Kiersten, who is standing by the rear passenger door of Jerri-Lynn’s car, shouts to Brody, “Let’s go Brody!”
Jerri-Lynn and Kiersten get into Jerri-Lynn’s car and Brody walks away from Whitney.
“See ya Whitney,” says Brody.
Whitney covers her tied back brunette hair with her jacket hood, picks up the deer she shot, and says goodbye to Brody.
Brody gets into the backseat of Jerri-Lynn’s car and sits next to Kiersten.
“What the hell was that?” asks Kiersten to Brody as Jerri-Lynn drives towards the exit of the neighborhood.
“What?” asks Brody to Kiersten.
“With Whitney, you got a thing for her or something?” answers Kiersten.
Brody slightly hesitates to answer.
“Well, if you do, then she can have you. I don’t want to be with someone who doesn’t want to be with me,” says Kiersten.
Kiersten looks out her rear passenger side door window as Jerri-Lynn drives down the street.
Brody tries to grab Kiersten’s left hand as they sit in the backseat of Jerri-Lynn’s car, but Kiersten moves her left hand away from Brody and places her left hand on her right thigh.
Shaun pulls into his driveway.
I help Lauren exit from the back of Shaun’s electric truck and then I jump down off the back of the electric truck.
“Find anything good in that house?” I ask Shaun.
“Not really, a couple of things, but it was pretty gross in there,” answers Shaun.
“Thank you for your help in there today,” I say to Shaun.
“You are welcome, I’m just glad we found him and got some information out of him. What do you want to do next?” Shaun asks me.
“I think we take some time and worry about our people here. We should take our time clearing out all areas around our neighborhood and neutralize all possible threats to us,” I answer Shaun.
“Sounds good, but take some time for yourself. Phil, Jon, and I, and maybe even Matt will get it done. I want to bring back the tractor trailer from Fisher Sports and see what we got in there,” says Shaun.
“Good idea. I’m going to get some rest and try to calm my body down. I’ll talk with you and Phil tomorrow,” I reply to Shaun.
“Well, goodnight then and I’ll see you tomorrow,” replies Shaun.
Lauren and I say goodbye to Shaun, and we enter our house.
Lauren places her bow and arrows against the wall that is next to our front door.
I walk towards my man cave door and ask Lauren, “Can you help me with my armor?”
Lauren and I enter my man cave.
I place my katana on its horizontal stand.
“Thank you for being supportive sweetie. I’m sorry for yelling at you before. I’ve just felt a lot of pressure lately, but after getting rid of Chris, I feel some relief,” I say to Lauren.
“I understand honey, but remember I’m here for you. I’m not trying to hold you back with anything, but I do worry about you and us,” replies Lauren.
I place my samurai armor on its holder and Lauren hugs me.
I start to cry, and the tears are part sadness and part relief. I feel somewhat better knowing that the man that killed my father is gone and I settled that score, but I also feel bad that I just killed another person.
Lauren notices that I’m crying and asks, “Are you okay honey?”
I break from Lauren’s hug and answer Lauren, “I’m okay, but I do feel bad about what happened.”
“I can’t imagine what you are feeling honey. Just try not to dwell on it and let it get you down too much. This world is making good people do some horrible things,” says Lauren to me.
“It really is. I never thought I would kill a living person let alone several of them,” I say to Lauren.
Lauren and I exit my man cave, and I shut the man cave door.
Lauren sees her mom working in our backyard on our vegetable gardens and joins her mom outside.
The sun is setting, and the day is turning to night.
I go into our master bathroom, wash my face and hands, and look at my face in the mirror.
I look in the mirror and wonder who I have become.
I ask myself, “Will I continue down this dark path of seeking vengeance? Will I have to kill more people? Will my past decisions put my future in jeopardy, and will the people I have killed stay with me and haunt me like ghosts?”
