dating Magnum, P.I. But now she knew bad guys really did exist and that they cared nothing for other people. She knew Finnegan was planning horrible things for her, and that, eventually, he would kill her. She wanted to be strong for Noly--he would expect it of her. If you didn’t stand up for yourself--and others--against bullies who picked on others, you had already lost.

  Kacy stood up, her lip bleeding, and defiantly glared at Finnegan. They stared at each other for several seconds. She knew she should obey him and keep quiet, but she couldn’t let him win. Whatever the cost. She hesitated, then opened her mouth to scream. Finnegan slammed his fist into Kacy’s stomach. She doubled over in pain, but Finnegan held her up, his hand pressing against her neck. She tried desperately to suck in air, but he pushed her into the wall, smiling at her. Then he punched her again.

  Kacy made an “ohnf” sound. He hit her again. She grimaced in pain. Tears ran down her face. She had trouble breathing with his hand around her neck. She groaned. Her stomach burned in pain.

  Rider stood up and held Finnegan’s arm from hitting her again. “You made your point--stop it. She’s just a little girl,” he said.

  Finnegan pulled his arm free and struck his elbow at Rider’s face. Rider fell backwards, holding his bleeding nose.

  “Don’t touch me,” yelled Finnegan. “Don’t tell me what to do. She’s nothing but a little bitch that will grow up into a big bitch...but maybe this one won’t be growing much more.”

  Kacy used the distraction provided by Rider to get the box cutter from her jeans, but Finnegan saw her, grabbed her hand before she had even pulled it out and pinned her against the wall. She let go of the box cutter. Finnegan put his hand into her back pocket and let it rest there longer than he had too. He pulled the cutter out and looked at it.

  “You’re just full of surprises aren’t you, and you never, ever learn your lessons, do you?”

  Rider jumped up prepared to attack, but Finnegan was ready for him. He slid the slider to full open, exposing the cutting blade, and swiped it across Rider’s neck. The warm, arterial blood sprayed across Kacy’s face. She winced and tried to turn away, but Finnegan held her in place. She screamed, and this time Finnegan let her.

  Finnegan watched Rider clutch at his throat, stumble, and fall to the ground. Blood pooled around him. Finnegan watched it flow down Rider’s neck and around his shoulder. It meant as much to Finnegan as if he had spilled a gallon of milk.

  Finnegan then turned back to Kacy, and in a calm voice said, “Have you learned your lesson?”

  Kacy reluctantly nodded her head.

  “Good.”

  He hit her again, and then let her go. She crumpled to the floor, hugging her stomach, knees to her chest. It hurt so much. She tried yelling for help again, but all she could do was moan through the pain. It was too late anyway--no one would help her.

  The concrete floor was cold, and Kacy felt so alone. She absentmindedly wiped at her face with the sleeve of her shirt, but she knew she wouldn’t get all the blood off. She wanted to wash it away. She wanted to take a shower and rinse away the last few days and make everything right again. She wanted to be brave and strong like Noly, but she just couldn’t stop the tears from coming.

  “Why is the door locked?” Wagner’s voice was barely audible. He unlocked the door and entered the basement, followed closely by Mandy. He ran down the steps and stopped short when he saw the blood.

  “What the fuck?”

  Wagner saw Rider, then switched his gaze to Kacy, curled into a ball, covered in blood. He ran down the remaining stairs and slowly approached Kacy.

  “SHIT! What did you do, Finn?” Wagner yelled.

  “Nothing...she’s okay. Just had a little accident.”

  Wagner knelt down and gently touched Kacy on the shoulder. She pulled back from his touch. He almost felt bad about everything that had happened to her. He did feel bad.

  “What’s she doing here?” Finnegan said, pointing to Mandy.

  “She’s here cause I told her to be here! Fuck! Do you know who that girl’s father is?” Wagner asked, pointing at Kacy.

  “Do...not... touch...her...again,” Wagner said with emphasis.

  “What? You don’t trust me?” Finnegan said with a sneer.

  “Yeah, you’re a real trustworthy guy, Finn...Mandy, come here.”

  Mandy walked hesitantly toward Kacy.

  “Get your ass over here, and clean her up,” Wagner yelled.

  Mandy bent down and urged Kacy to get up. They walked together towards a utility sink in the far corner of the basement, where Mandy helped Kacy wash her face. She untied Kacy’s ponytail, and tried to wash the blood spots out of her hair. Kacy let her--she didn’t care anymore. But that wasn’t exactly right. She did care, she just felt like all the fight had left her. She had tried, but she was no match for these people. She wanted to give up.

  As she bent over the sink contemplating her loneliness, it fell from inside her shirt. A sterling silver heart Noly had given her. The pink leather cord dangled over the sink. As Mandy washed her hair, Kacy watched the heart swing from side to side. It filled her with newfound strength. It was like a shield. A shield from Noly that would protect her. These people couldn’t hurt her. Not a lasting hurt. She stood up from the sink and held the star in her hands. Water dripped down her neck soaking her shirt, but she didn’t notice.

