The Warrior (5 page)

I pull up outside the gym and hop out of the
truck. I head inside the gym.

“What are you doing in here today?” David
says as I walk in. “And why the fuck are you bleeding?” He says
looking at my shoulder. I look down to see where the blood is
coming from.

“Yea I needed to work this out a little.” I
say as I as I roll my shoulder around.

“That from last night?” He says as he nods
towards my arm.

“Yea. Took a hit but I'm good. I just need to
work it out.” I say as I walk towards the back.

“Alright well I'm heading out so you can lock
up if you don’t mind.” He calls back to me.

“Got it.” I say as I walk over to the
equipment. I start to lift some and I can’t lie and say it doesn’t
hurt because it does but I know it needs to be worked out too. I
fight through the pain that I'm sure a lot of guys wouldn’t be able
to do. The pain for most guys would shut them down as soon as it
happened but that’s not my style. I keep lifting without even
hearing the door open.

“Should you be bleeding like that?” Nina’s
voice snaps me out of my trance. I set the weights down and sit up
to look at her.

“It’ll be ok.” I say as I grab the towel and
dab at the blood. Nina stands still watching me.

“What happened?” She says as she walks over
and picks up another towel and presses it to my shoulder.

“Nothing.” I say as she looks at me. She
knows I'm lying but I'm not bringing her into my mess. The less she
knows the better.

“Doesn’t look like nothing.” She says as she
sits in front of me on the bench.

“Well that’s exactly what it is.” I say as I
watch her. “What are you doing here anyways?” I ask as I wipe my
arm.

“Nothing. Just needed a break.” She says as I
nod. I know how that can be. I lean in and kiss her when I hear
another voice calling her. I snap back as Nina stands quickly.

“What the hell are you doing?” The girl says.
I know this girl she runs around at the house a lot. Ginger. I give
her a sideways glance and I know she knows better than to say
anything.

“Who are you talking to?” Nina asks as she
looks between us.

“Um. You I was talking to you.” Ginger says
as she watches us.

“You knew I would be here.” Nina says
laughing.

“I know. Just didn’t know you would have
company.” She says as she looks over at me.

“Oh this is Cad. He works out here.” Nina
says like I'm nothing. Like we haven’t been fucking here since I
met her. That’s ok. If that’s how she wants to play this I can play
too.

“Yea. I work out here. She isn’t really my
type.” I say as I grab the towel and walk out of the room. What the
hell is she doing with Ginger?

***

I stand here at this absurdly over the top
party that apparently my dad does a lot. I'm not sure how much of a
party I would be having for killing people. That type of thing
doesn’t make much sense to me. We killed people and now we are
having a party? I'm not really feeling this party but I guess I
don’t have much of a choice to stay since it is my dad’s. I look
around the room and that’s when I see her standing there. Nina. She
is standing there holding hands with Reggie. My heart starts
pounding in my chest and my hands are clenching at my sides. To say
I'm mad is an understatement. I'm beyond mad. I'm on fire pissed.
What the hell is she even doing here? I watch as Reggie kisses her
cheek and points down the hallway as she moves that way. I decide
to follow her down there after making sure no one is watching. I
stalk down the hall and watch as Nina heads towards the bathroom
but before she can get the door closed I slip in and slam the door
closed behind me and lock it. Nina’s eyes are huge as she spins
around to look at me.

“What the hell are you doing here?” She snaps
at me as her eyes widen.

“I was about to ask you that same damn
thing.” I say as I stand there with my arms folded across my chest.
Nina doesn’t move or speak at first as she just stands there
watching me.

“Answer me!” I snap at her and she jumps back
a little. I don’t care if she is fucking scared I want to know what
the hell she is doing and why she is in the middle of this
shit.

“I'm doing what I need to do to find my
sister.” She says as she defiantly crosses her arms across her
chest. Her eyes are locked on mine now. I have tried to keep her
away from this shit and here she is looking for her sister in the
last place she needs to be. She doesn’t fucking understand the
amount of shit she is getting into.