CHAPTER 5
I HOPE THIS WORKS
“Thank you all for joining me today. I want to say that I’m going to run our community very differently than our last leader,” says Sal, as he stands on a stage behind a podium and addresses Brad, Brad’s wife Ola, Eric, Eric’s wife Julia, DJ, Carmine, Trish, and most of the Channelside community that are sitting inside the indoor auditorium of the Channelside property.
Brad, who is sitting next to Eric, leans over and whispers to Eric, “I hope this works.”
Eric looks at Brad and whispers, “Me too. Come to my place after the meeting. I want to talk with you.”
“Tomorrow morning. I want all of us to meet in our central courtyard. I want to go over something with everyone about our future,” says Sal to the Channelside community who are sitting in their auditorium chairs.
“About what?” whispers Brad to Eric.
“About everyone electing Sal as our new leader and what we should do around here,” answers Eric to Brad with a soft tone of voice.
“What time do you want us their uncle?” shouts Carmine to Sal from the back row of the auditorium.
“Good question nephew. Let’s start promptly at nine tomorrow morning,” answers Sal.
Some people in the crowd are shocked at the early start time that Sal wants to have tomorrow.
Sal feels the tension brewing within the crowd and towards him.
“I want to see everyone out in our central courtyard at nine AM tomorrow. You won’t want to be a minute late,” says Sal to the Channelside crowd.
A large heavyset white man, who has a large overgrown brown beard, stands up and shouts, “And what if we don’t come tomorrow?”
Sal just stares at the large heavyset white man that just shouted at him.
“Please, sit down Evan,” pleads a woman that is sitting next to the large heavyset white man.
Sal smirks and replies to the large heavyset white man, “I hope to see you tomorrow Evan.”
Brad stands up and says, “Thank you all for coming, and we will see everyone bright and early tomorrow morning in our central courtyard.”
“Thank you Brad, and thank you all for coming. Big things will be happening here now. Thank you for electing me as your new leader of Channelside,” says Sal to Brad and everyone in the auditorium.
Evan stares at Sal and Sal stares back at Evan.
“Come on Evan. Let’s get back to our condo,” says the woman that was sitting next to Evan as she tries to pull the large left arm of Evan.
Some people start to exit from the auditorium.
Trish stares at Eric as Eric and his wife Julia walk towards the center walkway of the auditorium.
Brad looks at his wife Ola and says, “I’ll be home in a little bit. I want to talk with Sal.”
“Okay. I’ll go home with Eric and Julia,” replies Ola to Brad before she kisses Brad.
Ola walks away from Brad and catches up to Eric and Julia.
Eric makes eye contact with Brad, and Brad mouths, “I’ll be over in a little bit.”
Eric nods his head at Brad and then exits the auditorium with Ola and Julia.
Brad sees Carmine talking with Sal on the stage and starts to walk towards the stage.
A red headed woman walks towards the stage that is at the front of the auditorium that Sal and Carmine are standing at.
“Excuse me Captain,” says the red headed woman, with her Southern accent, to Sal.
Sal sees the woman and says, “I’m not the Captain sweetheart. I’m Sal.”
“Oh I’m sorry. I did
n’t know what to call you,” replies the red headed thin white woman to Sal.
Sal looks at the red headed white woman, and he notices her low cut top and tight skirt.
“What’s your name sweetheart?” asks Sal to the red headed woman.
“I’m Gabriella, but my friends call me Gabby,” answers the red headed woman to Sal.
Sal is attracted to Gabby and takes interest in her after seeing her low cut top and long red hair.
“Where do you live Gabby?” asks Sal.
Gabby answers, “I live in the East Tower and in room 1302.”
“I live right near there. We are neighbors,” replies Sal to Gabby.
“Well, I just wanted to introduce myself to our new leader, but I’d love for you to come over to my place sometime,” says Gabby to Sal.
“I think I can arrange that,” replies Sal to Gabby.
“Hope to see ya soon,” says Gabby to Sal.
Gabby says goodbye to Sal, and she starts to walk away from the stage.
Sal stares at Gabby’s butt and her red high heels as Gabby walks slowly towards the auditorium exit.