  Kacy put the heart back under her shirt, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and courageously turned towards Finnegan and Wagner.

  Chapter 32

  Kacy sat in a corner of the basement and watched Mandy stumble her way down the stairs holding a large brown grocery bag, while dragging a couple of sleeping bags behind her. She dropped the sleeping bags in front of Kacy and unrolled them. Mandy plopped herself down on one and patted the other, inviting Kacy over.

  “I brought some snacks too,” Mandy said. She scrounged around inside the grocery bag, and pulled out some of the small milk containers she had brought before.

  “Thanks.” Kacy smiled at Mandy.

  Mandy continued pulling items from the grocery bag, proudly showing Kacy containers of graham crackers, pretzels, animal crackers, and popcorn.

  Most of it turned out to be stale. Kacy thought the popcorn had the texture of those Styrofoam peanuts they use in shipping boxes. But the graham crackers were good.

  After they had sat in silence and ate for awhile, Kacy asked Mandy, “What’s the plan?”

  Mandy looked sad
and shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t really...they don’t tell me much.”

  Kacy just nodded, she hadn’t really expected Mandy to know anything.

  “Well, I did overhear some stuff.” Mandy paused and looked at Kacy. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Mr. Wagner’s really scared of your father. I’ve never seen him like that before.”

  Kacy smiled. “He should be afraid. He’s going to die.”

  Mandy had no response for that. She sat with her mouth open in surprise at Kacy’s words. She fumbled for some animal crackers and nibbled on a lion.

  “Don’t worry, he won’t hurt you. You’ve been nice to me. I like you.”

  Mandy swallowed, and said, “Thanks...I, uh, don’t think we’re going anywhere for a while. I heard them talking about the banks being closed on account of today’s Sunday and waiting until tomorrow. I don’t know what it means though. Mr. Wagner told me to bring the sleeping bags down here. He wants me to stay with you. He said, ‘Stay with her 24/7 and don’t let that bastard touch her.’”

  Kacy shivered at the thought of Finnegan. She was suddenly cold and very tired. She hugged Mandy. “Thank you...for protecting me.”

  Mandy gave her a big smile.

  “I’m going to take a nap, okay?” Kacy said. Kacy slipped inside the sleeping bag and closed her eyes. She wanted to go to sleep and wake up in her own bed. She wanted this nightmare to end, to be back with her Mom and Noly. She wanted a gun. And she wanted to kill Finnegan--before he killed her.

  “Mom, I’m going to the library with Noly now,” Kacy yelled from the front door.

  “Okay, honey. Have a good time...at the library,” Sarah said.

  “Hmm,” Noly said, pulling the door closed. “I think she knows something.”

  “You think?” Kacy said.

  “I’m not exactly the library type.”

  “Guess not...should have said book store instead. Anyway, I couldn’t say gun store, could I?”

  “True.”

  Kacy jumped into Noly’s car. Noly always had an Oldies station playing on the radio as he drove Kacy around. She soon learned to love the songs from the 60’s, singing along with the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and more.

  The Desert Training Base occupied an isolated spot at the rear of the Wynan Center, a seemingly random grouping of various shops and small businesses. The Training Base ran a gun shop and shooting range that catered to off-duty police and air force personnel.

  When Noly walked through the door with Kacy, it was like a scene from the TV show, Cheers, except instead of the patrons yelling out “Norm” they all yelled “Boots.”

  In order to get to the shooting range itself, you had to walk down a long corridor filled with bulletin boards and trophy cases. Kacy’s eyes were as big as silver dollars as she read plaque after plaque and trophy after trophy, made out to Noly Boots. Best Accuracy, Best Speed, Best Overall Marksman. But she already knew he was the best.

  Noly stood at the counter with Kacy, waiting for Vince to finish with another customer. Kacy had her nose pressed against the glass case looking at the different firearms.

  “Hey, Boots, how ya doing?” Vince said.

  “Good, Vince. This is Kacy.”

  “Kacy--pretty name for a pretty lady. Well, little lady, do you know what kind of gun you want to shoot today?” Vince asked. “We have Smith and Wesson, Glock, Kimber, Kahr...”

  “I want the Sig,” Kacy said.

  “Hmmm, wonder why.” Vince handed her a Sig P239, a compact, two-tone gun that held .40 caliber S&W cartridges. “Sorry, I don’t have Boots’ model available for rental.”

  Kacy looked disappointed but took the unloaded gun from Vince, along with a pair of goggles and ear-protectors. The range had fifteen shooting lanes, maybe a third were occupied, and the smells and sounds captivated Kacy--it would be one of those defining moments that would be burned into her memory forever. All her time with Noly felt that way as if she were trying to make up for all those years without a father figure in her life.

  Noly showed Kacy how a gun works, how to load and unload it, how to treat it safely and with respect. They shot rounds for an hour until Kacy’s arm and shoulder were sore. She consistently hit center mass on the target until they moved on to head shots. Then Noly would call out locations and counts, like center mass two, or head one. She was a natural. Vince came by to watch as did other shooters, one of whom told Noly, “like father like daughter, hey, Boots.” A huge smile broke out on Kacy’s face as she turned to Noly. Neither one of them corrected the man.