“What the hell does your sister have to do
with you being here?” I ask as she fidgets a little.

“I have been looking into these people since
I moved here. What the hell are you doing here?” She asks as she
crosses her arms again to mimic me. I look at her as I let my arms
down and she looks nervous. I lean into her placing a kiss on her
forehead before I speak.

“Well, I'm one of these people.” I say as I
storm out of the bathroom and down the hall. I don’t stop at the
party but keep walking until I get outside. I need some fucking
air. I walk around until I reach the edge of the tree line and sit
down. I need to figure this shit out. If Nina is here looking for
her sister than she obviously knows what we do here. Or does she?
How did she even get involved with Reggie? Does Reggie know what
she’s doing?

“What’s got you out here all alone?” Bradon
says as he walks over and sits next to me.

“Just needed to clear my head is all.” I say
as I look over at him. “What are you doing out here?” I say as he
picks at the grass.

“Same I guess.” He says as we both sit there
not saying a lot to each other.

“You see Nina in there?” he says as he looks
over at me. I nod my head as I look back down. “That who you have
been sneaking around with?” He says with a smile.

“Something like that.” Is all I say. He knows
about us? I don’t know why that surprises me given our line of
work.

“Hey I need to talk to you about something.”
Bradon says as his whole demeanor changes. I look over at him and
he looks so nervous and uncomfortable. Just as I'm about to ask him
what’s going on his phone rings. He looks down at it and back at
me.

“Talk later?” He says as I nod and watch as
he stands and walks away. Wonder what has him so bothered.

***

I don’t go over to the gym for a few days. I
don’t think I want to deal with Nina. She lied to me and I don’t
know what to say to her or if I want to say anything. She went off
with Reggie and has been fucking us both. I don’t fucking share
what’s mine but I guess Nina was never really mine to begin with. I
walk around the house in a half daze just trying to get my head
straight. I'm not comfortable here and I'm not exactly sure why. I
grew up here but it still feels off.

“Son what the hell are you pacing around like
that for?” My dad says as he comes out of his office looking at
me.

“Just a little restless is all.” I say as he
tries to read me. He nods his head before he speaks again.

“I got you a new job tomorrow night. That
should help with some of that restlessness.” He says as I nod and
he waves me into his office.

“What’s that?” I ask as I sit down and lean
back in the chair. I watch as he moves around his desk and sits in
his chair picking up a photo and passing it to me.

“Who’s this?” I say as I look over the
picture.

“His names Jesus. Runs a lot of shit for us
out of Columbia. He has been missing a lot of things lately and
needs to be relieved of his duty. Take him out and anyone with
him.” He says as I nod. How is it I always get the killing jobs? I
mean I'm not complaining I just never see the other guys going out
on these kill jobs.

“Who’s going out?” I say as I set the picture
back on the desk knowing that I have that shit sizzled into my
memory.

“You can take whoever you want on this one.
It’s all up to you.” He says as I give a nod.

“Cadence you sure you’re ok? I mean I know we
haven’t seen each other in years but you just seem so distant and
off.” He says and that makes me chuckle. He sent me off to the
fucking Marines and he has the nerve to ask me what my problem
is.

“Look dad. I lived through hell and made it
back. I didn’t come back the same person I went over there as so
you may want to get used to the one that did come back. Old Cadence
is dead and long fucking gone.” I say as I start to stand.

“I guess you’re right. I will get used to it.
I'm sorry son.” He says and I walk out. I'm not sure what exactly
he was apologizing for. The fact that I'm different or that he sent
me away? Or maybe the fact that the old Cadence is gone? I don’t
really know and honestly I don’t care. I'm just here to do what I
do and that’s it. I don’t know what this new life holds for the new
me but it sure as hell doesn’t involve apologies. I don’t give them
and I sure as hell don’t receive them. If I’ve learned one thing in
this life I have learned that you never say sorry. You are who you
are and you did what you did. Nothing you can change.