Sal looks at Carmine and asks, “How old do you think that lady is?”
“I don’t know. Old. Like you. Old,” answers Carmine.
Sal smiles at Carmine’s answer and replies, “I’m only sixty years old Carmine, but coming from a twenty something year old, I bet you think sixty is ancient.”
Brad walks over to Sal and Carmine.
“Well, hello their Brad. How are things going?” asks Sal to Brad with a cocky tone of voice.
Before Brad can answer Sal, Sal says to Brad, “I hope you aren’t mad about me beating you out for the leadership spot here.”
Brad replies to Sal, “No, you were the winner, and I’m just happy to help you.”
“Good, good. I will definitely have a spot for you in my cabinet. With Carmine as my enforcer and you involved also, we should be able to run this place pretty well,” says Sal to Brad.
“What do you have planned for tomorrow?” asks Brad to Sal.
Sal smiles and answers, “You’ll see tomorrow, but I wouldn’t recommend you being late tomorrow morning. As a matter of fact, show up a little early, just to be on the safe side.”
Brad doesn’t know how to take Sal’s answer as he gets a weird vibe and feeling from Sal.
Sal looks at Brad and says, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I have to talk privately with Carmine.”
Brad feels the awkwardness as Sal and Carmine just stare at him.
The auditorium doors swing open and a small group of people walk towards Brad, Sal, and Carmine.
Brad sees the people walking towards the front of the auditorium and he notices that they are carrying large duffel bags, weapons, and supplies.
“You can leave now Brad,” says Carmine to Brad.
Brad glances at the four men that just entered the auditorium, and he doesn’t recognize any of them.
Brad starts to walk away from Sal and Carmine and the group of four men stare at Brad as he walks away from them.
Brad overhears Carmine say something to Sal.
“The guy that stared at you in the meeting is named Evan and he lives in the West Tower,” says Carmine to Sal.
Brad exits the auditorium and walks towards the central courtyard of Channelside.
DJ walks over to Brad and says, “I’m sorry you didn’t win. I voted for you. A lot of people did actually.”
“It’s okay. Thank you for your support though,” replies Brad to DJ.
DJ and Brad walk towards the entrance of the East Tower.
“I hope this works out with Sal,” says DJ to Brad.
“I think it will. Sal seems like a capable guy,” replies Brad to DJ.
Brad and DJ walk into the lobby of the East Tower.
“How is your condo DJ? Everything okay?” asks Brad.
Brad steps towards the elevator and DJ answers, “Everything is good. We love the condo. I’m just glad we got over here when we did.”
“Good, I’m glad as well,” says Brad to DJ.
The elevator opens and Brad steps into the empty elevator.
Brad hits the tenth floor button and DJ gets in the elevator with Brad.
DJ hits the eleventh floor button in the elevator.
“I’m shocked that these towers and most of the buildings in our community still have power,” says DJ to Brad.
“It’s the downtown grid. Channelside and Davis Island were set up to have independent power on the grid after that large hurricane hit Tampa a couple years ago. The grid was reset, reprogrammed, and fixed,” responds Brad to DJ.
The elevator stops at the tenth floor and the elevator doors open.
Brad walks towards the open elevator door, and DJ stops Brad from exiting the elevator.
DJ whispers to Brad, “My group and I can help you with things around here.”
Brad turns towards DJ and responds, “Thank you, I appreciate that.”
DJ lets Brad exit the elevator and says, “Whatever you need Brad, we can help.”
Brad says to DJ, “Don’t be late tomorrow morning.”
The elevator doors close.
Brad walks down the hallway towards Eric and Julia’s condo.
Loud music, cheering, and partying is heard as Brad walks past a closed condo front door that is a couple condo’s down from Eric and Julia’s.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Brad knocks on Eric and Julia’s condo front door.
Eric opens the door and looks at Brad.
“Were you followed?” asks Eric to Brad.
“No, I don’t think so. Why would you ask that?” answers Brad.