  Kacy smiled in her sleep, the tension in her face drained away. She would fight back and wait for Noly. He would always be there for her. Noly would save her.

  Kacy ran over and picked up the Frisbee. She looked to her right and saw a boy and girl on a swing set. They were younger than her, maybe eight, sitting side by side trying to out fly each other.

  The girl laughed and giggled as she called her friends name, teasing him to go higher. She turned and looked at Kacy, who smiled back at her.

  Just then, something happened that was, sadly, not a unique event in the world. The Bully made an appearance. Kacy had just started back towards Noly when she heard the girl yell, “Stop it!”

  Kacy turned and saw two of them holding the chains on the younger boys swing. They looked to be about twelve years old. They twisted the swing back and forth and then pulled the swing back, holding it high above the ground. The boy in the swing wanted to jump off but was clearly afraid to do so.

  The smile that had been on Kacy’s face only a moment ago vanished, replaced by an angry scowl. Her free hand involuntarily curled into a fist as she walked towards the bullies.

  “Let him down,” Kacy yelled.

  The bullies turned to look at who was challenging them. They both laughed, but sensing more fun, decided to let the boy go and turn their attention on Kacy.

  The girl and boy ran off far enough to be out of harms way, but stayed around waiting to see what would happen.

  “What are you going to do about it?” Bully One said.

  “I don’t have to do anything, moron--you already let him go,” Kacy answered.

  Realizing his mistake, the bully did what all bullies do when they look stupid--they get mad. He charged Kacy, but she flipped the Frisbee in his face as hard as she could. It hit his nose with a satisfying thud. He yelled and grabbed his face. When he pulled his hand back, it was covered in blood.

  Bully Two tackled Kacy to the ground and was about to hit her when a giant shadow fell across Kacy’s face. Noly lifted the bully off Kacy with the ease of picking up a doll. He threw him backwards into his friend, who was still wondering how he had ended up with a bloody nose.

  Noly, smiling, helped Kacy to her feet. “Are you okay?”

  She smiled back as she brushed the dirt from her pants. She walked over to pick up her Frisbee.

  “My little sister tackles better than that,” she teased, and then walked away.

  Noly and Kacy made their way back to Sarah, who had set up picnic fixings on a Mickey Mouse blanket. They had agreed not to tell Sarah what happened--it would be their little secret. Unfortunately, the secret lasted for probably the shortest amount of time of any secret in the history of the world. Two minutes after Noly and Kacy had returned, the Bully dads showed up.

  Noly shook his head, and muttered, “Peaceful picnic, huh?” to no one in particular.

  He met the two tat-covered baddies before they could reach the blanket. It took Noly twelve seconds to put them both on the ground--twice. Noly warned them the first time to stay down, but of course, they didn’t listen. When they got up, Noly broke a wrist on Baddie One and an elbow on Baddie Two.

  Kacy had never seen Noly in action before, but she had imagined the very thing she just witnessed. If Noly put on a cape and flew away, she wouldn’t have been surprised.

  When Kacy woke up, she found nothing had changed. Mandy was still there, munching on some pretzels. They were still alon
e. Kacy tried listening for sounds beyond the door upstairs, but everyone seemed to have left.

  “Hi,” Mandy said.

  “Hi, how long was I sleeping?” Kacy asked.

  “Maybe a half hour.”

  “That’s all?”

  “Are you okay?” Mandy looked concerned.

  “Yeah, I am. I feel better now.” Kacy had absent-mindedly pulled her necklace from beneath her shirt and rubbed her fingers across the star.

  “That’s really pretty--where did you get it?” Mandy asked.

  “Noly gave it to me...on Valentine’s Day. He tricked me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Me and Noly and my mom, we all went out to dinner that night. Noly and I had already been to a jewelry store--I helped him pick out a beautiful necklace for my mom.”

  “Oh, what was it like?”

  “It was a tri-color gold necklace. You know, pink, yellow, and white gold--all hearts...I knew that Noly loved my mom then,” Kacy said.

  Tears filled Kacy’s eyes, but she held them in check by sheer force of will. She didn’t want to cry anymore. “I’m glad she’s safe now. She’s with Noly.” Kacy brushed her eyes.

  “I’ll bet it was the three of you,” Mandy said.

  “What?” Kacy looked confused.

  “The three types of gold. Noly is yellow, your mom is white, and you’re pink. The three of you together.”

  Kacy blinked. That had never occurred to her. It made her both happy and sad to think about it. They’d be back together again soon.

  “How did Noly trick you?”

  “Well, I was supposed to distract my mom so Noly could put the gift on her plate. So, I spilled a little salad dressing on my pants and asked my mom to go to the bathroom with me to get the stain out.”

  “That was smart,” Mandy said.

  “Noly winked at me when I took my mom away.” Kacy smiled. “Anyway, when we came back, I looked down at my mom’s plate and nothing was there. I looked at Noly and then my mom, and they were both smiling that smile like ‘I know something you don’t know.’”