***

I decided to ask Bradon on this job with me
tonight. I still wanted to talk to him about what he started and we
didn’t get to finish. We ride out to an old warehouse that we are
setting up on top of. I bring out the long range rifle since we are
going to be a little off tonight.

“What did you want to talk about the other
night?” I ask as I set up the rifle. I lay down on the rooftop as
Bradon lies next to me.

“I don’t know if this is the best time.”
Bradon says as I position it and set it up ready to fire.

“We’re going to be up here awhile and there
isn’t anyone around. I’d say this is the best time.” I say as I
watch through the scope. We don’t know how long this will take but
I'm ok with the wait. I take a deep breath and blow it out as I
keep my position.

“You remember that girl Josie?” Bradon says
as I watch.

“Yea. Dark haired girl right?” I say as I
hear Bradon chuckle.

“That’s her. Well after you got sent off me
and her started hanging out. We hooked up a few times and we
started getting closer. After some other shit that went down while
you were gone Josie found out she was pregnant. I have a son
Cadence.” He says as I look over at him. How the fuck did I not
know this?

“Where is she?” I say as I watch his face
hoping to god she wasn’t killed.

“I got her out. One night she was supposed to
go out with her friends. I made her disappear. I couldn’t have her
here man. I mean I fucking love that girl to death but I didn’t
want anything else to happen to her or my kid.” He says as my heart
sinks. Here I thought I didn’t have a heart and now I feel it
crumbling in my chest.

“Where is she? Are they ok?” I ask as I look
back into the scope.

“They are pretty close by. I didn’t want her
to go far especially with my son. I needed her. She needed me and I
wanted to try to be around for her.” He says as I nod.

“Why not just talk to dad about it? I mean he
is the fucking devil but he did always like you.” I say without
looking over at him. Bradon was always the favorite.

“Dad found I was sleeping with her a little
while after we hooked up. He said she wasn’t allowed to be part of
his family after what she did.” He says as I look over at him in
confusion.

“He sold her out once Cad. He said she was
nothing but trash. As soon as she was back and she told me she was
pregnant I knew I had to get her out of there.” He says and I can
see the pain in his eyes. He’s hurting right now.

“Fuck Bra. I wish I could have helped you.” I
say as I shake my head. “I have a nephew huh?” I say with a
half-smile. Bradon nods his head as he pulls his phone out and
hands it to me.

“That’s Josh. She called the other night when
I was going to talk to you because he was sick and she wasn’t
feeling all that well either. Doctor said they had the flu. I went
to stay over there that night. I'm just so fucking tired of all of
this.” He says as I hand the phone back to him.

“He looks just like you Bra. He’s fucking
perfect. I don’t know what to say to you man. We will figure
something out. I don’t know what but I fucking promise you I will
figure this out. You need to be a man and be with your family. I
mean your real family.” I say as I look back into the scope.

“You’re my family too Cad. I want you with
us. I'm going down to see them on Saturday night. If you can get
out would you come with me? I’d like you to meet your nephew.” He
says softly as my heart plummets further. I set the rifle down and
grab Bradon and pull him into a hug. I don’t normally do this but I
know he needs it.

“You’re damn right I will. I want to meet
them both man.” I say as a tear fills his eye. I don’t say anything
because I don’t want to embarrass him but damn it there is still
something left in me. I turn back to what I was doing and spot the
target.

“Fuck!” I snap as I watch through the
scope.

“What’s wrong?” Bradon says as I pass him
some binoculars.

“There’s a fucking kid with them. I might be
a warrior and I may even be a fucking monster but I am not killing
any kids’ man.” I snap as I watch the man walk and stop with what
appears to be his family and a few other men.

“God damn it! I can’t say I blame you man.”
Bradon says as I line up my shots. I know I'm not taking that kid
out and he looks to be around 12 or 13 which means he is capable of
getting back to someone else for help.

“I'm passing on the kid so be ready to move
out.” I say as I start to fire shots off. We watch as all the
bodies fall and the boy starts running. That is our sign to
exit.

“Let’s roll man. Don’t need to be here when
the help shows up.” I say as I grab the rifle and move out.

***