Eric pulls Brad into his condo and quickly shuts his condo front door.
Brad sees Ola and Julia sitting in the condo living room.
Brad makes eye contact with Ola and doesn’t know what to say.
“I’m done with you hiding everything from me. I want to be a part of things from now on,” says Ola to Brad.
Eric walks by Brad and says, “She overheard me talking with Julia about you coming over here tonight.”
Julia looks at Brad and says, “You shouldn’t keep things from your wife. That’s not good for any marriage.”
Brad looks at Ola and says, “I didn’t mean to keep anything from you. I just didn’t know if you wanted to know everything that was going on around here.”
Ola taps the empty sofa cushion that is next to her and says to Brad, “Come sit down.”
Eric says, “I can’t believe you lost to Sal. I don’t know anyone who voted for Sal. I know we all voted for you, and so many others did too.”
“Maybe Sal rigged the votes. Maybe you did win,” says Ola to Brad.
Brad says, “It doesn’t matter. Sal has control of this place now. Whether the people voted for him or not.”
“What do you think Sal will do with this place?” asks Ola to Brad, Eric, and Julia.
“I don’t know,” answers Julia.
“We have to see how it plays out. Sal will be different than the Captain for sure,” answers Brad.
“I’m just worried that Sal will do whatever he wants and get rid of anyone that stands in his way,” answers Eric.
“Then we need to stay on his good side. Sal is someone we need to be allies with,” responds Brad.
“What if Sal does horrible things?” asks Julia.
“We have to see how it all plays out. Sal could be a great leader,” answers Brad.
“But what if he turns out to be worse than the Captain?” asks Julia.
“We have to be ready for anything. I think we see how tomorrow plays out and then we go from there, but I do not recommend being late tomorrow. I got this weird vibe from Sal about tomorrow, and he seemed adamant about being there before nine tomorrow morning,” says Brad.
“What did he say to you?” asks Eric.
“He didn’t say much to me, but I think he’s planning something big for tomorrow… And four g
uys were talking with Sal and Carmine after the meeting,” answers Brad.
“Who? What guys?” asks Eric.
“I couldn’t get the best look at them, as they had on sunglasses and gear, but Sal rushed me out once those guys came in,” answers Brad.
Eric stands up from the sofa and starts to freak out.
Julia looks at Eric and tries to calm him down.
“Look it’s pretty early to tell how things will go, but I think if we stay on Sal’s good side and play by his rules then we should be okay,” says Brad.
“Should we just leave?” asks Eric.
“Where would we go?” asks Julia.
Brad senses that Eric is freaking out and that he needs to calm him down before he makes a rash decision.
Brad stands up from the sofa and says to Eric, “Let’s see how tomorrow goes. Just make sure you get to the central courtyard early tomorrow morning.”
It’s the next morning.
Brad and Ola arrive at the central courtyard.
Brad looks down at his wristwatch and sees the time, “8:44 AM.”
Brad sees a large amount of people gathered at the central courtyard of Channelside already, but he doesn’t see Eric or Julia.
Brad sees Trish and Carmine talking, but no sign of Sal.
A couple more people arrive at the central courtyard of Channelside, but still no sign of Eric or Julia.
Brad checks his wristwatch and then looks around for Eric and Julia.
“8:55 AM,” reads on Brad’s wristwatch.
Julia and Brad come running into the central courtyard.
Carmine’s radio goes off and Carmine talks to the person on the radio.
Carmine whistles.
A large gate closes at the entrance of the Channelside central courtyard.
Everyone that is standing in the central courtyard looks at the two people that just closed the gate and wonder why they just closed the gate.
Eric and Julia see that they just made it into the central courtyard before the two people closed the gate.
Eric says to Julia, “I hope we made the right decision to come to this.”
Sal exits from a building that is located on the second floor of the central courtyard at Channelside.
Sal stands at the top of a set of large steps that lead down to the ground level of the Channelside central courtyard.
Fight 4 Us (Book 10): Ghosts Page 5